Headlight Headache

[betty]

I've been scanning the forum for some helpful hints to my problem.

My headlights (both) burnt out close to the end of May this summer. They were replaced in mid July and have once again both burnt out.
No other lights in or outside of the Delica are burnt so I'm pretty sure it isn't a massive electrical short.
Any suggestions or am I the only owner in the dark?

[jessef]

Daytime running light wiring/relay ?

[john n]

It may be worthwhile to check your alternator output voltage, if the regulator is allowing higher voltages than normal it will cause the problem.
Do you have the square headlights or wrap arounds?

[Green1]

Do you have the square headlights or wrap arounds?

his avatar shows the wrap arounds...

I don't think this is the issue based on your description, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway...

many of the replacement "E code" assemblies come with garbage bulbs, these will normally burn out within a couple of weeks of installing the unit. once replaced the bulbs will frequently last a long time.
Another thing to check in relation to this is that many of thesee same assemblies come with poor wiring onthe back, a broken/corroded wire will act similarly to a burnt out bulb... follow all the wires on the back of the assembly and make sure they are all good soldered connections. (a loose connection can also cause bulbs to flicker substantially which is not good for them and may cause premature failure as well)

(when I replaced my headlights originally with E codes, all 4 bulbs burnt out within a month, I replaced all of those and then one appeared to burn out again 2 weeks later, turned out it was the ground wire had corroded and broken off on the back... not the highest quality assemblies!)

[josh]

Mine tend to burn out every few weeks also... i am fortunate that the Delica is now only a summer time rig for me, and its light till 11pm in the summers here. But yeah, I dont know, they seem to burn out way to often. Ithink it is the assembly themselves. I am getting a different set of lights off James, then I will know. I'll keep you posted.

Josh

[mararmeisto]

Another thing to keep in mind - don't touch the bulb when replacing it. The glass part, anyways. Use gloves or paper towel to handle the bulb, and then wipe it clean before sealing it up inside the lens.

The oil from your hands can make the difference for a bulb developing a 'hot spot'. The oil allows for a greater amount of heat to build up on the glass, and a hot spots is where the glass will fatigue and rupture. It will fatigue either dramatically by shattering, or it will fail un-noticeably, simply allowing the vacuum inside to fail and the element will burn out.

[betty]

So here's what I've figured out so far.
It is not a blown fuse.
It is not faulty wiring.
The model number of my van is P35, if that is anything useful.
The light bulbs were put in with gloves, so no hot spots.

Would it be wise to disconnect the daytime running lights or would it be better to get a voltage regulator installed to make them run at half the voltage?
It seems the lights are just running at such high power they keep burning out.

[betty]

Do you have the square headlights or wrap arounds?

his avatar shows the wrap arounds...

p.s. I'm a girl

but that still made my day.
thanks for the helpful suggestions.

[robinimpey]

Do you have the square headlights or wrap arounds?

his avatar shows the wrap arounds...

p.s. I'm a girl

but that still made my day.
thanks for the helpful suggestions.

Green1 is an excellant source for Delica information, but maybe not so good in the gender department. Who would have thought a person with a sign in like "Betty" would be a girl?!?!

Couldn't resist!

[Green1]

yeah yeah... serves me right for posting without paying enough attention, I was only worried about the question at hand... oops...

My appologies and I hope nobody was offended.

[mararmeisto]

Do you have the square headlights or wrap arounds?

his avatar shows the wrap arounds...

p.s. I'm a girl

but that still made my day.
thanks for the helpful suggestions.

Maybe she's a boy named "Sue"... like the Johnny Cash song. Oh oh, I might be showing my age there...

What DRL regulator are you using. I think ccautos had previously indicated there is a crappy one out there that has a tendency to burn out the bulbs.

[Blue Van Group]

As noted the replacement E code lights are not the best build quality. When we first got our van we had similar troubles with our lights.
In our case the ground wire spade (male) connector on the lights was coated in plastic (chrome coloured) from the manufacturing process and was creating enough resistance to burn out the bulbs and fry some wires! I scraped the plastic off the spade connector, replaced the burned wires and have not had any trouble with the lights since then.

[robinimpey]

When I installed my new headlights I changed all the wiring on the headlight itself so that it kept the original wiring and I tossed the new wiring that came with the headlight. Haven't had any troubles and this was done 10 months ago. I also have separate bulbs for my DRL's and I don't do much night time driving, both of which would contribute to me having less troubles with headlights.

ManBetty, I realize this may not help as you probably don't have the original wiring to put back on even if you wanted to.

[FalcoColumbarius]

ManBetty, If you are not too busy why not go to CC Auto's open house in Coombs (Vancouver Island) on Saturday, 16th (this weekend) It would be the place to be for on the spot answers, plus you get to go for a drive... smiles. I don't know where you base out of but that could be an option.

Falco.

[EricN]

My money is on crappy bulbs. What kind of bulbs did you put in? I would suggest purchasing a different brand from your local Lordco dealer. Dont get those "super dooper extra high power" ones or the goofy colour hid wannabe's, just get plain regular bulbs, those fancy ones are also junk. Last, make sure the wiring isnt corroded in the connector when you plug them in.