Hi guys.

Just a quick one.

On starting my car this morning, I noticed that only one of my dipped beams came on so I thought, great, will have to buy new bulbs then 30 ish seconds later as I'm starting to drive off, the other dipped beam came on?

This has never happened before.

Any ideas as to why this would happen and if so, what would cause it??

Mike.

I'd guess the bulb had blown and the movement of the car caused the ends of the broken filament to touch and weld together. This will be a weak spot so it's quite likely to go again before too long.

Never heard of that before. Not convinced by what Mike said because the filament would be stone cold with no current through it - not to mention the billion to one chance of the ends touching anyway. There is no way it would weld itself together.

I'd be more inclined to think that you might have a problem with the wiring. Check the multiplug at the back of the headlight for any sign of corrosion, and give it a spray of switch cleaner while you're in there (not WD40). You could also check the connectors and terminals for each bulb to make sure there's nothing there that shouldn't be there, i.e. dirt, rust, water.

Yeah, I'm thinking about faulty wiring to be honest.

Had the odd niggle here and there like the radio switching off and on again at random and flickering lights.

Pinpointing an electrical fault though is a tricky affair!!

Now that you've said that, I'm thinking there's a faulty earth. I have no idea where all the earthing points are on your car but I'd wager a large turnip that all the problems you've had share a common earth.

Well, BigD, if I had a large turnip I'd take you on. :D My money's still on the bulb.

It'll be interesting to see who's right.

I'll see your turnip and raise you an asparagus for probably being correct bigD.

It's in the garage next week so I'll get them to check it out.

They're new (2 month old) bulbs mjt so I can't see it being that bud..

Ah - that does put a slightly different complexion on it

Will report back with any answers once it has been looked at.

Mike.

Mine did this one bulb would flick on and off when driving. Be on for days then off for 5 mins then back on.

Quick question what bulbs do u have in at the moment ??

I went for the cheap option pal...

Don't know if that is the problem?

Could be I guess...

Cheap bulbs are cheap for a reason generally. I have seen some pretty poorly made Chinese bulbs in the past so my money would still be on the bulbs.

Give some quality OE spec ones from Osram of Phillips a try and see how you get on :)

Yeah. I agree completely mate.

I never buy cheap usually but people were raving about these but to be honest, I might aswel put two candles on the front of my car for all the light they produce!

Might give the nightbreakers a go?

Never heard of that before. Not convinced by what Mike said because the filament would be stone cold with no current through it - not to mention the billion to one chance of the ends touching anyway. There is no way it would weld itself together.

The way it works is that if the ends touch they form a high-resistance connection that instantaneously gets hot enough to spot-weld them together. I've had this happen so I know it can though admittedly that wasn't with a headlamp bulb. If Exponential takes the bulb out it would be interesting to have a look with a magnifier to see if anything like this has happened.

Im leaning towards the nightbreakers but am concerned about longevity....any recommendations guys.

P.S I will take a pic of the left hand bulb once the new ones arrive (when I've decided on which to go for).

Ye I'd go with the night breakers. I've had them fitted since jan and much better than crappy bulbs. The life time says it's not so great but it's got to be better than buying cheap bulbs from china.

I have Philips Bluevisions, had them coming up to two years now. I really should get some spares in.

I'm reading thathe the nightbreakers are quite bad for not lasting too long so I may plumb for the bluevisions I think...

My nightbreakers lasted less than a year. Both blew within a week of each other. Back to halfords standard now, much more important things to do than battle with those headlights!

I might give the Philips xtreme a try, think they're an update on the blue vision? Nightbreakers don't seem to last (in the majority of cases anyway) so will skip them....

Maybe they're called Night Breakers, because that's what happens to them, and when? :)

LOL

Good one! :)

Guys.

Is it an H7 I need for dipped beam?

I've looked online and it says H7 but it's a 59 plate mk2.5 estate and there's only reference to mk2 or mk3.

Don't shoot me down for asking! :D

Just read the bulb list......lol

H7 it is then. :)