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Thread: A tale of Xenon headlights

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    A tale of Xenon headlights

    When I picked up my new toy a couple of weeks ago we had a wet trip home and I noticed that one headlight appeared to have condensation inside it. I didnt think much more about it until I got home and took it for a drive at night and found the drivers side headlight didnt light up, oh well, the price of buying privately thinks I, resigning myself to an astronomical bill for a new headlight. I replaced the headlight xenon bulb at a cost of about $70 on ebay (didn't fix it) and on closer inspection found that the headlight lens had been cracked where it meets the base of the headlight, the crack is still visible after repair in this picture. (yes Garrycol, I know it needs a wash)

    IMGP0798.1.jpg

    The lens had either been driven into something to crack it or something had been backed into achieving the same result. Judicious application of the glue pictured below resulted in a watertight repair that is barely noticeable and I left the light to dry out.

    IMGP0799.1.jpg

    After doing some research regarding the light and its non functioning state the interweb consensus was that the ballast had blown and would need to be replaced. In the L494 case the ballast is located on the bottom of the light housing and is a serviceable part (LR050796) with prices ranging upwards from $500.00 new or $200 repaired AL Xenon Ballast for Range Rover Sport L494 (2013-2017), 130732946800, LR050796

    Some more research prompted me to do a search on the ballast oem number which achieved much more pleasing results with a delivered price of $AU56.00 from Amazon.com. It seems that these ballasts are used in everything from Camaros to Jeep Patriots and are as common as muck in the US once you look for the correct part number Amazon.com.au : 1 307 329 263 01 Note that you do have to search in Amazon with the spaces in the number.

    I'm still waiting for the ballast to show up but this morning I had the fog lights on and when I arrived at work I flashed the headlights in the reflective glass in front of the office and both headlights lit up. Bloody Land Rovers......

    Anyway this might benefit someone and I've got a spare ballast on the way and a spare xenon bulb in the shed.

    Regards,
    Tote
    Go home, your igloo is on fire....
    2014 Chile Red L494 RRS Autobiography Supercharged
    MY2016 Aintree Green Defender 130 Cab Chassis
    1957 Series 1 107 ute - In pieces

    Assorted Falcons and Jeeps.....

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    So I replaced the headlight today... Over Christmas the glue cracked and the light got wet leading to a failure of the xenon and the daytime running light only lighting up for half of its length. These retail for about $3500 at your friendly dealer but can be had for about 500 pounds (OEM) or 1100 pounds (genuine) from these blokes LR Centre: Land Rover Parts & Range Rover Parts Online The light was ordered last Thursday and was at the Yass post Office yesterday afternoon after traveling via Cincinatti.
    The only difference I can find between the lights is the OEM one doesn't have Range Rover written on the lens for the Xenon and that isn't worth 600 pounds to me.

    Fitting is pretty straightforward, you need to remove the inner guard liner, the grille and the light is held in by 3 screws and a couple of clips. I'm pretty sure my owners manual actually tells you how to remove the lights to replace the bulbs. You also need to remove the coupling between the guard and the plastic bumper assy to move the bumper enough to remove the light. It took me a couple of hours to remove and refit this arvo but 20 minutes of that was figuring out how to put one stupid piece of plastic that sits against the light behind the grill back

    Another thing I learned is that you could probably replace the high voltage board for the Xenon from inside the guard if you had to as it just screws on the bottom of the light.

    While I had the inner guard plastic off I also cleaned the earth that is located behind it as the left hand DRL flickers sometimes and seems to be affected by turning the wheel to full lock suggesting a bad earth. I did the left hand earth the other day and it made no difference so I'll see if the right hand one makes an improvement or not over the next few days.

    Regards,
    Tote
    Go home, your igloo is on fire....
    2014 Chile Red L494 RRS Autobiography Supercharged
    MY2016 Aintree Green Defender 130 Cab Chassis
    1957 Series 1 107 ute - In pieces

    Assorted Falcons and Jeeps.....

  3. #3
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    God I love that colour...


    "How long since you've visited The Good Oil?"

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    '03 4.6 V8 HSE D2a with Tornado ECM
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    '16.5 RRS SDV8
    '21 to Infinity and Beyond!


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  4. #4
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    Following this as it may yield some useful tips. LH headlight failed so took out bulb. It had shattered. Unusual, but bought & installed new bulb.
    Great - new bulb works, but its aiming point is totally different. It's aiming at a high beam elevation. Lost bulb movement between high & low beam (RH headlight still operates) and am yet to check if I've lost steering the beam.
    I thought maybe broken bits of the old bulb had jammed the mechanism, but they should fall well clear. Also, I can move the bulb holder manually. All worked before the bulb blew.
    Not keen on replacing the headlight for thousands of dollars.
    '74 RR; 81 RR; D2, D2; D3; RRS

  5. #5
    Celtoid is offline ChatterBox Silver Subscriber
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tote View Post
    When I picked up my new toy a couple of weeks ago we had a wet trip home and I noticed that one headlight appeared to have condensation inside it. I didnt think much more about it until I got home and took it for a drive at night and found the drivers side headlight didnt light up, oh well, the price of buying privately thinks I, resigning myself to an astronomical bill for a new headlight. I replaced the headlight xenon bulb at a cost of about $70 on ebay (didn't fix it) and on closer inspection found that the headlight lens had been cracked where it meets the base of the headlight, the crack is still visible after repair in this picture. (yes Garrycol, I know it needs a wash)

    IMGP0798.1.jpg

    The lens had either been driven into something to crack it or something had been backed into achieving the same result. Judicious application of the glue pictured below resulted in a watertight repair that is barely noticeable and I left the light to dry out.

    IMGP0799.1.jpg

    After doing some research regarding the light and its non functioning state the interweb consensus was that the ballast had blown and would need to be replaced. In the L494 case the ballast is located on the bottom of the light housing and is a serviceable part (LR050796) with prices ranging upwards from $500.00 new or $200 repaired AL Xenon Ballast for Range Rover Sport L494 (2013-2017), 130732946800, LR050796

    Some more research prompted me to do a search on the ballast oem number which achieved much more pleasing results with a delivered price of $AU56.00 from Amazon.com. It seems that these ballasts are used in everything from Camaros to Jeep Patriots and are as common as muck in the US once you look for the correct part number Amazon.com.au : 1 307 329 263 01 Note that you do have to search in Amazon with the spaces in the number.

    I'm still waiting for the ballast to show up but this morning I had the fog lights on and when I arrived at work I flashed the headlights in the reflective glass in front of the office and both headlights lit up. Bloody Land Rovers......

    Anyway this might benefit someone and I've got a spare ballast on the way and a spare xenon bulb in the shed.

    Regards,
    Tote
    Geez that's annoying!

    Sorry ... didn't realise the original post was so old!

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by jh972 View Post
    Lost bulb movement between high & low beam
    Bulb movement or shutter movement? I don't know if the L494 healdights are different but my MY12 L322 still moves a shutter rather than the bulb, the same as the D3/D4.
    If a shutter then they can get stuck.
    MY12 RRV 4.4 TDV8 AB, +LLAMS, +e-diff, +ACC stop/go. Produce LLAMS for LR/RR, Jeep GC/Dodge Ram
    VK2HFG and APRS W1 digi

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by jh972 View Post
    Following this as it may yield some useful tips. LH headlight failed so took out bulb. It had shattered. Unusual, but bought & installed new bulb.
    Great - new bulb works, but its aiming point is totally different. It's aiming at a high beam elevation. Lost bulb movement between high & low beam (RH headlight still operates) and am yet to check if I've lost steering the beam.
    I thought maybe broken bits of the old bulb had jammed the mechanism, but they should fall well clear. Also, I can move the bulb holder manually. All worked before the bulb blew.
    Not keen on replacing the headlight for thousands of dollars.
    If you want to try and repair the headlight and need bits I still have the dead one in the shed. Happy to send for postage cost. I sold the spare ballast to a Jeep Grand Cherokee owner the other week

    Regards,
    Tote
    Go home, your igloo is on fire....
    2014 Chile Red L494 RRS Autobiography Supercharged
    MY2016 Aintree Green Defender 130 Cab Chassis
    1957 Series 1 107 ute - In pieces

    Assorted Falcons and Jeeps.....

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