Daytime running lights dim/flickering

Checked my LED headlight lenses and they have the following imprint:

Driver side:

DRL DOT VOR
SAE HLAI5PP2 DRL 13
U STANLEY W2416 L

Passenger side:

DOT VOR DRL
SAE HLAI5PP2 DRL 13
L STANLEY W2416 U

So our LED headlights are made by Stanley.

Unfortunately while I was looking at those fine print closely, I saw some stains forming inside of the lens around the lower part! I guess my LED headlights from factory can't escape the curse and eventually need to get replaced according to TSB! :(

Stains forming on lower part of lens? 99% sure stains were caused by moisture.
https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123837192-CX-5-Driver-Headlight-Condensation

Moisture can get in via gaskets, bulb housing loose, or through the breather tube. My understanding is that some form of traceable moisture in housing is actually normal but if it cannot evacuate/dissipate out enough through the breather tube it may accumulate and cause problems like say stained/cloudy lenses...maybe even affecting LED boards.
 
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Stains inside of LED Lenses

Stains forming on lower part of lens? 99% sure stains were caused by moisture.
https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123837192-CX-5-Driver-Headlight-Condensation

Moisture can get in via gaskets, bulb housing loose, or through the breather tube. My understanding is that some form of traceable moisture in housing is actually normal but if it cannot evacuate/dissipate out enough through the breather tube it may accumulate and cause problems like say stained/cloudy lenses...maybe even affecting LED boards.
I wish these stains are from moisture. But we seldom rain here, and I've never seen moisture forming inside of headlights. And those stains are dark gray colored, doesn't look like from dried-out moisture.
 
Likely electrical related. How much miles do you guys have on your CX-5? I just don't see many issues researching the Internet in Mazda6's in terms of lenses being cloudy and in terms of LEDs flickering. Shoot even Mazda3's and CX-3's. The CX-5's seem to be getting bad batches :(

....wait a minute I wonder if the two issues are related? Didn't some folks report moisture in there lenses? If so the moisture could give the LED electronic boards some gremlins?

have ~24k miles when this happened. interestingly the LED headlight itself is fine....just the DRL outline of the driver side headlamp unit.
 
Stealer replaced my entire headlight module last week. Problem resolved. Hope this doesn't happen again after warranty expires
 
Stealer replaced my entire headlight module last week. Problem resolved. Hope this doesn't happen again after warranty expires

I'd keep an eye out every couple months just in case. So I take it there's 2 potential problems focused primarily on CX5 models with LEDs leading to replacement.

1. There's the cloudy lens issue.
2. LED DRL flickering issue.

Again I could not find LED issues for other Mazdas. Seems to be the CX-5. FYI, read this: https://www.cars.com/articles/2013-2016-mazda-cx-5-headlight-issue-1420684551601/

^^
The problem: Affected vehicles with LED or high-intensity discharge headlights have lenses that may appear to be stained a milky white and may have reduced lighting ability. This is due to gas that emits from a leaky gasket in the lamp unit and that adheres to the lens. The gas reacts with the anti-clouding coating on the lens, creating the milky appearance.
Vehicles affected by this service bulletin:
2013 Mazda CX-5
2014 Mazda CX-5
2015 Mazda CX-5
2016 Mazda CX-5
See More Service Bulletins
Corrective action: Dealers will diagnose the condition and if confirmed, repair affected headlight units with modified parts designed to eliminate this condition.
Warranty info: This service bulletin is being performed free of charge under the Mazda new-vehicle limited warranty.
What owners should do: Call your local dealer with your vehicle's identification number to determine if your vehicle is involved in this service bulletin. You also can call Mazda at 800-222-5500 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hotline at 888-327-4236. Reference TSB No. 0901416.



The Leaky Gasket may mean moisture gets in and causes problems to LED circuit boards and/or build up on lenses. The Leaky Gasket also lets gas to escape and reacts with the coating on the inside of the lens.

Hmm makes sense except.......do LEDs produce gas?
 
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Stains inside of LED Lenses

⋯ The Leaky Gasket may mean moisture gets in and causes problems to LED circuit boards and/or build up on lenses. The Leaky Gasket also lets gas to escape and reacts with the coating on the inside of the lens.
Hmm makes sense except.......do LEDs produce gas?
I believe the information from your source is incorrect. Here is more accurate description for the problem we have on LED headlights from the TSB:

"This concern is caused by gas that emits from a gasket in the lamp unit.
The gas adheres to the inner surface of the headlight lens and reacts with the anti-clouding coating and moisture in the air to create white milky stains.
The gasket material has been improved to eliminate this concern.
"

So the culprit is from the headlight gasket itself which emits wrong gas into the LED and HID headlight environment.

TSB on headlight defect 2016 CX5
 
Very concerned about these headlamps , sitting in dealer now replace passenger side lamp unit due to flickering ,
 
I believe the information from your source is incorrect. Here is more accurate description for the problem we have on LED headlights from the TSB:

"This concern is caused by gas that emits from a gasket in the lamp unit.
The gas adheres to the inner surface of the headlight lens and reacts with the anti-clouding coating and moisture in the air to create white milky stains.
The gasket material has been improved to eliminate this concern.
"

So the culprit is from the headlight gasket itself which emits wrong gas into the LED and HID headlight environment.

TSB on headlight defect 2016 CX5

CX-5 owners should take their cars to the dealership and discuss TSB No. 0901416 which mentions the headlight gasket leak which explains the lenses and lighting being compromised.

That said this thread was regarding the LED DRL's flickering. There's no TSB yet? Makes me wonder if its related to the gasket leak as per TSB 0901416.
 
CX-5 owners should take their cars to the dealership and discuss TSB No. 0901416 which mentions the headlight gasket leak which explains the lenses and lighting being compromised.

That said this thread was regarding the LED DRL's flickering. There's no TSB yet? Makes me wonder if its related to the gasket leak as per TSB 0901416.
The actual TSB doesn't say the gasket is leaking water or gas as the LED and HID headlight unit is not a sealed environment. The problem of white milky stain is from the gasket made by some material which emits wrong gas. The moisture existing inside of the LED headlight unit is "normal" and the dim or flickering DRLs is caused by some bad batch of electronic parts which got assembled on the LED's printed circuit board.

"REPAIR PROCEDURE
NOTE: Foggy lenses due to condensation is a natural phenomenon. Do not replace the head lamp unit(s) for foggy lenses.
"

White Milky Stains On Inner Surface Of Headlight Lens 2013-2016 Mazda CX-5
 
Yeah, the Tech Package is a barging and that's why I always recommend getting Tech Package during the new car purchase if one wants the brighter LED headlights and cool LED DRLs, and don't even think about trying to convert them later!

Unfortunately Mazda's quality and reliability are not the best from Japan. These different issues many people have encountered so far on CX-5's LED headlights are the evidence of just that.

No, we have simpler mechanical mechanism on Auto-Leveling and AFS with motors turning the projectors up-and-down and left-and-right. But other regions have ALH which uses array of LEDs aiming at different directions (not just low and high beams!) and controlled by the electronic module for on-and-off on appropriate sections automatically based on the analysis of the image from Forward Sensing Camera on the windshield. ALH can turn some of the middle section LEDs off automatically when you're following a car and not to blind the driver at front. There's no mechanical moving parts so in theory they should last forever.

No. there's nothing in US spec CX-5 that is even close to the ALH. They're completely different system. Not to mention any possibility of turning the ALH or similar function on! That's simply a pipe dream! (boom08)

I recall that Audi submitted a request for ALH approval to US regulators a while back and were rejected. Go figure!

Kedis82ZE8 said:
HID bulbs are relatively cheap these days though.
...which makes me very happy we have them instead of LEDs.
 
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ok, what's up with these 2016 LED tech DRL's ? was about to pull out of the parking lot when a fellow CX-5 GT pulled in and I noticed his passenger side LED DRL's were flickering, I asked him what year was his car and he said 2016.5, I told him his passenger side DRL was flickering, he came out and looked and he was pissed, he said it a brand new car!! he thanked me and he'll get dealer to replace under warranty.
 
Yeah... HID bulbs are now over 20 years old and happy to have it as well (early 90's BMW 7 series / '96 Lincoln Mark VIII domestic)... it gives me the light I need as well as the reliability. If reliability falls short... as stated cheap to fix.

EDIT: It does seem like some growing pains.... I guess best advice at this point is to keep an eye on issue and get it fixed under warranty.


I recall that Audi submitted a request for ALH approval to US regulators a while back and were rejected. Go figure!

...which makes me very happy we have them instead of LEDs.
 
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just had my driver's side DRL (halo LED) replaced on my 2016 CX-5 GT/tech under warranty (~24.5k miles). hopefully just got the "bad" batch of DRLs and these new ones have addressed the issue. at least it wasn't the actual headlamp that was out and only the DRL.
 
just had my driver's side DRL (halo LED) replaced on my 2016 CX-5 GT/tech under warranty (~24.5k miles). hopefully just got the "bad" batch of DRLs and these new ones have addressed the issue. at least it wasn't the actual headlamp that was out and only the DRL.
Well, even though it was only problem from DRLs, but it's still expensive to fix, entire headlight assembly needs to get replaced! (boom08)
 
Well, even though it was only problem from DRLs, but it's still expensive to fix, entire headlight assembly needs to get replaced! (boom08)

Agree ! that's just crazy that the whole headlight has to come out with $$$$$ LED headlamp and $$$$$ AFS motors and everything else just for the DRL's. I wonder what Mazda do with the scrapped headlights?

Mazda should make it easier to service the DRL's. It should be a LED strip like my friend's Accord,
he had a faulty DRL flickering and all he did to fix it was swap out a $3 LED bulb

 
My passenger side DRL started dimming and flickering. It's a 2016. Bad thing is I just turned 62K miles. I'll look at the headlight this weekend. Bad thing is I'm now out of warranty.
 
My passenger side DRL started dimming and flickering. It's a 2016. Bad thing is I just turned 62K miles. I'll look at the headlight this weekend. Bad thing is I'm now out of warranty.

wow, holy cow, 62,000 miles in one year ? you sure drive a lot, sucks that the headlights warranty is expired due do mileage and not time (3 years) seems unfair...
 
Here we go again. Back in November, I noticed my passenger side DRL was dim/flickering. Since it was out of warranty (mileage) I was looking at having to replace the whole headlight unit out of pocket which was going to cost $1500 or so. After many phone calls and heated conversations, I finally got Mazda to replace it as a "good will" gesture. Now, six months later, my driver side light is doing the same thing. This is really starting to sound like a quality control issue. I guess I get to see how far their good will extends! Wish me luck!
 
Here we go again. Back in November, I noticed my passenger side DRL was dim/flickering. Since it was out of warranty (mileage) I was looking at having to replace the whole headlight unit out of pocket which was going to cost $1500 or so. After many phone calls and heated conversations, I finally got Mazda to replace it as a "good will" gesture. Now, six months later, my driver side light is doing the same thing. This is really starting to sound like a quality control issue. I guess I get to see how far their good will extends! Wish me luck!
We all need that if we have Tech Package ⋯ (Knock on wood)
 
Add mine to the list. Only 12,350 miles and passenger side driving lights are dying quickly. Flickering to almost nothing in span of 4 days. Went to dealer and was told the headlight assembly is on back order, so Mazda must be having to replace a bunch of them. No telling how long it will be before it gets replaced. I just may trade it for a 2018 when they come out. Wonder how long before the driver side dies? $$$ I cannot recall ever seeing another car or truck that has had one side LED's not working. Sounds like maybe just a problem with certain Mazda cars. Only other problem when I bought it, was the fog lights were aimed so low that you could not see any light from them in the driver seat when they were on. The light went out to about 2 feet in front of the vehicle. Had to adjust them up quite a bit before you could actually see the light below the headlight beam of light from the driver seat.
 
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