Let's Figure Out the Headlight Bulb Issue

[SamirD]

If you haven't experienced it, you will--your Kizashi headlights will burn out faster than any other car you've owned.

And to add to the inconvenience, it is impossible to change the driver's side bulb without removing the bumper. I know--I've tried. I removed the entire intake and even unbolted the computer housing. There's just no way to get to the bolt that's shown in the owner's manual without possibly damaging a wiring harness.

Even Steve at Ray Suzuki has mentioned this is one of the most common problems with the car and that the electrical system with the car can be quite particular.

So my biggest question is why?

I suspect it's somewhere in the electrical system and related to overvoltages. If so, how can the headlight bulb be better isolated from this? Motorcyclists have things like this available:


Once of the features available in these modules is surge protection.

In commercial and residential lighting, it's possible to buy 130v bulbs for 120v circuits for this same reason--to keep surges and spike from breaking the filament.

Any ideas on how to better isolate the bulbs or fix the electrical gremlins in the car? I know with our collective knowledge, we can fix this problem once and for all.

[KuroNekko]

I'm not convinced it's the car. After all, the bulbs burning out are the OEM bulbs. We haven't even ruled out whether the bulbs themselves are just inferior. Getting bulbs from a different manufacturer and seeing how they do would be wiser than blaming the car and using any voltage stabilizers or capacitors.

That being said, seriously consider HIDs. I'm not sure why anyone would want to go through the hassle of removing the bumper, removing the headlights, and taking out the old halogen just to put in another halogen. I consider filament lighting like incandescent and even halogen bulbs as technology that should be just about obsolete now. Heck, I've even retrofitted a $4 LED bulb in my 15 year-old Cateye bicycle headlight. I avoid filament-based lighting as I personally consider them inferior and inefficient. It's no surprise to me why the gov't banned incandescent bulbs for house lighting recently.

With an automotive headlight, more the reason to switch. HIDs output close to 3 times more light than standard halogen bulbs all while consuming less power. Lifespan is several to ten times longer. In the recent few years, quality has improved while prices have fallen for aftermarket kits. For under $200, you can get a high quality kit with a good warranty. Morimoto kits are proof. The Morimoto HD Relay even bypasses the OE headlight harness for power for better stability and reliability. The Relay harness connects to the OE harness for headlight switch input, not power supply as it directly connects to the battery.

Unless you are strapped for cash, you should really junk halogens and go with HIDs. Personally, I will never go back. You just can't after you try it, especially with projector lenses.

[~tc~]

X2 KuroNekko on Morimoto HID in the stock projectors.

Poor halogen bulb life in cars is more frequently from LOW voltage, not high. Halogen bulbs rely on enough voltage to excite the gas, if you don't have enough, you'll just cook the filament. The solution is usually a relay harness, but with all the wiring built into the housing, you're going to have to pull everything apart and may as well do HIDs while you're in there

[SamirD]

I'm not convinced it's the car. After all, the bulbs burning out are the OEM bulbs. We haven't even ruled out whether the bulbs themselves are just inferior. Getting bulbs from a different manufacturer and seeing how they do would be wiser than blaming the car and using any voltage stabilizers or capacitors.

That being said, seriously consider HIDs. I'm not sure why anyone would want to go through the hassle of removing the bumper, removing the headlights, and taking out the old halogen just to put in another halogen. I consider filament lighting like incandescent and even halogen bulbs as technology that should be just about obsolete now. Heck, I've even retrofitted a $4 LED bulb in my 15 year-old Cateye bicycle headlight. I avoid filament-based lighting as I personally consider them inferior and inefficient. It's no surprise to me why the gov't banned incandescent bulbs for house lighting recently.

With an automotive headlight, more the reason to switch. HIDs output close to 3 times more light than standard halogen bulbs all while consuming less power. Lifespan is several to ten times longer. In the recent few years, quality has improved while prices have fallen for aftermarket kits. For under $200, you can get a high quality kit with a good warranty. Morimoto kits are proof. The Morimoto HD Relay even bypasses the OE headlight harness for power for better stability and reliability. The Relay harness connects to the OE harness for headlight switch input, not power supply as it directly connects to the battery.

Unless you are strapped for cash, you should really junk halogens and go with HIDs. Personally, I will never go back. You just can't after you try it, especially with projector lenses.

Very good point about the bulbs. Could have just been a bad batch. But many people have had repeated burnouts, hence why I'm leaning towards an issue with the car.

As far as why I don't want to move to and HID kit--just because of all the other issues it could introduce--other relays, water issues, modifying the factory parts, etc. None of these mods are tested for 10yr service life like the rest of the car. (One of the reasons I am open to the idea a factory HID swap.)

I'm going to call PIAA and see what they can advise. I want to use their H3s in the fogs anyways.

[SamirD]

X2 KuroNekko on Morimoto HID in the stock projectors.

Poor halogen bulb life in cars is more frequently from LOW voltage, not high. Halogen bulbs rely on enough voltage to excite the gas, if you don't have enough, you'll just cook the filament. The solution is usually a relay harness, but with all the wiring built into the housing, you're going to have to pull everything apart and may as well do HIDs while you're in there

Thank you for the insight! So how much do you think battery weakness could have to do with it? Ours definitely isn't weak, but if a drop there is causing the problem, audio guys have multiple solutions for this since the same problem exists in the ice world.

[KuroNekko]

As far as why I don't want to move to and HID kit--just because of all the other issues it could introduce--other relays, water issues, modifying the factory parts, etc. None of these mods are tested for 10yr service life like the rest of the car. (One of the reasons I am open to the idea a factory HID swap.)

I'm going to call PIAA and see what they can advise. I want to use their H3s in the fogs anyways.

High quality HID kits are really not problematic like you make them sound. Honestly, they are not like the ebay crap for $35. Retailers like TRS discuss this rather bluntly. They explicitly state that even their bulbs alone cost more than entire kits on ebay but there's a reason for that: quality. They back up that quality with a long warranty that is unrivaled.

The relays are not necessary in every HID kit, but are a component of Morimoto kits which actually make them superior. The relay resolves flickering issues seen with lower grade kits because the relay draws power directly from the battery. Water issues are almost non-existent. HID kits are famously waterproof. Some retailers even demonstrate by dunking their HID kits in water tanks and operating it. See the picture below.


Halogens on the other hand? They burst on contact with water.

HID kit installations are also 100% reversible and I've personally gone back to halogens in my old Mazda when my ballast failed. When the company gave me a new one under warranty, I re-installed the HID kit.

While yes, these aftermarket components are not tested for 10 years, guess what? Neither are OEM. Otherwise, ALL companies would offer bumper to bumper 10 year warranties. However, the industry average is only 3 years/36,000 miles for bumper to bumper which covers components like HID systems. In fact, it's not uncommon to see factory HIDs that are out on cars over 7 years old. This coincides with the average lifetime of even factory HID bulbs. Also keep in mind that TRS offers a 5 year warranty (for 35W systems) on all their components if you buy a full kit. This is actually better than a factory warranty on an OEM HID.

Let's not forget the incomparable difference in performance versus any halogen, even the best. Also, as you know, the Kizashi requires the bumper and headlights to come off to change the bulbs. Given all that trouble, wouldn't you want to avoid doing that more frequently? It also happens to be most of the work going into installing a HID kit. If there is any car I can think of to put in a HID kit, it would be the Kizashi given its difficult bulb change process and factory low beam projectors. To me, HIDs and the Kizashi are a good match.

Lastly, bulbs from PIAA are good, but no rival to HID in either performance or lifespan. Trust me that my HID fog bulbs from Morimoto will outperform PIAA halogens in just about every regard. I also only paid $20 for them (just the bulbs). PIAAs are famously overpriced.
High end halogens like top tier PIAAs can cost nearly $80 for a set which is about half the price of a HID kit from Morimoto. Then consider that high output halogen bulbs have a lifespan of only a few hundred hours. In comparison, HIDs are in the thousands of hours all while consuming less power, giving off less heat, and outputting 2~3 times the light in lumens.
To me, there is no way halogens win in the equation.

[paininthenuts]

Here is how to do it

[bootymac]

X2 KuroNekko on Morimoto HID in the stock projectors.

Poor halogen bulb life in cars is more frequently from LOW voltage, not high. Halogen bulbs rely on enough voltage to excite the gas, if you don't have enough, you'll just cook the filament. The solution is usually a relay harness, but with all the wiring built into the housing, you're going to have to pull everything apart and may as well do HIDs while you're in there

Thank you for the insight! So how much do you think battery weakness could have to do with it? Ours definitely isn't weak, but if a drop there is causing the problem, audio guys have multiple solutions for this since the same problem exists in the ice world.

Do you notice the headlights dimming? I would think that voltage drops would be noticeable. Doing the "big 3" upgrade might help, but a higher amperage alternator would do the trick.

I'm on the HID boat too though. It kills two birds with one stone

[SamirD]

As far as why I don't want to move to and HID kit--just because of all the other issues it could introduce--other relays, water issues, modifying the factory parts, etc. None of these mods are tested for 10yr service life like the rest of the car. (One of the reasons I am open to the idea a factory HID swap.)

I'm going to call PIAA and see what they can advise. I want to use their H3s in the fogs anyways.

High quality HID kits are really not problematic like you make them sound. Honestly, they are not like the ebay crap for $35. Retailers like TRS discuss this rather bluntly. They explicitly state that even their bulbs alone cost more than entire kits on ebay but there's a reason for that: quality. They back up that quality with a long warranty that is unrivaled.

The relays are not necessary in every HID kit, but are a component of Morimoto kits which actually make them superior. The relay resolves flickering issues seen with lower grade kits because the relay draws power directly from the battery. Water issues are almost non-existent. HID kits are famously waterproof. Some retailers even demonstrate by dunking their HID kits in water tanks and operating it. See the picture below.


Halogens on the other hand? They burst on contact with water.

HID kit installations are also 100% reversible and I've personally gone back to halogens in my old Mazda when my ballast failed. When the company gave me a new one under warranty, I re-installed the HID kit.

While yes, these aftermarket components are not tested for 10 years, guess what? Neither are OEM. Otherwise, ALL companies would offer bumper to bumper 10 year warranties. However, the industry average is only 3 years/36,000 miles for bumper to bumper which covers components like HID systems. In fact, it's not uncommon to see factory HIDs that are out on cars over 7 years old. This coincides with the average lifetime of even factory HID bulbs. Also keep in mind that TRS offers a 5 year warranty (for 35W systems) on all their components if you buy a full kit. This is actually better than a factory warranty on an OEM HID.

Let's not forget the incomparable difference in performance versus any halogen, even the best. Also, as you know, the Kizashi requires the bumper and headlights to come off to change the bulbs. Given all that trouble, wouldn't you want to avoid doing that more frequently? It also happens to be most of the work going into installing a HID kit. If there is any car I can think of to put in a HID kit, it would be the Kizashi given its difficult bulb change process and factory low beam projectors. To me, HIDs and the Kizashi are a good match.

Lastly, bulbs from PIAA are good, but no rival to HID in either performance or lifespan. Trust me that my HID fog bulbs from Morimoto will outperform PIAA halogens in just about every regard. I also only paid $20 for them (just the bulbs). PIAAs are famously overpriced.
High end halogens like top tier PIAAs can cost nearly $80 for a set which is about half the price of a HID kit from Morimoto. Then consider that high output halogen bulbs have a lifespan of only a few hundred hours. In comparison, HIDs are in the thousands of hours all while consuming less power, giving off less heat, and outputting 2~3 times the light in lumens.
To me, there is no way halogens win in the equation.

I completely acknowledge your points. My main concern isn't a warranty on a kit or anything like that, but is simply installing something and not dealing with it again. I don't have time to tinker on the car, just improve something and then drive.

There's numerous things that can go wrong in an hid install (which as you know are avoided by being meticulous and detailed, which I would be too), and that's what I don't want to have to deal with. When my wife can't even keep the car from being scratched or the key from getting lost, the last thing I need is some sort of issue from the headlights beside a normal bulb swap.

There's a part of me that just wants to go the route of the 65w on the passenger side and forget the driver's side completely.

[SamirD]

Do you notice the headlights dimming? I would think that voltage drops would be noticeable. Doing the "big 3" upgrade might help, but a higher amperage alternator would do the trick.

I'm on the HID boat too though. It kills two birds with one stone

I don't think I have, but what's a good test? A test that doesn't involved turning the car on or off with the lights on as I know that will kill this replacement bulb.

I like the idea of HIDs--when they come with a new front bumper cover with factory HID assemblies and wiring harnesses.