Davie's french attraction.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 16 Dec 2020, 15:32

Is that corrosion in the ballast Davie?

£372 is a staggering amount of money for a new OEM one

I, and I'm sure Zel too, would love to have a look at the duff ballast and see what goes on inside it

If it's not too much trouble could you pop it in the post, happy to meet the cost..

Unread post by **daviemck2006** » 16 Dec 2020, 15:48

Genuine new valeo one with exact same numbers just ordered from a uk seller for £39.99. How the fxxx can seat justify £372 for the same item?

Hell Razor5543 · Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 16 Dec 2020, 15:52

Because their parent company (VW) pulls their strings (and also has a large fine and possible numerous claims related to Dieselgate to deal with)!

Unread post by **daviemck2006** » 16 Dec 2020, 15:59

Yes, its corrosion due to water getting in. Its obviously been a while leaking in and the big puddle last week was the straw which broke it. Got the contacts on the light cleaned up as much as I could, and the ballast unit from the other side is working in it. I will happily post the knackered ballast to you Jim so you can dissect it. Although I'm not in any way electronically knowledgeable it will be interesting to see if someone who is can find out what happened. PM me your address on any of the ways we keep in touch. I probably have it somewhere already but finding it could be a problem lol

Unread post by **daviemck2006** » 16 Dec 2020, 16:10

Hell Razor5543 wrote: 16 Dec 2020, 15:52 Because their parent company (VW) pulls their strings (and also has a large fine and possible numerous claims related to Dieselgate to deal with)!

Probably correct James. There was a guy on a vag owners group I am on said he went to Ford to get a ballast unit which is the exact same and saved a fortune. I expect there are thousands of vag group cars with the exact same units in them, and thousands more other cars with valeo units the same. Incidentally the vag forum is not as good as this one, I think it's a much younger age group and there is a lot of stuff about modifying cars, which I'm not particularly interested in now, but owning two vag cars at the moment it can still be helpful. This is the first non standard maintenance I have had in 2 years of the leon though so I will take that. On the bora, over 6000 miles in 3 months its needed two mirror glasses (hardly the fault of the car) and a broken cable to operate the drivers door from the inside. Not the end of the world for 244000 miles!

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 16 Dec 2020, 17:14

daviemck2006 wrote: 16 Dec 2020, 15:59I will happily post the knackered ballast to you Jim so you can dissect it.

Thanks Davie, that's magic

PM is on its way...

Unread post by **daviemck2006** » 17 Dec 2020, 04:03

There will be a new (old) addition to my fleet, maybe next week. I'm not saying much about it yet, theres a few people on here will know what it is as they are on autoshite as I am. All I will say is that it's a xud 1905cc non turbo, and has about 35000 miles recorded. It cost me very little, it's a logistical nightmare being about as far away as it's possible to get on this island we live on.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 17 Dec 2020, 04:08

daviemck2006 wrote: 17 Dec 2020, 04:03 There will be a new (old) addition to my fleet, maybe next week. I'm not saying much about it yet, theres a few people on here will know what it is as they are on autoshite as I am. All I will say is that it's a xud 1905cc non turbo, and has about 35000 miles recorded. It cost me very little, it's a logistical nightmare being about as far away as it's possible to get on this island we live on.

Wow! Magic

Can't wait to learn what the new addition to the fleet is Davie!

Please don't keep us in suspense for too long

Unread post by **myglaren** » 17 Dec 2020, 08:52

306 from Australia?

Unread post by **daviemck2006** » 17 Dec 2020, 15:10

myglaren wrote: 17 Dec 2020, 08:52 306 from Australia?

That would be a long swim for 67bhp Steve

Hell Razor5543 · Unread post by **Hell Razor5543** » 17 Dec 2020, 15:39

You getting something from Alasdair, down in the Somerset area?

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 17 Dec 2020, 17:28

Hell Razor5543 wrote: 17 Dec 2020, 15:39 You getting something from Alasdair, down in the Somerset area?

He only sells cars to me James

Unread post by **daviemck2006** » 22 Dec 2020, 02:57

The genuine valeo ballast unit turned up. Guess what? It's not genuine. However I fitted it and the headlight illuminates. Mote I did not say worked. The dip and main beam works but the up, down, side to side functions dont work, and the bulb failed lamp on the dash is flashing and the information screen says consult handbook. Handbook duly consulted, it says take to a dealer.Having asked the question on the vag forum I'm told a new ballast may need coding to the car, espically as it is non genuine. Now the lights are working, pointing in the correct direction and I dont notice the lack of the cornering function, aka my old c4vts I had which the cornering was more pronounced. The elephant in the room is the car is due its MOT in a month. Xenon headlights must have self levelling which is a testable item. Noone on the vag or the leon owners is forthcoming with vagcom. So I need dealer diagnostics before MOT time, or just stick it in for test and hope that Graham doesn't notice. Kind of hoping for a miracle there as the dash has the lights on and it tells you some things wrong.

In other news. Covid is getting in the way of me laying my hands on my seriously cheap xud.I was supposed to be moving up to Doncaster tomorrow, where I would have managed a train down and drive home. But the guy who was going to do that is not now going from that London to his folks for xmas now. I have had a couple of shiply quotes just over £500, but when I could get an orange bird to Luton, and two localish trains for about £65 and maybe the same again in diesel then I am unwilling to pay over £500 for delivery. That's probably about the value of the car, although massively more than I paid. At least the current owner, well I should say keeper, as I own it, is happy enough to hang on to it for a while, in a public carpark at his home so I will need to tax and insure it from 1st Jan. Between covid and brexit this whole country is now at a standstill. It's a horrible time just now, and I am never in good form at this time of year, I hate new year time with a passion for very personal reasons, christmas is perking up a bit with the grandkids getting older, and I am going visiting them, in their houses and noone is stopping me. If I dont visit them I will be liable to dive head first into the deep black pool of depression that usually hits at this time, but I have so far managed to avoid this year despite all the crap going on in the world. I do not watch or listen to any news or look at any papers. I just cant be doing with all the doom and gloom. One saving grace is the takeaway business I work at has became busier and busier, I work 2 nights some weeks, sometimes 3. So I'm not stuck I'm the house all the time. It's my house with my stuff I'm it but sitting in it 24/7 even though I love my house and have a lovely sea view out of some windows, would soon through me I to that pool again. So I'm on a fine line just now I just hope I domt fall off. At the end of the day the extra car does not really come I to the equation. Ps it's a french heart, but it's not a french body haha.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 22 Dec 2020, 07:36

That's a bit of a b****r on both the ballast and the ne XUD Davie

May this festive season be a good one for you and family and may 2021 be a good 'un

I'm full of optimism for 2021

white exec · Unread post by **white exec** » 22 Dec 2020, 07:36

Suzuki Vitara?

French Car Forum

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