reading manual again....I am attempting to change dip beam highlight....seems no plug?....\one ground and one yellow wire connector which the bulb goes into......should bulb light then to test without fitting into light unit ...so I can know that it is good..before replacing cover?.....also about 2'' bare wire/yellow...have I pulled it too hard?....

.READING MY OWN QUESTION I SOUND DUMB FOR SURE!.... I am 79 and have not looked under the bonnet for two years.....Guess my hands have grown?,,,,/tight fit in small space for sure!....Appears bulb shall fit back in only one way...Hopefully I live long enough to figure out which way!

 

harry, I have good news, I have news that will be hopefully useful. Sounding like you have the conventional halogen lights. They use the base of the headlight housing as the ground and that yellow wire is your positive wire. Your best bet would be to get some additional wire and put one end in the connector you pulled from the end of the bulb and then wrap the other end of this wire around the terminal on the bulb (so you can hold it outside of the headlight housing). Then you will need a second wire to wrap around the outside ring of the bulb and touch it to the metal ring on the housing. With the headlights on, this should cause the bulb to turn on, verifying everything is good.

Now, with all this being said, it is sounding like the yellow wire has gotten hot over the years and the insulation is starting to come off of it. It isn't anything you did, this is a normal thing for the X-TYpes. At a minimum, you need to wrap the bare wire in electrical tape to prevent it from grounding on anything inside the headlight housing. If you do this with the headlight housing installed in the car, be very, very careful with what you tug on. With the age of the car, there are pieces inside the headlight housing that have become brittle from the heat of the headlight bulb and even moderate pushing on the pieces will cause them to shatter and your headlights to aim who knows where (normally up into the sky or down at the ground directly in front of the car). In some cases, this bare wire has gotten so hot, that it has developed a high resistance inside the connector on the end and this will cause even a new bulb to not work. Before you go changing out this wire (which some have had to do), check fuses F16 and F17 (assuming us driver, F16 is the driver's side, F17 the passenger side) in the engine bay fuse box to make sure that they have not blown due to the bare wire. So, if you try to stick your hand in there, be very careful. They do make repair kits which you have to heat up the headlight, separate the clear lens from the backing, but replacing the parts is easy. Then you use some RTV to glue everything back together.

With all that I have said up to this point, most will admit that it is best if you remove the bumper cover and then remove the headlight housing. Yes, it takes some time to do, but it saves you from having to twist your hand in really bad ways and risking damage to the headlight housing. If you look on here, there are a lot of write ups on how to remove the bumper cover. If you are in Richmond VA, I live about 2 hours (as the drive is) to the east of you in Maryland. I could potentially help you. Removing the bumper cover is not that bad. When I had my X-type, I could remove it in 30 minutes.

If you need more info, let me know. I will assist however I can.

 

Thermo...good to know you are alive n' kicking.....thanks for the info.....I would drop over but I am in Vancounver, Canada!....one more question...read somewhere the metal on the car surround above the lights can be removed?.......using a tool down the hole????....easier than bumber cover?

 

Thermo...good to know you are alive n' kicking.....thanks for the info.....I would drop over but I am in Vancounver, Canada!....one more question...read somewhere the metal on the car surround above the lights can be removed?.......using a tool down the hole????....easier than bumper cover?

 

Harry, I think you may be confusing a few things together. Yes, there is a hole in the radiator support that goes over the headlights. But, that hole is for adjusting the headlights, not accessing them. The only ways I am aware that you can access the headlights is to squeeze your hand in the area with the headlights installed, risking breaking the supports, or removing the bumper cover and unbolting the headlights. I wish there was an easier way, but I think we would have found it by now.

I will be out your way in June. Grandson graduates high school down in Seattle. So, I will be out that way for that. Me and Vancouver have a love/hate relationship. My luck up in Vancouver is bad. First time I went, car got broken into and they stole my 35mm camera and then had to drive back home to Seattle with a busted out window. The second time, saw Pink Floyd in concert, returned home just to be woken up early by the local police telling me my car got broken into and they stole $3000 worth of stereo equipment. So, me and Vancouver do not mesh too well. Love the town, just don't have the best of luck there. keep in mind, this was back in the mid 90's when all this was happening.

 

OMG....bad trip for sure!.....your info helped for sure...... ill dig for more info re removing lip on actual frame to access lights

 

OMG....bad trip for sure!.....your info helped for sure...... ill dig for more info re removing lip on actual frame to access lights