Headlights both, low beams dead??

I guess my car is an anomaly. I've had it over 8 months now and no burned out headlamps. Not sure what's in there. I do have DRL enabled but never have my headlight switch to the ON position when starting or stopping the engine. I know some here have said they leave their headlight switch on all the time. Each lamp has an expected lifetime, if you're running your headlamps at full power all the time the car is running then they will last the least amount. DRL will run at partial power which probably allows them to last somewhat longer than on full. DRL disabled will create the greatest lamp lifespan. From what I've seen the "heavy duty" H7's will last around 900 hours. If you drive 10 hours per week that's 90 weeks, just under 2 years. Life expentancy for lamps seems to shorten the more they're turned on and off (from what I understand).

 

An off topic, sort of: I have a ham radio in my car. I can remember years ago an instruction manual for one of the radio's I had said to not keep the radio on while starting the engine because a voltage spike may occur. For that reason I always have the radio off when starting the engine and have had no problems so far. Likewise, I keep the headlight switch in the OFF position when starting my car and if the parking brake is not engaged the DRL circuit will light the lamps after the engine starts, thus theoretically avoiding any spike that may occur.

 

I'm not saying it happens with every car but several folks have said they do not leave their headlight switch ON until after starting their car and thus have had long headlamp life. It would be nice if that was the solution to all of our problems. Yes, another solution seems to be installing HID's and that would be nice (for $200 or so it isn't all that bad). From what I've read over time and many threads this seems to be the summary.

 

I'm not a rocket scientist or brain surgeon so don't take this as gospel. I could be totally wrong as to why the lamps don't last long. Silverstars seem to last the shortest, for whatever reason, but are pretty good in most other vehicles. I can't explain that. Anyway, I hope this helps.

 

Dave

I definitely think that's a contributing factor. I shut off the headlights before the engine, although I don't know if the Primary Driver does.

My two bulbs didn't burn out until after 24 months of ownership so you've got a little while to go. I never turn the car on and off with the lights on. I have no problem with the lights burning out. What I find bizarre is that they go at the same time which definitely points to something else other than the bulbs just reaching the end of their life.

HID's really don't cost that much... if you look at some of the kits on this website, they will only run you around $50 more than sylvania silverstars or even less if you go for the ULTRA's. And for the longevity that HID's give you versus the silverstars, it is definitely worth it.

 

Pay $100 for HID's now, have them going strong for a number of years, looking brighter and hotter (hotter is subjective, brighter is not), or replace your bulbs with Silverstars... pay $40, and have them burn out in a year...

At around 45K miles (this past September), my driver's side OEM low beam went out. I replaced both with new Silverstars! What a difference!

 

This weekend, only 5 months and 8K miles since the replacement, both low beams went out within 3 days. I know many have said that our cars eat bulbs, but for the first set to last 3+ years and then the Silverstars burn out after 5 months is unacceptable.

 

Needless to say, Sylvania's going to hear about it...

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45991

 

The lighting FAQ has some good info. The silverstars have about 50% of the life of the stock bulbs. If you disable the DRL's it increases the chance that the bulbs will last longer (less hours per bulb).

39kkk miles and both low-beams die at the same time. all else is well, including fuses and relays. Hard to believe both bulbs burnt out. What wiring harnesses should I start looking into?

39kkk miles and both low-beams die at the same time. all else is well, including fuses and relays. Hard to believe both bulbs burnt out. What wiring harnesses should I start looking into?

 

Well, so both bulbs were burnt out. Maybe one going caused a voltage spike that killed the other simultaneously? Weird. Anyway, instead of $80 for nice new bulbs, I spent $100 and got a 5000K HID kit instead. Love the new light. Now I wonder, is it really worth the hassle to block out the "squirrel finders"? Seems like a lot of hassle for what already seems fine to me.

what are squirrel finders? u might have to adjust ur headlights (there's a walkthrough somewhere on the forums) but the cutoff is already pretty defined on our cars i thought.

what are squirrel finders? u might have to adjust ur headlights (there's a walkthrough somewhere on the forums) but the cutoff is already pretty defined on our cars i thought.

 

I didn't know either, at first. I did a search on here and saw a pic of them on the car, but not of the difference in their effect. I think the cutoff is quite nice, the light output is great, and no adjustment was needed.

This thread is funny, everyone (including me) says no way my bulbs could burn out at the same time...a little while later, weird guess they did.

So did mine. Twice. Both the originals burned out and both of my first set of ultra silver stars within a day of each other.

I finally just started buying the cheap bulbs. If you want to continue using the SliverStars (great lamps), get them from Amazon.com. You will still eat through them very quickly, but at only [ame=http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012ETPUE/?tag=theresurgence-20]$20/pair[/ame], it's half as costly than your local auto parts store.

 

 

The [ame=http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B9SL50/?tag=theresurgence-20]OEM ones[/ame] burn cooler; that's why they last a lot longer.

Figure if you drive 2 hours per day, 7 days a week, then in a year your bulbs are lit for 728 hours. What is the life expectancy of the bulb? Silverstars are in the 200 hour range. Long Life halogens are around 900 hours while standard halogens are rated at around 500 hours.

 

HID's, on the other hand, will last quite a bit longer. If you want to do the conversion and spend the money up front then it's well worth it.

 

I've had my car now for 1 year and about 25,000 miles. Still has the same headlight bulbs when I got the car but am looking to replace with HID's in the near future.

disable your DRL and put in a HID kit, thats what I did and they work awesome!

So did mine. Twice. Both the originals burned out and both of my first set of ultra silver stars within a day of each other.

I'm really glad to find out I'm not going insane. I couldn't believe the bulbs would burn out in tandem, but mine did too! After 66k miles, the original H7's finally gave out. Weird that they go exactly at the same time, but at least they're easy to replace.

What's even weirder though is the car got its annual Virginia "safety inspection" on Friday, and then the low beams & DRLs were out the next time the vehicle was driven on Saturday. The lights must've worked on Friday, or it would've failed the inspection! The timing is just bizarre.

For me last week it was also both bulbs, either simultaneously or within 1 day of each other...

Again, that's to be expected.

Has anyone ever sourced the actual euro spec HID headlamp assemblies?

 

I would try JDM ones, but since they are for RHD vehicles I am certain I would be blinding all oncoming traffic. Euro spec should be LHD in most countries.

 

I am going to try and find some. I have done this on vehicles in the past and it was usually $1000-$1500 including the shipping, etc., so not sure how much the Subaru parts would be...

To answer your question, I have not. I've sourced Euro HID Audi and VW assembilies in the mid nineties etc. Not quite plug N play but very close to it - be it a head light switch or relay etc.

 

As for the Outback/Legacy HID assembilies try Germany. The Outbacks/Legacy's in Germany when HID equipped must by law include headlight cleaners and in the case of the Subaru's the high pressure water sprizter type is used. I once looked over a HID equipped German market MY06 Outback wagon and the HID assembilies looked very doable for my MY05 USA Outback XT LTD - Never did persue the HID mod though ... the Bilstein BTS suspension was the focus.

 

Try Germany Subaru -maybe EBAY.de Germany for wrecked Subaru parts. There are plenty of German market dismantlers whom service worldwide customer requests.

 

Good luck - Schneideau-

Edited April 10, 2011 by M. Schneider

more likely is that one bulb burns out and you don't notice it until the other one burns out.

Get a 4300K HID conversion, they last forever.

 

My car ate bulbs monthly, the HID's have outlasted conventional bulbs by X10.

 

This is exactly what I did to my subarus 05 impreza 02 legacy 02 outback sedan now will be happening to my new 07 legacy and 11 legacy:spin:

I went snowboarding this weekend and on the way home, thought it was strange how little light my headlights were providing. Get to a light by my house and see the reflection in the truck in front of me. Headlights aren't on, just my fogs. Hi beams and tails work. Thought both going at the same time was pretty suspect and worried there was a larger issue.

 

Found this thread and a few others that eased me a little. Went to the store today, replaced both bulbs and I'm good to go.

 

I swear they were working when I was packing the car in the morning. So they may have both went out over the hour and a half or so drive to the mountain. I'm relieved that's all it was. Wanted to post my experience as both going out around the same time seems common.

Made an account to reply to this. I had the same problem, both low beams went out. Fuses were good, relay was good. DRL were fine, high beams were fine.

 

It was the bulbs. Hard to believe both went out at once, but they did.

Thread resurrection.

 

Add me to the list that has had 2 low beams burn out at same time.

Happened to me last night. Checked bulbs this morning. Both burnt out.

Replaced and all good now.

 

The weird thing is that I had 2 different Sylvania model bulbs installed

at different times and they died together. Being 2 different bulbs may

somehow have contributed to this ? I guess, I will just keep spares and

a philips screwdriver in the car from now on.

So I had the same issue, both headlights dead (highs and lows) and found this thread http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/80-electrical-electronics/35328-headlights-not-working-4.html

Essentially the wiring going into the tailgate on wagons gets severed which causes a cascade of failures in the DRL module and blows a bunch of fuses. Sure enough most of the wires were severed, so I spliced them all together, replaced blown fuses (check #18 inside the cabin) and headlights are good to go!