Afternoon all, Hope one of the resident experts can point me in the right direction. My headlight decided to stop working halfway home in the dark last night on the A3. Turns out full beam is absolutely useless on its own - probably need to adjust the height on that, but that’s another issue. Pretty hairy riding home blinding everyone and still not being able to see the road in front of me. So went through the obvious checks, the main beam bulb had blown. No problem, replaced that with a spare I had. Still didn’t work. Next step was to check the fuse, that was fine. I checked all of them just to be sure, they’re all fine. I’ve no idea what to check next. Things to note... it does not come on when using the flash button so I’m guessing that rules out a relay issue. I’ve noticed the sidelights (little lights next to the headlights) also don’t come on. The wiring and electrics are all standard, no messing about with alarms or any splicing of wires. Any suggestions much appreciated. I’m keen to keep using it before the salt goes down and I have to revert to the winter hack for the next 4-5 months.
not taking anything for granted, is it worth removing bulb again to test separately? also, was headlight connector ok/no signs of overheating or corrosion? it's an area that crops up regularly.
Good point Chris - I did assume the bulb was fine even though it’s been in the garage unopened for a few years. I’ll swap it with working full beam bulb and check. I didn’t notice any issues with the headlight connector, but I only gave it a cursory glance. I’ll check that whilst I’m there Do you know if the side lights reliant on the main beam working?
Fuses can be intact but not making proper electrical contact with the fuse holder. Be sure to give the fuse a thorough wiggling in the holder to clear any light corrosion that may be present but not obvious
My headlight stopped working on a trip to France it turned out to be the plug into the moulded headlight assembly IIRC and the french mechanic who helped to solve the problem found it very funny that he had a connector spare in his toolbox from a diesel Peugeot that was exactly the same and fixed the issue. Hope this helps but you need to get the nose off to get to the connector, you can just about wiggle it with the fairing on to see if that’s it
Thanks fellas. Didn’t get a chance to take another look today, I’ll have another go at it tomorrow. Hope it’s not the plug as that’s a garage job if it is.
Turns out it was indeed a contact clean and wiggle job. If only everything was that simple fix! I’ve packed the head torch just in case it goes again on the way home tonight. It initially seemed a bit intermittent when I wiggled it a few times after a clean up. Will probably get the connector replaced when it gets a winter service for peace of mind. Thanks for your help all
