Truufinator

Hi! For about the past 2 years I couldn't see at night when I drive with just my headlights turned to auto or on mode due to crud buildup. I recently got my headlights restored and they look brand new. When I drove it the other night I noticed I still couldn't see well. I got out of the car and clicked through every light setting on the switch and the low beam lights do not come on (I'm assuming the low beams and the inner most lights where as the blinkers are the outter most lights). The only lights that are on are the middle lights on both sides. When I turn on the brights the middle lights just get super bright and then back to normal when I switch it back to auto or on mode. I took it to a shop and they said my headlight switch is skipping a step and I will need a new switch. I was just wondering if this sounds normal or could it just be that both lights are out and need to be replaced?

Truufinator

I forgot to mention it is a 2005 Audi A6

SchwarzS6

The inner lights are teh DRL's. The middle lights are the highs and lows if you have HID's. In the low beam setting there is a metal shutter which blocks the upper half of the beam so as not to blind other drivers. When you switch to high beams the shutter moves out of the way and the illumination pattern changes. Note that the brightness of the lower part of the beam will not change, you will just increase the illumination above the low beam cutoff.

If you think that the illumination is not good then perhaps your projector lenses are fogged. or the internal reflector coating has degraded.

raj99

or the bulb may have degraded over time and may need replacement

Truufinator

I called them again and asked if they were just dirty so he got his tech on the phone with me and said that the lights do come on but that another light isn't coming on or something like that. Then he stated something about projection and recalibrating and if they are still dim to me I can bring it back and they can make it brighter.

raj99

before you go chasing ghosts, get yourself to someone with a VCDS and run a scan to see if there are any codes which tell you if you have an issue with your headlights.

Furthermore, if you need to remove the headlight, you will need to take off the front bumper. The headlight assembly is a sealed, so if something is causing 'cloudiness' in the unit you probably have other issues and simply cleaning it won't fix the issue.

Get yourself to a GOOD indy mechanic or go to a dealer. The mechanic you have now seems more than happy to troubleshoot via trial and error.

Truufinator

Whelp, I got the car back today and I just went out driving at the darkest part of night and there was NO difference in the brightness from before I brought it in. I just wasted $235 on a stupid headlight switch that has done nothing to help with the brightness. What I've noticed is that the lights do go out far but are dim. Like so dim other car's headlights help me see better. The street lights are brighter. When I am pulling into my house I can see the lights hit my garage door from far away so I know they are shooting out but are just so weak they are useless. I even turned them off while driving just to compare and there wasnt much difference. They are brightest directly in front but can't see crap past 3 feet.

SchwarzS6

What is the color of your lights? Are they pinkish at all? If so they bulbs need replacing. If you have never replaced them before that would be my recommendation

KevinGary

I ended up replacing the bi xenon lights in my 05 around the 9 year mark, and was shocked at how much brighter it was with the new lights. I think the lights just degrade over time.

Truufinator

They are regular color I would guess. I'm still pissed at the repair shop for not just putting in new bulbs. They just went off what I said to find an expensive repair to do. Also, I washed my car yesterday and and the front right light had a ton of condensation. I of course went on the forums and found that the lights are vented and this is a common problem. Like an idiot, I left my brights on last night to burn off the moisture. I had a dead battery when I remembered and shut off the lights and everything. AAA came out jumped my car for me. My check engine light came on again. Very frustrating since I just got it out of the shop yesterday to fix that. P0600 was the code which is a serial communication error. My radio works fine and all so I cleared the code and it hasn't come back on since. Is P0600 something I should worry about? I'm about ready to trade this car in for an Infiniti since everyoen I know that has one loves them.