Lighting gremlin

[Fintious maximus]

Hi all,

I replaced all the bulbs in my T6 a few months back and this week I’ve had the ‘blown bulb’ warning light on a couple of times. Each time I’ve checked the near side DRL is out but when I next start the engine the warning light doesn’t show and the light works as normal. It’s only done it a couple of times and both in the last few days. Is this just a gremlin or is there anything I could check. Thought about getting some contact cleaner on the bulb connector

 

[Qnapper]

It might well be as simple as using contact cleaner and therefore worth trying first. Fingers crossed

 

[Vinyl1210]

I had ‘exactly’ this issue last year but with side light/dipped beam (call it what you will). When I parked up one day per chance I saw the bulb flickered on then off.
Investigated and turned out to be a loose filament. It was ‘making and breaking’ on the internal contact causing the ‘blown’ indicator to go on and off.
Might be worth just changing the bulb or wiggling the contacts of the wiring connection to see if that causes it.
In all my years of in-depth electrical and automation process fault finding the first go to is KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid . Often it’s the simplest of remedies.

HTH

 

[CAB]

What van? T6 or 6.1

What lights?

If it is T6 with H7s it is probably the DRL holder.

Thread 'H7 Headlamp - W21W DRL Bulb Issue. Be Aware'

29 Jan 2019

I'd been having an intermittent fault with the off side DRL for a while. As soon as I put my fingers on the bulb holder, it would turn back on for a short time. However, eventually it packed up altogether. So I removed it and discovered this....



The contacts were blackened and the plastic around them had melted. So off I went to the dealer with bulb and holder in hand.

After having to justify to the service receptionist why I'd dared to interfere with it, by removing it myself, (as per the owners manual), she took it through to the workshop for a technician to look at.

Back...

• Dieseldonkey
• bulb h7 headlamp w21w
• Replies: 86
• Forum: Electrics, Lighting, ICE, Security

• 

 

[Fintious maximus]

It’s a T6 and DRL. Think they’re H4 units. Gonna take the bulb out later on a give the connector contacts a good clean

 

[Fintious maximus]

I had ‘exactly’ this issue last year but with side light/dipped beam (call it what you will). When I parked up one day per chance I saw the bulb flickered on then off.
Investigated and turned out to be a loose filament. It was ‘making and breaking’ on the internal contact causing the ‘blown’ indicator to go on and off.
Might be worth just changing the bulb or wiggling the contacts of the wiring connection to see if that causes it.
In all my years of in-depth electrical and automation process fault finding the first go to is KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid . Often it’s the simplest of remedies.

HTH

Well this one was really simple stupid - dodgy bulb. New one in and sorted. In 40 years of driving I’ve never known a build to work intermittently. Confirmed it was the bulb by swapping over to the drivers side and it didn’t work there either. Oh well

 

[Fintious maximus]

So after swapping out both DRL bulbs last week for Lucas double life the bloody warning light came on again this morning on the way home from a couple of nights in York. Pulled in to services and replaced with a spare one and sorted. Am I just having bad luck or could something be causing them to blow? This one was the opposite side to last bulb that went bad but I replaced both

 

[Fintious maximus]

Bulb warning lamp came on last week while away and has been on/off randomly for a few days. Yesterday a DRL was out again after being replaced a couple of months ago. Put another Lucas long life in and all fine. I’ve never know a vehicle get through bulbs like this. Probably replaced DRL bulbs 4 times in 2 months. Was thinking about trying LEDs but I assume they would cause an error code and bring the warning light on anyway?

 

[JumpShip]

Have you tried the bulbs to confirm they are actually blown and not down to dodgy connections?

 

[Vanderlust]

I have H4 units in my T6 and replaced the drls with led bulbs from Travelling Lite transporter about 2 years ago no problems and no error codes. Would rule out the dodgy connection before buying led s.

 

[Fintious maximus]

Have you tried the bulbs to confirm they are actually blown and not down to dodgy connections?

Yeah, swapped the bulb from one side to the other and didn’t work. New bulb works fine but they only seem to be lasting a few weeks

 

[Fintious maximus]

I have H4 units in my T6 and replaced the drls with led bulbs from Travelling Lite transporter about 2 years ago no problems and no error codes. Would rule out the dodgy connection before buying led s.

I’ve used contact cleaner and light sand paper but they look absolutely fine. No corrosion or brittle cables

 

[Stay Frosty]

Try an LED lamp in there, don't get me wrong they'll pack up in time just like the halogens do but they look so crisp and white compared to the dull warm white of filament lamps.
For reference I've replaced two Twenty20 drl lamps in six years of use on our T6.

 

[manfrotto]

Prpbably stating the obvious, but handling halogen bulbs with fingers is not good for them, and they will fail very quickly.