Vauxhall Astra H Sporthatch (2005 - ) - 10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

Thu 21 Jan 2010 16:59

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - Hockeyanimal

Hello kind people.

I recently purchased the above model but decided the headlights were next to no use as I live in the countryside.
As a result I have upgraded the lamps in my headlights to some higher wattage ones (yes they are illegal, but only if I get caught) My problem is that intermittently the nearside headlight will come on (the car has an auto light setting) then it immediatly fades out. If I play around a little turning lights on and off ETC the lights come on and funtion as normal. I have checked the lamp is secure in the fitting and due to the difficulty in accessing the lamps on this car Im averse to having to keep changing the lamps back (especially as the standard legal lamps are so poor) so would ask if anyone here can offer a solution? It may be a relay or similar and if it is can I (totally inept mechanically and electrically) change this?

Thanks in advance

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Thu 21 Jan 2010 18:23

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - topbloke

are you saying that this is a brand new motorcar ?,regards TB

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Thu 21 Jan 2010 18:57

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - Hockeyanimal

Yup its brand new got it Jan 5th 2010 right in the middle of all that snow

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Thu 21 Jan 2010 19:05

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - piston power

So you have risked your warranty for some stupid brighter bulbs?

Non standard parts if there is a problem you have give vx all the ammo they need to fob you off.

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Thu 21 Jan 2010 19:16

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - Hockeyanimal

Potentially your right BUT if I had to return the car for any warranty work Im confident I could change the bulbs (which are not warrantable item) back First

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Thu 21 Jan 2010 19:19

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - bell boy

hope your fire and theft cover is up to date

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Thu 21 Jan 2010 19:20

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - Dynamic Dave

From what I've read on a Vectra-C forum where people have had similar problems by fitting HID kits, it's the canbus network shutting down the power supply to the relevant bulb to prevent any damage to the car's electronics.

Obviously by fitting higher wattage bulbs, the bulb failure system is detecting that too much current is being drawn, and as I just mentioned, preventing damage to the car's electronics.

You're going to have to fit the OEM bulbs, or purchase something like Osram nightbreakers (or an equivalent type bulb) - but from experience they don't last too long. I only managed to make a set of nightbreakers last 8 months before they failed within a couple of weeks of one another.

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Thu 21 Jan 2010 19:24

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - Hockeyanimal

Thanks Dave I may well have to try an alternative as suggested or upgrade to the HID's :)

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Thu 21 Jan 2010 19:55

10 1.6 Upgarding headlight Bulbs - topbloke

hindsight is a wonderful thing but why did you not specify the zenon's as standard , It will be the canbus system mucking the lights about or vice versa, we recently had a car in that had a light upgrade (HID's) vauxhall asked us to not touch the vehicle untill the original lights had been reinstated and thats what the owner had to do even though it was not the cause of the problem,s Regards TB

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