Since about 6 months ago i started having a problem with the left xenon headlight: namely, when starting it in the morning it would not turn on. After switching it on/off a few times (sometimes more sometimes less) it turned on and then worked throughout the day. I kind of ignored the problem until lately when it became more annoying, sometimes i've to switch it on/off 20 times to start. So today I changed the bulb (actually changed both to 6000k). Unfortunately this didn't fix it.

So I'm thinking it's the ballast, i've taken it apart but there is nothing obviously broken. Do any of you know what might be the problem? A new ballast from the dealership is insanely expensive and I can't seem to find a second-hand one easily. There is some 3rd party ballast + adapter kit available, but before I start...adapting... I'd like to know for sure there's nothing I can do to fix this one.

Thanks

ps: it also sucks that the left and right ballasts aren't interchangeable so I can't switch them and see if the problem moves to the other side.

Edited 7 August, 201015 yr by jmf

Try looking on ebay, they come up now and again, Vag-Com would probably show the fault

have you swaped the bulbs over just to check its not that. i'd do that 1st just to make sure.

have you swaped the bulbs over just to check its not that. i'd do that 1st just to make sure.

He said in his post he'd already replaced both bulbs. You are right though, he could have done this before then he would have known it wasn't a bulb issue.

Yea, I got new 6000k bulbs as the old ones were kind of weak anyway and it's not the bulb. I checked the vag-com yesterday, but only in the engine department, I'll have a look at the others also...didn't know it shows a faulty ballast. But if it doesn't show anything what then?

I also read that it might be also the igniter. Do you guys know where the igniter is in my case? Inside the headlight itself?

The igniter is inside the headlamp. I have one that I won't be using that came with a 2nd hand drivers side headlamp that I bought.

Whereabouts are you?

It's just a guess, but as the bulb stays lit once you get it going, I would have said that the igniter was more likely than the ballast.

Edited 7 August, 201015 yr by ExAudiSi

I'm in Romania, but anyway I need MY driver's side one (left), while I guess you have the right hand side one.

But do you know...can the igniter be checked or changed somehow? Or easily?

They can be changed easily enough and I don't think that the igniters are handed, only the ballasts. Don't know how easy they are to check due to the high voltages involved (over 30,000 Volts if I remember correctly).

Hmm ok. Do you have an idea where the igniter is located inside the headlight? Or how it looks exactly? So I can take it apart and see what I should be looking for...

Thanks!

As you have already changed the bulbs, follow wires on the red plug which connects to the back of the bulb and they will go into a black box, approx 60mm long by 25mm wide by 40mm deep. That black box is the igniter. I think it is attached to the cover on the back of the lamp.

Thanks, will take a look soon (meaning probably next weekend)