headlamp bulbs all blown

C

cooper1203

Member
Hi all, As a consequence or rather another one of the fateful trip bouncing around on the back of a transporter or two has blown all the headlight bulbs. I am sure they are gone because I did have one headlight working on main beam for a brief while b4 that one blew as well. I have been advised that they are a sealed unit and have to be replaced as a whole rather than just a bulb. I looked on wadhams and they want 69 a pair ( I think) 138 for 4 lights is just a little steep for me. the other two suspects only do halogen ones.

My questions are as follows:
1) what were the wattage of the original bulbs???
2) is there any company that will sell the origonals at a reasonable price even if they r "fakes"
3) is there a way of unsealing the unit?
4) has anyone fitted these halogen ones from mark gray or wins?

think that's it for the mo
coop
 
Hmm, it's extremely unlikely that all 4 headlamps have gone at the same time. Have you checked the fusebox as they're notorious for causing headlamp issues? Do you have a multimeter that you could use to check if you are getting battery voltage at the headlamp connectors. I'd be doing a few more checks before buying anything.

Dave
 
The car would have been on its wheels when on the transporter so the suspension would have soaked up the harsh ride in the same way as it would when driven on the road.
 
Hi, try fitting 5 ¾" light units with separate bulbs, they're a similar price but when a filament
blows it's only a couple of quid for a bulb. Try Ebay, local factors, Ford or Triumph parts sites
or any others that cater for twin H/light set ups. The other thing to check is all the wiring
connections including the earths for bad connections as it can cause higher currents to be drawn
through the filament itself.

Colin
 
hi thanks all for the replies. I will be checking all wiring and fuses b4 I spend my pennies however im 99.9% sure I had lights b4 I left home. I had one main beam when I arrived back in Horsham and that blew after a few mins (the time it took to roll the truck back against the fence so my friend could see what he was doing). I still get the tail tell on the dash that the main beams are on so im thinking its unlikely to be a fuse... or is the tail tell on a diff circuit?

the reason I don't really want halogen is they have a habit of upping the wattage hence current
coop
 
As harvey said, the car would have suffered no more shock than had it been driving along under its own power, in fact the ride was probably better as it would have had the transporters suspension soaking up bumps first.

I'd recommend cracking out a multimeter and seeing what you are getting at the back of the headlights, takes any guesswork out and you can then troubleshoot from there. Good luck!
 
Hi, as you surmise the current is related to the wattage, most auto head light bulbs are 45/60w
and halogen are 55w so more on dip and less on main. Depending which sealed beams are on the
inners there could be 75w, so with 55w Halogens less draw again. The reason Halogens are preferred
is they give a whiter light. Which is down to the Halogen gas and the Quartz glass.

Colin
 
The current draw difference between standard filaments and Halogen is negligible but the safety factor of a better lens and much brighter bulb is priceless in terms of safety and ease of night driving.


Graeme
 
hi all thanks for the info. Round here u get a lot of boy racers with shotgun targets aka hid lights. the amount of times I have had to practically stop because the glare off the lights I cant see where im going or judge where the car is. Even larger cars like range rovers or the x5 that have the fitted as standard cause issues because they are higher up then most car lights. I would hate to join that club.
coop
 
cooper1203 said:
hi all its defiantly the bulbs they are all open circuit none of the fuses had gone.
coop
Click to expand...

Try putting them across the battery, with a bit of wire of course; you may be shocked to find they light up. Just because the fuse has not blown, doesn't mean the lights have.

Otherwise, pop an advert under the wanted section on here, you never know if someone has some lying around.

I may have a few to be honest, will have to look them out though.

Richard
 
hi thanks for the offer but I have bitten the bullet and gone and got some halogen ones from wins. The bulbs have defiantly blown in the old ones as I put my multi meter across the terminals and they were open circuit.

however I have an issue. there is defiantly only two wires there for the outer one where as apparently there should be three. I don't know if someone previously chopped one off because they could only get a main beam unit??? as there are only two contacts on each unit. however the outer ones had the contacts at 90 degrees to each other and the inner ones had the contacts at 180. I did ask the guy at wins and he promptly lead me to the back of the store and showed me the appropriate unit with three wires.

Has anyone come across this b4?
coop
 
Haven't seen that before :shock:

There should be three as you say, so you will have to find the other one and reconnect it. Probably best to fit relays to the halogens if you can, as it will be a lot more reliable.

Richard
 
quattro said:
Haven't seen that before :shock:

There should be three as you say, so you will have to find the other one and reconnect it. Probably best to fit relays to the halogens if you can, as it will be a lot more reliable.

Richard
Click to expand...
hi is the current drawn that much more then???
coop
 
cooper1203 said:
quattro said:
Haven't seen that before :shock:

There should be three as you say, so you will have to find the other one and reconnect it. Probably best to fit relays to the halogens if you can, as it will be a lot more reliable.

Richard
Click to expand...
hi is the current drawn that much more then???
coop
Click to expand...

No, if they're the same wattage, they draw the same current. I had a lot of trouble getting my halogens to work (they were fitted when I got my car but worked sporadically) and found that voltage drop because of all the connections/switch/fuse box/old wiring etc, wouldn't run them. I spent many a happy hour trying to get them to work, and eventually fitted relays powered directly from the shunt, and fired the relays with the original wiring. Been perfect ever since.

You may find they plug in and work straight away (once you have found the lost wiring) but if they do, just keep and eye on the box. Check it doesn't get hot with them on.

Cheers

Richard
 
Quattro said:
No, if they're the same wattage, they draw the same current. I had a lot of trouble getting my halogens to work (they were fitted when I got my car but worked sporadically) and found that voltage drop because of all the connections/switch/fuse box/old wiring etc, wouldn't run them. I spent many a happy hour trying to get them to work, and eventually fitted relays powered directly from the shunt, and fired the relays with the original wiring. Been perfect ever since.

You may find they plug in and work straight away (once you have found the lost wiring) but if they do, just keep and eye on the box. Check it doesn't get hot with them on.

Cheers

Richard
Click to expand...

hi thanks for the replies just a few quick questions
where did u pick up a 12 volt feed for the switched side of the relay?
I assume u used the switched side of the lights to energise it
and lastly did u use 2realys one for dipped lights and one for main beam?
 
I can't answer the question about the whereabouts of the 12v supply, but you'll need two relays, one for dip and one for main beam. You use the old switched feed for the lights to energise the coil on the relay, which then switches the 12v feed for the lights. Don't forget to add in-line fuses on the new power supply!
 
Hi, as Quattro says, he picked it up from the shunt, when the car is running the alternator
is supplying all the power so I usually pick it up from there. A large Lucar terminal on the
second large blade on the back. I usually run it to an insulated terminal block and then you
can use that for the distribution for other accessories as well like the electric fan.

Colin
 
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