On my sixth headlight bulb...

Hi all -

 

A quick rant. I know it's been covered before, because I've posted in the threads, but I am super bitter tonight. I just went to Advance Auto parts to purchase the sixth light bulb that my Legacy has seen since it is new. The car now has about 20,000 miles on it. The first light went out after about 4 months. I replaced both bulbs at that time. Then one went out again. Again, replaced both bulbs. When the third one went out, I only replaced that one. Then, a few weeks later - yup, the other one went out. So my car has now seen six different bulbs. PISSED.

 

This gets pretty expensive when you're buying $20 Silverstar bulbs. Any idea what I can do about this?

 

Garret

Buy something OTHER than SilverStars. They are crap. My LONGEST one lasted 5 months. I mailed 3 of the 4 (burned out) back to Sylvania with my receipts and they cut me a check!

Silverstars are known for their short lifespan. My suggestion is to stop buying Silverstars and get some HIDs. You can get a good set for around $250 - $300 these days. They are better than replacing Silverstars at $20 bucks a pop every couple months. You'll never hear me bitch about the headlights burning out because I switched to HIDs right after I got the car. A year and a half later I still have no complaints.

Hmmm, maybe I'll use that logic with the wife so she'll let me buy some HIDs.

If I trade in my car I'm going to pull mine out. I'll let you know if I do.

+1 for HIDs! I have Xtec 4500k's...amazing lights, and they carry a lifetime warranty.

 

Here is a thread with pics...

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35786

In the mean time, while you're waiting for the wife to approve of the HIDs, try dissconnecting the DRL harness underneath the dash. It lengthened the life of the bulbs in my car before I changed to HIDs.

In the mean time, while you're waiting for the wife to approve of the HIDs, try dissconnecting the DRL harness underneath the dash. It lengthened the life of the bulbs in my car before I changed to HIDs.

 

Really good point!

 

Also, I think if you buy the bulbs from a Subie stealership they automatically carry a 1 year warranty.

 

Someone confirm this please...I may be thinking of my VW

Kill the DRL's and DON'T touch the bulbs with your bare fingers. The oil from your skin will make them fail prematurely.

The bulbs are covered by the warranty. Just take it the dealer. Bulbs in mine were dead on the day 1, but I realized it next day and had them replaced and another dealership.

Aftermarket bulbs repeadedly burning out is not necessarily covered by the warranty.

Sylvania SilverStars are known to be rather "touch-and-go."

 

Some last a long time - others, well, nowhere near as long as they should. Some, like me, have had great luck with them. Others, horrible.

 

Osram SilverStars are reportedly somewhat more consistent in this regard - fairing towards the better end of the spectrum. But it's still no guaranty.

 

Regardless, it's a known issue that our LGTs are somewhat un-kind to headlamps, regardless of your chosen brand. Have a search around, you'll see this to be well-documented.

After doing an HID retrofit, it occured to me that a big part of the failing headlight problem could be the way our lamp housings are mounted. The housings seem to jiggle a lot after hitting a bump on the road. You don't really notice it with the oem halogens but with the HID's you can see the jiggle more clearly in the foreground. I'm going pull my bumper off during the long weekend to see if there's a way to better support and/or damp the motion of the headlight assembly.

Buy something OTHER than SilverStars. They are crap. My LONGEST one lasted 5 months. I mailed 3 of the 4 (burned out) back to Sylvania with my receipts and they cut me a check!

 

Yeah that. My truck uses sealed beams (have to replace entire headlight) and I went through two sets of Silverstars in under a year. Explain to me how I could've kept goldfish in a sealed headlight. Sucks since my company owns Osram and I got them at a discount.

 

If you still have the bulbs and receipts, you can get a refund by filling out this form:

http://tinyurl.com/f4wff

+ 1 I am on my second set of silver stars... first set lasted 2 months... this set has been going for a while though... next set will be an hid conversion.

There must be something with our headlight assembly or something. I've had a set of Silverstars in my wife's car for over a year now without a problem. I had a set in my Integra for over two years before I did an HID conversion. They haven't ever given me problems and I don't undserstand why they are doing this to people.

went through 4 sets of silverstars in 4 months before I killed the drl's and switched to piaas. been over 6 months and no problems now.

I remember one of the many recalls on our Volvo V70 involved the installation of a resistor between the headlight and wiring harness to stop premature bulb failure. It was in the form of a short wire with matching terminals on each end, no actual resistor , but the wire in the item must have had a known resistance built into it. It seemed to work. However, the rest of the car continued to be an electrical nightmare!!!

Guys.... I just crossed 36,000 miles with my factory OEM bulbs.... I don't understand the issue.....

 

The OEM bulbs keep burning out as well... or just the Silverstars?

Guys.... I just crossed 36,000 miles with my factory OEM bulbs.... I don't understand the issue.....

 

guess you 've got some good bulbs. some of us keep going through them.

I burned out a couple factory bulbs and then switched to Silverstars and have burned several of the out as well. I think I'll just tape a maglight to the bumper.

^ Not enough powa!!!!

 

Four SureFire M6s with high-output bulbs should do it - although they'll go through even more bulbs in the process!

^

 

For a flashlight nut like me, I buy the 123s in-bulk! My local "Batteries Plus" retailer was like..."What? HOW MANY did you want?!!!?!!"