Help a fellow 172 owner stuck in Panama with xenon problems!!

[PanamaSport]

hey guys....i´ve had the light flickering described by other members in previous posts and my drivers side xenon is now dead....

I took the car to my mecanic and he tells me that he has checked and everything seems to be fine up to the ballast.

He says that its definitely the bulb (by bulb he includes the bulb and power pack/ignitor).

Since this is Panama, the only place to buy this is the dealer and its like 350usd which is outrageous!

My question is if there is a way to distinguish if the power pack is damaged or if its only the bulb.....i appreciate any help that keeps me from spending that ridiculous amount of money..!

Also, i´ve noticed that the "tube" covering the wire that is connected to the bulb is cracked, not so the wire itself...does this have any effect?

thanks for your help

 

[DMS]

Only way to be sure if it's the bulb is to swap it with the one you know works. If the light comes on it's the ballast on the other headlight that's screwed. If it doesn't, it's the bulb that's blown.

 

[barnesautos]

measure the voltage at the bulb with a meter be careful its high voltage

 

[PanamaSport]

thanks for the responses, but is there a way of checking out if the problem is the power pack or ignitor...im not sure what its called..basically the part that goes right behind the bulb

 

[Da]

If the bulb was flickering it's more than likely the lamp itself that has failed. The ignitir does just that, it ignites the gases and once done the lamp should stay lit. As the lamp was lighting then I'd say the ignitor is fine.

 

[PanamaSport]

So you think it´s just a matter of buying the bulb then? Could I be so lucky?!