HID headlights

5500

Guys anyone come across this before,

Relative brought car for NCT, (Honda stream, factory fitted HID's) car failed as tester said he couldn't get a reading on the light. They brought the car to Atlas presuming it was alignment, but they said no reading was showing on the machine, and it must be the bulbs that needed to be changed.

New pair of HID bulbs fitted, and back to Atlas again only for them to say the machine still can't pick up any reading from the bulbs.

I haven't had a look at it yet but anyone have any other ideas what could be the issue here?

Gumbo

Trip to Honda to confirm they are as per factory spec.
Similar had to be done a few years back on a load of cars that had hid standard in reflector headlights and no washer system.

dingding

Previously my HID headlamps failed the NCT because there was an issue with the headlamp washer.

Replacing the washer pump fixed it.

Foxhole Norman

Are the headlights fogged over/oxidised?

5500

kceire wrote: »

Trip to Honda to confirm they are as per factory spec.
Similar had to be done a few years back on a load of cars that had hid standard in reflector headlights and no washer system.

Any idea if no light was showing on the machines in those cases? There wasn't a dispute in the NCT about them being OEM, it was that they were showing no light through the test machine and tester said he never saw it before.

I took a look at them last night just to make sure bulbs were placed correctly which they were,it's a D2R and notches lined up fine. There's very little oxidisation on the units themselves, I could give them a polish up but I've seen a lot worse go through without problems before.

In atlas when they were at the adjustment to the rear of the light it made no difference on either headlights aim. Checked for a leveler on the suspension and it looks fine as in the arm isn't broken.

I'm wondering could both adjustment motors be shot and lights are pointing down and not being picked up on the machine (but should they still be manually adjustable even if broken?) I'll try the at it with a multimeter today

colm_mcm

Has it ever passed an NCT

mr c

would it be the headlight motor
i have a volvo v50
same problem (but non hid )
turned out to be a headlamp leveling motor and when fail the headlight beam pointed down

5500

colm_mcm wrote: »

Has it ever passed an NCT

Recent import so it's it's first NCT, gonna check what I can electrically later on on it

colm_mcm

THERes no chance it’s the wrong bulbs?

5500

Yep bulbs are correct the old and new ones were both D2R 35w same as stamped on the housing

Bazzy

I had a volvo V50

One of the ballast blasters stopped working that levelled the lights it was in the drivers side wing.

I know its a different model but might help

tossy

The ballast doesn't level the light, it regualtes the voltage.

ION08

So the bulbs are giving off light, right? (in which case why did you get new bulbs? )

If the light is not being picked up on the machine, that would indicate the the lights are not aimed/leveled correctly to reach the machine.

HID should be auto leveling so the issue is most likely with the self-leveling sensor. I would get that checked as a first port of call.

colm_mcm

Some JDM stuff doesn’t have levellers or washers on factory fit HID setups.

5500

ION08 wrote: »

So the bulbs are giving off light, right? (in which case why did you get new bulbs? )

If the light is not being picked up on the machine, that would indicate the the lights are not aimed/leveled correctly to reach the machine.

HID should be auto leveling so the issue is most likely with the self-leveling sensor. I would get that checked as a first port of call.

Yep bulbs were and are giving off light, atlas reckoned the bulbs were on the way out hence not being picked up by the machine, said they saw it before and to change the bulbs.

I think there is a self level sensor though, I took a quick look underneath on the drivers side and there looks to be one on the suspension with the arm intact and moving freely, although the sensor itself could be fudged.

The headscratch is that the lights don't seem to be adjusting or moving with the adjustment screws on the rear of the light units

Tropheus

Not sure about Hondas, but VAG cars require a diagnostic computer to adjust the height of HIDs. Could be the same for Honda hence you not getting any adjustment.

Might be worth checking with a dealer, but could be a struggle if that model wasn't sold here.

high horse

I failed the NCT with my E46 years ago for a similar issue. The E46 xenon headlights have a switch at the back to set the lights for driving on the right hand side of the road. The switch was set to the wrong side so the measurements were way off. It was very easy to fix once we knew that the switch existed.
I don't know if your Honda has a similar set up but it's worth looking into.

colm_mcm

high horse wrote: »

I failed the NCT with my E46 years ago for a similar issue. The E46 xenon headlights have a switch at the back to set the lights for driving on the right hand side of the road. The switch was set to the wrong side so the measurements were way off. It was very easy to fix once we knew that the switch existed.
I don't know if your Honda has a similar set up but it's worth looking into.

I’d be very surprised if a Japanese market car had this.

high horse

colm_mcm wrote: »

I’d be very surprised if a Japanese market car had this.

It's a long shot alright but very easy to check if it's the cause or not

Alun

OP, what do you see if you position the car in front of a wall in the dark and turn the headlights on? Maybe take a photo, that might give some clues as to what's going on.

VeVeX

Alun wrote: »

OP, what do you see if you position the car in front of a wall in the dark and turn the headlights on? Maybe take a photo, that might give some clues as to what's going on.

Gumbo

Can you get it back to the dealer for warranty?

5500

Mystery solved! I took out the headlights last night to check motors ect and I noticed a second adjuster that faces into the wing and isn't visable at all except for a slight channel when the lights are back on, unless you knew it was there you'd miss it.

Sent the relative packing back to Atlas this morning with the other adjustment location and headlights are now aligned and sorted. Likelihood was it didn't need bulbs to begin with and looked more like a focus issue, but everyday is a school day and it might help someone else with a similar problem on a stream