W202 Factory Fit Xenon problem.....

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gina2201

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
2,792
Location
Cornwall
Car
Audi A4 Quattro Avant S-Line
Hello again,

I think my BF is fed up with this car already he has already fixed the climate control light and is trying to trace down the heated rear window not working but now one of the factory fit Xenon's is not working! GRRRRR :wallbash:

It is the nearside light and he has checked the fuse thats all fine put new bulbs in and tested them on both sides and the offside works fine. However the nearside will not turn on at all. The bulb indicator light on the dash is on indicating the bulb is not working however there is nothing wrong with the bulb.

Is this an indication of the ballast unit not working? If so what kind of damage ££££ wise am I looking at to replace it and are you able to use another cars ballast at all as I am sure these are not exactely common.

Help would be greatly appreciated as my BF is fed up and is cursing the car already I think he is more frushtrated with the fact everything is bit new to him as if it was a VW he would have fixed it by now.... :D
 
Hi,
You say you have put new discharge lamps in and the same side headlight is still out?
If this is the case my next course of action would be to swap the ballast/control units over, they are connected to the back of the headlight by one plug, and fixed to the car with a couple of 6mm selt tappers, I have some pictures of their locations, which I can put up later this evening if you like.
If after swapping them over it is still refusing to arc up it will be the unit in the headlight which I,m afraid is,nt available separetly from MB, but I "believe" they can be sourced from other MB xenon headlights SL 129 I think, I do have a web site saved at home that might be able to help.
I have heard that there is a pt. no. on them once they are removed and can be sourced from Bosch.
 
Hi,
You say you have put new discharge lamps in and the same side headlight is still out?
If this is the case my next course of action would be to swap the ballast/control units over, they are connected to the back of the headlight by one plug, and fixed to the car with a couple of 6mm selt tappers, I have some pictures of their locations, which I can put up later this evening if you like.
If after swapping them over it is still refusing to arc up it will be the unit in the headlight which I,m afraid is,nt available separetly from MB, but I "believe" they can be sourced from other MB xenon headlights SL 129 I think, I do have a web site saved at home that might be able to help.
I have heard that there is a pt. no. on them once they are removed and can be sourced from Bosch.

Hi Andy

Yep brand new lamps tested both in offside headlight and the bulbs work fine the minute you put one in the nearside it doesn't turn on at all :wallbash:

That would be great if you could post the pictures up of their location and the website.

If it is the ballast and I am hoping it is! Are there any other cars ballasts you can use or does it need to be a specific Mercedes part :dk:
 
If it is the ballast and I am hoping it is! Are there any other cars ballasts you can use or does it need to be a specific Mercedes part :dk:

W202 ballasts are a FEW £100 from MB and rare to source second hand however Audi TT ones IIRC are the same with just different connectors. The TT ones are easier to source second hand also and practically the same once you have swapped the connectors over.
 
Pretty certain Nick will have a ballast for it.
 
Hi Gina,
The ballasts are a bit fiddly to get at, as you can see in the pics below, the ballasts are the same though they have different MB Pt. No.'s this is simply because of their mounting brackets.
The N/S Ballast in place behind the front wheel arch liner.

XenonControlUnitPASSside1.jpg


The O/S side Ballast in place under its headlight.

P1100007.jpg


These are the ballast units,

P2230001.jpg


Ballast Pt.No.'s
N/S MB Pt.No. A 202 820 69 26, Bosch no. 1 307 329 038
O/S MB Pt.No. A 202 820 70 26, Bosch no. 1 307 329 039

To the right of the bulb you can see two electrical connections the upper one is where the Ballast unit plugs in the lower one is where the headlight plugs into the car.

PC010001.jpg


This is a pic of the plug on the end of the ballast.

P2230005.jpg


Sorry this one is a bit out of focus, but you get the idea.

P2230003.jpg
 
You can get the MB ballast from Bosch and it us about £120.

Audi TT ones work and you can use the same connector but you have to pop the pins out of the connector and change the wiring order. They must come from the early TT model.

I am using Audi TT ballasts, and it took me ages source them and finally got them from a breaker in Germany.

Gina , swap the ballasts first and test. It could also be an issue with the igniter. These sit inside the headlamp and are not sold separately.
 
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try ebay germany have seen ballasts there for a reasonable price
 
Many thanks for the replies guys! I shall show this to the BF when he returns! :)

Hope we can get it solved easily, for my purse's sake as well as his!
 
You can get the MB ballast from Bosch and it us about £120.

Audi TT ones work and you can use the same connector but you have to pop the pins out of the connector and change the wiring order. They must come from the early TT model.

I am using Audi TT ballasts, and it took me ages source them and finally got them from a breaker in Germany.

Gina , swap the ballasts first and test. It could also be an issue with the igniter. These sit inside the headlamp and are not sold separately.

What is the wiring order or is it self explanatory when you do it?
 
Well my BF had the car in bits today and it is definatley the Ballast but at the same time he has found that one of the Air Con fans is siezed and barely moves!
 
Well my BF had the car in bits today and it is definatley the Ballast but at the same time he has found that one of the Air Con fans is siezed and barely moves!

Hi Gina,
Quite common for the fans to seize, they should run when called upon by the A/C system, i managed to free mine off by leaving the car running with A/C system on and every time the other fan started the semi seized one would try to start, i just helped it start, the fans run together when running but vary in speed which is controlled by the unit fitted next to the N/S headlight ballast unit.
With the system on the fans cycle on/off because of the refrigerant pressure.
 
Hi Gina,
Quite common for the fans to seize, they should run when called upon by the A/C system, i managed to free mine off by leaving the car running with A/C system on and every time the other fan started the semi seized one would try to start, i just helped it start, the fans run together when running but vary in speed which is controlled by the unit fitted next to the N/S headlight ballast unit.
With the system on the fans cycle on/off because of the refrigerant pressure.

Thanks,

He said the offside fan is near on siezed solid and you can barely turn it! But the nearside one runs freely. Is it an expensive part to replace if it needs to be done?
 
What is the wiring order or is it self explanatory when you do it?

If you are going to attempt to use the Audi TT ballasts I have pics I took somewhere (when I did the job) of the colour coding, how to pop out the pins from the connector etc and can send it to you if you wish.

You have to gently prise out the pins from the connector on the Audi ballast unit and either fit them into your existing connector in a certain order or slightly modify the Audi connector, and again refit them in a certain order.

I did plan on doing a HOW TO on this job but never found the time to get around to it.

If you let me know if you are going down the route of the Audi TT ballasts I will gladly post you the details :)
 
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Hi,
My freed up fan lasted over two years but required replacing in the end, i managed to get a second hand set of fans from a breakers for £50ish, a new fan from MB costs about £135, I take it your other one runs cuts in/out OK?
Shame I can,t remember what happened to my old fans as it was my N/S one that failled my O/S fan was still perfectly OK, which you could of had, i,ll have a look for it it in the next few days and if i can find it you can have it.
 
We bought an (early) Audi TT ballast off ebay from someone in Plymouth last night. My BF went to fit it today and although they are identical parts he found it didn't work. He tried swapping the connectors as they were easily removed from the Audi one and the MB one but to no effect. He also tried using the Audi's connectors and rearranging the pins etc but to no avail.

He is slightly (!!) frustrated at this point in time as he feels we have been duped with a duff part. Grrr....

Vijilants - if you could post/send us the details/pics would be a great help.

Thankyou. :)
 
He is slightly (!!) frustrated at this point in time as he feels we have been duped with a duff part. Grrr....

Why not try it on the known good side and the good one on the bad side. That way you know if it's the car or ballast. ;)

You have checked the fuse..?? ;)
 

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