The past couple years I have been blowing more and more headlight bulbs. I don't know if the filiment is getting tossed around because I now live in Boston (the city of potholes) or if it's because my suspension is tight, or who knows.

Anyone else having similar problems? I stopped buying SilverStars because I was blowing them in under 6 months.

Thanks !

 

are they stock bulbs? have you tried to see if you need to replace you harnesses?

 

check ur grounds.. and check ur harness plugs for currosion

 

Stop purchasing blue HID type bulbs.
Try a set of Sylvania Xtravisions.

 

My last three have been Xtravisions....
At least they are cheaper than SilverStars.

I might try going back to stock OEM's. My originals lasted years.

 

stop touching the bulb with your fingers!!!

 

You would think, right? Nope, aint doing that either.
I will have to trace the ground wires and see if they are okay.

 

It is probably the battering the car gets from the bad roads.
I've noticed when I drive on boneshaking surfaces, I end up replacing all sorts of bulbs.

 

Also, try replacing the bulb ASAP. I find that driving with one bulb lit will most definitely cause it to blow, usually a shortwhile after replacing the blown one. probably because of the extra current draw to the filament.

 

Check that your alternater isnt putting out more than 14.6 volts, if its cranking out 16 everything will still appear normal but it will take a toll on bulb life. Rev the engine up while your checking to be sure. Beyond that, i would say its probably a bad batch of bulbs.

I dont think its a bad ground (unless its intermittent) causing the problem - since that would lower the voltage to the bulb and thus extend its life. I had a 9004 bulb that i was using as a dummy load - i fed it 5v, and it stayed lit for over 3years running 24/7, and to the best of my knowledge still going.

 

have you ever seen the wiring diagram for the headlights. They are wired up in parallel. They both get the same amount of volts. Its a split wire. Having 1 bulb burnt out will not cause the other bulb to blow at all. It makes no sense. A broken filament will serve as a ground therefore causing the circuit to end right there and now completeing the circuit to ground.

reason why both bulbs normally burn out together is because they take the same amount of beating from the roads and the same amount of usage as well. Reason why 1 blows and not the other yet is showing you how 2 things made from the same people at the same time are not identical in terms of build quailty, either that or you have wiring problems or touched the bulb.

 

You "may"have a point there, but what about the sudden surge in amperage as one blows? what effect does that have on the other? You are assuming that there is perfect voltage stabilization between the two. This is not true at all...and parallel does not mean th no voltage fluctuation. Have you ever seen your house lights dim when the fridge turns on? That's a parallel circuit too. BTW..a broken element does not "serve as a ground" , it becomes an open circuit.

 

The sudden surge of amperage that happens would only cause an unnoticeable dip in voltage for a split second. The battery acts like a huge capacitor - it lets you turn on and off huge electrical loads and the battery won't allow the voltage to spike up or down very much.

While on the subject of lightbulbs - has anyone with DRLs on there max noticed that when you start the car with the ebrake on they wont come on, but will as soon as the brake is taken off?

Also has anyone else noticed that the drivers side almost always burns out first? I suspect the reason this happen is because the driver spends most of his time looking through that side of the car, thereby absorbing more light from that side into his eyes and using up the bulb faster.

okay, well, seriously, i think its because the center of the road is always in rougher condition than the sides. Even though the lights are attatched rigidly, when the car is travelling down the road and encounters roughness near the center line, the driver's side bulb sees more vibration and more movement than the passenger's side just because of leverage action. It's like you can pick up a baseball bat, and move one end up and down 12 inches but becaise the car is supported by wheels on both sides, the far side of the bat will barely move.

 

welll I'm had the same problem about 4 weeks ago, the first buld (which is two years old (or six months old) burned out, and two weeks ago, the other bulb burned.. so it definately not becasue I bought them at the same time....

2Dmax.... did you install a grounding kit on your car? because I installed one on my about 3 months ago, and maybe that has something to do with it....-
>>> just a thought....

When the first bulb burned I drove around for (1) one week with only one bulb (till I remember replacing it)

 

grounding kit? nope.

 

Pot holes is not the problem, I have speed bumps day in and day out at my apartment with Illuminas and they still are great, although my passenger Ilummina fog went out on me in 3 months, still need to check on the connection though, been a bit lazy.