LF HEADLIGHT BURNED OUT


2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
My parts vendor said the driver's side was "backordered" not discontinued.

Was he wrong?
.
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
Check out SW Lights in CA. They are on Instagram and I have contact information if required. They open up all OEM lights and customize them. Probably can fix a Ford GT headlight. I’m good friends with the owners.

Do they have a website, or even (ugh) Facebook page?

.
 

Rick Mustang

GT Owner
Mar 29, 2016
102
Central Texas
 
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2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime

Thank you Rick
.
 

fjpikul

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jan 4, 2006
11,475
Belleville, IL
Just as an aside, there is no lateral adjustment of the light, just vertical. You should replace the turn signal bulb while it is all apart. You said the other light is working so I assume the dashboard switch is ok.
 

GT844

Member
Apr 1, 2007
8
Oconomowoc, WI
It's fixed. I hope this information helps anyone who has experienced a headlight failure in their GT. First of all each headlight has two fuses and one relay. The first fuse #17 is a 15 Amp located in the passenger compartment The second fuse is numbers 17 and 18 are 25 Amp located in the power distribution box in the front compartment. Little did I know that there are also two relays in this Power Distribution Box, #31 right headlight and #32 left headlight. The fuses checked out good so I proceeded with the laborious job of removing the inner fender liner. (Not fun)
The entire headlight assembly is secured by 8 screws and must be removed to replace the Philips XenTron XLS135 XenDrive XLD135-40 OEM D1S Ballast. The Xenon bulb can be replaced without removing the headlight assembly. The front two screws are difficult to reach unless you have really long arms. Since everything was apart, for a relatively small amount of money, I replaced both the bulb and ballast. I bench tested the light an "yeah" it worked. After reinstalling the light, I pluged it into the harness and there was NO HEADLIGHT. This is when I discovered the relays. To test, I swapped the relays. Now I have a left headlight but no right. It is a common relay and can be purchased at any auto parts store for about $13. Had I known about the relays, I could have saved myself a lot of greif, time and money. Hope this helps.
 

ultrasportracing

GT Owner
Aug 31, 2011
490
Perth Western Australia
Thankyou, now we all know about the relays.. Thanks again.
 
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HighHP

GT Owner
Jun 3, 2019
434
Spokane, WA
Thanks for letting us know. Much appreciated. I think about everyone would assume it was the headlight. How often has a headlight gone out and it was NOT the headlight bulb? Everything on the GT is easy to remove, except those fender liners.
 

Tomcat

GT Owner
Thanks for the feedback/giveback!
 

dreimer

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Feb 8, 2018
164
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
This is what is great about this forum - really practical info, especially when someone learns the hard way and shares it so others don't have to do the same.
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,267
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Thank you!

I’m not sure I wouldn’t have jumped to the same conclusion (as I have on other things), but did you check for voltage at the headlight connector first?
 

GT844

Member
Apr 1, 2007
8
Oconomowoc, WI
Yes it showed 12 volts. I don't really know why the relay is needed anyway. Unless the head lights require a higher current draw that is required by the Phillips ballast and kicks in with the headlight switch. The 12v I saw might have been for the side marker light or something. It definitely was the relay, I'm just glad it's fixed
 

roketman

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 24, 2005
7,994
ma.
further evidence of what a great forum this is! The people aren't bad either!
 

twobjshelbys

GT Owner
Jul 26, 2010
6,053
Las Vegas, NV
Add this to the list of failure modes where swapping a relay ought to be close to first in the troubleshooting tree. Another is fuel pumps. Any others?
 

PeteK

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Apr 18, 2014
2,267
Kalama, Free part of WA State
Not so fast.

GT844 said that he checked for 12v at the headlight connector at the beginning of his troubleshooting. That would tend to rule out the relay, at least initially. however, I could see that a relay with corroded contacts would pass 12v at low amperage, but not enough amps when connected to a significant load, that would cause the HID headlight not to start. By replacing the light bulb, ballast, and relay, there isn’t much else in the circuit, but keep alert for any other symptoms.
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
Check out SW Lights in CA. They are on Instagram and I have contact information if required. They open up all OEM lights and customize them. Probably can fix a Ford GT headlight. I’m good friends with the owners.


I am working with Sean now to rejuvenate the headlights on my Z8.
 
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