Headlights going out

[da_buchanan]

I have a 2010 Kizashi and have had to replace the headlight blubs 3 times. Just wondering if anyone else is having this problem. Thanks for any and all feedback.

[murcod]

Hi, I don't want to sound condescending, but have you been careful not to touch the bulb's glass surface? Are they decent quality bulbs or higher intensity? Do you drive on rough roads regularly?

[SamirD]

It's also important to not turn the car off with the lights on. On almost any of my cars if I do this, the bulb will burn out about a month after.

[da_buchanan]

Don't sound condescending at all. Do think we touched the bulbs. I went with the most expensive this last time thinking that may be the reason for them blowing. Thinking about taking the car to get it checked out cause last night the brights wouldn't turn on when I discovered the headlights went out. When I parked the car and showed my husband the brights worked again.

[SamirD]

Don't sound condescending at all. Do think we touched the bulbs. I went with the most expensive this last time thinking that may be the reason for them blowing. Thinking about taking the car to get it checked out cause last night the brights wouldn't turn on when I discovered the headlights went out. When I parked the car and showed my husband the brights worked again.

Halogen bulbs don't like human fingerprints at all. I actually use some gloves when changing bulbs if I can't figure out how to install it without touching the glass.

If the lights are intermittently working (like in the case of your high beam), it might just be a loose connector. It still could be the bulb, but I'd be leaning towards a loose connector.

I always manually turn on the lights in all my cars. My Altima has the record for longest bulb life so far at 7 years before I pulled them out to replace them with PIAA bulbs. But I did have an odd problem with the driver's side turning on and off randomly. The problem was with the ground wire in the socket. After I cut it and spliced it back together again, everything has worked fine. Sometimes it's just something odd.

[murcod]

A lot of the higher intensity bulbs (or higher Wattage) can have a shorter life span, so perhaps just stick with a well known standard Wattage bulb eg. from Philips or Osram. I think 55 Watts is the standard output?

PS: If you touch the glass the bulb can be cleaned with Methylated Spirits. The oils from your skin is what does the damage- when the bulb gets hot.

[SamirD]

A lot of the higher intensity bulbs (or higher Wattage) can have a shorter life span, so perhaps just stick with a well known standard Wattage bulb eg. from Philips or Osram. I think 55 Watts is the standard output?

PS: If you touch the glass the bulb can be cleaned with Methylated Spirits. The oils from your skin is what does the damage- when the bulb gets hot.

Here in the US people stopped putting in higher wattage bulbs after they started frying their wiring harnesses. Even most 'performance' light bulbs here are still stock wattage. They will usually use some xenon gas or other additive to get more light output, although this is also limited as they have to be within certain specs for DOT compliance.

Because of the cheap HID retrofit kits available now and the lower power higher light output of these systems, most people in the US simply change to these if they want increased light output. I've not done it myself, yet, but have been tempted since they're now truly plug and play.

[KuroNekko]

A number of factors can cause halogen bulb failure.

Touching the bulb with your bare fingers is a bad idea. It leaves oil from your fingers on the bulb's surface which compromises the bulb's lifespan because the fingerprint spot can change the operating temperature of that part of the bulb. The temperature discrepancy can affect the filament (the wire inside the bulb that glows) and cause it to burn out quicker. Oils from fingerprints can even cause the bulb to crack as they get very hot during use.
As someone else suggested, always wear gloves (like nitrile or latex) when handling light bulbs.

Also, bulb filaments get weak over time from use. Vibrations also do them harm. Do you drive on rough roads a lot?

I also think you should check your electrical wiring, harnesses, and use dielectric grease between the connectors and the bulbs.

If bulbs keep blowing out, it may indicate you have a faulty wiring harness.

[KuroNekko]

A lot of the higher intensity bulbs (or higher Wattage) can have a shorter life span, so perhaps just stick with a well known standard Wattage bulb eg. from Philips or Osram. I think 55 Watts is the standard output?

PS: If you touch the glass the bulb can be cleaned with Methylated Spirits. The oils from your skin is what does the damage- when the bulb gets hot.

Here in the US people stopped putting in higher wattage bulbs after they started frying their wiring harnesses. Even most 'performance' light bulbs here are still stock wattage. They will usually use some xenon gas or other additive to get more light output, although this is also limited as they have to be within certain specs for DOT compliance.

Because of the cheap HID retrofit kits available now and the lower power higher light output of these systems, most people in the US simply change to these if they want increased light output. I've not done it myself, yet, but have been tempted since they're now truly plug and play.

I have quite some experience with high wattage bulbs. While aftermarket bulbs from PIAA, IPF, Silverstar, etc. are brighter and better, they also can generate more heat. Some even consume more power (like 65w). This can melt your harness and damage the headlight housing. I used to have a harness adapter for running these types of bulbs in my Impreza. As someone already pointed out, they also don't last as long.

After trying them out for years in different cars, I went to a HID kit and will never go back. Even the best bulbs from PIAA will not match the output of a mediocre HID kit if the color temp is between 4300k to 6000k. On average, an HID bulb outputs 300% more light than a halogen bulb while consuming 35W instead of 55W.
HID kits have significantly dropped in price over the last several years. While they can cause their own set of problems like flickering and ballast failure, they are generally more reliable and longer lasting than high output filament bulbs.
While they are technically illegal if installed aftermarket, enforcement on HID kits is very low, especially when used in a projector lens and the color temperature is between 4300k to 8000k. I've passed state inspection in two cars with HID kits installed and have never been pulled over by the police for headlight issues.

However, I truly believe LEDs will take over soon. They have a longer life and consume less power than HIDs, not to mention halogen bulbs. LEDs can also be adaptive. While luxury cars like Audi and Acura have incorporated them as low beams and high beams, even the new Toyota Corolla has LED low beams as standard. This is why the new Corolla's headlights don't look like they run halogen bulbs.

While in the past LEDs did not output even close to an incandescent bulb, their technology has advanced quite a bit in the last several years. I even own LED flashlights that output an astonishing 400 lumens of light, besting even the very best tactical flashlights 10 years ago.

I actually want to find a high output LED bulb to replace my incandescent high beam H7 bulb in my Kizashi. However, for it to output usable high beam light, the LED must work well with the headlight's high beam reflector.
My low beams are HID and work just fine with the factory projector lens.

[murcod]

I hope nobody minds, but I split the LED conversion discussion over to here: http://www.kizashiclub.com/forum/viewto ... f=8&t=2806

Then this topic won't get dragged off track.