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HID Headlights Randomly Turning Off
- Thread starter Bridor
- Start date
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- hid headlights Model S
Why would they need to? You can buy the bulb in any auto parts store or on Amazon if you want to save money.
mrElbe
Active Member
Read the fine print - "with Factory Halogen Headlights". Not a direct replacement for the DS3 HID headlights.
dark cloud
Active Member
They last 5 times longer, they emit more light and consume half the power, why wouldn't you want to?
Difference between HID and LED Conversion Kits - Better Automotive Lighting
dark cloud
Active Member
Yes, you're right. I didn't even realize the model S came with 9005 halogens. I couldn't find a HID to LED conversion on that site, but found some on others. My Xenon's are fine but I may investigate this further if I get a little time...
Only the early ones had halogen lights. My early 2014 Model S has HID lights. Big improvement. Don't know if the LEDs are much different or better than the HID.
Vip
Member
So I replaced the bulbs with the recommended bulbs from the member off of Amazon.
I actually asked the Tesla Service Center about replacing the bulb and they didn't know what I was talking about. I think they just replace the whole lamp.
The biggest pain in the butt was removing the tabs from the wheel well. It was even a bigger pain in the butt putting them back in. It was worth it as not to spend over a $1000 for a replacement.
The way it was going out was very interesting. It would or would not turn on when I first get in the car. If it was on then it would soon flicker off. I would then manually turn off the lights and then turn them back on and then the lights would start working. Most of the time after that it wouldn't go off again but it did occasionally.
The new bulbs have worked fine without any further issues.
I do feel the new bulbs (the $35 from Amazon) are not as good as the OEM bulbs but still do a good job.
This would annoy me too (it's not just Tesla). More and more auto makers are doing this. I had to change lights on a few newer cars and it required me to remove the entire bumper + headlights.
For future reference, the cheapo bulbs and the 6k color temp are both working against you. Ideally you'd want the Philips/Osram ~5400k for "best" light. 6000k looks more white/purple but at the expense of the light.
dark cloud
Active Member
Well I finally had a headlight go out, and then come back on on the next drive. Hasn't gone out again but thought I am due, and would like to brighten things up a bit anyway, so after researching between the typical Osram and Phillips and decided on getting these from Xenon Pro in a 55W 6000K version. Reviews looked good. I didn't know if it was the bulb or ballast, so I bought the whole kit. Came in a nice box well packaged. Just plugged in the bulbs for now and if if I have issues in the future, or the HID bulb alone doesn't work I'll swap in the ballasts later.
Just finished, so haven't driven with them yet, but wanted to post this now because they have a 50% off sale ending today! (no affiliation and never bought from them before)
Hard to see in the picture, but it is MUCH brighter, and of course whiter as well which does show.
Just finished, so haven't driven with them yet, but wanted to post this now because they have a 50% off sale ending today! (no affiliation and never bought from them before)
Hard to see in the picture, but it is MUCH brighter, and of course whiter as well which does show.
Thanks for the link, looks like they are still on sale. Curious if you had to replace the original 35W ballast with the one that came with the 55W bulbs? It seems that replacing just the bulbs is much easier and could be done through the wheel well without removing the headlight assembly (and thus the bumper) but I don't think you can do that if you want to replace the ballast as well. Thank you!
dark cloud
Active Member
I just did the bulbs for now. Love the extra illumination and the slightly whiter light. They have been working perfectly for a couple of months except one time when one went out once. I turned the lights off, then on, and it worked again. So I assumed it is the ballast going. But yes, to answer your question these bulbs work fine with the OEM ballast.
It is definitely a bit of a pain as they are not plug and play. There are plenty of videos of guys upgrading their stock lights to HID kits, most put the ballasts inside their engine bay, but I saw one where they installed the ballast inside the headlight; I will probably do that. The issue with the model S is the OEM ballast will need to be reinstalled just as a plug to keep out dirt and moisture. Don't mind the procedure though, when looking at the price of the OEM ballasts. I am going to wait until spring to do this, as winter is upon us here. Taking the ballast apart, cleaning it and reinstalling seems to have given it some extra life though, because the lights haven't gone out lately.
Thanks so much for replying, I will do the same - just change the bulbs and see how it goes. I had a ranger come to my house for a door handle and he said you cannot change the ballast without taking off the headlamp assembly (and thus the bumper) so if I don't have to do that I will be very happy.
ChooseFreedom
Member
dark cloud
Active Member
It tells you in that link you quoted:
I thought that there must be some commonality to this, like a bad ground. I removed the Frunk tub and Voila! a broken ground lug / stud merrily swinging in the air. Looks like too much torque was applied at the factory.
I just replaced my wonky bulb recently that cured it for me. Didn't have to replace the ballast.
teslamotorsclub.com
Left headlight bulb and ballast replacement, hopefully not a wiring issue
For months I've been getting a left headlight malfunction detected. This would happen very sporadically maybe once every week or two. I even got pulled over getting off the NY Thruway to get to the Hudson NY Supercharger. In Lights I hit Parking, then On and it fires right back up every time...
teslamotorsclub.com
Thanks. I'll be doing the same. 10yrs/130K miles seems like a reasonable life for the bulb. I'll report back if it persists with new bulbs.I just replaced my wonky bulb recently that cured it for me. Didn't have to replace the ballast.
Left headlight bulb and ballast replacement, hopefully not a wiring issue
For months I've been getting a left headlight malfunction detected. This would happen very sporadically maybe once every week or two. I even got pulled over getting off the NY Thruway to get to the Hudson NY Supercharger. In Lights I hit Parking, then On and it fires right back up every time...
Good youtube videos online for it. Unfortuantely you have to jack up a wheel with a low profile jack if you have coil suspension like me, other than that it was a 15 minute job for one light. I need to do the other one so that the light output and color temperature match, but it's not urgent and there's other chores that have higher priority.
Just replaced my intermittent left one with a $15 bulb from Amazon last weekend. Not too bad a job. I have a hard time telling the difference between the old and new so I'm just changing the one for now.
