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Headlights Not Bright

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Old Feb 28, 2004 | 11:48 PM
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Headlights Not Bright

Ever since i got my car a month ago, i've noticed that my headlights are not bright at all... I have to drive with my brights on all the time and those aren't even close to being as bright as anyother cars regular head lights are.... i know that my car was in an accident involving the front end, because the the license plate frame is all twisted up and the fog lights are all broken ... Also when i turn on the signals, on the side of the car, the signals dont flash, it just stays on... Do you think it my be too low wattage of a bulb in there or faulty wiring in the headlights???
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 12:00 AM
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It sounds like you have either a short or a grounding problem. Also, have you tried changing out your headlight bulbs? You can get them at Autozone, Discount Auto, etc.The bulb number is 9004. A decent priced 9004 is a GE bulb, which goes for about $8.00. The part number for the GE bulb is 9004 (9004/BP). Good luck with your problems.
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 07:54 AM
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as nutbag said , the headlights just need a good quality bulb. At work we sell some generic bulbs but they are junk. We put one in my parents car once and the old bulb that was still good was brighter than the new bulb.

As far as signals not flashing, is it both or just one side?
Both I would suspect a flasher failure.
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 08:24 AM
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Maybe new bulbs can help. In my opinion, The Sylvania Silverstar's are very good but a bit pricey, $40 dollars for 2 at pepboys. I also used Eurolite 9004 Xenon bulbs which made a great improvement. Its a lot whiter than the stock bulbs which have a yellowish tint kinda.

thers me 2 cents
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 09:30 AM
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On ebay you can get the eurolights. You might be able to get some foglights to match it. All together they'll end up costing as much as the Siverstars. Foglight size are H3.
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 11:01 AM
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^^ the signals dont flash on the sides on both sides...but in the very front of the car they do.

Also i havent tried to replace the bulbs yet because i was debating whether or not to buy the blue ones, instead of the regular white ones.. does anybody know any good blue bulbs to use?
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 11:51 AM
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The bulbs on the side of your car dont flash because those are cornering lamps that arent supposed to flash.....
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 12:41 PM
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hmmm. eurolite has some blue lights, but the actual light emitted isnt blue. it makes the housing look blue.

i'll take a pic of it if u want
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 12:56 PM
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beware of high wattage bulbs when used with stock wiring...
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 04:03 PM
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^^^ Oh...LOL I didn't Know that, thanks for letting me know!!! =D

^^ A pic isn't necassary, but thanks for the info!

^ I will, Again , thanks for the information!!
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 04:41 PM
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I sell eurolite
Old Feb 29, 2004 | 09:49 PM
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I wanna see the pic just for kicks..
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 04:15 PM
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Umm..How do you remove the plastic covering on the headlight fixture itself, to change the bulbs??
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 04:39 PM
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Originally Posted by RoLLerRoB
Umm..How do you remove the plastic covering on the headlight fixture itself, to change the bulbs??
Twist it, you'll feel it come free. Just try not to be too hard with it. Then, you'll have to pull the bulb itself out. Yes, it is in there a little bit, but just pull it a little and you should be able to get it out. And putting the new bulb in is the opposite process.
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 04:50 PM
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Just a reminder NOT to touch the bulb when installing. The natural oils from your hand/fingers will shorten the life of the bulb.
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Fosgate Fan

Just a reminder NOT to touch the bulb when installing. The natural oils from your hand/fingers will shorten the life of the bulb.
Yes, this is very true. lol
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 05:27 PM
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wow..how weird..Thanks for letting me know about the hand oils and everything else!! ya'll are great!
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 06:47 PM
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have any of you thought that when he said the lights on the side dont flash he was talking about the corner lights? The corner lenses just light up brighter when you turn on the blinkers and are not supposed to blink. The corner lights are the ones next to the headlights. If your talking about the blinkers in the bumper then thats a different story.
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 07:20 PM
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i thought someone addressed that already in some of the early replies
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 07:32 PM
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yeah JoeNismo92SE Already mentioned that, but i didn't know that they weren't supposed to blink...the blinkers in the bumper work fine...its just the headlights that are really low..My dad thinks they may need adjusting so he said we can take it to a place to have it done..
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 08:03 PM
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You can't adjust the brightness of the headlights, so don't waste your money taking it to a shop. It's probably the bulbs that are going bad.
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 08:08 PM
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you know i never thought of that...bulbs aren't that much eh?? Hopefully if it stops raining by tomorrow i can finally attempt to do something about it.. thanks!
Old Mar 2, 2004 | 08:16 PM
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Originally Posted by RoLLerRoB
you know i never thought of that...bulbs aren't that much eh?? Hopefully if it stops raining by tomorrow i can finally attempt to do something about it.. thanks!
How much are you willing to spend on bulbs? I reccomend Sylvania Silverstars. They're about 40 bucks for a pair at Autozone. Good improvement over stock bulbs. Here's a pic of it on my car (old pic, too lazy to take new pics)

Old Mar 2, 2004 | 10:00 PM
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WOW those are sooo Bright!!! let me go take a pic of my car to show the difference..

Ok here are the links..Geocities..(copy. Paste, you know the routine..)
http://www.geocities.com/coasterscreamer/Maxima-01.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/coasterscreamer/Maxima-02.jpg

Seriously, I'm not sure how much i'm willing to spend, because i'm not the one buying them.
Old Mar 6, 2004 | 07:29 PM
  #25  
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Ok, Today i put in new bulbs and changed the dash lights in my car, but the headlights are still pointing to the floor and are still only barley visible over the hood of my car from the driver seat... Does anyone know How to take of the lens of the healight it self?
Old Mar 6, 2004 | 09:53 PM
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there are these ***** behind the headlight assembly that you turn to adjust the angle of the headlight. they're right behind the headlight assembly, closer towards the fender. are the new bulbs brighter?
Old Mar 6, 2004 | 10:12 PM
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Yes they are alot brighter.. I got some Sylvania Cool Blues..i thought that the light emitted from them would be blue, but its white..Its ok though...But yeah, i saw those and was messing around with them earlier but nothing happened... i'll try agan right now and see what happens... Thanks!
Old Mar 6, 2004 | 10:14 PM
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i had the cool blues before i got the silverstars, decent bulbs
Old Mar 6, 2004 | 10:24 PM
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Ok i adjusted the right hand side so that ones somewhat ok now, but the left hand one, (driver side), the **** isn't connected to the gear and when i turn the ****, nothing happends, So now the passenger side headlight is going straight, but the driver side one is at an angle towrds the right of the road...i dont know what else to do..
Old Mar 7, 2004 | 08:07 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by RoLLerRoB
Ok i adjusted the right hand side so that ones somewhat ok now, but the left hand one, (driver side), the **** isn't connected to the gear and when i turn the ****, nothing happends, So now the passenger side headlight is going straight, but the driver side one is at an angle towrds the right of the road...i dont know what else to do..
Get some decent fog lights. They're easy to install and they work great. When I did the E36 headlight swap and installed them, I noticed that my headlights were aimed way too high and I can't adjust them, so I have my fog lights aimed a little higher so they basically act as a second set of headlights for me. lol
Old Mar 7, 2004 | 09:57 AM
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Originally Posted by MaximaBalla
Get some decent fog lights. They're easy to install and they work great. When I did the E36 headlight swap and installed them, I noticed that my headlights were aimed way too high and I can't adjust them, so I have my fog lights aimed a little higher so they basically act as a second set of headlights for me. lol
haha that will add nothing but crazy glare for oncoming cars

Originally Posted by RoLLerRoB
Ok i adjusted the right hand side so that ones somewhat ok now, but the left hand one, (driver side), the **** isn't connected to the gear and when i turn the ****, nothing happends, So now the passenger side headlight is going straight, but the driver side one is at an angle towrds the right of the road...i dont know what else to do..
try pushing the headlight as you turn the ****...that might help
Old Mar 7, 2004 | 10:41 PM
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Originally Posted by RoLLerRoB
Ok i adjusted the right hand side so that ones somewhat ok now, but the left hand one, (driver side), the **** isn't connected to the gear and when i turn the ****, nothing happends, So now the passenger side headlight is going straight, but the driver side one is at an angle towrds the right of the road...i dont know what else to do..
there is a really long screw on the headlamp assembly (behind the lamp) that also needs to be adjusted to correct the angle of the beam...u have to adjust that too....someone probably did a bad job of fixing the front end.
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