Both new low beams not working on 2003 Beetle.?

Question

Here's what happend:
1) A headlight on driver side went out and so I changed it (without touching the bulb with my bare hands)
2) Tested, worked fine, all wiring connected, then placed headlight unit back into the car.
3) BAM, both low beams stopped working. It tested fine 1 minute before. No wiring was touched, I just placed the unit back into the car.
4) Checked fuse plugs, they were fine.

WHAT COULD THIS BE!!!? IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY!

Answer 1

I've been away from the VW dealership service since Dec 05, but Beetles have traditionally had head light bulb concerns from the start. There was a recall on early VW Beetles for wiring concerns at the headlight, the pigtails to the socket often got brittle from heat and developed open circuits; even with the replacement wiring they might need replacement again. Have someone check the circuit to the headlight pigtail to insure that you have power to the bulbs, (it could also be that you have two defective bulbs; some of the bulbs today are made in China, India, and other places aren't of very high quality... we stopped using "Genuine VW bulbs" due the fact that kept burning out fast, the bulbs were made in China or India and used only bulbs made in Germany or the USA and that stopped the defective bulb issue), you might need new headlight wiring pigtails. Hope this helps, a car nut.

Answer 2

Check for cracks in the wires going to the headlight. They could be cracked. Are these the super-bright/white bulbs?

I got tired of them blowing every few months in my NB, and replaced with regular $5 WalMart bulbs. Haven't had a problem since.

Check out the forum, there's lots of info and cool ppl to hang with. Hope to see you there :)

Answer 3

always replace bulbs in pairs Sounds like u have 1 defect an one wore out I always use a clean cloth wipe bulb never know if someone fingered it than found it to be wrong bulb test bulb replace as needed