Sir Thomas

2006 A8l 4.2 175k

had a 2yr old d2s bulb burn out after aprox 30k worth of driving, seemed too soon, but, oh well.

replaced bulb and blew immediately. after inspection noticed 2 black attachment clips(of 4) on igniter broken. Purchase new igniter and bulb.

install igniter and new bulb flashes twice and dead... during inspection notice i forgot to attach the thin retaining clip around the igniter, rats. Hmmm, maybe clip is also a ground.
new bulb installed, clip installed ... two flashes, dead.

As you may now be aware, I'm stupid, stubborn, and determined NOT to take this to the dealer for a stupid, albeit expensive, burned out light%*(@ bulb. I'm also getting pretty fast at switching these thins out, lol?

Sir Thomas

Does the new igniter need some dielectric gel put on it?

Any help would be appreciated

Thomas

a_very_naudi_guy

That's odd. I've had more than numerous HID problems myself with my previous Infiniti and now with my Audi - I am NOT blessed when it comes to the headlights. I've had the bulbs not come on, I've had them give 'pink eye' and other colors because of electrical issues. But blow out one after the other with a replaced igniter and everything is new.. I assume the car isn't moving. You not putting the retainer clips on would be an issue if the vehicle and the thus the bulb were moving as they are very sensitive, but they're not glass boned or anything to just blow because they're not held tight.

What brand / temperature of bulbs are you using? Was the new igniter OEM (Hella 5V)? Have you ran the car thru VAG/Vag-Com VCDS and gotten error codes off of it? My HID problems came from a bad computer I installed by misdiagnosing the VCDS output. I ordered an "OEM-compatible computer" that looked identical, installed it, got a few days use out of it, and then it blew again. Installed new bulb and a new ballast but got no power to the bulb. Took it to the dealer and they said it was the computer. They asked for $800 to repair; I laughed, brought in the previous computer that I had swapped out, and all was good. I also learned you could remove the whole headlamp assembly without removing the bumper during this time .

Point being, I would try moving the computer from the drivers side to the passenger side and see what happens. If all is well, order yourself a new replacement computer (or get one from a wreck at a junk yard). The "double flash and then burn out" symptom is odd, but who knows what instruction(s) are coming from the computer.

BTW, for experimenting, Ken-Sun makes decent cheap bulbs. I believe I got a pair of 4350K D2S for $20. For actual operation nothing beats those Osram Night-Breakers though!

MainelyA8

Might be a silly question, but what brands bulbs are you using? I've had bad luck with cheaper bulbs before, both on this car and the newer Taurus I came from. When I bought the D3, I initially replaced with Kensun. Those lasted under a year before I swapped to the Osrams.

Sir Thomas

1st bulb ... Phillips (Amazon)
2nd bulb ... Osram night breaker
3rd bulb ... napa (Korean)

Sir Thomas

Rats, rcvd reply from Naudi guy and replied via aol email. Noticed not now posted on audi world. Will attempt to post my response now on audi world

1. 1st bulb phillips, Amazon, 2nd osram night breaker, 3rd NAPA (korean)
2. car not moving, sitting in driveway
3. the retainer clip (mentioned) was on the outside of igniter, not on bulbs.
4. Igniter was Hella oem
5. Have not pulled codes. "It is just a stupid, stinking lightbulb, LOL. Will Pull codes tomorrow. Thank you. Good Idea.

6. "Computer", Hmmmmm. As it happened I looked this aftn. at fuse box (desperate), HOLY CRAP, dripping water out of fuse slots!!!??? All fuses tested good, whew.
Atlanta had a MAJOR rain this am and am guessing the sunroof drain or some other drain is now clogged. Carpet is also wet, not soaking. took various trim pieces off,
pulled back carpet, and NO standing water around computer module. Still, can't be a good thing!? Drying out now, wish me luck.

I am curious as to how or why I might move the computer module to the Passenger side?

7. Looked into KENSUN and purchased 1 pr. D2s bulbs for $22 free dlvry. WOW thanks. will fiddle with these til problem solved, then most likely go back to "Osram night breaker"
8. Double flash was seen by. 1. open driver side window. 2. turn on lights.(after instal) 3. RUN to front of car to see what happens, lol.

Sir Thomas

tried to pull codes with an Ancel AD310 OBDII/EOBD+CAN code reader.

No new codes, no stored codes. Hmmm

a_very_naudi_guy

sir Thomas you'll want to use a VAG or a Vag-Com VCDS.

As for moving the computer over, I say that so you can isolate and make sure it's not a computer issue. My last HID headlight headache was caused by a bad (but new!) computer, and I replaced with a used one and all was well. So I figure maybe if you move it over, you can determine it's not the computer causing the problem.

Re: the absolute rainfall into your interior; look for posts around the forum related to that. I believe ltooz had an issue with the carpet becoming very wet and he had a good post with photos and fixes (but I am not entirely sure it was him. Sounds like him with the detail!). If you want to determine if the sun-roof drain hose is broken or not, do a 'pour test' and pour water into the area where the drainage is on the sunroof and watch for it to come out. Drivers side hose, exits out drivers side door near the hinges. There are plenty photos here. Good to hear about the fuses.

Also sucks to hear the nightbreakers broke. Those are expensive (but great)

a_very_naudi_guy

Also I just had an idea - maybe unplug the AFS module when you install a new bulb? This is the module that results in the bulb moving to 'home' position and other movements based on elevation /lift of the car and such. Maybe it's moving the light in such a manner as to damage it? Just an idea. The computer is on one side, the AFS is on the other, I'm not sure which. The part #s should be visible, and I believe the AFS module says 'Pre-AFS' on it. You could unplug that (you'll get a 'Xenon Range' error or something similar on the dash) and test.

Regards

a_very_naudi_guy

Any progress on this? I'm curious.

Note: I'll have two working computers, pre-AFS, ballasts and three Osram OEM bulbs available here shortly as I am replacing the headlamp assemblies of both my driver and passenger side with very clean ones pulled from wrecks, and replacing the bulbs with Osram Night Breakers. I'll be selling the computer/AFS/ballast/bulbs (and possibly the whole assembly for the drivers side which is 100% functional; the passenger side has a problem with the range/AFS/movement as the wires became brittle and broke). So if you need any of these, let me know.

Thanks