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Clio 1999 mk2 - only one dipped headlight - help please



  Clio mk2
Hi again
So the missus car was due for mot and we noticed only one dipped headlight works.
I have searched Google but not got the answer yet.
Obviously cannot be stalk as one works.
Both fuses for dipped lights (9 and 10 in fuse box) are fine.
I cannot find a relay for the lights so guessing there isn't one for this model.
I have replaced defective bulb but no joy either.
The only thing I have found is the loose wire in the picture. It appears it should go into a yellow plug type thing in the passenger football relay box , but I cannot get that plug off.
Please help us if possible.
Thank you very much.
20180920_171226.jpg
 
Have you checked all the connectors / wiring at the lamp unit? The working one should (hopefully...) show how it should be.

That picture is just a snakes nest of wires, I doubt anyone could determine what it is and where it goes without a wiring diagram! Are there any free holes in the connector block the rest of the wires look like they're going to? Risky to just connect it if there is a gap, though...

You say you replaced the defective bulb but have you swapped the working one with the defective/new one, to check that the new one is not defective as well? lol



On a side note, it's slightly concerning it took until a pre-MOT check to notice it wasn't working... Was it not a bit dark when driving at night? Didn't you notice only one bright light being reflected in the paintwork of cars in front when queuing / parking (inwards/incorrectly)?!

I followed some chap on the motorway the other day. At the rear he had one number plate light working, one brake light and the centre brake light, and that was it - no sidelights at all, completely impossible to see him.

We should all walk round the car once a week and check tyres/lights/wipers/etc.!
 
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  Clio mk2
I will try swapping the bulbs later.
Is there any reason I could not just find out which wire goes into the working dipped beam and create a further loop to the broken one...which would bypass whatever part is broken?
So far as not noticing, she never drives at night....it's barely worth her even owning it from the amount of miles she does!!!
Thanks for the reply
 
In theory you could extend the wiring, but don't forget that you'd then be doubling the power going through the wire in question and you don't know how high it is rated / if it would burn out...

Wiring and electrics falls into boxes labelled 'Magic' and 'a PITA' in my head lol, so I hope you can fix it!

You might just have to trace back the wires from the lamp unit to see if there are any visible breaks in them, and break out the multimeter to get testing if not...

(Or call an auto electrician for a million pounds!)
 
  Clio mk2
Ok so for anyone else that tries to do this from previous experience without checking first, the mk2 has a separate small bulb below the high beam bulb. They are not just one bulb for high and low beam. The bulb had just blown lol.
I would have though somewhere online would have mentioned this during my searching but no.
Thanks
 
Your terminology is confusing ;)

The small W5W bulb within the inner lamp unit is a Sidelight bulb.
The bulb (H7?) in the outer lamp unit is the Dipped Beam bulb.
The bulb (also H7?) in the inner lamp unit (shared with the sidelight) is the Main/High Beam bulb.
 

Rystar

ClioSport Club Member
  2003 Clio 172
Your terminology is confusing ;)

The small W5W bulb within the inner lamp unit is a Sidelight bulb.
The bulb (H7?) in the outer lamp unit is the Dipped Beam bulb.
The bulb (also H7?) in the inner lamp unit (shared with the sidelight) is the Main/High Beam bulb.

That's also assuming its not a non-sport phase 1, which also had the single H4 Dipped/High Beam bulb. I think maybe the OP has had a bulb terminology mix up!
 

chris blue

ClioSport Area Rep
  172 Ph1 2001
Totally off at a tangent (Apols to OP) but would a non Sport 1999 Phase 1 drivers door, fit a 172 RSport Phase 1 bodyshell
Been told it does, but don't want to lash out money unless fairly sure
Thanks in advance etc etc
 
  Clio mk2
:)
Yep I meant the side lights all along. I am not without some knowledge of cars as I have owned a vectra (if you've had one you probably know they needed regular fixing). I always thought the first click of the stalk was dipped headlight lol. Not that I drive at night with just them on!!!
 
:)
Yep I meant the side lights all along. I am not without some knowledge of cars as I have owned a vectra (if you've had one you probably know they needed regular fixing). I always thought the first click of the stalk was dipped headlight lol. Not that I drive at night with just them on!!!
Under the Highway Code rule 113, you are perfectly legal and entitled to drive within streetlit areas on sidelights (with my emphasis in red):
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-hig...-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158
Rule 113

You MUST

  • ensure all sidelights and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise
  • use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified
  • use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226).
Night (the hours of darkness) is defined as the period between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise.

Rule 115 then offers somewhat contradictory, non-mandatory advice that suggests you should use dipped beam on urban roads (i.e. with streetlighting):

Rule 115

You should also

  • use dipped headlights, or dim-dip if fitted, at night in built-up areas and in dull daytime weather, to ensure that you can be seen
  • keep your headlights dipped when overtaking until you are level with the other vehicle and then change to main beam if necessary, unless this would dazzle oncoming road users
  • slow down, and if necessary stop, if you are dazzled by oncoming headlights.

but I completely disagree with this recommendation, personally.


For example, if we are standing in a dark room or area, can you see more overall if I hold a candle up in front of me (sidelights) or shine a cree LED torch into your eyes and sear your retinas off (dipped beam headlights, especially those damned excessive LED versions on new cars)?

Sure, the brightness of the torch is definitely more noticeable than the candle and does 'ensure that you can be seen', in that its output is massively higher and it draws your attention (because it's all you can f**king see), but the eyes are not designed to cope with such a massive difference between light and dark, so your pupils constrict and stop you seeing anything in the dark areas away from the light source.

With the candle/sidelights, you can still see the source of the light and it draws your attention within the dark area because of it, but it's not so bright that your pupils constrict, meaning you can still see things in the dark areas.

We can see perfectly well by starlight alone, as anyone who's travelled to and stood outside at night in the Dark Sky areas of the UK can testify, and actually allowing the eyes to adapt to lower levels of light overall (and gain some 'night vision'), rather than suffering constant blinding glare from dipped beams and those f**king chavvy foglights that people call 'driving lights' :rolleyes: , might actually help drivers spot pedestrians and cyclists in the dark areas that are not visible when being blinded, improving road safety.


[/soapbox]
 


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