Low beam bulbs keep blowing (1 Viewer)

[evicta]

Hi all.

I put in Wagner 9011 bulbs for my low beams in September of last year and they were working great until recently. Over the weekend my low beam headlights went out. The two 15A fuses were good and the relay looked good. High beams were still working. On both the driver and passenger low beam bulbs, there was a break in the filament. I removed the bulbs and still measured 12V across the plug. I had some spare Wagners so I put them in and got my low beams back.

This lasted a day and both the low beam bulbs went out again. Is this an electrical issue or some sort of quality issue with the Wagners?

 

[jpoole]

Following,

A few weeks ago I had both low beam 9011s blow out in a 24 hr period. They've worked fine since I installed new 9011s but I still suspect that there may be an issue that caused the blowout.

It seems like a periodic short/loose connection or perhaps more likely an alternator that is causing occasional over-voltage could have caused both bulbs to blow so quickly on my 80 but I look forward to whatever comes up as possibilities or troubleshooting options in this thread.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

9012 are low Beam bulbs 9011 are high beam bulbs tho 24 hrs isn't very long for them to blow.

 

[jpoole]

In my case I'm running 9011s in all 4 sockets which I've seen discussed here on the forum. Should I change to 9012s for the low beams and if so why?

The 9011s that burned out for my low beams had been in place for years so didn't burn out too soon. They blew out within 24 hours of each other which is unusual in my experience and was the source for my mild concern.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Luke I said 24hrs isn't long at all.

 

[COYS]

Shocker, but anything aftermarket has been sht so I only run OEM bulbs. Mine are on always when driving. 4 years and tens of thousands of miles. Still going, going, going.

 

[jpoole]

My RockAuto Wagners 9011 low beams lasted 5.5 years and 72 k miles so service life was adequate. I just wish they didn't both blow same day which had me assuming there was an issue.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Did you touch the bulb when you installed the new ones?

 

[jpoole]

Never touched old or new, learned that lesson decades ago. New bulbs in my case haven't blown but have only run a week or so.

I don't want to totally hijack the thread,, really just wanted to follow along and see if I can learn any easy checks specific to the 1FZFE 80. I also apologize if I am answering questions aimed at @evicta ...

 

[tmxmotorsports]

All good I just did a bunch of research about headlight and bulbs main thing I saw was the 9011 are high beam and the life would be shorter when used as low beam because they are used more also if I remember correctly they provide a longer beam down the road because they are high beam bulbs. 9012 have the silver stuff at the end. I actually have a set of 9012 coming for my gf 80 her low beam sucked but got better once I took it to my buddies shop he has one of those headlight adjuster machines or tool they were out of allighnment bad both pointing to the middle of the road that helped alot. The low beam bulbs in her 80 are the factory ones hoping to see more improvement with the 9012. I believe my 80 has 9005 and 9006.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

I misread what you mentioned about 24 hrs not uncommon for the bulbs to go out within that time frame of each other. Now if you put brand new ones in they blew in 24hrs that a whole nother story

 

[jonheld]

FWIW, I've been running 9011s in all 4 positions for years without issue. Originally purchased from candlepower.com which is now out of business. I believe they are Phillips HIR bulbs.

 

[jpoole]

I've been running the Wagner version from RockAuto. 6 9011 bulbs for $56:

RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

 

[jonheld]

I've been running the Wagner version from RockAuto. 6 9011 bulbs for $56:

RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

LOL. Where do you put the other 2?

 

[jpoole]

LOL. Where do you put the other 2?

HA, now those extra two are earmarked to replace the low beams when they burn out way before the high beams. I had put them in the parts stash for this purpose but now have a set in the quarter panel storage so that I have the spares with me. This interchangeability is an advantage of running 9011s in all 4 positions you just have to remember that all 4 bulbs are the same when your low beams burn out on a road trip, which I didn't (sorry to the drivers I blinded)!

But, I'm sure there are all types of places the extra two bulbs could go... Dangling below as rock lights? Reverse light upgrades? Super bright dash (D) lights? Puddle light upgrades to install when the fuel bladders are added to the doors? I'm sure factory wiring is ready to runs these bulbs wherever they are slapped in.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Curious on how the 9011 work as low beams in fog?

 

[jonheld]

Curious on how the 9011 work as low beams in fog?

Not bad at all. The cutoff is still there due to the housing. Not as sharp as a 9012 or 9006 low beam, but not a lot of scatter.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Not bad at all. The cutoff is still there due to the housing. Not as sharp as a 9012 or 9006 low beam, but not a lot of scatter.

Cool thanks