Dynamic Bending Light Failure

[ldusseau]

Hi all!

Here's a follow up to my May 2023 posts where the dealer replaced the right side headlight, but did not even check the driver side desiccant pack, so I replaced it.

So, just 7 months later I checked both sides, and both desiccant packs are hard as rock. The right side had expanded enough to twist the bracket out of shape so I replaced that with a spare I ordered back in May. That one had the bracket installed with the prongs facing inward (toward the wheel well). The bracket with the prongs facing outward did not have to be replaced.

So, I'm going to order some more desiccant packs and plan to inspect every 6-12 months, and replace if needed.

So even the replacement desiccant packs interfere? Wow, what a bad thing to miss on Kia's Headlamp DFMEA. Even their "fix" doesn't work after a while.

 

[ldusseau]

yeah - thus far I have only read about right side failures.... not sure why, since they should be identical. I have not yet inspected, perhaps they are different LEFT VS RIGHT side?

Or perhaps it is just random chance, mostly right side failing first

I just had mine replaced and there was scuffing on both desiccant retainers, and the OEM packs were as hard as a rock and taller than a hockey puck.

 

[D.J.]

I just had mine replaced and there was scuffing on both desiccant retainers, and the OEM packs were as hard as a rock and taller than a hockey puck.

It's really surprising that this "desiccant replacement" is not listed as a mandatory maintenance activity every X number of months.

Seems that failure is basically a sure thing, without maintenance, but no headlight maintenance is specified in the owner's manual.

 

[ldusseau]

It's really surprising that this "desiccant replacement" is not listed as a mandatory maintenance activity every X number of months.

Seems that failure is basically a sure thing, without maintenance, but no headlight maintenance is specified in the owner's manual.

It will be interesting to see if the cold areas of the headlamp clear now that it's winter and the desiccant pack is replaced. They weren't before

 

[billy_vk]

Had the recall done to replace mine two months ago. It went into a stereo shop for a month... Just got it back and the headlight fault comes up already again.

 

[D.J.]

Had the recall done to replace mine two months ago. It went into a stereo shop for a month... Just got it back and the headlight fault comes up already again.

Did they perform the recall activity on both sides or just one?

Perhaps it's the second side this time?

 

[billy_vk]

Did they perform the recall activity on both sides or just one?

Perhaps it's the second side this time?

They did the driver's side at least because that was the side I had it in for. But it is definitely still the driver's side that acts up. So who knows actually. The dealership here is a joke. There are two locations both owned by Napleton and neither one can get back to me about the issue I have with my '23 K5 GT since day one of owning it also. Almost not with dealing with either location.

 

[K-Rock]

I wasn't able to find the Hyundai parts listed in the TSB above, so I ordered the OEM brackets and new desiccant. After removing the old brackets it was very apparent that the stock foam/desiccant had expanded and ruined the brackets, which prevented the dynamic lights from functioning correctly (see picture). After replacing the brackets and desiccant everything is working correctly again with no failure lights.

View attachment 76568

THANK You for sharing. I'm sure you saved me quite a lot of $. I took the same picture, but my knuckles got a little more scraped during the operation on account of my clumsiness.

 

[Xizor]

This problem happened to me just once. But I panicked and bought 2 absorbers, the brackets, and 10 clips just in case I broke some (and some extra). Well, the problem never happened again and I let the Stinger go recently. Never used the parts. They're still in the box from the kia.parts site. Cost me $45 plus shipping.

I have no use for them now and it seems a shame to throw them out. If anyone wants to offer me something for them, send me a message on my profile page and we can work something out.

 

[Blingen]

Thanks everybody for the posts and pics and links. You saved me hundreds of dollars. I was having an intermittent trouble light on the DBL and I could see the passenger side intermittently be slow moving during the startup test. I ordered the parts and it took me a half hour to figure out how to remove the driver side one because it would not budge to open. Turns out the driver side one was already twisted in the open position. When I removed the passenger side one it had a small scrape on the cover--probably where the headlight was rubbing it you can see it in the last picture.

 

[G-722565]

Tonight I (remote) started the Stinger from across the parking lot, got in it and re-started as is required. Once everything was up and running, I noticed an amber colored light on the dashboard that I had to look up and identified as the Dynamic Bending Light icon.

I turned the car on/off, turned the lights on/off etc and the icon remained.

Driving home I noticed that the headlights no longer shifted towards the direction I was turning and in fact were pointing a little bit to the left.

It is very cold in Colorado right now, but I would be surprised and disappointed if temperature caused this issue. Anyone else had this problem? Any thoughts?

It may be as simple as replacing the desiccant pack in each headlamp. As they age they absorb moisture and swell. However in the OEM lamps the desiccant pack is too large; it swells and gets hung up on the inside of the access cap. There is a service bulletin for this, you will need to replace the pack and they redesigned the access cap. If you have access to remove the wheel you can do this yourself.

 

[ldusseau]

Thanks everybody for the posts and pics and links. You saved me hundreds of dollars. I was having an intermittent trouble light on the DBL and I could see the passenger side intermittently be slow moving during the startup test. I ordered the parts and it took me a half hour to figure out how to remove the driver side one because it would not budge to open. Turns out the driver side one was already twisted in the open position. When I removed the passenger side one it had a small scrape on the cover--probably where the headlight was rubbing it you can see it in the last picture.

That's it! The thing I find most disturbing is a headlamp DFMEA should have caught this. It was an easy design change that should have been initiated before the vehicle was launched. Before I retired (I was a headlamp engineer) I suggested that we add this design failure to our DFEMA.

 

[D.J.]

That's it! The thing I find most disturbing is a headlamp DFMEA should have caught this. It was an easy design change that should have been initiated before the vehicle was launched. Before I retired (I was a headlamp engineer) I suggested that we add this design failure to our DFEMA.

Additionally, they don't even have a service interval to replace the desiccant pack.

Those desiccant packs clearly do not last forever, yet there is no service interval listed.

 

[ldusseau]

Additionally, they don't even have a service interval to replace the desiccant pack.

Those desiccant packs clearly do not last forever, yet there is no service interval listed.

Exactly. Once they swell and get hard as a rock, they don't do their jobs. The best thing I can suggest is to watch the cold areas of your headlamp for fogging. This would be the upper corner by the fender/hood cut line and low on the lamp near the fascia. Once they headlamps aren't clearing like they did, time to replace them again. It will also probably happen sooner because the replacements have less volume.

 

[darunmaster]

Thankful for the forum. Took my 2018 Stinger along with printed TSB to the dealership. Ordered parts and got installed with not hassle and no cost. View attachment 79384View attachment 79385View attachment 79384View attachment 79385
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hello there! is it possible to provide a step by step DIY guide? I searched all over the internet to the best of my ability but couldn't find a guide or a video. Any help you can provide is highly appreciated. Thanks

 

[D.J.]

hello there! is it possible to provide a step by step DIY guide? I searched all over the internet to the best of my ability but couldn't find a guide or a video. Any help you can provide is highly appreciated. Thanks

It's just 2 steps

 

[D.J.]

It's just 2 steps

View attachment 88763

Additional details

 

[Nicetwin123]

hello there! is it possible to provide a step by step DIY guide? I searched all over the internet to the best of my ability but couldn't find a guide or a video. Any help you can provide is highly appreciated. Thanks

Have you looked through the whole thread? Might have been a couple guys who did the repairs on their own. I just took mine in to dealership with the recall notice and had them do it.