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my dipped beam bulbs keep blowing as soon as i switch them on,the nearside main beam and the side lights on both headlights work fine but the main beam on the other side dosnt work and the dipped beam bulbs on both headlights keep blowing,i have checked all the fuses and they are all fine,i have replaced the indicator/headlight stalk with a new one but that didnt solve the problem,the only other thing i can think of is the headlight relay must be faulty but dont know where it is,could there be any other cause of the problem?
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How long do they last before failing, the only two things that can normally cause bulbs to go are vibration or excessive voltage, if the latter were the case it would affect all the bulbs. You could just check the battery voltage, should be about 14 volts with the engine running.
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Thanks for the reply peter,as soon as i switch the dipped beam on from the stalk the wire inside the glass of the bulb breaks,the main beam bulb on the nearside works fine but the main beam bulb on the other side dosnt blow,that one just dosnt work,the only ones blowing are the dipped beam bulbs,the battery voltage is ok,this problem has only started a few weeks ago and was the only problem on the mot,now the mot has expired and i dont want to scrap the car just because of that,want to get any advice i can before i think about taking it to a auto electrition,i think it might be the headlight relay but dont know where it is and ive taken it to 3 mechanics while it had the mot and none of them knew where the relay was :-(
{Volume of post lowered - ie, removed the SHOUTING!}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/10/2008 at 13:51
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If there is a relay that was faulty it could possible be switching the bulb on in quick succession and blowing the bulb. However waht is the battery voltage, telling me it is OK does not help. You may not have a dip/main relay and may be switched directly from the stalk. Regards Peter
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post on a Citroen Forum. Enter 'Citroen forum' in google. Regards Peter
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I don't think it's a relay problem. All the relay is doing is switching the current on or off. I cannot see how it can cause overvoltage to the level of blowing the bulbs.
What is the voltage reading with the engine running?
Are they decent quality bulbs?
Have a look at www.frenchcarforum.co.uk and go to this thread in the Citroen section: -
Xantia 2.0 VSX Right Main Beam not working. It's on the first page.
It'll give you diagrams, location of components etc.
Edited by mjm on 01/10/2008 at 15:15
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your a star mjm i didnt know about www.frenchcarforum.co.uk it got a wealth of info about the xantia,i found out about another problem i got,a new heater matrix needed but thats 2nd on my list of jobs to do,back to my headlight prob the volltage reading was 13.5 and ive used 4 ring bulbs and 2 from halfords so the quality aint too bad,on the french car forum people who have had similar headlight problems have been adviced to check the wiring under the radiator,thats a bit out of my leauge so im in 2 minds whether to sell the car or take it to a auto electrition where it may get costly,i will keep looking for advice,its the only thing i need to get fixed for my mot,its a pain in the bum
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13.5 volts is not going to pop bulbs that quite normal. However if there is a switch or a relay that is intermittent ( arcing of the contacts ) and repeatedly trying to turn the bulbs on that that will stress the filaments. Regards Peter
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It appears that there is no relay so the stalk would be the next plave to try. You could run a feed from the battery directly to the dip beam ar one side and ease the connector back on, if your bulb work then it is pointing to burnt contacts in the stalk not uncommon. Regards Peter
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ive put in a stalk but made no difference,someone suggested putting a wire from the main beam that works to the one that dosnt but if i did that would i need to double the fuse,a 10 to a 20,but that still leaves me without both dipped beams
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I missed you had changed the stalk. It could be a fractured cable doing the same thing arcing and there is mention of a problem with the harness under the rad. Can you turn the dip beam on with the engine off and the bulbs survive. This is a diesel and may be a failed engine mount is shaking the front of the car. Regards Peter
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i tried the dipped beam with the engine off but the wire in the new bulbs broke again,didnt even get a flash of light,the drivers side main beam bulb is still intact but dosnt turn on,ive only still got my side lights and the nearside main beam working,the bundle of wires in the harness under the rad look ok but will get somone to check if theres any dead connections,if no luck there then i will have to consider an auto elec :-(
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This isn't making the slightest sense. If the bulbs are being blown by some weird high voltage [higher than even exists on the whole car] then they would go off like a photo-flash.
Either you have bought a faulty batch of bulbs, or you are breaking them during fitting.
Neither event sounds likely; so equip yourself with a simple bulb-type testlamp and use that to check the voltage at the headlight plug. If that little bulb doesn't blow, then it suggests a mechanical cause.
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might of found the cause of the headlight not working after a closer inspection of the wiring under the rad,the xantia will be in the hands of a mobile auto electrition on thurs and i will post how it got on,fingers crossed having the wiring fixed will sort the prob out,i'm driving my omega mv6 at the mo but do miss my tractor,thanks for all the advice chaps
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yippee the xantia is nearly sorted,ive had the damaged wires replaced and ive got my dipped beams back but ive still got a prob,my drivers side main beam dosnt work,because the work i had done was expensive im thinking about doing the main beam myself,what i want to do is piggyback a wire from the main beam that works to the one that dosnt,now what i want to know is do i have to double up the fuse rating as im going to be running 2 bulbs from one cable,the main beam fuse rating is 10 amps,ive got a 17 amp cable with a max load of 200 watts which i think will be ok,the light bulbs are a 100 watt each.
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I would not do that. You are asking the wire supplying the L/H headlamp to carry 2x its normal current, about 10 amps. This is close to the maximum fuse rating in the fusebox. I would't trust the wiring to cope. A better way would be to trace the relay for the R/H main beam and by-pass the car wiring with your cable from the relay output to the main beam on the R/H light unit. I would also fit an in line fuse as close to the relay as possible.
My guess is that you have a damaged wire/connector somewhere in the front loom.
I'm at work at the mo, Haynes book is at home. Post back if you want me to have a look for the location of the relevant relay.
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yes please mjm,find the relay location for me.
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Sat,
I've studied the diagrams and searched the frenchcarforum site and there doesn't appear to be any relays for the headlamps.
It appears that the switch on the column acts directly on the main beam fuses.
There is also a discrepancy between the fuse numbers in the haynes manual and the diagram. the fuse number for the L/H headlamp is shown as feeding the R/H one.
The 2 main beam fuses are nos 12 and 13.
It should be easy to check which is which by pulling one and seeing if you lose the L/H main beam. Once you have sorted that I would check that the non functioning fuse assembly has good contacts and, if possible gain access to the loom side of it and replace the wire to the headlight.
Mine is a series 2 Xantia and there may be physical differences between them but post back if you need to and I'll have a look under the bonnet of mine to see if it'll help.
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I thought there was a relay, but that's by-the-by. Piggy backing one side onto the other will melt or fuse something, and the lights (never great on a Xantia wil be DIIIIIIM!). Fixing it is easy though. Get a big relay (like 30 amp) use the live feed to the NS main to switch it, then run a heavy (fused!) cable from the battery through the relay to both main beam lamps. Run a relay earth to somewhere convenient. 1/2 hour tops.
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Richard, I think that's the way I would go with the O P's problem. I would split the feed to the lamps at the relay and in-line fuse both wires. (Doubles the chance of one light still working if something goes wrong!). That must cut the load on the light switch contacts. I couldn't see a relay on either the wiring diagram or the component layout on the fcf site at the link I posted above. I am willing to proved wrong.
Must say that the lights on mine are fine, better than the BX's I've had before the Xantia.
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thanks guys,i think i'll go with richards idea,i only need the main beam for the mot,i cant remember the last time ive used my main beams but its got to be done,the job sounds simple but i'll see if theres anyone in swindon who could do it for me before i attempt it,still like the old xantias though :-) i've had a 1.9 td p reg estate with over 300,000 miles on the clock,i had the cluth clip snap on that one and the other xantia was a 1.9 d L reg basic car but nice to drive,my third one has been good apart from the main beam light :-(
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Sat,
Have a look at www.french carforums. (link non clickable)
Go to the Citroen area and type in xantia and headlamp and relay in the search area.
Look at the thread posted by lolingram on the 18th April 2008 titled Xantia headlamp improvements. It will give chapter and verse on what you are doing.
Post back when you've done it and if it's a good mod I may do it myself! :)
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