Headlamp Question

SA315B · Jun 8, 2015

When I first start the car the passenger headlamp will sweep (the driver side does not) then I will get a Service AFS warning. I am assuming I need to replace the driver side headlamp assembly, does anyone know of a good source?

As a side note; this winter the temperature would occasionally drop into the lower 60's and a few times both headlamps would sweep and the AFS would work for one turn before the AFS warning would come on.

nerkpowers · Jun 8, 2015

I'm still trying to process " this past winter the temperature would DROP into the '60's ". I'm trying to remember if we had any highs in the 60's this winter.

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hawkeye372 · Jun 8, 2015

Will have to look into this too more closely. I too live in Florida and yes we have had a couple nights this past winter drop to I think 30's in north Florida.
This is why I like this site. I learn new things almost every couple months on our rides. Next time I start her up I'll pay attention front and check the headlights

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SA315B · Jun 9, 2015

Obviously I don’t live in the north part of the state.

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Be that as it may, I’m still looking for a good source for a headlamp.

airmike · Jun 9, 2015

I could be wrong here, but I thought that only one headlight did the sweep on start up.

hawkeye372 · Jun 9, 2015

I think your right airmike.

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SA315B · Jun 9, 2015

airmike said:
I could be wrong here, but I thought that only one headlight did the sweep on start up.

And that may well be the way they should work on start up. Be that as it may, I get a "Service AFS" warning and the AFS does not function when driving. It failed on the way home from the dealer. The dealer I purchased the car from had me drive 3 hours back to them saying they would take care of the problem. When I arrived the salesman had me take it into service, they said they would take care of it and 2 hours later they had changed their mind. They said I needed an new headlamp assembly and I would have to cover the entire amount. They wanted over $1,100.00 for the part and I forget how much labor.

It' not a big deal, I've been living without it for over a year, but it would be nice to have a functioning AFS system so I am looking for a source for XLR headlamps. I found a source for XLR parts (GM Parts Direct) that seem to have reasonable prices for most of their items, I've picked up a couple of things from them but their headlamps are backordered and they say they have no idea when they will be available again so I'm looking for another source for parts.

FYI, I had nothing but problems with the dealer (Ed Morse Bayview in Ft. Lauderdale) and because of it I will not go to another GM dealer ever again.

onalaska · Jun 10, 2015

SA315B said:
And that may well be the way they should work on start up. Be that as it may, I get a "Service AFS" warning and the AFS does not function when driving. It failed on the way home from the dealer. The dealer I purchased the car from had me drive 3 hours back to them saying they would take care of the problem. When I arrived the salesman had me take it into service, they said they would take care of it and 2 hours later they had changed their mind. They said I needed an new headlamp assembly and I would have to cover the entire amount. They wanted over $1,100.00 for the part and I forget how much labor.

It' not a big deal, I've been living without it for over a year, but it would be nice to have a functioning AFS system so I am looking for a source for XLR headlamps. I found a source for XLR parts (GM Parts Direct) that seem to have reasonable prices for most of their items, I've picked up a couple of things from them but their headlamps are backordered and they say they have no idea when they will be available again so I'm looking for another source for parts.

FYI, I had nothing but problems with the dealer (Ed Morse Bayview in Ft. Lauderdale) and because of it I will not go to another GM dealer ever again.

Wait a minute, you have had problems with one GM dealer so you have decided that all GM dealers are bad? There are several dealers in the Houston area that can fix your XLR. I didn't say it would be cheap though!

SA315B · Jun 10, 2015

lextoy · Jun 11, 2015

the headlamp is so expensive, its worth removing yourself, its not that hard, and figuring out if its the ballast/ control module on the side,
or the motorized bulb carrier.
from what i have researched, you may be able to just replace the ballast/ module, as it controls the headlamp movement??
can anyone confirm it is a controller, not just a ballast ??

also the ballast /module can be swapped from the working headlamp to the nonworking to see if it resolves the problem?
can anyone confirm the unit is left/right interchangeable ?

my right headlamp doesnt move. i have been looking at every housing and ballast on ebay to figure them out.
and reading parts descriptions etc...
will pull the lamp one of these days to play with.

SA315B · Jun 11, 2015

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ther; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style> You’re right; it could be the control module. I checked and the right & left modules have the same part number so they must be interchangeable. Thanks for suggesting it.

Does your left light sweep when you first start the car? It’s been suggested in this thread that only the right light sweeps on start up but I had a GM tech tell me they both sweep so I’m not sure who is correct. I hope it is the control module and not just because of the significant difference in price, it turns out that no one in the U.S. (at least among GM dealers) has a left headlamp in stock, they are backordered from GM and GM won’t tell anyone when they plan to manufacture more.

BusaMan · Jun 11, 2015

Try Here

Suggest you PM "MTRocket", in Billings, MT. Rod had a brand new set of headlights for sale last summer. Don't know if he still has them, but it's worth a short note to find out. FWIW :dunno:

Tim

lextoy · Jun 11, 2015

my left lamp sweeps, drivers side.
my right lamp doesnt move at all, and is aimed low and too far to the left, it almost aligns with the drivers side lamp at 100ft ?
it seems like its stuck full left sweep and never returned to center.
my goal right now is to disassemble and adjust back to center via the sweep mechanism.
then aim with the horizontal and veritcal adjustments.
i am half tempted to buy a used/broken one online for cheap to paly with,
problem is most of the avaialble used parts are from the older
non sweep headlamps.

PAK XLR8 · Jun 11, 2015

Both of mine sweep at startup

Just ran out to the garage to see what mine do at startup.

Both headlights do a sweep to the right (only), and then return to center, at startup. The driver's side does not sweep much, only a few degrees. The passenger sweep is a lot more, maybe 15 degrees, before it returns to center.

To be honest, I don't really notice the sweep at night, or how much. But then again, I don't drive too much at night - which is a shame - because my Windrestrictor never gets a full show...

Just another data point for everyone

lextoy said:
my left lamp sweeps, drivers side.
my right lamp doesnt move at all, and is aimed low and too far to the left, it almost aligns with the drivers side lamp at 100ft ?
it seems like its stuck full left sweep and never returned to center.
my goal right now is to disassemble and adjust back to center via the sweep mechanism.
then aim with the horizontal and veritcal adjustments.
i am half tempted to buy a used/broken one online for cheap to paly with,
problem is most of the avaialble used parts are from the older
non sweep headlamps.

hawkeye372 · Jun 11, 2015

The times I drive at night I do notice whenever you turn the wheel. The light beam turn for the corner? When start up in the garage I notice the right side more then the left.

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lextoy · Jun 11, 2015

my assumption is that both lamps are designed to sweep minimally to the inside, maybe only 15 degrees,
but much more pronounced to the outside like 40 degrees.
so when you turn hard right
the drivers lamp moves right 15* the passenger lamp moves right 40*
and when you turn hard left
the drivers lamp moves 40*left and the passenger lamp moves 15* left

i am curious if the control allows for incremental movement,
like if you make a soft right turn, do the lamps only adjust partially ?
i feel like i can steer my headlamp , as i adjust my turn radius
the lamp will adjust as well.

SA315B · Jun 16, 2015

Update...

Apparently there are no driver's side headlamps in stock anywhere in the US; they are on backorder to GM and GM is not saying when (if ever) they will be in stock. One assumes GM is waiting until there is enough demand to interest their supplier enough to do a production run.

Both lamps are supposed to sweep at start as part of a system self-diagnosis.

The car has to be moving forward for the AFS system to kick in and cause the lights to sweep in the direction of the turn. I forget the speed, it's not much but they won't sweep, other then the self-diagnosis at start, unless you are moving forward.

I'm not sure how much they sweep or if there is a variable rate at which they sweep. Mine have never worked and the one time I drove a Cadillac with the AFS function I didn't experiment. I remember they didn't sweep a hell of a lot but it was noticeable and there didn't seem to be any difference in the rate of sweep caused by the severity of the turn.

And I'm still interested in any aftermarket parts or sources for parts other than GM dealers.

David_B · Jun 16, 2015

Can you imagine the number of olderish cars with specialized headlights like ours, that will never be able to get new headlights after they are 10 to 15 years old?

Hopefully manufacturers or someone will make CAD files for parts like this available for free in the future so that future 3d printers can make replacement parts..

It's nice GM outsourced our third high center brake light out to China for replacement parts, but that's an easy part to make, I fear they won't be so inclined to do the same for our complex headlights.

If you thought OEM prices for new units where high, wait till used prices soar due to no new units being available.

ccclarke · Jun 16, 2015

Here's a cheapish, OEM headlamp control module that might help: 15797120 15929374 Headlamp Control Module for a 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Cadillac XLR

I don't have the Service manual that goes into detail on the control circuit and mechanical operation of the AFL, but if it worked intermittently, it might be some kind of binding or connector cleanliness issue that wouldn't be a nightmare to repair, or at least investigate. Sorry I can't be of more help.

CC :wave:

BusaMan · Jun 17, 2015

Auto-Mode; Auto-Mode

Don't forget: the light system has to be in AUTO mode for the sweeping lights to work. My system seems to work well, and really handy in dark, curvy places with a resident deer herd (like where we live :chuckle

).

Tim

Headlamp Question

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