DRL LED failure , indicator affected ? individual replacement

[ominus]

Hi all,

Noticed my left front indicator was not working correctly, very brief flashing only, then noticed the daytime running lights on same side also not working at all. I had some water ingress which I assume when I forgot to place rubber cap back over dipped bulb cover +/- my headlight seal was failing during this pissy Scottish winter

Steps to remove for anyone interested -

1. removed wheel and wheel liner, the plastic bolts are rubbish so will likely need prised out and replaced, do the forward facing section first and pull downwards as metal tab here slots behind the larger rear portion.

2. Disconnect headlight assembly connector(careful with the plastic tab securing the unit as very fragile)

3. Remove 3 bolts holding unit to body, all 8mm. The inbound one has a bracket with 10mm nuts that you will need to remove to gain access. careful to not lose the washers and plastic spacers.

This was only way I could then pull the entire assembly backwards and out of the car.

4. Reading others misfortune I put it in the oven for about 15 mins at 90c and worked a treat at softening the seal. Again be careful separating the lens from the housing as plastic tags are typically fragile and I broke a couple.

5. need some security torx bolts , T-15 I think, to remove the shroud in the way and similar bolts attaching LED strip and its heatsink off for access to the PCB

 

so water damage seen with faded plastic and some corrosion. Cleaned the LED connectors I could access and the PCB. Tested it and DRL still nada. The indicators work properly for a brief time then revert to blinking as per attached video.

Looking again I missed that 2/5 of the DRL LEDs are separated from their individual boards. Don't know why, presumably some heat/impact damage. I am not an expert at LEDs.

 

I am not spending 2K on replacing the entire assembly for 2 sodding LEDs. I am guessing these 2 need replaced at the very least but entire strip if cost effective is an alternative.  Any tips for similar problems or know of any good source of harvesting these damn things, be it standalone or scrap?

Anyone good with electronics be able to tell me if I remove the DRL LED wires that the indicator will work? Don't really care for them anyway and apparently not an MOT failure like the indicator would be.

Even if not hope this post helps others

 

Ross

[ominus]

here is an even better view of what I found

[C8RKH]

Sorry, can't help you with any of your questions but it begs the questions/observations around:

1. Why are we making headlamps as sealed units and so bloody expensive?

2. As they are so bloody expensive I am assuming they are supposed to last the life of the car, so why are they so scrappily built and, errm, weather protected, especially given they are so bloody expensive and how are we supposed to get spares to maintain/repair them, or, are we just expected to fork out £1,200 plus each time? These (Elise, Exige, Evora and probably Emira) are LOTUS cars, not bloody Ferrari's or Lamborghinis!

3. Why are we making these bloody expensive headlights so complicated?

4. Why are they headlights so bloody expensive?

Oh, did I mention they are bloody expensive?

 

Good luck with fixing this @ominusand will read with interest how you get on. I think it was Silverstone who have taken on a similar project to repair the LED's in customers Evora's, they may be able to help re locating suitable replacement LEDs.

[milesofsmiles]

Ominus - I've seen your post which is very timely for me.  I have a similar issue on my S3 Elise off side unit, and am about to pull it apart to suss the issue.  I still have the indicator working, just the DRL on one side failed.. and I quite like them on. Especially as I'm a small black car often going in and out of tree covered, sun and shaded Surrey back lanes.

I have no wisdom to offer just now, but I'll post some if I have it.

As your post is a year or more old, what was the outcome of your problems.  How did you resolve it?  

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by milesofsmiles

[ominus]

Hi this is a recent problem.

Managed to figure out how to use diode function on my mutlimeter and all of them work when powered individually with a weak current, the broken clear/yellow "bulbs" don't mean anything just focuses the lights

Any advice on how to test the PCB or all of them together would be great

Looking elsewhere I think evoras have a DRL "module" but I am unaware of anything in elise

@C8RKH which company do you mean by silverstone? guessing an indy garage?

 

kr

ross

 

 

 

 

[C8RKH]

Apologies @ominus I should have been clearer. The main dealer, Lotus Silverstone.

All the best 

[machine7]

From your photo, it isn't the LED that is loose, just the lens to focus the light. Should be able to just glue it back in position, but best to use a high-temp (~120°) glue.

Looks like your issue is with the control board, and these won't be available separately. Might be able to find an electronics refurb service, but the issue may be in the PCB itself. 

For reference, the LEDs look like a Lumileds Luxeon Rebel:

https://lumileds.com/products/high-power-leds/luxeon-rebel/

Might need to order a few versions to find out what colour temperature they are, or replace them all.

[ominus]

Thanks machine for your advice I didn't notice your post till now

 

so update is it took a long time to find some refurb companies who agree to look at it.

https://www.ieruk.com/

https://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/

I sent it the ieruk who have repaired lotus parts before, unfortunately it just came back unfixed. I don't have a lot of info in the box but apparently no replacement parts to fix it, I'm guessing the whole PCB was goosed. 

Worth a try if someone else has a similar problem and they email back pretty quick once I found them.

 

So this has dragged on long enough I will have to hold back the tears and buy an entire other unit over 2000, almost makes me wish I had a pre- LED lotus as it's so wasteful as well as expensive.

Incidentally I now have all the other parts ready to be cannibalised so will see about posting it for sale in case anyone needs the main shroud or bulb assembly within

 

 

 

 

 

[ominus]

South west lotus had a more acceptable price of about 1300 for a new one

Main RRP was 2700!!!

Please make sure you never get water inside your light

[milesofsmiles]

Help - can you answer my question..... I'm stuck! (I have another thread open also with a faulty Headlight unit)

Trying to fix my DRL/indicator LED's, so far...  

I'm not an expert, but to my ability I have tested for continuity from  car to light unit.  From light unit plug to LED's.  I have tested all components for Ohms, Resistance or Volts throughout the board and I have found nothing that shouted to my untrained eye, that there was a fault.  i.e. all diodes test the same figure.  All resistors test for their resistance figure.  Nothing stood out as different or not working.

Question:  The pinouts from car to plug has two wires that I couldn't work out what they did?  

All actions in the car - ignition on, indicators on/off, DRL's, side lights activated (DRL's dimmed),  main, full, etc... all showed on the other cables, at the car-to-lightunit plug ... So can anyone tell me what 1 and 6 are for? Or if I've made a mistake... then please let me know.

Edited February 13, 2023 by milesofsmiles

[stevensr34]

Perhaps they are CAN low and high connections?  My electrical diagram for the Elise doesn't show actual plug pin-outs, unfortunately.

[ominus]

Hi Miles, sorry for late reply I'm afraid I don't know enough in depth about car circuits to help. It really is a ridiculous expense and hope you get resolution as prices of these are going up since elise has ended production.

[EuropaSman]

Just been looking at the wiring diagrams for MY11 & MY12 that I have. There are no CAN high/low connections. The side lamp, dip beam and main beam positive inputs all come from the switch pack. The indicator and hazard light functions have separate positive connections from the indicator stalk/alarm system and hazard flasher unit respectively.

This is what I've found terminals wise by looking at the connection pin numbers on the diagrams.

1. Indicator +ve from hazard flasher unit
2. Side lamp +ve
3. Dip beam +ve
4. Main beam +ve
5. DRL/side lamp +ve from fuse C8 (provides power when the ignition key is set to ignition on)
6. Ground DRL/sidelamp (MY11) / EMS (MY12)
7. Indicator +ve from indicator stalk & alarm system
8.  **not connected**
9. Ground DRL/sidelamp & indicator
10. Ground dip & main beam

When the ignition comes on, the combined DRL/sidelamp is bright, so I assume that this is because the DRL/sidelamp receives current from terminal 5 only.

When either the sidelights or headlights are switched on, as mentioned above the DRL/sidelamps go dim, so it would seem logical to assume that the switch pack provides current to from terminal 2, that makes the DRL/sidelamp circuitry switch the unit from "DRL mode" to "sidelamp mode" for want of a better phrase.

Wire colours MY11:

1. Green/pink
2. Red/orange
3. Blue
4. Blue/red
5. Green
6. Black
7. Green/red
9. Black
10. Black

Wire colour MY12:

1. Green/pink
2. Red/orange
3. Blue
4. Blue/red
5. Green
6. Red
7. Green/red
9. Black
10. Black