Model S Headlight Replacement round 2

[Sparkx]

Wondering if anyone has had this issue. MS 2016 (Sept) both headlights failed in Fall 2018. Replaced 2019 (both). Now the right hand side passenger headlight is failing again. Tesla is rude and doesn’t care. Talking about a one year warranty and so tough luck. My mileage average is around 13K so not excessive. Looks like I have to fork over more money

 

[Bunnak]

Buy new ones off eBay for $350 each and install them yourself in about 3 hours. I did it this weekend successfully and I have zero DYI car experience.

 

[vcor]

What is failing? I've heard of the DRL failing on some cars, but very rare to hear of a headlight failing. (Ok, DRL is in the headlight assembly). On those with failed DRL, it seems an internal tube cracks and makes the DRL dim on a portion. Never had a problem with my car, but my car is garaged most of the time. I wonder if those that park outside are more susceptible to the issue or cars that go through temperature extremes. Hopefully, the latest replacement headlights have it solved, as it shouldn't fail for the life of the car.

 

[Bunnak]

What is failing? I've heard of the DRL failing on some cars, but very rare to hear of a headlight failing. (Ok, DRL is in the headlight assembly). On those with failed DRL, it seems an internal tube cracks and makes the DRL dim on a portion. Never had a problem with my car, but my car is garaged most of the time. I wonder if those that park outside are more susceptible to the issue or cars that go through temperature extremes. Hopefully, the latest replacement headlights have it solved, as it shouldn't fail for the life of the car.

Daytime running lights aren't fully illuminated at the top. It's a very common problem. Had my first 2016 Model headlights changed under warranty at 48,000 miles; now my out of warranty also 2016 Model S DRL have failed but at 78,000.

 

[Bunnak]

What is failing? I've heard of the DRL failing on some cars, but very rare to hear of a headlight failing. (Ok, DRL is in the headlight assembly). On those with failed DRL, it seems an internal tube cracks and makes the DRL dim on a portion. Never had a problem with my car, but my car is garaged most of the time. I wonder if those that park outside are more susceptible to the issue or cars that go through temperature extremes. Hopefully, the latest replacement headlights have it solved, as it shouldn't fail for the life of the car.

As you can see it's not illuminated at the top. And my car is garaged all the time.

 

[vcor]

Yep, DRL is the light at the top. Unfortunately, the headlight is a sealed unit. If you could replace the failed interior part, it's likely < $5 component (not an LED). That said, I've seen someone pull a Tesla headlight apart, and it's not ever going back together. Also, the part that fails is not something I think you can buy off the shelf. Likely designed just for Tesla.

Good to know it's not a sunlight thing, but still unclear what causes it. If I were to guess, I think about 1% of owners encounter this problem within 6 years. That's a high failure rate, but a partial failure of the DRL is not a safety-critical item, so no recall will ever be in the works.

One big question is did Tesla figure out a solution to keep it from happening with a later design? I generally rate Tesla as above average for making design changes to fix prior issues, but there is no easy way to know for a specific part. One would hope so.

Slightly unrelated, Tesla does not actually manufacture the headlights. I believe Hella is the manufacturer and makes this part specifically for Tesla.

Somewhat unrelated - what is that little antenna-looking thing attached near the bottom of the lens? It has a black dot and silver lines in rectangular shapes. I've never seen this on any Tesla before.

 

[tldickerson]

I have a June 2016 P90D and I have had both headlight assemblies replaced twice under warranty. The last one was under the extended warranty.

 

[Bunnak]

Yep, DRL is the light at the top. Unfortunately, the headlight is a sealed unit. If you could replace the failed interior part, it's likely < $5 component (not an LED). That said, I've seen someone pull a Tesla headlight apart, and it's not ever going back together. Also, the part that fails is not something I think you can buy off the shelf. Likely designed just for Tesla.

Good to know it's not a sunlight thing, but still unclear what causes it. If I were to guess, I think about 1% of owners encounter this problem within 6 years. That's a high failure rate, but a partial failure of the DRL is not a safety-critical item, so no recall will ever be in the works.

One big question is did Tesla figure out a solution to keep it from happening with a later design? I generally rate Tesla as above average for making design changes to fix prior issues, but there is no easy way to know for a specific part. One would hope so.

Slightly unrelated, Tesla does not actually manufacture the headlights. I believe Hella is the manufacturer and makes this part specifically for Tesla.

Somewhat unrelated - what is that little antenna-looking thing attached near the bottom of the lens? It has a black dot and silver lines in rectangular shapes. I've never seen this on any Tesla before.

good eye. And great explanation re: DRLs. That's a sensor sticker (black dot) to get inside my gated community.

 

[Dannietjoh]

The drl leds unsolder themselves, due to bad heatsink design. I would be surprised if the failure rate is less than 100% by the 6th year.

2016+ Model S Headlight issue with DRL — ReelDeal EV - EV Car Parts and Accessories

A Tesla with yellowing Daytime Running Lights, or half lit...it happens way to frequently and now it is all I see on 2016+ Model S's. So I decided to see if I could come up with a solution. I took a donated headlight and started to unbolt items from it until I found that it didnt get me anywhere. I

www.reeldealev.com

 

[vcor]

@Dannietjoh - Thanks - I was wrong on the cause of the DRL failing. Looks to be a high-heat issue. Those LEDs can get quite hot when operating, and having four close together without a sufficient heat sink could explain the failure. It might only take one time when the DSL is on for a few minutes in extreme temperatures. For example, parking a dark car in the sun beforehand with high outdoor temps. Not an excuse for the design deficiency, but theorizing what is happening.

I know some manufacturers have small fans just to cool the headlight LEDs - of course when the fan fails, the LEDs overtemp and die - so those designs are not great either.

 

[Pink Duck]

My passenger DRL signature strip failed after this summer’s heat (4 year old 2018 S), which as it’s now a Serious fail on MOT needs to be resolved before mid-March. That and my frunk secondary latch no longer retracts (suspect solenoid failure/power disconnect following recent sub-zero conditions). Both items resolvable by mobile service visit, but with everything best leave until later to increase chance of receiving latest part versions and hopefully reduced repair cost following US price cut.

 

[D.E.]

There are people that do disassemble the headlight modules, they do it to make the inside black as a cosmetic mod. So the headlights can be disassembled and reassembled afterwards. I haven’t heard of anyone disassembling in order to repair the LED DRL parts but once the headlight is disassembled it should be possible to figure out what’s failed and replace it. I’m fairly sure it‘s not the LEDs, they wouldn’t fail all at once in a line so it has to be wiring, corrosion of something, or a failure in the LED driver for that darkened part of the strip. The headlight units are pretty expensive. If anyone gets a headlight with a bad LED strip replaced out of warranty, please get the old part. Then maybe we can figure out a way to fix them. It won’t help you, you’ll have bought the new part, but it’d be interesting to see what’s happening to these lights. If the unit is replaced under warranty, Tesla will not give you the old part. If you buy a new headlight assembly then it’s your right to keep the failed part.

 

[Dannietjoh]

There are people that do disassemble the headlight modules, they do it to make the inside black as a cosmetic mod.

This was possible with the original xenon headlights, not the facelift led ones.

 

[D.E.]

This was possible with the original xenon headlights, not the facelift led ones.

Are you talking about the new LED matrix headlights?

 

[Dannietjoh]

No,
Xenon > led > matrix
Only the first can be opened without destroying it.