Hi! I had an accident with my car a few years ago in which both headlamp units had to be replaced. I had originally the standard MK7 headlamps with no LED strip light. I had them replaced with the newer LED DRL’s (the ones which have the one LED strip at the bottom of the lamp. They worked for about a week perfectly fine but then i realised that Driver Side LED had stopped working. I thought maybe this was a dodgy lamp so had it replaced. This worked for around the same period of time before it then stopped working again. I was wondering if there was anything that could potentially be causing these LED strips to stop working or if they just arent compatible. (Just as a side note, the passenger side Headlamp has been working flawlessly since it was installed.) Any advice would be highly appreciated!

Original or aftermarket?

Just noticed one original (passenger side, the  one that works funnily enough & the one that doesnt work is aftermarket)

 

It seems to be a common problem with aftermarket LED lights like DLR's and rear lights. I think the problem is that they are mostly made in China and it is assumed that the lights will be working on 12 Volts. In actual fact the voltage of the car is at least 13.8 Volt and quite often 14.5 Volt when the engine is running.

Fitting a suitable resistor (3.0 Watt for example) with a value of about 300 ohms in series with the supply to the LED running lights should fix the problem. This is of course assuming that failure is not due to water getting in.

Ah okay, could be a solution! Will give this a try and see if it works! If not, will find a genuine lamp and see if the problem persists. Cheers mate!

I didn’t think you could fit led headlights to one not originally fitted with them

1 hour ago, Lewie226 said:

I didn’t think you could fit led headlights

The OP is talking about the LED strip for DRL not the actual main headlight.

my late 2015 fiesta has a LED strip built into bottom of headlight for DRL. The earlier ones had a conventional bulb for DRL. It does sound to me like he is saying he had conventional bulb DRL headlights and replaced them with the later ones with LED DRL built in along bottom.   I wouldn't have thought they were a straight swap electrical compatability wise as the car varies the brightness of the LEDs.  eg. headlamp switch in off position then LEDs are bright, Headlamp switch on then LEDs are half brightness. I think LEDs dim when indicators flash also but don't quote me on that.  I don't know if the conventional bulb DRLs worked the same way.  I might be wrong and it might be a straight swap with the electrics being right but I tend to think nothing is ever that simple when fitting different parts