Car: 2003 L&K Octavia.

Problem: Intermittent driver's side Xenon light.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Has anyone else had this problem before, and if so, what did you do to rectify it? Obviously, with replacement parts being the price they are I don't want to blow a huge wedge on some parts only for them not to fix the problem.

If it DOES work, the light takes a fraction of a second longer to start up than the passenger side one, which works faultlessly.

Just...

Maybe the bulbs need changing m8 have you tried that?

It's probably the bulb or the ballast on the way out.

Try swapping the bulbs over from left to right, if the problem light also changes sides then it will be the bulb, if not then try the same with the ballasts Once the process of elimination has been done you can simply replace the faulty item.

As with Gizmo, try that first as it is free

Blimey, lateral thinking. That might be worth a go!

Or otherwise I'll swap headlights with you, but you will have to remove all the self-levelling stuff :-)

ps. CDs arrived yesterday, will have a listen later.

Well, it's fixed! At long last!

Using RobClubley's guide to changing the sidelights with Xenon lights, I ripped the lights out tonight and dropped in some 6000k Philips Xenons.

Let it be said that, in less than 40 minutes, I managed to change both headlights, run through West Quay shopping centre from the bottom to the top, buy a KFC for my girlfriend, and meet my girlfriend back downstairs as she finished work. I'm a hero, I know.

Now, on to the lights. As soon as I removed the driver's side bulb, it became apparent what the problem was- it was rattling as I pulled it out! Clearly just had hit the end of its lifespan, and would sometimes come on when the circuit was made up over a bump or something. Very bizarre behaviour.

Either way, it's apparently fixed and I'm just gunna keep an eye on it. Any idea if the headlights need re-levelling? The passenger side one does seem slightly lower than the driver's side...

Other than that, happy Samuel!

They should check the beam pattern at your next MOT and adjust it if necessary to get it through. You can adjust it yourself but it's not recommended.

West Quay eh, brings back memories of my student days! Do they still have the shopping centre by the Bargate?

They should check the beam pattern at your next MOT and adjust it if necessary to get it through. You can adjust it yourself but it's not recommended.

West Quay eh, brings back memories of my student days! Do they still have the shopping centre by the Bargate?

Good times it's not for a while though! However, the light spread seems so much better on dark roads now!

Haha they do still have that centre, it's much maligned since the advent of West Quay. Great place to be though.

Glad to hear you've fixed your xenon problem

West Quay eh, brings back memories of my student days! Do they still have the shopping centre by the Bargate?

The Bargate shopping centre car park IS the cheapest place to park in town

Going to miss it when it goes...

6000K will not give off as much light as the OEM 4300K lights, they give a slightly Blue in appearance beam whereas the 4300K OEM are bright white. The K rating has nothing to do with brightness, but is a colour temperature. 4300K = white, 6000K = bluish, 8000K = purple.

I know... I just bought them because they were a heck of a lot cheaper than they should have been. They're an improvement over the old lights, i.e. they actually work. So for that I'm grateful. The driver's side one didn't come on momentarily this afternoon so I'll keep an eye on it...

I have a drivers side ballast in the garage, but no way of testing it to see if it works (and an igniter too).

How much would you want for the pair? Wouldn't realistically be able to purchase before Christmas!

How much would you want for the pair? Wouldn't realistically be able to purchase before Christmas!

Make me an offer.

They came with a 2nd hand headlamp that I bought, but are no use to me as I used and aftermarket kit with the OEM housings. Just sitting in my toolbox taking up space.

Just had another thought. The light decided it was fed up of being a bag of marshmallows or a Bengal tiger, and actually worked today. However... the driver's side level (the side that is intermittent) was way higher than the passenger side. Would this potentially affect the light working? Can you reset the levelling system?

Leveling is controlled by the nearside ballast and this controls both lamps. The level can be adjusted manually, but I think that VAGcom is required to do it correctly.

Is the bulb in properly? Somehow didn't put mine in properly once and that made it point upwards

Simon- I take it that's the extra plug in the passenger side light, in that case. I'll speak to my mechanic peoples tomorrow... grumble mumble...

Raf- the bulb is definitely seated correctly and, weirdly, the first night I had the new bulbs in they were definitely at the right angle. They matched each other. Since they've not been working together, the level's been off.

Have you tried unplugging everything then replugging incase of a bad join?

Yes- I did that the other night when I changed the bulbs- the headlights came off the car, got some bloody funny looks in the multistorey car park!

They worked fine all the rest of that night...

Yes- I did that the other night when I changed the bulbs- the headlights came off the car, got some bloody funny looks in the multistorey car park!

They worked fine all the rest of that night...

That makes it sound more like a dodgy connection, if it worked ok for abit after playing with them

Yeah. I'll give the ballast and igniter a shot. Getting firmly sick of spending money on the car, although I keep telling myself it's cheaper than all the petrol and the new clutch for the Civic...

Right, thanks to Simon (ExAudiSi), I have a new ballast & igniter installed- a big thanks there!

They're working, hopefully for good. Fingers crossed!

Yey! Hopefully you can enjoy it properly now the frustrations are solved.