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Headlights repeatedly burning out? Post here!


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At 12K miles, daytime commuting in DC, I'm on set #3. Wonder whether the HIDs will have better luck. I'm thinking I'm going to go HID conversion to save money. Who'd a thunk that?
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I've only owned my ball of surprises for 3 months now. When I got it, pass side low beam went out, I replaced the pair. Monday morning I pull up behind a truck and see only the drivers side shining, by Monday evening, both were out.

I was in boofoo FL when the bulbs went out and all they had were some no name bulbs. I did not keep the ones that came out. Will this be an issue with the dealer when I ask them to replace it?

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my all-knowing service rep tells me today that because I replaced the bulbs with aftermarket bulbs, they will NOT honor the warranty on them. I explain to him that I was in Daytona Beach when I saw it out, went into the closest parts store and bought what they had. He told me that they have to see the bulb in the assembly before they can honor it. He offers to replace them at my cost, $30/bulb plus $50 for half hour labor, so that $110 plus tax and all the BS fees to get the crappy subee bulbs back so they can honor them the next time.

Was just one of the million issues it went in for and I think none were addressed

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my all-knowing service rep tells me today that because I replaced the bulbs with aftermarket bulbs, they will NOT honor the warranty on them. I explain to him that I was in Daytona Beach when I saw it out, went into the closest parts store and bought what they had. He told me that they have to see the bulb in the assembly before they can honor it. He offers to replace them at my cost, $30/bulb plus $50 for half hour labor, so that $110 plus tax and all the BS fees to get the crappy subee bulbs back so they can honor them the next time.

Was just one of the million issues it went in for and I think none were addressed

 

Your rep was telling you the truth regarding the bulbs (or any failed part for that matter), they must have the failed part, and verify the failure under the terms of the warranty before any replacment is performed.

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My driver's side went out last night.... 1000 miles after my passenger side which was changed under warranty. Of course, the dealer could not change them both at once (me reasoning that if one failed, the other would not be far behind)...but no. Now I have to decide whether to go have it changed asap, take time from work, yada yada, or wait 2K miles until my next oil change. What a royal pain in my ass.

 

rant off

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Your rep was telling you the truth regarding the bulbs (or any failed part for that matter), they must have the failed part, and verify the failure under the terms of the warranty before any replacment is performed.

 

OK, so does he need to replace the burnt-out bulbs in the parking lot, show the tech that they don't work, then get the replacements under warrantee? Don't tell me that he would have to drive illegally without working lights until he got to the dealership, 'cause that's nonsense.

Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt!
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My driver's side went out last night.... 1000 miles after my passenger side which was changed under warranty. Of course, the dealer could not change them both at once (me reasoning that if one failed, the other would not be far behind)...but no. Now I have to decide whether to go have it changed asap, take time from work, yada yada, or wait 2K miles until my next oil change. What a royal pain in my ass.

 

rant off

 

I had the opposite experience. I took the wife's OBXT to Lithia in Oregon City, and they replaced both lights at the same time. Apparently their policy is to replace both at the same time, every time.

Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt!
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I had the opposite experience. I took the wife's OBXT to Lithia in Oregon City, and they replaced both lights at the same time. Apparently their policy is to replace both at the same time, every time.

 

Lucky you...

 

my dealer would not even replace the driver side strut after the passenger's side was blown as "not needed", even though all my life I've heard that strust should be switched out in pairs...

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Lucky you...

 

my dealer would not even replace the driver side strut after the passenger's side was blown as "not needed", even though all my life I've heard that strust should be switched out in pairs...

 

:eek::eek::eek: Wow, not replacing a strut in pairs! That's scary.

Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt!
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I had the opposite experience. I took the wife's OBXT to Lithia in Oregon City, and they replaced both lights at the same time. Apparently their policy is to replace both at the same time, every time.

 

I took my 05 LGT into Lithia after swapping out the burned bulb with some crappy autozone one, the guy working kinda sneered and shrugged his shoulders when I told him that I changed my own bulb and wondered if he could replace both with OEM bulbs. He said since I changed the bulb myself he could not touch the lights, nor the fog lights for that matter. I inquired about the safety hazard posed by driving with one light...he shrugged again and said that it was subarus policy. Some of the stupides stuff happens at the dealership.:mad:

 

So what do I do...I disable my DRL's put in PIAAs, and carry the crappy autozone ones in the rear compartment just in case. I am pretty sure that disabling my DRL's would void something, but who really cares at this point.

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Squish - I was serious about the above suggestion - drive into the parking lot, re-install the burnt-out OEM bulbs, drive into the service bay and say, "hey, look at that, my bulbs are burnt out". Match their stupid policy and raise them.
Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt!
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Squish - I was serious about the above suggestion - drive into the parking lot, re-install the burnt-out OEM bulbs, drive into the service bay and say, "hey, look at that, my bulbs are burnt out". Match their stupid policy and raise them.

 

Yeah, you have a point. Anyhow I haven't had any trouble with em for a while now (knock on wood)

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If that is the solution, then why do people who have DRL's disabled still suffer more frequent than acceptable bulb failures?

 

If that's the solution, why did I never have any problems with bulbs failing on my last two vehicles with DRL's enabled?

 

Good question...was the maker of the two cars Subaru?

My rationale is as follows. If there IS in fact a problem with the mapping of legacy headlamps; perhaps in lay terms too much juice causing the lights to burn hotter or just a smidge beyond their intended capacity. This would force the longevity of the light down. One would then consider their options. Seeing as how SOA has not issued a TSB for this...and the owner is tired of replacing bulbs and driving into the dealership every two months, what is the final option? Disable DRL's, in hopes to increase the life of head lamps. Sure some folks would still experience burned lamps, however electrical concepts could suggest by deactivating a constantly running light, and allowing to run only when commanded the life of the bulb would be extended.

 

There is one scenario that I could think of that would make this null...if the Legacy possibly has minor power surges. EG--when the AC compressor kicks on forcing the lights to dim then come bright again.

 

Sorry to babble, however, I disabled my DRL's and put in PIAAs high temp and bright white, I have not had a problem (3 months). I did lose one PIAA with DRL's enabled. I guess every case is different.

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If that is the solution, then why do people who have DRL's disabled still suffer more frequent than acceptable bulb failures?

 

If that's the solution, why did I never have any problems with bulbs failing on my last two vehicles with DRL's enabled?

 

 

Who?

 

I disabled my DRL at 1,500 miles... and I still have the original OEM factory bulbs 2.5 years later (54K miles). :spin:

 

Guys... these are BULBS. There is no circuitry. There isn't any type of surge suppression system. It is a filament.

If you are putting the correct voltage to the bulb, it is happy.

 

Normally, I'd say it was a manufacturing defect.... but many people don't have this issue.

There has got to be some type of installation error when these are being installed. Maybe one guy on the line doesn't know what he is doing. Touching the bulb with skin, etc.

 

I really don't know... :iam:

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I'm no electrician, but isn't current the measure of the energy a device draws? I mean.. you can't overpower something because there is too much current available... that would be like my bedside table lamp being blown because there is enough current to power a hair dryer out of the same outlet.

Not an EE either but power=volts*current, so if you are supplying less voltage to a device it will draw more current to create the same amount of power. But I am not sure this applies to bulbs as they are basically a resistor, even though they are rated for a power consumption but I think this is based on a fixed voltage. Typically a resistor or ordinary bulb would dim if there is a voltage drop (brown-out). But something like a hairdryer would be a different story since there is an electric motor, the motor requires a certain amount of energy to run so if the voltage drops you will use more current but your still not likely to damage the dryer. Typically everything is oversized to allow for this, so as the current increases your more likely to trip your breaker.

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I'm no electrician, but isn't current the measure of the energy a device draws? I mean.. you can't overpower something because there is too much current available... that would be like my bedside table lamp being blown because there is enough current to power a hair dryer out of the same outlet.

 

 

Good questions. Honestly... I don't know. :redface:

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