After picking up SWMBO from work, I thought the lights on the Matiz (Stop laughing, I've had my share of fast (ish) cars, I only need somthing to nip around town in now) were a bit dim.
On checking them, the nearside dipped beam had blown. A quick trip to Halfords and £4.99 later the new bulb was fitted. (I wish my hands were as small as Korean Daewoo production line workers hands...)
Anyway, upon testing the lights (still on Halfords car park, thank goodness) I now found the offside dipped beam had blown, another £4.99 and some new grazes later all my lights are legal again.
Does anyone know why bulbs would pop in sympathy or is this just another weird coincidence?
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This happened to me before Christmas.
I met SHMBO at her mother's to be told that both dipped headlights had gone.
Oh-ho, fuse, thought I. However the handbook did not list a headlight fuse.
So I called the 4th emergency service.
The guy arrived PDQ and anounced that BOTH bulbs had blown.
I check them regularly so they must have gone practically at the same time.
Two new bulbs were installed and checked.
Next day I was driving the car and found that I had only one dipped headlight.
Changed the bulb and it has been OK ever since.
Weird.
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It does not happen to every one though, I see lots of "one eyed" cars every night...
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I wonder if these "one-eyed" cars are driven by one-eyed drivers? Might explain why they haven't noticed that one half of the road is darker than the other.
More likely, there just bone idle.
Andy
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This looks to me like a weak point of the recent generation of cars. With experience of mostly Peugeots (205 and 306) during the last 10 years, I can remember changing only one headlamp bulb, plus one or perhaps two stop lamps and one or two numberplate lamps. Must be something to do with complicated electronics, or OE bulbs made down to a price.
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It makes me laugh how some people seem to think a substitute to having one headlight bulb blown is to turn on the front fogs...
M
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I spent ages fiddling with the brake light switch on a 106 after a bus driver had pulled alongside and told me the lights were not working. In fact both bulbs had blown at round the same time. It does seem true that bulb failures come in spells and then you have no more trouble for about a year when the whole merrygoround starts again.
Incidently, the handbook on my Lupo advises that bulb replacement is a dealer job! Taking the p or what? Next thing you'll have to go to a main agent to get the fuel filler cap undone.
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Talking about Dealer Jobs,
I thought at first I would have to dismantle the front end of the car to get at the d*$%^nd things.
Once I had figured out the spring clip thingy by feel I managed to replace the bulbs.
Knowing my luck it will probably need a new PP3 fitting soon...
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Think HJ did peice in the Telegraph about dealer job headlight replacements? Including at least some Xantias. Do the rules allow you to repeat the info?
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are bulbs wierd in series?
could it be that without the bulb that blows first, the other cant cope with the extra juice?
M.
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If the bulbs were wired in series when the first one went the second one would just go out. Car bulbs are wired in parallel. Christmas tree lights are wired in series.
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I think if they were in series the other would just go off not pop.
+ ---------------O---------------O-------------- _
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There would not be any extra juice. They are not wired in series, they are in parallel.
Reminds me of a local chap who asked me to check his new lounge lights some time ago. A "friend" has told him to wire them in series but to put a strap or link across the lampholder so that if one bulb went out , the other would still work.
Result? Dead short and an exploding fuse.
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ok im thick.
(youd never guess im doing a degree in electronics)
And I'll be supporting the country when you guys retire!
hahahahahahahahahaha!
M
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I've posted before about headlamps inconveniently failing in pairs, but is it so surprising with the quality control and manufacturing to ever closer tolerances? Bulbs have a design life and those that work in pairs have the same voltage fed to them for the same length of time; why shouldn't they fail together?
Possibly the failure of a high power bulb like a headlight could cause a "spike" in that circuit which loads up the other bulb casing failure.
In short, people, don't be paranoid.
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As someone once said (J E Hoover - I think)
"Once is a coincidence,
Twice is enemy action..."
John R
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or as my Grandad used to say...
Once can happen,
Twice is a coincidence,
Three times means some bugger is doing it on purpose.
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Or as my old dad used to say, "Not another !$%^&(@ headlamp bulb gone!"
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Didn't help with the Vectra's handbook having the diagram printed upside down.......several grazed knuckles later got it changed though.
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Markymarkn
I would beg to disagree with your "It makes me laugh how some people seem to think a substitute to having one headlight bulb blown is to turn on the front fogs..." statement.
It actually makes sense to do that, on an unlit road it makes it obvious that you are not a motorbike.
However, there is no excuse for not changing a blown bulb the next day.
But, judging by the number of one-eyed cars that I see, some people must drive round like that for weeks, even on rural roads!
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Some cars blow headlamp bulbs more than others.My 405 blows them at about 15 month intervals,I think because the levelling adjusters allow a small amount of vibration.
My pop up headlamp Mazda never blew any in 3 years because the units locked in place.
There is a surge when you open the circuit,and the already old remaining bulb needs little encouragement to blow.
Bosch bulbs,from Halfords,seem to be the best quality I can find.
Often fog lights are used by the drivers of German cars whose dipped beams should not be adequate under any sane Construction and Use regulations,but sadly these things are clearly not drawn up by people who do a significant amount of driving.
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Just a thought about the 'one-eyed' vehicles, in many countries you are required to carry a set of spare lamps, hence no need to wait until next day to replace. Perhaps a useful European idea?
Also seem to act as insurance, since having had to purchase a set for a continental trip a few years back I've not had to use them, probably until tonight of course!!
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