Citroen C4 Picasso Check dipped headlamps

[DMT15]

Hello,

I have a Citroen C4 Picasso MKII 2014 1.6 eHDi. Ever since I bought the car last month I have an issue with the dipped headlamps. The problem always happens when the lamps are set to Auto and the car switches off the headlamps when exiting a garage or underground parking. The service light lamp comes on with an associated beep and warning on the dashboard to check dipped headlamps. This message initially lasted for about 2 seconds and then would totally disappear together with the service light warning.

I noticed that one of the Xenon bulbs was fading so I assumed this to be causing the problem. So I proceeded to replace both Xenon D5S lights with D5S LEDs as the cost to replace the bulb was expensive and I thought the LED route would be better. After removing both Xenon bulbs I noticed that the "failing" bulb was the original Philips 25W and the other was some aftermarket 35W. Since I had two different bulbs and one was clearly end of life, I was certain this was the cause.

After replacing the Xenon bulbs with LEDs I still get this error occasionally, albeit a much quicker one with the message appearing and disappearing very quickly. I've noticed that if the difference in light intensity between my open garage and outside is significant, it will beep. If it is afternoon/evening and there is still enough daylight to turn off the headlamps but not direct sunlight, it doesn't beep. I also noticed that sometimes when I manually turn the stalk between dipped beams and sidelights, the service light comes on for a split second with no beep.

I bought another pair of LED headlamps which I subsequently returned due to them not fitting properly in the housing, however, the car was still beeping when turning off the headlamps automatically.

I'm not sure if the issue is caused by the LEDs or something else. The LEDs are CANBUS compatible and error free. As mentioned previously the error and beep only happens when the headlamps are automatically turned off. When it is night the error never happens as the lights are not turned off.

[GiveMeABreak]

You can't mix the technology!

You are asking for trouble if you attempt this. Xenons for a start use High voltage igniters and LED tech uses low voltage.

[DMT15]

I now have two identical Xenon D5S bulbs installed on the car but the same issue is happening when turning from dipped beams to sidelights on the stalk or when on auto and the car switches off the dipped headlamps. The orange service indicator lights up with the associated beep and error message on to "Check dipped headlamps" on the dashboard.

[GiveMeABreak]

I can't help you with this as you have fitted equipment not designed for this specific vehicle.

[DMT15]

What do you mean I have fitted incorrect equipment? I said I installed Xenon D5S HID bulbs, I removed the LEDs. These are correct for this vehicle.

[DMT15]

No response, anyone?

[Paul-R]

It's really up to Marc to explain what he meant.

[GiveMeABreak]

... So I proceeded to replace both Xenon D5S lights with D5S LEDs as the cost to replace the bulb was expensive and I thought the LED route would be better....

...After replacing the Xenon bulbs with LEDs I still get this error...

[Paul-R]

Yes but you've completely missed that he has put the correct D5S bulbs in now.

[GiveMeABreak]

Damage may have been done. as there's 20,000V in those igniters for Xenons, so no telling what impact this has had.

[DMT15]

No damage has been done. First of all these LEDs are specially designed to be compatible with the original HID igniter and work perfectly for a host of different vehicles including expensive Audi's, BMW's, Merc's, etc. with people having no issues with them and they being a preferred replacement over the xenon. Secondly, I bought the car with this problem when it had xenon bulbs installed. Thirdly, the errors occurred less often with LEDs and for a much shorter duration than the xenon bulbs, and performed better in my opinion. The LEDs or xenon bulbs work perfectly when on with no issues whatsoever. It's just the error that's annoying especially when going in and out of dark spaces. And to be very clear the error does not happen when the lights are turned on, but rather when they turn off. So if damage would be done in the igniters the error would occur when the lights are turned on or they wouldn't come on at all.

Don't these lights need to be programmed inside of the ECU when they are replaced? Can anyone with a Lexia please comment on this.

[DMT15]

Hey Guys,

I finally managed to get my hands on a Lexia 3/Diagbox tester this week. The fault code associated with this issue is B1138 12 (Fault left-hand dipped headlamp output); status is intermittent and features is short circuit to positive. Can anyone please guide me on what I need to check and where in order to troubleshoot this? VIN: VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff].

Thank you, much appreciated!

[C4owner78]

I can't help you with this as you have fitted equipment not designed for this specific vehicle.

Hi
What are the correct ones please?
Many thanks

[merlin667]

D5S are totatlly different to all other kinds of HID Bulbs.
They are connected straight to 12V so a plug & Play replacement is suiteable and my car is working with LED's without any issue.
In addition there are Led's available to be used especially connected to the HID units for D1S..... 20kV will blow any LED within seconds.

Anyhow: There is a small stepper motor inside the headlight as well as some sensors for making an reference movement. Especially the first few years are said to have problems with broken wires inside the headlight.

Maybe its some false detected error and a software update of the corresponding electrical control unit needs to be done.
I had an error popping up concerning center braking light during cranking. after a software update the error never came back.

The possible cause in my case was the delay or conditions for the error popping up are set too short.