Billyjk7

Recently bought my first Audi. Has 83k on it. Previous owner said that he would occasionally get the left dipped headlight warning when in the Auto position. He said he could trick it to come.on by switching to manual and then back to auto-on. He said that the dealer replaced the igniter and it made it happen less frequently. Being tired of the tricks, i ordered a new ballast and out it in. The headlight came on and lasted abiut 5 minutes a d then went out. I took the headlight apart to find the igniter melted and the bulb blown.........next course of action?

raj99

@Billyjk7 - dipped headlight is rarely just the ballast or the bulb. It's usually a wiring issue, whereby over the years the wires have deteriorated or it could be as simple as a wire around the bulb being not set correctly in place. Go in there any ensure everything is locked in place properly.

Billyjk7

I initially thought that this would be a 5 minute check on wiring......so i get in there and find both wires to the DRL had about 1 inch of jnsulation worn off both wires. Fixed that. Then all5 wires.going to the adaptive headlight control module were brittle and cracking with missing insulation. Insulated them individually and then tied them together with tape for stability. Then one misc black wire in a patch of about 6 black wires was sketchy too....fixed that. No other bare wires and connections are good. Hopefully the new bulb and igniter install today make everything good again.......for now. Will start saving for new housings

Billyjk7

Put it all back together with a new ballast, bulb (legit factoy hella) and igniter (hella). Fired right up. Thanks for the tip.....had i not dug further, i could have likely put it back together without fixing those wires and blown a new bulb And igniter!