Recession showing in number of faulty head/back lights

GreeBo

r3nu4l wrote: »

Can anyone tell me why in some makes, when one dipped headlight bulb is gone, the other seems to switch to full headlight mode?

Its probably not gone to full, just the single low beam bulb is now taking power that should be split between two bulbs, so its shining up to twice as bright. A good way to end up with no bulbs working, especially if its covered in greasy finger prints...

bazzachazza

Do Mercs not automatically go to highbeam or is it when the indicator goes the taillights flash instead ? I can't remember which it is.

_Kaiser_

I see this all the time and it's one of my pet hates...

I mean, how can people NOT notice this? Most newer cars will put up a warning symbol on the dash anyway and if that's not enough, surely the reduced visibility - or oncoming traffic flashing you should give a bit of a clue?

I put it down to laziness - I actually got out to a guy last week who was towing a cattle trailer on the N3 in the dark with no lights. The car that'd been in front of me (but behind the trailer) had eventually given up flashing him and overtaken a few minutes earlier, rather than try to guess when the trailer would suddenly brake/stop.

Anyway, I walks up to the fella's window and asks him if he's aware of the fact that he has no rear lights at all on his trailer, in the dark, on the N3 - "'I know" he says "I unplugged them because they kept blowing the fuses" :rolleyes:

I mean, the mind boggles! Is it just me that wouldn't drive the car until I had it fixed? This guy had his young daughter in the jeep with him as well!

Midnight_EG

I have a set of Halo/Angel Eyes wired seperate to the main lights, so in the case of a light going out I can always have the rings on and everyone can see

The-Game

Midnight_EG wrote: »

I have a set of Halo/Angel Eyes wired seperate to the main lights, so in the case of a light going out I can always have the rings on and everyone can see

For which you got hassled for by the law right?? :cool:

Midnight_EG

The-Game wrote: »

For which you got hassled for by the law right?? :cool:

Someone stalking me, or amazing memory? :P




Test tomorrow, and yes, I did get hassled but now its a-ok

langdang

Unless some modern cars do automatically switch on a full beam if one goes, then it's just someone using high beams out of pure ignorance/laziness/incompetence. There's no way the other dipped headlight would shine twice as bright just because one went.
How many petrol stations or tesco's have they passed since it blew? H1, H7, H4. simple. Manual will tell you if you don't know, the headlight may have it on the glass outside, or the bulb itself will say it.

You can't blame the recession, a kit with spare brake bulb,side light, and 2 headlights bulbs is about 6yoyo when they come around in Lidl, and the 30% (50?) brighter bulbs actually give a nice clean white light.

Should be a part of the driving test to change a random bulb on your car.
Should be a legal requirement to have spares and a hi-vis vest - where's the RSA on this one? Too busy telling all males we're homicidal maniacs behind the wheel, no time for common sense....

Kaiser, fair play to you for trying, but with the likes of those ignorant gimps you may as well be talking Swahili to them as trying to explain common sense and respect for other road users.

After all that ranting, I have to say disco lights make me smile - earth fault in rear lights, so everything is half lighting up and flashing, so you're not sure are they braking strangely, indicating, or having a panic attack at all the lights and sounds of the "Big Shmoke" and hitting buttons and pedals randomly . (It's generally eldery farmers with elderly carinas or ventos making a bi-annual trip to the city when I see em).

The-Game

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Someone stalking me, or amazing memory? :P

Test tomorrow, and yes, I did get hassled but now its a-ok

Combination of both! Was quite sure it was yourself who posted that before alright!

NCT? Theyre not an issue?

MacGyver

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Someone stalking me, or amazing memory? :P




Test tomorrow, and yes, I did get hassled but now its a-ok

i got a set for my car and they're white leds, they flew through the nct no problem. wired them into the parking lights instead of seperate. no problems with gards or anything either

Midnight_EG

MacGyver wrote: »

i got a set for my car and they're white leds, they flew through the nct no problem. wired them into the parking lights instead of seperate. no problems with gards or anything either

Try driving with no bulbs in the front because I had none, then talk to me about hassle :P

Voodoomelon

MacGyver wrote: »

i got a set for my car and they're white leds, they flew through the nct no problem. wired them into the parking lights instead of seperate. no problems with gards or anything either

I got a set of Umnitza Orion V2s, white LED angel eyes and wired them to the ignition instead of the parking lights. And voila, DRLs.

Midnight_EG

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I got a set of Umnitza Orion V2s, white LED angel eyes and wired them to the ignition instead of the parking lights. And voila, DRLs.

Mine are wired straight to the battery and a button on my dash, voila

L1011

I got looked at like I had two heads when I was changing a headlight on my van in shirt / work trousers a few weeks back. Lad on the garage forecourt (they still have these in Monaghan/Donegal a lot, weirdly) even said "would you not wait till its bright to do that?".

It was a dark and relatively wet night, getting even wetter later on. I despair sometimes... as did my washing machine getting brake dust out of a blue shirt!

Midnight_EG

MYOB wrote: »

I got looked at like I had two heads when I was changing a headlight on my van in shirt / work trousers a few weeks back. Lad on the garage forecourt (they still have these in Monaghan/Donegal a lot, weirdly) even said "would you not wait till its bright to do that?".

It was a dark and relatively wet night, getting even wetter later on. I despair sometimes... as did my washing machine getting brake dust out of a blue shirt!

Brake dust while changing a headlight

L1011

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Brake dust while changing a headlight

Crouching down at the side of the car. Engine bay gack just got on my hands.

Thinkingaboutit

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Anyone else notice the increased number of cars with only one headlight or backlight working at night ?

Makes you wonder if people are skimping on car servicing, how long it'll take for their brake pads to wear out or the like.

Some people are lazy, very lazy, won't bother either changing the bulb themselves, easy, or going to a garage if they are tards. I saw a car in Harolds Cross lit by only one foglight, both headlights gone, and one foglight not working. Not sure about it's rear lights.

Midnight_EG

MYOB wrote: »

Crouching down at the side of the car. Engine bay gack just got on my hands.

Ohhhh I getcha

The-Game

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Brake dust while changing a headlight

This one puzzled me at first as well!!

Victor

As I crossed as a pedestrian last weekend I noticed someone driving on his parking lights and I mentioned it to him. He then conscientiously checked the setting and left them as they were. A driver yesterday with no lights at all.

r3nu4l wrote: »

I've also noticed a load of cars with only one light working :mad: Can anyone tell me why in some makes, when one dipped headlight bulb is gone, the other seems to switch to full headlight mode? I see that a lot, some idiot with one bulb gone, nearly blinding me with his other bulb...

All the power is going to one light, so it looks brighter than normal.

Marlow

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I got a set of Umnitza Orion V2s, white LED angel eyes and wired them to the ignition instead of the parking lights. And voila, DRLs.

Heh. That was more work than what you would have needed to do. You would just have needed to recode your light control module via the i-bus or with a diagnostics cable. E38, same as my E39, support 3 types of daylight driving light settings:

- low beam + taillights (Scandinavian style)
- low beam and no taillights
- dimmed high beam and no taillights (US style driving lights).

Once coded, your lights go out, as soon as you switch your ignition off, instead of telling you, that you left your lights on, when you open the door. These settings can also be coded by using controls on the dashboard in a specific order. But I guess your approach works, too.

I was parked in Galway today, on a dark street, in front of a hotel, meeting friends. Because it's not easy to spot the car, i left my parking lights on (angel eyes front + taillights). The amount of people making me aware, that my lights were on is unbelievable. People have just no awareness of that safety comes first.

/M

langdang

Victor wrote: »

All the power is going to one light, so it looks brighter than normal.

Shouldn't do, the lights are wired in parallel, the other bulb should see pretty much the same voltage as always, unless CANbus etc or HID lights have radically changed how things are done?

nogoodnamesleft

As every one else said its no worse than any other year. I just wonder sometimes thou....Personally Id notice if one of my dipped headlights was out as I think its quiet obvious when in traffic behind other vehicles or parking a car facing a wall.

As some one else mentioned, Lidl do a spare pack of bulbs for 7 euro, it includes a few fuses as well as back lights and they stock h1, h3 h7 etc.
I always drive with dipped headlight (i used drive a dark coloured car and I had numerous close encounters) but still you have people performing dangerous maneuvers as if they havent seen you approaching.

As routine maintanence along with checking oil, coolant, windscreen fluid, condition of tyres I check lights all round the car every 2 weeks or so.