Hi all,

I picked up my Mazda 6 sport (05/05 reg) in April. A few months later, I started getting an intermittent problem - the right side headlight would only sometimes come on. I found out that if it didn't come on straight away, if I turned the lights off and on a few times, it would! Once on, it would stay on, so haven't considered it a high priority to fix...

Now the left side bulb is doing something similar - it will flicker (to brighter, rather than dimmer) for a while, then just go off. Again, if I turn the headlights off then on again (just once), it will work again.

I can see the brightness (whiteness) of the 2 bulbs are different, so I guess at least one has been changed in the past.

I bought 2 spare headlight bulbs, but I'm not entirely convinced the existing ones are duff.

I couldn't find a similar issue in the forums - anyone got any ideas?

Cheers
Alan.

PS. Other than this, not had any problems - Nice family car, but not quite as torquey as my old V6 ST24... I think the body curving in front of wheel arches is weird - sometimes looks like someone's bumped it!

 

Could be the switch.

 

hey man, i had the same problem with my car. i converted my headlights over to 5300k hid's and thought i may have caused a short somewhere so i ordered new bulbs and i still have the same problem with the right side light. ill keep my ears open for any causes. let me know if you figure your problem out aswell. i would turn them off and then back on and they would work just fine.

 

i had exactly the same problem with my 2003 mazda 6 sport.

I had a mazda dealer look at it....they "suspected" it was the controller unit that bolts under the headlight units.........

I took it to a automotive electrician that tried various component swaps between the good and bad healight unit.....eg. bulbs, control units etc... no luck....still intermittent on that same unit.

I then HOPED it would be the bulbs....so i replaced both bulbs...this didnt solve the problem.

What DID finally solve the problem was some silly middle aged female that crunched into the front corner of my 6.....the bad headlight unit had to be replaced and guess what.....it is all fine now!!!

So i am not exactly sure what the deal is, but replacing the unit (not the sub-components) will solve the issue!

Sorry...i am sure that is not the answer you wanted to hear!

Best of luck!

 

Have you guys checked grounding ? Bulbs with filaments are either dead or alive, never half dead.
GOOD LUCK.

 

sound like a grounding issue

 

I picked up my 08/57 plate mazda 6 SL saturday and cannot get the headlights to switch off, I`ve phoned the dealership and they are arranging a date for my vechicle to go back for inspection, however I thought that I`d ask the question in the meantime to see if anyone else has had this problem. The lights have a auto function and then a off position, however its as though they are constantly stuck on auto, which is annoying for me and Id guess even more annoying for the cars in front.

 

I've been having the same problem with my 2006 Mazda3. The right headlight comes on sometimes and doesn't come on sometimes. I actually usually have to start the car, turn on the headlights, and then get out and actually hit the right headlight with my hand to get it to come on. Usually it will stay on but sometimes I'll hit a bump and it'll go out again. Swapped the headlights, no change. The left one has always been ok... knock on wood.

Of course when I took to the dealer, they couldn't recreate the problem. In your case, it looks like your insurance probably covered replacing the whole headlight unit... any idea how much that sort of things costs otherwise????

 

Plenty of possibilities here:

1. Obviously, the switch could be suspected. I doubt it. Your headlights are controlled by one (or more) relays. The switch operates the relay(s). From the comments here, it sounds as if Mazda has placed separate control relays in each headlight fixture -- strange idea. If you have replaced your OE lamps with new lamps that draw significantly more current, then you could have damaged relay contacts. That doesn't sound like what is going on with your car. You may select replacement lamps that have different color outputs with the same wattage.

2. Loss of ground. I would say that this is a likely suspect. It should be easy enough to test for ground continuity with an ohmmeter, but you must first replicate the intermittent problem. If it is an intermittent ground loss, then it would probably show up as high resistance even when the light is working. There is a possibility that your headlight socket could have a good ground, but your control relay doesn't. Also a possibility that you have a corroded hot wire connection between your switch and relay coil.

3. Bad relay. This could be an intermittent fault with the relay coil or corroded contacts inside the control relay. If switching on and off fixes the problem, then that suggests bad relay contacts as the probable culprit.

4. Bad lamp is a remote possibility. As a rule, a lamp is either good or bad. However, it is possible for a lamp to have a broken filament that makes and breaks. This is a rare condition and the lamp wouldn't maintain this condition for long without failing completely. It would also tend to respond to vibration -- so you would likely see it blink while driving. Corrosion in the lamp socket is also a possibility.

 

Sounds as if bad chassis ground in the headlight area is the culprit. Clean the headlight connector assembly with contact cleaner, and plug/ unplug a few times to shift the crud.
Switch the lights on, then go around the light area and beat on it (don't smash lamp) to see if brightness changes.
If no dice, locate the headlight relay in the fusebox and do the same. The headlight relay issue is more likely to be coil or contact related, so relay problems are usually on or off, not flickering intensity. Bulbs are highly unlikely to be the culprit.