[Minipug]

Hi,

I know this may sound a bit daft but how do I know if I have xenon or Halogen lights on my 2008 scenic? All my other cars have had "normal" lights so dont know what im looking for

Thx

 

[peter9000uk]

Quick way is if you have headlamp washers. Xenons require them by law. My Laguna has the word Xenon stamped inside the glass also!

 

[costeau]

The headlight washer isn't a dead giveaway.
Yes, xenon headlights are required to have them, as per EU directives,
so if you don't have them, you can be sure the lamps are halogen.
However, if you do have them, the lamps could be either type.

In the Nordic countries (except perhaps Denmark), headlight washers are common on halogen lights too.
I find it strange that it's not more common in UK and Ireland, with the mud and weather that one gets over here.

Most xenon lights also have a golfball-sized lens inside the headlight housing on either size.
Your Scenic should not be an exception to this (unlike the Laguna II phase 1,
where having "Xenon" written in the lamp housing is helpful as to what replacement bulbs one needs to order).

 

[madnoel10]

Original fit Xenon lights do a wee dance when switched on and the vehicle is stationary. Park close to a wall and watch.

 

[MéganeDynamique]

Original fit Xenon lights do a wee dance when switched on and the vehicle is stationary. Park close to a wall and watch.

I LOVE when they do this!

 

[costeau]

That's the case with most vehicle manufacturers.
It's a power on self test procedure, to make sure the regulating motors are working in all directions,
and the different car makers might have different dance patterns as some form of signature.

 

[Horatio]

Projector (golf ball lens) lamps aren't a give-away either. There are cars with projector halogens (the Toyota Avensis, for example) and cars with reflector xenons (the Lag II Phase I.)

I'll offer up the headlamp levelling switch on the dash as being the way to tell. If your car has one, then you're on halogens. If it doesn't, then you're on xenons (with automatic levelling.)

Now to see if anyone can shoot holes in that theory :d

P.S. I'd have thought that absence of a jetwash system should definitively indicate halogen lamps.

 

[costeau]

I'll offer up the headlamp levelling switch on the dash as being the way to tell. If your car has one, then you're on halogens. If it doesn't, then you're on xenons (with automatic levelling.)

Now to see if anyone can shoot holes in that theory :d

Boom! And the first hole is big enough to fit a car with no headlight leveling at all, neither automatic or manual.
But yeah, if the car's been made this century, your theory does hold more water.

P.S. I'd have thought that absence of a jetwash system should definitively indicate halogen lamps.

Absence of a jet wash system definitively indicate halogen lamps all right.
However, presence of a jet wash system does not definitively indicate xenon lamps, which is what I've been trying to say further up.

 

[Horatio]

Boom! And the first hole is big enough to fit a car with no headlight leveling at all, neither automatic or manual.
But yeah, if the car's been made this century, your theory does hold more water.

But it answers the OP's question :d

I think it went without saying that my 1979 Audi 100 didn't have xenon lamps. Having said that, I'm not even sure that it had halogens. On my '83 Escort (MkIII) halogens were the posh option over regular bulbs, at least according to Mr Haynes

 

[Minipug]

Thanks everyone... Looks like Ive got Halogen then... No washers and headlamp leveling switch inside the car. The Main headlight is tennis ball size and blurry looking and ive never had one like this, hence the question.

Thanks for the help

Going to Italy in it soon and was wondering where to stick the beam deflectors too? Theres one line going across the light and thats it... No guides?

 

[Eeeps]

Another way to identify a Xenon is the start up colour. This is slightly pink before they go white. Something to do with the mercury vapour used to start them I believe.

 

[honks123]

About to get a Laguna III later today (I hope) with the projector beam halogens. Are they better than ordinary bulbs?

 

[batfink5]

On my Laguna III the projectors are brilliant ..seen me even driving down unlit country roads without using main beams ...BUT all this depends on condition of lenses