Headlight bulbs keep failing

[johnhenrydale]

I just replaced both bulbs with Sylvania 9007 SilverStar zXe Halogen Headlight Bulb less than 6 months ago and now one has failed. Before those bulbs I regularly had bulbs fail with what seems to be too much frequency. Are there any known headlight / wiring issues with the Kizashi that I'm unaware of that would be causing this? Or is it perhaps the Florida heat / salty air / humidity ? I know that batteries here tend to die quicker because of heat and perhaps people running their AC all the time. Any insights much appreciated.
Thanks,
JHD

[Ronzuki]

I've never had good luck w/ any of those 'brighter' bulbs lasting in any vehicle I've put them in. I've just been sticking w/ the plain-jane standard jobs. Try switching to Phillips bulbs. They've been lasting longer for me than Sylvanias.

[KuroNekko]

This is a common issue with the Kizashi and apparently other Suzukis according to an article I read about issues people report with their Suzukis in the UK. It may be that Suzuki does not have an optimal voltage or surge protection for the lights or something. I don't think anyone has a definitive answer to what is actually the cause.
The problem is made worse given the fact that headlight bulb replacement is very cumbersome in the Kizashi because it often requires the removal of the front bumper and headlights.

My suggestion is to ditch halogen bulbs and go with an aftermarket HID or LED kit. These have much greater bulb longevity by inherent design as they work completely differently from halogen bulbs with wire filaments. I've had HIDs since Day One (my used Kizashi came with them) and I've replaced the original kit with a higher quality one by Morimoto sold by TheRetrofitSource.com. As a testimonial, I've had my Morimoto HID kit for nearly 5 years now on the same ballasts and bulbs and to this day, they continue to output brighter light than the brightest halogen bulbs. Sure, they are more expensive and difficult to install than halogen bulbs, but the pay-off is certainly worth it. Also, keep in mind the biggest hassle to installing a kit is removing the bumper and headlights but halogen bulb replacement already necessitates that in the Kizashi. HIDs and LEDs also give the Kizashi a more premium look and makes the unique car look even more exquisite, IMO.

These days, LED kits are available too so you can go with that instead of HID. There are pros and cons to each but either are far superior to halogen bulbs in performance and longevity, especially in the Kizashi which likes to blow its halogen bulbs.

If I recall correctly, you replaced your Sport GTS manual trans interior with leather. If you can do all that, you can certainly install an HID or LED kit.
Here's my write-up on the kit I still have in my car:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2861

[Woodie]

They're expected to last a year. Manufacturer says if they do last two years they should be replaced. I'm having a difficult time finding direct lifespan comparison numbers, I know I've seen a chart like this before, maybe my searching skills have just not switched on yet this morning. Here's a particularly brutal post from Candlepower Forum:

Default Re: Sylvania ZXE bulbs

Quote Originally Posted by 2000xlt View Post
Has anyone tried the new bulbs by Sylvania? ZXE bulbs?
Same as all the rest of the blue-glass bulbs: minimally-adequate light output (if that), minimally-adequate beam performance (if that), useless in rain/fog/snow, very short lifespan. You can do very much better by staying away from any bulb that has blue glass or is promoted with claims to produce "whiter" ("cleaner", "crisper", "fresher") light, "added style", etc. Headlamps are not styling toys, they are life safety equipment, and it's best to treat them that way.

[n8dogg]

This is a common issue with the Kizashi ... I don't think anyone has a definitive answer to what is actually the cause.
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=2861

I've wondered if the space within the projector beam housing is so tight it causes the bulb to burn hotter because of the lack of ability for the heat to dissipate? Seems these same bulbs burn longer in different vehicles.

[KuroNekko]

They're expected to last a year. Manufacturer says if they do last two years they should be replaced. I'm having a difficult time finding direct lifespan comparison numbers, I know I've seen a chart like this before, maybe my searching skills have just not switched on yet this morning. Here's a particularly brutal post from Candlepower Forum:

Default Re: Sylvania ZXE bulbs

Quote Originally Posted by 2000xlt View Post
Has anyone tried the new bulbs by Sylvania? ZXE bulbs?
Same as all the rest of the blue-glass bulbs: minimally-adequate light output (if that), minimally-adequate beam performance (if that), useless in rain/fog/snow, very short lifespan. You can do very much better by staying away from any bulb that has blue glass or is promoted with claims to produce "whiter" ("cleaner", "crisper", "fresher") light, "added style", etc. Headlamps are not styling toys, they are life safety equipment, and it's best to treat them that way.

It's true that the halogens that output white light are doing so artificially by having a blue tint on the glass. While the light output is whiter in tint, the coating actually has a dimming effect due to the dark color on the glass. Hence, many of these bulbs also have a filament designed to burn hotter and output brighter light to overcome the tint. However, this sacrifices bulb life and they burn out quicker. These white halogens came about as a cheaper alternative to HIDs to try mimic their whiter and more intense light. The goal was to have halogens that looked like HIDs in color output but at the cost of a shorter life and higher price of the bulb compared to normal halogens. I've had a number of these types of halogens in the past (mostly JDM products I picked up when in Japan). While I didn't have issues with their longevity, the output performance wasn't really significantly better than a normal halogen bulb. The difference was really more the light tint than the actual brightness in most cases. The really bright ones used a higher wattage than standard bulbs but these often melted harnesses and even damaged the headlight housing and lens. I avoided those because more light was not worth the risk of damage but it always seemed like a compromise with halogens. Ten years ago, I finally decided to try out an HID kit and I haven't looked back to halogens since.

I've wondered if the space within the projector beam housing is so tight it causes the bulb to burn hotter because of the lack of ability for the heat to dissipate? Seems these same bulbs burn longer in different vehicles.

I don't think so for a number of reasons. First, halogens are very resistant to heat because by inherent design, they create a lot of heat themselves. In fact, they aren't very efficient as lighting sources because they use a lot of energy creating heat instead of light. Halogens are more susceptible to vibrations and contact with impurities like water, dirt, oil, etc. as the cause of their failure much more than heat.

Another reason why I don't think it's heat is because many vehicles use projectors with similar housing dimensions. In fact, the Kizashi's headlight is much larger than a typical car's so the housing wasn't designed with space issues. Also, from what I read in an article about the most complaints with Suzuki cars in the UK, it stated the headlights went out more frequently across all Suzuki models. Keep in mind not all models have projector housings.

I think it's an issue with the electrical system in Suzuki models. Maybe the current isn't stable enough or the voltage fluctuates. I'm no electrical engineer to get into the details, but I know the Kizashi is a car that just doesn't like electronics getting hooked up. After I installed my dash camera, my HID headlights started to slightly flicker at idle. It seemed like the current draw of the cabin dash camera and phone charger had an effect on the headlights. I installed capacitors into the HID harness to stabilize it which cured the issue. Same thing with the LEDs I put in as DRL/high beams. They flickered due to the pulsed width modulation of the stock DRL system (designed for halogens) until I installed the capacitors. The capacitors stabilized the flickering but put the LED output much higher than the halogens in DRL mode. However, I now prefer this set-up. It's brighter and therefore more effective as a DRL that gets noticed to help reduce head-on collisions. Also, DRLs are now very common as factory-installed components and many cars now feature bright white LEDs during the daytime. My Kizashi's set-up isn't really distracting in this regard as LED DRLs got commonplace.

I have long advocated for HID and more recently LED kits as replacements for the halogens in the Kizashi. While I know this doesn't actually deal with the root cause of the halogen bulbs to prematurely fail in the car, I personally see it as a moot point. Why bother with fixing an issue with an inferior component when much better and reliable alternatives are readily available? TheRetrofitSource offers an astonishing 5 year warranty for their Morimoto 35W HID kits. That's better than most car warranties! I'm a few months away from 5 years on the kit and haven't had to use the warranty. Now think about how many times some have had to replace their halogens in a 5 year time span.
Sometimes it's just better and more efficient to go around a problem than going straight to it and trying to deal with it directly.

[wdbeeles]

I had this issue with my 2011 kizashi and a friend said to change out the headlight bulb connector with a universal connector from the auto parts store and it has seemed to work so far.i was changing the bulbs out every time I turned around.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Ronzuki]

This is a common issue with the Kizashi and apparently other Suzukis according to an article I read about issues people report with their Suzukis in the UK. It may be that Suzuki does not have an optimal voltage or surge protection for the lights or something. I don't think anyone has a definitive answer to what is actually the cause.
The problem is made worse given the fact that headlight bulb replacement is very cumbersome in the Kizashi because it often requires the removal of the front bumper and headlights.

My suggestion is to ditch halogen bulbs and go with an aftermarket HID or LED kit. These have much greater bulb longevity by inherent design as they work completely differently from halogen bulbs with wire filaments. I've had HIDs since Day One (my used Kizashi came with them) and I've replaced the original kit with a higher quality one by Morimoto sold by TheRetrofitSource.com. As a testimonial, I've had my Morimoto HID kit for nearly 5 years now on the same ballasts and bulbs and to this day, they continue to output brighter light than the brightest halogen bulbs. Sure, they are more expensive and difficult to install than halogen bulbs, but the pay-off is certainly worth it. Also, keep in mind the biggest hassle to installing a kit is removing the bumper and headlights but halogen bulb replacement already necessitates that in the Kizashi. HIDs and LEDs also give the Kizashi a more premium look and makes the unique car look even more exquisite, IMO.

IDK that this statement is entirely true. I believe, from experience, the quality of the bulbs (who makes them and where) has everything to due w/ how long they last. Much like anything else one would buy these days. I'm speaking about OE replacements and not anything 'brighter'. The factory bulbs in my K lasted a very, very long time. When one went out I put Sylvania plane-janers in there cause they we easy to get in my travels. One of those went out in a year or so, replaced both w/ Phillips this time based upon the very same experience with our 94 Suburban. Then that tornado came along, shingle slapped the front of the car badly resulting in the body shop replacing both headlamps w/ salvage lamps. I later came to find they never swapped my nearly new bulbs in when a light went out shortly thereafter. I swapped them both out w/Phillips again. They are still in the car for what 2-3 years now? And, what's noteworthy is that I drive all the time, with all my lights on (fogs included), day or night. Have yet to replace a fog bulb (prolly just jinxed myself). I'd also wager that the very first set of replacement Phillips bulbs I put in would likely still be in there had the body shop not been douches.

My wife's 2011 SX4, 51k miles or so, still has the factory OE bulbs in it. Over 7 years now we've had the car. She only runs her lights in bad weather, dusk, dawn, and night driving.

[KuroNekko]

Well, it's considering the rate of failure in the Kizashi compared to other cars. I totally agree that what kind of bulbs you have (type, brand, quality, etc.) affects longevity but across the board, Kizashi owners are blowing headlights frequently and nearly all remark it's at a rate much faster than other vehicles they own/owned.

The article about Suzuki issues was something I found a while ago which was related to the post Woodie made about Suzuki getting top reliability ratings in the UK. I believe I looked into it back then and found an article which listed what people there complained about most for each brand. I found it very interesting when among the top complaints for Suzukis was that the headlight bulbs go out frequently. The Kizashi was an ultra-low volume seller in the UK (500 unit only, I recall) so this problem has to apply to other Suzuki models.

I don't disagree that better bulbs will last longer, but I do believe the claims by many here that the Kizashi blows its headlight bulbs more frequently than it should. I admit I don't have personal experience with this as I've always had HIDs but again, that's the point: I don't have halogens and I don't have this problem. To me personally, halogen bulbs are like fax machines and pagers; technology that got us through at one point but now obsolete by far superior technology readily available that's also more convenient and reliable.

[Woodie]

I don't disagree that better bulbs will last longer, but I do believe the claims by many here that the Kizashi blows its headlight bulbs more frequently than it should. I admit I don't have personal experience with this as I've always had HIDs but again, that's the point: I don't have halogens and I don't have this problem.

I'm fascinated by this because there's obviously something going on here, too many people having the problem, yet my factory bulbs are still going strong eight years down the road.

To me personally, halogen bulbs are like fax machines and pagers; technology that got us through at one point but now obsolete by far superior technology readily available that's also more convenient and reliable.

I'd be very appreciative if you could explain this to my customers. Fax machines and fax options on copiers are one of my biggest headaches, and they're still selling.