Hey gang:
Here's a real stumper. My right headlight on low beam goes on and off and/or flickers at random times as well as when I hit a bump in the road or pop the right fender with my fist (diagnostic exercise...not in anger :>). However when I wiggle all the wires in the back of the connector or wiggle the connector itself nothing happens. I have even taken the connector apart and cleaned all the wire ends as best I could. The problem still persists. Could there be a weak connection in the sealed beam itself? Does anyone have a test I could try to isolated the root cause.
As always..thanks

__________________
85 300D 107K present
82 240D 190K present- next-to-slowest car I ever owned
81 240D 1995-2000- slowest car I ever owned
79 350 SE Euro 1996-2001- fastest car I ever owned

You can swap the other headlight to see if it's the problem....
does the high beams act the same? if so there could be a ground problem.... in my 81 300 td there are a couple of ground wire on that side....clean them well and try again...
also, the connection might be nice and clean but are not making sufficient contact to permit current flow.... squeze the contacts

bill

The high beam works perfectly. That's the strange thing.

__________________
85 300D 107K present
82 240D 190K present- next-to-slowest car I ever owned
81 240D 1995-2000- slowest car I ever owned
79 350 SE Euro 1996-2001- fastest car I ever owned

They're two different filaments and wires. You could have a bad filament or a loose connection on the back.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

agree

case closed

Carefully pry the back off the connector of the headlamp unit and give all the female ends a nice squeeze. It's thin metal to be careful not to smush them. 9 outta 10 times this is the cure.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

Throw a little dielectric grease on there while you're at it, you can pick it up at any auto parts store.

__________________
-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

Forgot about that. I have a bottle right on top of my tool box. I use it as habit now a days on any electrical connector that I disconnect.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

Thanks everyone. I squeezed the connectors, and will pick up some grease.

__________________
85 300D 107K present
82 240D 190K present- next-to-slowest car I ever owned
81 240D 1995-2000- slowest car I ever owned
79 350 SE Euro 1996-2001- fastest car I ever owned

IIRC, the headlights are individually fused on the W123 and the high beams are also individually fused. If so, you could have a single fuse as the culprit.

If nothing else helps, post again, and I'll see if I can find the fuse number for it.