LegacyManCT Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Hello, While I've been enjoying my 2016 Legacy Premium, in January and in early March the headlight lamps burned out (first on driver side, then on the passenger side). They were replaced under warranty, but it kinda left me wondering what could happen next... For the record, I never made any mods/upgrades in my car. Has anyone experienced that? What drives me crazy is that my wife's 2014 Forester still has its headlight lamps going strong, not a peep! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyJagaru Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 It sounds like you drive at night a lot. I would check the voltage of your car with the engine running at idle with accessories off. I do believe it should be 14.4Vdc. Any more than that and I'd take it to the dealer for a look-see as the voltage regulator clearly isn't working right. Failing that, once the warranty is over and you've burned through the factory bulbs choose better ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyRuu Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 had a 2009 forester, headlight was burned out took it to buy another one and the other light burned out in the parking lot. no joke. been good ever since though. replacing 2 at once though 60 bucks is hard on the wallet for light bulbs. i'm just glad they still work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegacyManCT Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 @DonnyJagaru: Yep, lots of driving at night this last winter. Thanks about your suggestion, I will check that out and take my car to the dealer. @RustyRuu: Yikes! But glad that the lights in your car are doing fine Update: for some crazy reason, the control that increases/decreases light in the dashboard is now stuck - now it's a good time to go to the dealer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyJagaru Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 I had a theory years ago that headlights burned out more often in winter. The reason being is the filament of any incandescent bulb has a very low resistance when cold, and the colder it is, the lower that resistance. Copper wire is the same. So the colder it is, the more instantaneous current that is presented to the bulb when turned on. No filament is perfectly uniform in construction so when there is a very small portion that has slightly higher resistance it will heat up first. The heat differential between that section and the lower resistance one will stress the bulb more causing it to blow. In most cases incandescent bulbs will blow during turn-on. I even devised a circuit that would turn on car headlamps more slowly to reduce the likelihood of this happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fedaykin Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 I wonder if the dealer techie "installed the bulb correctly". Also, may sound dumb, tried the long life/eco bulbs from Philips or Osram? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegacyManCT Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 @fedaykin: the light bulbs were in different sides: passenger and driver. If they fail again I will consider Philips (have heard some complaints about Osram) @all: took my car to the dealer and they said nothing is wrong... oh well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fedaykin Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Toyota OE use Osram, nothing wrong with them (it's all about the QA, which is why ebay bulbs are almost always worse than Philips/Osram). Your car is too new to have bulbs burning out, so I suspect the person who installed the bulbs at the factory didn't wipe the glass clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegacyManCT Posted April 24, 2017 Author Share Posted April 24, 2017 Toyota OE use Osram, nothing wrong with them (it's all about the QA, which is why ebay bulbs are almost always worse than Philips/Osram). Your car is too new to have bulbs burning out, so I suspect the person who installed the bulbs at the factory didn't wipe the glass clean. I tend to agree with this, because the dealer checked my car and there is nothing out of the ordinary with the electrical system/parts. Had to commute to NYC last week under rain (lights and AC on) and the car did fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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