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Headlights repeatedly burning out? Post here!


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I started this thread to attempt to document this phenom, but I'm at 30k & 2 years and a few months of ownership and I have never replaced a bulb.

 

FWIW, I disabled the DRL's a few days after I bought the car.

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I started this thread to attempt to document this phenom, but I'm at 30k & 2 years and a few months of ownership and I have never replaced a bulb.

 

FWIW, I disabled the DRL's a few days after I bought the car.

 

Isn't that ironic?

Don'tcha think?

A little toooooo ironic.

Yeah... I really do think.

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Cowboy baby

With the top let back and the sunshine shining

Cowboy baby

West coast chillin with the Boone's Wine

I wanna be a Cowboy baby

Ridin' at night 'cause I sleep all day

Cowboy baby

I can smell a pig from a mile away

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Hello all.

 

I dont have any music lyrics for you. But I did find the solution to the bulb problem, for my car at least.

 

I replaced the low-beam bulbs on both sides at least 3 times each, out of pocket. At some point I brought my car in for the fan/relay problem where my fan ran on high speed all the time. They replaced the ECU and reflashed the new one. The bulb problem has been gone almost a year now. Last time I was at the dealer and asked - they said that they have seen it on a few cars, didnt put 2 and 2 together, but now it makes sense and they are related.

 

Go figure...

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Ok, i have HID's and my passenger side light keeps poppin the fuse. once about every couple of weeks. now i'll replace a fuse over a bulb anyday but like twenty something fuses, this is getting out of hand. wondering if i should up the fuse from 7.5 to 10? anyone an electric wiz on here?
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  • 1 month later...

22k miles, passenger side headlight died on July 3rd. I didn't drive on the 4th, but put in a pair of Silverstars today (the 5th), hoping they would last longer than regular bulbs... then read this thread. Oh well. :)

 

Just noticed that Xtec makes H7s with a lifetime warranty. When the Silverstars burn out I'll try those.

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  • 2 weeks later...

1st passenger's side @ 4.5K mi

2nd driver's side @ 4.7K mi

Replaced with PIAA brilliant white's

3rd driver's side @ 12K mi

4th driver's side @ 14K mi

Replaced with PIAAs again.

I disabled the DRLs with a rocker switch @ 7K.

I'm think I'm due for another replacement at 20K. Next time, I'll either upgrade to HIDs or use cheap bulbs. I'm tired of spending good money on bulbs and having them not last.

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Im hopeing Im on to something. Today I replaced my 7th low beam. My 05 is

35 months old and Ive never used this many lights in all my other cars combined

and Ive been driving for 36 years!

Now some people on this sight are having the same problem - others are saying we are nuts they never have a problem. When I changed my passenger side bulb today it seemed that the bulb/ clip was a little loose. So I bent the clip a little to make it real snug. My thinking is that the problem my be either vibration from a loose connection or a crappy design.

Another experement I may try is a pad / shock absorber between the bulb and the housing. I did not notice any gasket between the bulb and housing. It just goes in there loose and the clip hold it.

Does anyone know if the ground is on the back of the bulb and thru the clip ? If so I may try and put something soft between the housing and the bulb to reduce vibration. Must be some reason some of us dont have any problems and some blow bulbs right and left.

Comments?

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I put Silverstars in all four lights when my Pass. Side light burned out in December, now last week I had to replace the Driver Side light. I though if I got a better than factory light they may hold up. It must be something with the wiring.

Fat people are hard to kidnap!!!

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^ Sylvania (especially US-market) SilverStars have been known for rather "inconsistent" life-spans in all sorts of applications, including that of our low-beams.

 

Using it as a judge of whether if this is something in the wiring would not be a good way to go. :)

<-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges

'16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family

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^ Sylvania (especially US-market) SilverStars have been known for rather "inconsistent" life-spans in all sorts of applications, including that of our low-beams.

 

Using it as a judge of whether if this is something in the wiring would not be a good way to go. :)

 

I was not aware of that. You would think for the money they would be better quality.

Fat people are hard to kidnap!!!

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I'm glad I was able to inform you, then. :)

 

Honestly, bro, their "quality" isn't in that they may last longer than OEM replacements, but rather, that they are of a higher color-temperature that many may find preferable to either the yellower "standard" incandescents or even the whiter HIDs.

 

That's their big selling point.

 

:)

<-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges

'16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family

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I'm glad I was able to inform you, then. :)

 

Honestly, bro, their "quality" isn't in that they may last longer than OEM replacements, but rather, that they are of a higher color-temperature that many may find preferable to either the yellower "standard" incandescents or even the whiter HIDs.

 

That's their big selling point.

 

:)

This may be true, but the OEM lights suck too. They both blew out in short order. Myself I dont think its the bulbs themselves I think its something else.

If its the brand of bulb then tell us the "good" brand that lasts like normal cars.

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^ Sadly, I don't think that there's a brand that'll last too, too long in our cars. The H7, according to many experts, including Stern, is one that's rather fragile and short-lived, and its pairing with a variable DRL system isn't one that's made in heaven. :(

 

And I think that although that pairing contributes significantly to our problems, based on the number of vehicles that seems to be affected, even in our small and rather select on-line community, with this problem, more than likely, we've also got some kind of electrical-related issue that's more symptomatic on certain cars versus others, based on probably something as uncontrollable as production-line variances.

 

franklin, I know you've had this problem for quite a while now - I can't remember, but have you tried to run without the DRL, to see if that helps things?

Alternatively (and to perhaps even be paired with the elimination of the DRL), and my own knowledge is lacking in this area, have you tried any bulbs that are rated for a longer run-time than our factory replacements?

 

Those are really the only two solutions I can think of that's realistic and easily do-able, outside of switching to HID.

<-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges

'16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family

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  • 2 weeks later...

Glad I found this tread, I started thinking I was the only one.

 

I've went through 2 headlights in the last 3 months and 5 in the last 15 months.

 

I'm gonna have to do the calculations, I bet I could pay for HIDs just in the money I would save on bulbs!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Add me to the club. Counting the ones that came with the car, this will be the third set.

 

Aside from reading 381 posts, the solution is to keep replacing bulbs?

 

I did a scan, Sylvania has inconsistent performance but unless you go to an HID, still among the best out there?

 

Thanks,

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