Is there a primer on this anywhere?

2003 MCS with stock Xenon lights. Passenger side is out... and I know the various parts start at "not cheap" and just go up from there... and the local dealership charges like $150 to look at the darn thing, whether they fix it or not.

So... how do I analyze this? And I do have an electrical tester, but I'm used to residential work with it, not 12V car stuff.

Thanks in advance

 

Remove the bulbs (D2R HID) from each headlight and switch them with each other. If the light is now out on the other side of the car after the switch, you have a bad bulb (I would highly recommend installing a new pair at this time). If the "good bulb" does not work in the "bad headlight" then your problem lies with either the ballast or igniter.

 

A note on handling the bulbs. As with regular ones, especially the Sylvania Silver Star series, always make sure you wipe off any finger prints from the bulbs before you light them up. Otherwise, they will eventually pop/blow.

 

This is a common problem but there is no primer. That said is it intermittent or does it never come on? On mine if I turned it on and off a bunch of times it eventually turned on. Does yours do that?

The troubleshooting procedure is to first swap the bulb and ballast from one side to the other. That is easy and quick. If the problem moves, you are lucky as those parts are available from all sorts of sources.

If the problem does not move it most likely is the igniter and will require replacing the entire assembly. A bit over $600 from the Dealer but the Hella 010071031 for the left and 010071041 for the right at Amazon is $437 and is a direct replacement that comes with everything but the washer assembly. If you work slow from the instructions in the Bentley, it will take you a half hour to change it.

Rich