Headlight problems

[Arashi666]

OK heres the story........... one night in my CL its me and my brother, we get pulled over by a cop and he just informs us that the driver side headlight is out..........OK, no big deal, my expensive Silver Stars were probably running near their limit anyways............

so we get out of the car and swap out highs and lows........... no big deal since I had made a 9005 Low beam conversion a while back......... few days later, I see i'm losing some light on the drivers side again...........again no big problem, I just have no high beams until I replace the bulbs after getting my HID conversion kit in a week or so, I actually inspected everything and found my aftermarket 9003 socket harness had fallen off one of the wires on the factory wires, fixed that and off I went...............

then tonight, just now (Technically this morning as it was about 2AM) driving away from my friends house, it happens AGAIN, same side and all.......... what could be going wrong, is it my car or is it the SIlverstars all burning out and coincidentally all on that same side :? I dunno..... PLEASE HELP


posted about this in all my Honda Forums, but wanted to see what some of y'all thought about this

[kpatz]

Are the bulbs burning out, or are they breaking, or is the bulb OK and it's the connection?

If they're burning out, could be too much heat, vibration, or just a faulty bulb... or they're just at the end of their life span (you said you swapped hi with low, so it wasn't a new bulb anyway).

If they're breaking, maybe you're getting contaminants on them while handling them (don't touch the glass part with your fingers)...

If the bulb is OK, then it's the socket or the connections.

[Arashi666]

Are the bulbs burning out, or are they breaking, or is the bulb OK and it's the connection?

If they're burning out, could be too much heat, vibration, or just a faulty bulb... or they're just at the end of their life span (you said you swapped hi with low, so it wasn't a new bulb anyway).

If they're breaking, maybe you're getting contaminants on them while handling them (don't touch the glass part with your fingers)...

If the bulb is OK, then it's the socket or the connections.

i never touch the bulb glass, because I dont want one exploding in my headlight housing

I pull um out and the filaments are burned, thers one small accumulated ball of overheated metal that's on one side of the filament (or what used to be the filament)

yes they have seen their share of use I can say that for certain, so it could be that, but I just find it ammusing that is all on one side, so it could be the heat, vibrations, or any of those things you mentioned........... I might just go out and pick up a whole new harness, these harnesses were put in about a year ago........... one of the connections came loose, so I fixed that as I said in the beginning which I thought was the cause of all this............. ahhhhhhh, I guess we'll see how this plays out, the last thing I wnt is one of my HID bulbs failing when I finally get um in

[trainedmonkey]

I would get a voltage/ampmeter and check the wires coming in to see if everything is good.

Sounds like high heat/ too high voltage/amps; maybe bad grounding with the wiring

[TSi+WRX]

^ Agreed with others above - I, too, think there's something wrong with your wiring. harness, connections, or *something* of an electrical nature on that side, thus causing your repeated problems.

However, the US-Market Sylvania SilverStars are definitely also known for somewhat erratic bulb-life. Many have reported far less than satisfactory bulb-life with these bulbs. This seems to be a highly variable issue.

Personally, I've had two US-Market Sylvania SilverStars burn-out in about 3 months time, while at the same time, I've had others that have lasted 3+ years.

If your vehicle has Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) that show varying voltage to the light, this may contribute to a shorter lifespan with the SilverStars. It has been rather consistently reported on my local as well as various "larger/national" Subaru Forums. Additionaly, if you tend to leave your lights "on" - if your vehicle has "auto-off" headlights - and you often start/crank the vehicle while the lights are engaged, the voltage spikes/variances seen has also been known to affect bulb life.

Since you're now one bulb short, just save some money, and grab, say, a Sylvania XTraVision or various "longer life" bulbs made by either the same or another reputable company (i.e. Phillips), and see if they don't last longer.

But before you even install these lights, inspect first your light housing to be sure that there's no obvious leaks (i.e. short from rain), and also trace-back your wiring harness to see that there are no obvious points of abrasion and/or other shorts.


Best of luck!

[Arashi666]

see this is why I like it over here................ all they do over at Honda Tech is oggle over dumb Civics all day long, just dumb asses trying to show off

[TSi+WRX]

I've just had a lot of years with the SilverStars, that's all. I think I've had them, on one or another of my vehicles ever since they were first introduced in this country as DOT-approved alternatives.

I don't find them to be much brighter than "standard" alternatives - it's just that I prefer their slightly-whiter color-rendition, which I've found to be even more pleasing that that of many OEM-HID systems (mainly as the yellower color of these standard incandescents helps me somewhat with edge-delineation and depth-perception in less-than-ideal weather).

Just a personal preference, that's all.

[Arashi666]

I've just had a lot of years with the SilverStars, that's all. I think I've had them, on one or another of my vehicles ever since they were first introduced in this country as DOT-approved alternatives.

I don't find them to be much brighter than "standard" alternatives - it's just that I prefer their slightly-whiter color-rendition, which I've found to be even more pleasing that that of many OEM-HID systems (mainly as the yellower color of these standard incandescents helps me somewhat with edge-delineation and depth-perception in less-than-ideal weather).

Just a personal preference, that's all.

you seen the new Silver star ULTRAs, theyve got um over at Autozone in my area, apparantly they offer 30% more output and last longer than regular silverstars while still operating at the same color temperature area as the regular ones............ and I like the look too, both down the road from the drivers seat, and looking at the housings from the outside, just that pure white look, i definately like um over the Cool Blues I had before um

[TSi+WRX]

^ Yup, I just saw them the other day, too!

I will liklely try these out the next time I need lights, but for the time being, I'm not taking the plunge just yet - gonna await some independent reviews. These capsules are expensive!

[Arashi666]

^ Yup, I just saw them the other day, too!

I will liklely try these out the next time I need lights, but for the time being, I'm not taking the plunge just yet - gonna await some independent reviews. These capsules are expensive!

umm yeah, $50 bucks a twin pack!!!!!!!!!!!! thats ALOT OF MONEY for mere bulbs