Frstyl838

so i drove home from work tonight, and had no problem with both of my headlights low beams working. I shut off my car, went inside changed and hung out for about a half hr. I go out and turn on my car and right when it starts the drivers side headlight goes out. the corner light still work as passenger headlight still works.

I turn on the high beams and both headlights work, i put the low beams back on and drivers side doesnt work. Its a little below 0 with the wind chill out tonight so i didnt look at it very long. anyone have any ideas? The headlights are osram ones i had to order off internet only from europe or something they are suppose to be a little better than the phillip xtreme and i got them about a 1yr and 1 month ago.

Any help is appreciated, thanks

CarbonizedDX

Sounds like a burned out low beam in the driverside bulb (dual filament bulbs will still have working high beams), could be a fuse but I'm betting a burned out bulb first... it happens with halogens, my buddy had both his headlights blow out with in 3 seconds of eachother infront of a cop...

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

And that's what sucks about dual-filament headlights. One filament burns out, so you have to replace the whole bulb.

Pick up a new set of H4's. It's best to replace both bulbs at the same time. If you want some extra light output, go with Philips Xtreme Power H4 bulbs (probably have to order off the interweb). Those are pretty well-regarded as having extra brightness without being those crappy high-wattage bulbs that melt headlight housings and harnesses.

Frstyl838

thanks guys, ill check the fuses since thats a little easier and cheaper to fix, but my assumption is the same as yours now that i think of it. the low beam filliment prob went out. i have the nightbreakers i got of powerbulbs.com and they work great. any good or bad things about the osram cool blue or phillips blue vision? or should i just stick with the nightbreakers?

is it normal for bulbs to go out after only a year?

CarbonizedDX

filaments can go out on a whim due to design and something random happening to it (micro dust from the burning filament, bumps, shakes, bad coiling...). I had a silverstar blow out while it was on, made this really bright flash and then it got dimm... it happends.

xrider01

i know you're not supposed to touch the glass, but is there a reason why? is it because of the oils in your skin somehow negatively interact with the glass or something? or what?

and if you use a latex glove while installing the bulb(s), is it still not ok to touch the bulb?

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Oils that get on the glass will get hotter than surrounding areas and can cause the bulb capsule to explode inside your headlight housing. Not fun trying to clean a million glass shards out of the inside of your housing.

Yes you can use latex gloves, as long as you didn't touch the outside of the glove that is going to touch the bulb.

But really, just don't touch the bulb. It's not that hard. Just hold it by the base. It's always best to clean the bulb with a paper towel and rubbing alcohol just to make sure that no oils or dirt of any kind is on there.