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Model 3 - multiple headlight failures

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Hi everyone, I have a 2019 Model 3 SR+ with 59,500 miles.

I have had to replace my drivers side headlight three times and now my passenger side headlight is out.

Has anyone else experienced this many headlamp failures? I’m convinced that something is wrong with my car that is causing the lights to burn out, but every time, I’m told that it’s something internal to the headlight and that there’s nothing wrong with my car.

The breakdown is as follows:

April 2019 - Purchased vehicle new
January 2020 - Driver’s headlight replaced under warranty @ 20k miles
February 2020 - Drivers side DRL out (headlight replaced again under warranty)
October 2021 - Driver’s headlight replaced @ 52k miles (out of warranty, had to pay $1000+)
February 2022 - Pass. side headlight out @ 59k miles

If Tesla can’t find something wrong with the car, they will be asking me to shell out another $1000 for a new headlamp.

Tesla service has not been very helpful and will not give me an expected life expectancy on the headlamp, only saying that I have a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty on the replacement part.

I’m open to any ideas or thoughts you might have on what I should do. I’m not looking forward to the prospect of having to shell out $1000 every 12-18 months. Thank you!!!
 
When cars had the old style headlights with replaceable bulbs, frequent burnouts were due to the 12V system voltage being too high.

In the Tesla system it might happen if the charging circuit for the 12V battery puts out too much voltage, either continuously or as a temporary spike. A battery monitor that records voltage over time might reveal the problem. Here's one:

https://www.amazon.com/BUNKER-INDUST-Bluetooth-Wireless-Automotive/dp/B07GP1RXYZ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1JK9GUCB5RLHG&keywords=bluetooth+battery+monitor&qid=1645799075&sprefix=bluetooth+battery+monitor,aps,79&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExMTlLM0JHM0VTWDFNJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjY4MjY0MzRWRUg1WUJJS1JRTyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTU1ODE4VEQ2TFhBVkRFNzhUJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
 
When cars had the old style headlights with replaceable bulbs, frequent burnouts were due to the 12V system voltage being too high.

In the Tesla system it might happen if the charging circuit for the 12V battery puts out too much voltage, either continuously or as a temporary spike. A battery monitor that records voltage over time might reveal the problem. Here's one:

https://www.amazon.com/BUNKER-INDUST-Bluetooth-Wireless-Automotive/dp/B07GP1RXYZ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1JK9GUCB5RLHG&keywords=bluetooth+battery+monitor&qid=1645799075&sprefix=bluetooth+battery+monitor,aps,79&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExMTlLM0JHM0VTWDFNJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjY4MjY0MzRWRUg1WUJJS1JRTyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTU1ODE4VEQ2TFhBVkRFNzhUJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
This is very helpful! I’ll order one and give it a try. What max voltage should I be seeing from the battery?
 
Hi everyone, I have a 2019 Model 3 SR+ with 59,500 miles.

I have had to replace my drivers side headlight three times and now my passenger side headlight is out.

Has anyone else experienced this many headlamp failures? I’m convinced that something is wrong with my car that is causing the lights to burn out, but every time, I’m told that it’s something internal to the headlight and that there’s nothing wrong with my car.

The breakdown is as follows:

April 2019 - Purchased vehicle new
January 2020 - Driver’s headlight replaced under warranty @ 20k miles
February 2020 - Drivers side DRL out (headlight replaced again under warranty)
October 2021 - Driver’s headlight replaced @ 52k miles (out of warranty, had to pay $1000+)
February 2022 - Pass. side headlight out @ 59k miles

If Tesla can’t find something wrong with the car, they will be asking me to shell out another $1000 for a new headlamp.

Tesla service has not been very helpful and will not give me an expected life expectancy on the headlamp, only saying that I have a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty on the replacement part.

I’m open to any ideas or thoughts you might have on what I should do. I’m not looking forward to the prospect of having to shell out $1000 every 12-18 months. Thank you!!!
In what ways did the headlights fail in all those replacements? Some of the earlier cars had the Signature Light strip "go out" and Tesla would just replace the whole headlight assembly. The Signature Light strip is actually reflectors that reflect the light from the DRL, so it doesn't actually "burn out". What happened was the strip of reflectors would come unglued and start sagging down, causing the light strip to not reflect as much or any light.

All of the headlight functions are controlled by a small computer mounted onto the headlight assembly (some might call it the ballast control module). That component is replaceable and could possibly fail. Tesla will not sell or replace just that component, but it can be found on eBay (2017 2018 2019 Tesla Model 3 OEM Headlight Ballast Module 1110796-99-F | eBay).

Without any detail about all the failures, we can only speculate about what happened.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: KenC
Hi everyone, I have a 2019 Model 3 SR+ with 59,500 miles.

I have had to replace my drivers side headlight three times and now my passenger side headlight is out.

Has anyone else experienced this many headlamp failures? I’m convinced that something is wrong with my car that is causing the lights to burn out, but every time, I’m told that it’s something internal to the headlight and that there’s nothing wrong with my car.

The breakdown is as follows:

April 2019 - Purchased vehicle new
January 2020 - Driver’s headlight replaced under warranty @ 20k miles
February 2020 - Drivers side DRL out (headlight replaced again under warranty)
October 2021 - Driver’s headlight replaced @ 52k miles (out of warranty, had to pay $1000+)
February 2022 - Pass. side headlight out @ 59k miles

If Tesla can’t find something wrong with the car, they will be asking me to shell out another $1000 for a new headlamp.

Tesla service has not been very helpful and will not give me an expected life expectancy on the headlamp, only saying that I have a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty on the replacement part.

I’m open to any ideas or thoughts you might have on what I should do. I’m not looking forward to the prospect of having to shell out $1000 every 12-18 months. Thank you!!!
I just had my 1st headlight failure at 50200 miles ( just out of warranty) two weeks ago. Now my other one failed yesterday . $2600 in a month is a little disheartening…..