[fofeg101]

Hi Guys, It's dark here in the UK right now but as I was driving home tonight neither of my low-beam headlights would work, high beams are working OK. I'm going to take a look in the morning, when it's light, to see if it's a coincidence that both low-beam bulbs have failed together, however, if the bulbs are OK is there any ideas as to what might cause that fault? My mechanic can't look at it until Monday and I can't get any answer from the KIA dealership.

 

[KingFatty]

Maybe some kind of power surge that was enough extra juice to overcome both bulbs at the same time (speculating that both were about ready to go at whatever time, but the power fluctuation got to them simultaneously)?

 

[DavesSpectra]

Check low beam fuses in fuse box under the bonnet/hood and also the low beam relay.
Dave

 

[fofeg101]

Thanks Guys, both bulbs OK, so I'm guessing the relay is at fault. I'll leave it until I take it into my mechanic, easier than trying to source a relay here at this time of year.

 

[fofeg101]

Oops!!, I'm back again, In just found out I checked the hi-beam bulbs by mistake, but it seems to be impossible to access the low-beam bulbs without removing the whole headlight unit, is this the case? Does anyone have details of where the bolts, screws or fasteners are located to do that? Thanks again.

 

[fofeg101]

I found the following thread which I think refers to the model previous to my 2009 Carens.

http://www.kia-forums.com/kia-carens-rondo-forum/54378-diy-howto-change-your-rondo-headlights.html

There's no way the head light unit will move out backwards on my model, there's too many immovable body structures behind it, however, I think I've located 3 bolts, 2 x 10mm similarly placed to the ones in the above thread and one smaller nut to the rear attaching the unit to a bracket, the removal of which may allow the unit to be pulled out forward from the car. Any contributions happily received.

 

[DavesSpectra]

On my 06 and 07 Spectras there are two 10mm bolts on the top and one 10mm nut behind the headlight ass'y. Then the outer edge (farthest from the grill) is held in place with a "snap" in/out plastic fitting that if you didn't know it was there would have a bad time trying to remove the ass'y...Your car may have the same type of arrangement.
Dave

 

[GregsKia]

Loosen the mounting bolts (2x 10mm) of head lamp. Remove the head lamp assembly (A) after disconnecting the lamp connectors.

Take care not to damage the retaining clips (A)

 

[fofeg101]

Thanks for all the help Guys, I appreciate it. My progress so far, before I remove the Headlight Unit to check if it a coincidental both bulbs failing, I decided to check the Lo-beam relay. The relays for the Lo-Beam, Hi-beam and Horn are identical, mine are DECO 95220-38000, so, I used the horn relay to replace the Lo-beam relay, it made no difference so it eliminated the relay as the fault, I think. So, it's back to either bulb failure or, hopefully not, the switch itself. If it should be the switch I'm hoping it would be covered by KIAs 5 year warranty...??

BTW, I tried posting on the UK KIA Forum, but although it let me log in it wouldn't let me post...any Brits know why?

 

[fofeg101]

Just an update, finally got at the bulbs to check and it was a simple case of both bulbs blowing coincidentally, however, I think I must have been driving with one bulb blown for some time and just hadn't noticed it, my last car had warning indicators on the dash which showed when a bulb was out.

 

[tourist]

In any case, it is recommended to change both bulbs at the same time so they will have the same intensity. Anyway, when one is burnt, the other one is not far off.