Hot answers tagged headlight
9
Could be you. I've heard from several sources that when installing light bulbs you should not touch the glass at all. When you touch the glass, any dirt/grease from your fingers will end up on the glass and will cause the bulb to run hotter than usual. This might cause premature failure.
Don't know how much of this is accurate or even if it's true but ...
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New bulbs sometimes don't last long if they have any oil or dirt on them to begin with before you install them. Sometimes you can't even see the dirt or the oil but it's enough to cause the glass to overheat once your headlights warm up. Also, it should go without saying ( and surely you already know this? ) that you can't touch the new bulb with installing ...
5
Your question raises more issues than you probably thought.
With respect to the issue of a relay, then assuming your bike has a 12 volt, negative ground, electrical system, all you need is a generic automotive relay, which looks like this (sometimes called a Bosch relay, regardless of whether it is actually a Bosch unit). Here is an article, which looks ...
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Unless the lenses themselves are badly damaged, I would try to polish them up first. You can buy kits with most of the necessary polishes etc from a lot of detailing supply companies- the one I have experience with is the Meguiar's kit that comes with plastic polish and a polishing "mop" for use in your drill. You'll also need a roll of blue painter's tape ...
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My car doesn't have this "Max Heating" setting, so my experience may not help you, but I have two reasons why I always turn the lights on while defrosting the car:
the extra load on the engine actually provides more heat so the interior heats up faster, because the engine revs harder to keep the battery output voltage at the same level
the lights being on ...
4
Although the link shows how to remove the condensation it doesn't deal with the cause.The seal has failed and that what is allowing moisture to accumulate.After drying reseal with 3M window seal.It comes on roll and sticks to about anything.Wrap a bead around the light assembly where the lens is glued the housing.Also check the seal where the bulb socket ...
4
A few rules of thumb that apply to the Kia Soul as well as most other cars.
Avoid HID/Xenon headlight retrofit kits unless they're part of an entirely new assembly with optics designed specifically for HID usage. In almost all cases, adding an HID retrofit kit generates a) dangerous glare for oncoming traffic and b) does not properly illuminate the road ...
4
Part of the projector design requires a specific bulb shape and type to work effectively (and legally - most countries require the beam pattern to meet regulations!)
Using a D4S in an adapter would not give you the correct pattern, so I would definitely not recommend doing it!
I did look online to see if I could find adapters, just in case someone was ...
4
The reason the lens clouds is that the lens is plastic and the UV rays from the sun cloud the lens'.Way back when, the government had a law that required the headlights to be standardized. Since the only lights available were sealed beam lamps the bulb,lens an reflector were changed when the bulb burned out. Since all cars used one of three lamps(hi beam,low ...
4
Check you power lines voltage at range of revs, it could be that your voltage stabilizer is malfunctioning and given higher voltage than it should.
I had similar case with my Skoda, the lights (cockpit, headlights and everything else) would glow lighter the more revs motor did. It was noticeable to the eye at night. Lightbulbs are sensitive to voltage and ...
3
The headlight wiring is protected from being overheated (a short,overcurrent) by a circuit breaker. It operates like a circuit breaker in your house except it has an auto reset feature. The clicking you hear may be the circuit breaker resetting. With your admitted limited knowledge this is a job for a pro.
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Similarly to NoCarrier, I answered a similar question on Upgrading a Jeep Wrangler to HID lights.
In my experience, those HID lights that "blind you" are the ones done aftermarket and I don't believe they're legal. If your friend has a factory kit, you will likely notice that the lights have a very strong cut-off point, they really only illuminate the road ...
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I answered this same question here:
Kia Soul aftermarket headlights
bottom line: HID retrofit = bad idea unless your projectors are made for them. You WILL blind oncoming drivers. If HID is an option from the factory for the Sebring, I would get those housings rather than retrofitting your existing halogen setup.
Here is a good (though exhaustive) read ...
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There are two designs vented and non-vented. In the vented design the vents actually help prevent the condensation. Make sure they are clear, you may even have to add additional holes to create more venting.
See this article for more information
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No - with HIDs, the colour temperature is very well defined (after the breaking in, as Petro mentioned) so if you have 10k's, replacing one with another 10k will very rapidly be the same tone as its pair.
(I looked into this when I had one die, as the cost for a new one on my car was £600 - the answer was quite important :-) )
3
Having owned several of that generation Volvo ('93 965, '94 964, '94 965), I will start by saying "The US delivery Volvo headlights of that era are terrible!" The light does not go where it needs to go, and even adding more light will not help that much.
I have had some success putting the Sylvania XS bulbs in. They have a slightly different spectrum from ...
3
Turning off your headlights won't make any difference to your battery, but at idle, you may find your "Max Heating" setting works better without them on. The reason for this is that your alternator can only put out so much current at any given RPM.
So, using completely made up numbers, let's say your Alternator can push out 20 Amps of current at 800 Revs ...
3
The all of the "super white" headlights (which look blue-ish compared to normal headlights) are safety hazards for multiple reasons:
They have a much greater effect of blinding oncoming drivers -- and, if you have them adjusted improperly or use your hi-beams at inappropriate times, drivers in front of you two.
The "white" light produced by these ...
2
Old, tired wiring will often cause dim headlamps as halogen bulbs are very sensitive to low voltages. As Jaime says, a lot of older cars didn't have relayed headlamps (although I would have expected Volvo to do so), so if you've not got them, the full current for the lamps is runnning through the entire wiring system.
The best way to test this is to check ...
2
Have the lenses become cloudy? This can happen over time and you can buy kits to polish and clear them up. If they're not cloudy, check how many volts are getting to the lights themselves with a volt meter.
I'm not sure how the circuit in your car works, but if it doesn't use relays to power the lights, your light switch can be absorbing some of the power.
2
First check to see if you can remove the electrical connector - it is easier to do this when the bulb is still in the housing. Sometimes this can be a challenge, as wiring up until '01 wasn't really thick enough gauge so heating sometimes melts the connector a little.
Once the connector is out the way, it is much easier to see how the rubber boot is fixed ...
2
My 2002 Ford Escape 'eats' drivers side bulbs. Turns out the connector to the bulb is making poor contact. When the bulb 'burns out', odds are if I wiggle the connector, it starts working again. That means its a bad connector. Eventually, I'll replace it. But I do recommend electrical contact lubricant to keep the next one from corroding.
-Mike
2
This has happened to my Hyundai Santro's headlights the last time it rained, when I did not use it for a while. The service center guys said the lights have to be replaced. I don't know about other cars, but for a Santro headlight assembly, there is a water vent closed by a rubber bud that is situated near the indicator connection. You can remove the ...
2
You must make sure before changing to a higher wattage headlamp bulb such as a 60/65W H4 that all the wiring and switches for the headlamp are able to carry the additional current that a higher wattage bulb will draw.
Your current headlamp is listed as a 35/35W, so the 60/65W will draw nearly twice as much current.
Without knowing what type of wiring and ...
2
Your single bulb has two filaments, one for the low beam and one for the high beam. If you look at the back of the headlight bulb, there's three prongs. One is for the low beam, one is for the hi beam, and the last is the shared ground. The low beam and hi beam need to be turned on and off independently, so you need two relays.
(image source ...
2
In order to aim projector lamps I use the same procedure with all of them.
AIMING PROJECTOR HEADLIGHTS
Align your car dead center in your driveway....the front and back of your car need to be perfectly aligned in the center..
Pull your car up to the garage door, as close as you can get without actually hitting the garage.
Put a piece of tape where the ...
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Washed out means you lose some of the perceived intensity, clarity and sharpness - usually this means the colour temperature of the light drops so you move more towards the yellower end, losing those high intensity blue aspects.
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If you want to build the relay setup yourself instead of using a commercially produced motorcycle headlight relay kit, you'll need two automotive relays, commonly called "Bosch relays". They should have a rating of at least 10A, which they nearly all do (generally you find them at least 20A). You need one relay for the low-beam, and one relay for the ...
1
I have yet to find a Japanese car that doesn't have the connectors strategically arranged to where it's not possible to connect the wrong things together. There should be a matching connector somewhere.
The only exception to that are diagnostic connectors used at the factory and dealerships to test components. Those will not have their counterparts anywhere ...
1
You could buy a pricey headlight lens cleaning kit, but believe it or not, for a quick fix, toothpaste works almost as well. Non-whitening, Baking soda based types are best. It's a good idea to wax them once you've polished them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKAshYmrExc
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