Intermittent dipped beam failure
 

Hi all,

May seem like a daft question but here goes. My near side running light sometimes flickers then goes out, I then get error message 'dipped beam failure'. If I turn lights off then back on it works for a few days then repeat. My question: is this likely to be the bulb failing or the light itself, normally I would have thrown a bulb in but I believe the bulbs for the xc90 are expensive so don't want to waste money. Is it a symptom of theses types of bulb when they are on there way out, ore more likely a poor/worn connection in the unit?

Hi I would think it is the bulb if you are talking about HID bulbs. You should also replace in pairs mate. Don't buy really cheap ones as they won't last. Dave

To be honest I wouldn't know, I am definitely not a mechanic. It's an 09 xc90 where the lights turn left/right with the steering. I would assume that with the car being an ex fleet car with full Volvo history that if they're not original bulbs they would have been replaced with Volvo spec ones. As said, normally I would chuck a replacement in but I priced them up at over £100 a pair 😳. Was just wondering if flickering was a sign of this type of bulb wearing out rather than a traditional filament bulb just suddenly failing.

Hi yes it was on mine, and yes they are very expensive, just make sure you don't buy fakes. Halfords supplied and fitted two in my car with a 3 year warranty. Dave

Yes it is it failing and they are expensive however they last a long long time even being on a the whole time.

Thanks all, seems like it's probably the bulb then, someone suggested to me that I should swap the bulbs over in the lights to see if the problem follows from left to right then I will know for sure so I'm going to that today just to see and confirm. Can't believe I didn't think of that myself first, doh !!

It’s really easy to do on the xc90 as you can take the whole headlight out to do it. Just remember to do it a while after using the car or preferably before it’s used as not only do you have the high volts( which can take a while to dissipate) it will be hot from use.

Removing the entire light unit is easy on these. In fact I’d say it’s the easiest I’ve ever attempted. Pull two metal pins out that releases the entire unit and I managed to change two of the dipped beams bulbs (£30 each!) in about 20 minutes.