Headlight low beams quit

neumann · Post by **neumann** » February 7th, 2007, 12:46 am

When I got about a block from home tonight I noticed that my headlights had stopped working.

I switched to high beams and they were fine.

Tomorrow when it is less freezing and less pitch black i will check fuses and relays but could it just be water?

The weirdest thing. It was -15 C (about 5 degrees Farenheit) but a mile and a half away from home I drove through a valley road that was flooded by about 8-10 inches of water in places so there was tons of water kicked up and I imagine it froze almost instantly. It must have been a broken water pipe.

So maybe a bit of a pre-emptive strike before I get a chance to look at it in daylight, but anything else I should look at given the circumstances?

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » February 7th, 2007, 10:12 pm

Probably just the bulbs, usually when one goes out, the other dies not long after. Adn they don't have to die completely, it's very common for just the high or low beam to go, but it's usually the low beams. What could of maybe happened is that one low beam was already dead but you didn't notice it, than the other side died, but of course you have no no beams, so you only noticed it then.

I have a friend with an Mx-3 (just sold it a several week ago). She said the same thing, was wondering what was wrong. I said it was the bulbs, she's like "both?" and I said the same thing, they usually go around the same time as the other, and sure enough it was the bulbs.

neumann · Post by **neumann** » February 17th, 2007, 2:17 pm

I went and bought some replacement bulbs on the way to work yesterday. Have not had a chance to install yet.

On my way home from work the right side high beam died. So I became the ultimate "I hate that guy" driver: One high beam.

I hope it's just the bulbs.

neumann · Post by **neumann** » February 17th, 2007, 10:45 pm

I swapped the bulbs out this afternoon. Installed these cheapo EIKO "Xenon" bulbs. They aren't some kind of fake HID or over wattage, just a stndard 9004 65/45 with a blue tint on part of the glass. Ostensibly the Xenon gas is brighter, not that I really buy that.

I was careful to not touch the bulbs and wore cotton gloves just to try t avoid getting skin oils on the bulbs. It took about 4 minutes and works fine now.

The old bulbs were visually bust. Both filaments on one and one filament on the other. So i guess the both bulbs going at the same time issue is common.