Hey everyone, hoping someone could help me out:

my drive-side xenon went out a while back. Ordered some new bulbs (changing both to make sure color remains the same) but my mechanic noticed that my "ignitor" on the driver-side is corroded. I called Audi and they want to charge me an arm and a leg and frankly, I need my arms and legs.

I was hoping someone could guide me here: should I replace both ignitors to be safe with the new bulbs? Where can I find an ignitor? Anyone selling one?

Thanks for you help guys.

 

I dont know if your mechanic has done alot of work on Audis But I have an '03 and the ignitor for the xenon bulb is built into the base of the bulb. (D1S Type) The dealer is going to charge you about $125.00 for the new bulb (that includes the ignitor) The other part to the xenon system is the ballast. The dealer wants about $650.00 for this part which is out of control. Of course this is the part that I had to replace. The ballast is located on the bottom side of the light fixture and is flush monted. If you have the new bulb already Try to replace itfirst and if that does not work I can get you hooked up with a ballast and bulbsfor cheap.

 

Just thought I'd post this so if someone searches it'll come up and they can benefit from my experience. Got the Valeo LAD5G for my 03 A4 from oemxenonpart <oemxenonpart@gmail.com> out of China, $215 deliverd in 5 days great price! Just wanted to post this so others don't have to go thru what i did until I bit the bullet and decided to order from China. Mopar may have had the equivalent to the LADG, but i didn't want to take a chance that it was the wrong part. I sent a picture to oemxenon and he confirmed that he had the Valeo with the 12 pin cable which was a bit more rare and expensive than the Valeo LAD5GL.

 

I am all for circumventing ridiculous dealer prices, but I had an opposite experience ordering from China, specifically at oemxenonpart.com.
I ordered a headlight ballast earlier this year, mainly because a guy named "Sword" responded to my questions and said the part was new, and it was about half the price the dealer was asking. The part arrived about 2 weeks later, and it had all kinds of scratch marks all over it and was also stamped with a production date in 2007. I emailed Sword pictures of the scratches, but he claimed that the part was in fact new and that the scratches were from "some collisions put together" with other parts. He did say he would give me a refund if I wanted, but I declined because I didn't want to risk driving with a headlight out for another couple weeks while I waited for a new part. Now, 9 months later, the obviously used piece of junk ballast he sold me has gone out and I am left shopping for another one. Lesson learned: stay away from cheap aftermarket junk parts from China, such as oemxenonpart.com

 

For your car 2b and 2c ballasts are the same part number and only one used per headlight. Two are shown on the picture for some reason because of a vin # split that doesn't really matter in this case. It's p/n 3D0-907-391-B retail at 507.00 and 377.21 internet price. 17a is used into model year 2002, but around mid year 2002 and on 17a is used. It's N10566103 and retails for 160.00, internet price like somebody above was very close to, is 119.04 dollars. For early year 02 cars the #2 is used and seems to have the mate to the connection to the early style bulb 17. But the parts guide doesn't call #2 a ballast, instead it's called a control unit with ignition device, in other words "igniter", I suppose it's the same thing. Anyway, there are some of the differences for your car and year, part numbers and prices to give you a heads up on what your are looking at.

 

My headlight on driver side does not switch on all the time and gives me the bulb warning light on the dash. I turn the switch on-off-on-off for a few times and sometimes that works and the light is fine. Had it at the shop and got the bulb replace. Didn't solve the problem. Then they made me buy a new ballast control unit. Still the same problem. Does anyone experience the same? Audi 2003 TT 1.8T.

 

So you've changed the balast and the bulb and didn't solve the problem? try putting them on the other headlight, see if the problem persists. If it doesn't chances are it's probably your wiring going to your headlight or from your switch, which would be a PITA.

 

Thank you Dan1969. Yes I replaced ballast and bulb, still giving me issues. I just had a mechanic look at it and he agrees with you. It's either the wiring or the headlights switch. I will try to get a used switch on eBay or so as my next step.

 

Someone here or in VAgcat had a wiring diagram. If you search on google it will come up, also audiforum.us has a lot of members with the wiring because they do mainly electronics on there. Good luck. Honestly I think is an issue with the plug, post your progress hope it gets fixed.

 

Here an updated about that darn HID light on my TT. I mentioned that the new ballast and new bulb did not do the trick. So I bought a new light switch and the problem remained. Next would have been the wiring as dan1969 suggested. So today I had a young kid mechanic come by ... he had a look for around 2 hours and I think he got it. Imagine the Audi Workshops and Euro garage gurus just clueless and starting with the most expensive repair first ... and here comes that kid. What I really never got was the HID ignitor topic in this forum. Some stated the ignitor is actually the ballast unit or in the ballast unit. Well that would be wrong, there is an ignitor in the bulb socket. Is sparks like a lighter and switches on the HID bulb. So we tested with the bulb out of the sockets and the ignitor sparked every time when we switched on the light. That eliminated the wiring issue I guess, which is good. Then he used some special electrical grease (99 cents) in the bulb socket and the light works since yesterday on the first switch. I guess the next step would be getting a new socket if this does not do the trick. I'll keep you all posted. If one of you has a good idea about that ignitor (socket) fix, please let me know.