Headlight bulb or ballast going out?

[airborne spoon]

My left headlight goes out while driving sometimes, I can get it to turn back on by hitting off waiting a second then hitting on or auto.

I don't know about these fancy HID bulbs so I'm guessing that since the light turns on and off it's the ballast otherwise it wouldn't turn on at all?
Yeah the car is old but I don't want to replace parts that aren't broken that's a waste of money. I know it's a D3S 35w bulb so it's an easy Amazon or AutoZone grab. But are ballasts as common or would I have to buy that from Tesla?

 

[JLC13]

I recently had the same issue with the right light. Replaced both bulbs and it's back to normal. What I've read is that the bulbs are much more likely to go than the ballast.

 

[airborne spoon]

I recently had the same issue with the right light. Replaced both bulbs and it's back to normal. What I've read is that the bulbs are much more likely to go than the ballast.

What ones did you go with? I'm trying to decide what color temp to get.

 

[KalJoMoS]

There might be a grounding issues as well…

 

[Jillmark99]

My left headlight goes out while driving sometimes, I can get it to turn back on by hitting off waiting a second then hitting on or auto.

I don't know about these fancy HID bulbs so I'm guessing that since the light turns on and off it's the ballast otherwise it wouldn't turn on at all?
Yeah the car is old but I don't want to replace parts that aren't broken that's a waste of money. I know it's a D3S 35w bulb so it's an easy Amazon or AutoZone grab. But are ballasts as common or would I have to buy that from Tesla?

Mine just started doing this in the last couple weeks as well except mine is the right side. Exact same issue.

 

[dark cloud]

What ones did you go with? I'm trying to decide what color temp to get.

Check this out. STill 50% off right now!!!!!

 

[JLC13]

What ones did you go with? I'm trying to decide what color temp to get.

Torchbeam D35 HID at 6000K. Amazon still has them for $30 per pair. Obviously not one of the OEM options but at a fraction of the price, I was willing to take the risk of a shorter lifespan.

I installed them in early July so it's been a few months of flawless performance so far. I would expect that like most electronics, they would either fail very quickly or last for years and I suspect I'm past that initial potential failure window. YMMV.

 

[Doanster1]

The key here is heat dissipation. Stock bulbs have a metal base, which would dissipate a little better than plastic. I swapped in Morimoto bulbs a while back (decent aftermarket brand) and they worked for a while, but then randomly turned off like you describe. Turning them off and on worked, but became too annoying so I put the stock bulbs back in and no issues ever since. The car must be super sensitive to voltage levels so slight differences in heat may be just enough to cause issues after a while.
So if you can, look for or pay more for bulbs with metal housings.

 

[BigTonyTones]

Just my .02 . Iv installed dozens of these aftermarket hid kits in the past and they dont last very long before they go bad.
I would stick with original Tesla bulbs and ballasts if I were in your shoes. Quick search on ebay and saw oem ballasts are around $50 each .

2x New OEM 12-15 Tesla Model S Xenon Ballasts & D3S Bulbs Control Unit Computer | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2x New OEM 12-15 Tesla Model S Xenon Ballasts & D3S Bulbs Control Unit Computer at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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[maximizese]

Just had my left headlight malfunction last night. As the dusk approached I noticed the left side throwing much less light (daytime running LED was still on), and the fault warning appeared on the IC. Everything worked perfectly for my drive home and I'm not sure if the bulb is the culprit, bad grounding, or voltage fluctuation caused the fault. I've had a 12V battery replacement warning on our car for the last 8 months but am still getting 12.8-13.6V readings from the battery. I'll be replacing both the bulbs and the 12V soon since I have a 1K round-trip drive in a little over a month and want to minimize potential problems.

This battery is about 30 months old and I know older Teslas burn through 12V batteries every 2-5 years. I can't believe Tesla hasn't figured out the issue after all these years. Our Fiat 500e is 9 years old with its original 12V.

 

[Plasmid_Boy]

I thought that the bulb and ballast are in one piece. I got a couple pairs of Osram D3S couple years ago and they still work fine.

 

[Sacto68]

Try this first! I had this happen to me at night while driving from Sacramento to Southern CA. The left headlight would keep turning off every 5 minutes or so while driving. I toggled my headlight settings to turn off Auto high beam and it solved the problem. Not sure if there is some sort of voltage draw issue but this solved it for me for now. I plan to change the bulbs as previous post have discussed later. Hope this helps someone else in a pinch.

 

[airborne spoon]

Try this first! I had this happen to me at night while driving from Sacramento to Southern CA. The left headlight would keep turning off every 5 minutes or so while driving. I toggled my headlight settings to turn off Auto high beam and it solved the problem. Not sure if there is some sort of voltage draw issue but this solved it for me for now. I plan to change the bulbs as previous post have discussed later. Hope this helps someone else in a pinch.

I never use auto brights but glad that worked for you. I replaced the bulbs off Amazon and it's worked fine since