Cadillac SRX Headlights Dim Fix and Ways to Avoid the Issue

The Cadillac SRX has poor low-beam headlights and this is the design issue, but I have a solution for you and I will tell you more in this article. The proper solution is to replace the headlights but buying non-original ones. But of course, there are also other ways to solve the problem.

Voltage problems highlights

• Level of urgency:high
• DIY inspection:possible but complicated
• DIY repair:impossible
• Can you drive?yes
• Price for repairs:$150 - $350
• Symptoms:anomalies with electrical equipment, dimming or flickering lights
• Ways to solve:use multimeter to test various equipment and find the source of voltage issues

What should you check before paying for any upgrades?

Before you agree to pay for new headlights, which is apparently all Youtube videos and forum "gurus" suggest you should do, you need to provide your vehicle with some important checkups. First of all, it's important to make sure that everything works as it should.

So, here's what you should do:

1) Check the voltage on the light bulb

Using the multimeter and also some video tutorials, check the voltage that comes directly to the light bulb. Your low-beam light bulb won't have a special fuse in the SRX, so it's important to measure everything directly on the light bulb socket.

Here's a quick guide:

• take the multimeter and set it to measure volts (DC);
• take the plastic cover off the back part of one of the headlights;
• take off the socket from the light bulb of the low beam;
• turn on the low beam - you may do it without turning on the engine;
• connect the multimeter to both contacts in the socket;
• check is the voltage is 12V or a little more than that;
• then start your vehicle and check if the voltage changes much now.

Sometimes, the problem is in the voltage regulator, the voltage drop in the system, the bad alternator, etc. And you need to check this before you invest money in the new headlight. Otherwise, your new headlight may also be dim, in the end.

2) Changing the light bulb

Light bulbs go dimmer as they age. Maybe, the best solution for your Cadillac is to just replace the light bulb. You may also get a better and more efficient light bulb that will add some brightness to the low beam in your car.

This is probably the cheapest thing you can do after checking the voltage. Just buy the new bulbs and try to save the situation without further investment. If this doesn't help, you will at least have the lights for the new headlights that you probably will order from China, and that comes with crappy lights in it.

But if you have the xenon lights or lenses in your Cadillac SRX, then replacing the elements will cost you a lot. Maybe, you can go to the dealership and ask them to check the brightness of the light bulbs to make sure they are OK.

3) Check the glasses of the headlights

The glass of your headlight is not eternal. It is attacked by insects, small stones, dust, and other factors that can easily destroy the purity of glass, and damage its surface. It means that the glass will not be as transparent as it should be.

Of course, such condition of the glass on your headlight will mean that you won't see anything at night because the light will just not go through the thousands of scratches and damages. Even when you look at the headlight, you will notice that its glass is yellow and not as transparent as aquarium glass (as it should be in new cars).

One simple solution for this problem is polishing the headlight glasses. You may even do this on your own - just buy the good polishing paste and other materials that you may need. Be careful - you may damage the painted elements around the headlight in the process.

The number one solution - replacing the headlights

If you checked everything that I told you about in the previous section of this article and you still can't find the solution, you will probably need new headlights. You may know that OEM headlights for your Cadillac SRX cost about $800 a piece and they are still not perfect. So, you may want to search for some aftermarket solutions.

You may find something for $300-$350 a piece in Chinese online stores and those headlights will be much better than OEM ones. You may also search for more information in Cadillac forums to find certain models and types of headlights people buy.

But here are some concerns:

• don't buy the cheapest available headlights - their quality will be quite bad;
• installing the new headlights may be too complicated, so you may need some professional help;
• you better use OEM light bulbs and lamps because those cheap headlights come with bad equipment;
• be careful when mounting the headlights because their plastic mounting units are very tender.

Also, you will need to wait for delivery and risk your money because you are actually buying a product with unknown quality. You can try and get some headlights in the US that won't come from China for several weeks and you can get them right away. But the price will be much higher.

Can you rebuild the OEM headlight to make them work better?

It's quite fair to think that if the new Chinese no-name headlights work well on the Cadillac SRX, there are some ways to make the original headlights work well, too. But I couldn't find any tutorials or videos on how you can do that. I also couldn't get an SRX to experiment with its headlights.

I believe that there is some voltage drop and also the mirroring part of the headlight is faulty. Can you do something with it? Well, you can try to get the new mirroring part and install it into the original headlight. But this won't work out well because you will have to take apart the entire headlight and then use some glue to get it back together again. This will most likely end with a dead headlight or some leaks that will kill it slowly.

So, no, I wouldn't recommend upgrading or rebuilding the original headlights of your SRX. You may replace them with aftermarket ones and then sell the original headlights on eBay for more or less the same money.

What are other cool ways to solve the problem?

There isn't much you can do with the headlight of the SRX to make it work better. If, in your first steps that were described at the beginning of this article, you found out that some part of the headlight is not working properly, you can try and solve the issue.

A good car electrician may help you check the voltage drop reasons and repair the problem. Also, you may polish the glasses if needed. But if this doesn't help and you still don't want to replace the headlights, you may also try other methods:

1. Install high-quality lenses into the headlights

Your SRX headlights allow you to use lenses. There are plenty of non-xenon or xenon lenses that you can use. Before you buy such lenses, please check if they are legal in your state. But even the fully legal halogen lenses will give you much more light if they are provided with 12V power and the glass of the headlight is transparent enough.

2. Use fog light kits

Again, Chinese online shops gave me a great idea of how you can improve your lights in the Cadillac SRX. One of the most interesting ideas is to install powerful front fog lights. They are installed with the new grilles that may or may not come in the kit. Also, check if the kit has all the needed wiring to connect the new fog lights.

If you choose powerful and still legal fog lights, they alone can light the way around your car perfectly. And the headlights will just help to improve the quality of light. Also, this will make your SRX look much better. Make sure that the color of light in the fog lights and headlights is similar.

3. Go to the dealership and complain about the headlights

Although there were no recall campaigns for the SRX bad headlights, I know about some lawsuit cases and they were pretty successful. You can just go to the dealership and tell them that the headlights are not working properly when in low beam. Ask them to diagnose the vehicle and find the problem.

Pure diagnosis will not cost you a fortune but dealerships usually have quite good electricians and they will help you solve the issue or come up with a legal and easy way to improve the efficiency of your headlights.