Have you tried cleaning the lens?

Sent from my Nexus 10 and an XJ Portfolio. . . ☺

 

The lenses look clean on the outside, is it possible to clean the inside of the lense by removing the bulb?

I had thought about taking the headlights out and trying to clean them but wasn't sure if it was possible.

 

Maybe try swapping the ballasts over from each side? Bit of a pain as the headlamps need to be removed to access them though.

 

My experience was with the pre-facelift XF and the headlight units come out quite easily. I think yours is a facelift. But yes, you'll need to take them out, to see the back of the lenses.

Sent from my Nexus 10 and an XJ Portfolio. . . ☺

 

The headlights on the facelift are a pain to get out. Took us two hour this morning to do the passenger side but next time should be faster (the guide I found missed one bolt to remove which slowed us down). We didn't need to take out the driver side headlight unit, there was just enough space to get my hand in to swap the bulbs.

I'll pull them out next weekend and give cleaning the lens a try. I assume any decent glass cleaner will suffice; and while I'm doing that, I'll swap the ballasts.

Thanks for the advice.

 

I’d try cleaning the wiring connectors first and spray with ‘electrical contact cleaner/lubricant’ - Screwfix should have it.
The near side (passenger - assuming RHD, UK) suffers more water ingress past the arch liner than the drivers side. I’ve noticed more condensation in that headlamp than the other over the winter.

Use a mild dilution of methylated spirit and warm water to clean the inside of the lens. Give it 10-15 mins to fully evaporate. So called glass cleaners tend to leave a residue.

I’ve a similar issue so will be interested in your results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hi, if it is such a pain getting the headlights out why not replace the ballasts anyway, just swapping them over means if it proves one has gone you have to remove the headlights again, and if one has gone it possible that the other won't be far behind. Phil

 

If I was in a rush or doing a lot of night drive, I would just change the ballasts regardless. I'm in no rush and I'm not going out at night (and both lights light up the same or brighter than I was using before so it's not unsafe) so I can afford to wait and see what happens.

I think I could do each side in 30 to 45mins now, it was the first time trying to work out what to do took longer than expected.

 

Little update.

I've swapped the ballasts over between the headlights, it hasn't made any difference to the colour and brightness difference, the passenger side is still more yellow and duller than the drivers side. The weather was starting to change so decided to rebuild the car rather than risking trying to clean the inside of the headlight and having to rebuild in the rain.

However both lights are noticeably brighter than when I installed them.

 

Go on buy new headlights, you know you want to! Phil