Had to change another dipped headlight bulb on daughter's Ka at the weekend - this time I can remember for sure that the bulb in question was fitted on Christmas Eve. Why are they lasting such a short time? 3 theories:
1. I've been buying rubbish bulbs and should be buying a premium brand instead
2. It's the state of the roads, potholes etc causing too much vibration/shock
3. There something wrong with the voltage regulation on the Ka
Shomething wrong, shurely? Considering what a pain it is to change a headlight bulb on a Ka, it's like being trapped in a recurring nightmare!
Last edited by: Dieselfitter on Mon 22 Mar 10 at 13:12
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Check that the headlamp unit isn't loose and wiggling about. Get her to drive behind you when it's dark and have someone watch her car. You will be able to see if the light is flickering. This will considerably shorten bulb life (and the MOT man may refuse a certificate).
I bought some cheap "Tesla" bulbs from Lidl a while ago. I've never had one blow. If it was the state of the roads, many people would be having this trouble. If it was voltage regulation, all bulbs would be burned out.
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make sure tyres arent blown up to warp factor as most people dont know their psi from a bag of large fries
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I think it is probably 1.
But it might be...
4. Ka heard all your cursing and swearing last time you changed bulb and took umbrage.
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What brand of bulbs have you been buying?
I buy bog standard Lucas or Bosch from my factors and have never had problems yet. I've read that these fancy bright white type bulbs have a shorter life expectancy however.
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>> these fancy bright white type bulbs have a shorter life expectancy
In my experience this does appear to be the case. My 406 used to blow H1 dip bulbs weekly on alternate sides. 2 weeks' life per bulb, for the whole time I had the blasted thing. It was also the only car I've ever had that used to blow main beam bulbs.
I understand H1/H7 bulbs have a design life of only ~200 hours. Since Xmas eve that would equate to an average of just over 1 hour's use a day in the OP's Ka.
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Mon 22 Mar 10 at 18:16
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It's got to be poor bulbs, Philips Extreme's in both vehicles now well over two years and the extra light is a bonus...roads rough as tracks round here and swmbo goes flat out through any pot holes and the like with pick up, lights are fine.
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Yes, I think it's probably dodgy bulbs. I've been buying the H7 kits from Wilko, branded as Carlex. You get the headlamp bulb and about 4 others, plus a couple of blade fuses, for £4.99. So, last time, I bought a pair of Halfords super 50% brighter, for about £20. The first of these was fitted in the Ka about a month ago and is still working(!), but I noticed it has started to turn black!! This is what makes me wonder if the Ka might be over-volting. Or maybe the Halfords bulbs aren't that great either. I looked up a Which? report on H7 bulbs earlier, and they found that Bosch Pure Light (which make no claims about brightness) were head and shoulders above the rest for output. They didn't attempt to measure the life, however.
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DF - is this the new shape KA? I have one and the lights were worse than bad! I bought 2 for 1 of Halford's extra bright bulbs and 5 minutes to fit and they have been OK for about 3 months. You say they are pig to fit, which is why I ask you have the old shape KA. I also had the same offer on bulbs for my partner's 206 and she is well pleased with the extra wiggly lumens and no failures, yet!
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My wife had a Ka from new for exactly 6 years until a couple of weeks ago. It never went wrong in any way and never needed even a bulb. It's now scrapped because she parked it on its roof. Apparently the lights were still working perfectly though.
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>> The first of these was fitted in the Ka about
>> a month ago and is still working(!) but I noticed it has started to turn
>> black!!
IIRC blackened bulbs is a sign of undervoltage not overvoltage. Sounds like it's worth checking the voltage at the bulbs anyway.
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might be the very poor type connecter on the back of the bulb then
i often have to crimp these up
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>> might be the very poor type connecter on the back of the bulb
That sounds a possibility. Vibration or dodgy contacts will do for bulbs PDQ.
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>> might be the very poor type connecter on the back of the bulb then
>> i often have to crimp these up
>>
Yes, worth looking at, I had random headlight problems on two Omegas where the root cause was a poor crimp connection onto the back of the bulb socket, which corroded and became resisitive over the years, only realised what was going on when I touched one of the connectors and it was hot.
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>>DF - is this the new shape KA?
No, the old one. Glad to hear Ford has designed the new one to make it possible for mortals to change the headlamp bulbs.
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...Glad to hear Ford has designed the new one to make it possible for mortals to change the headlamp bulbs...
I think most new Fords are designed with easy lamp change in mind.
Headlamp units on the latest Focuses come out after undoing just one screw.
The rear light lens on my CC3 is removed by undoing a single wing nut.
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>>I think most new Fords are designed with easy lamp change in mind
And even some older ones. Our MkI Focus has loads of room to change the headlight bulbs, though I can only remember doing one each side in the whole 9 years we've owned it. And the Mondeo we had for 6 years only had one headlight bulb go, and the whole unit slides out very easily. The Ka is a bargain basement design, however. I recognise several parts as being the same as on my 1991 Escort!
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Funnily enough I had to change a dipped beam bulb on our eight year old 180k mile Mondeo diesel estate this weekend. That makes three bulbs now and the third thing which has gone wrong with it in its life. Well dodgy those TDCis........
;-)
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I had to change the stop/tail light on my CRV last week - most annoying. First time I've had to replace a bulb in 11 years of ownership and 120,000 miles. Come on Honda, surely your bulbs could last a little longer.
In contrast - my Volvo S40 went through one headlamp bulb a month, and usually a couple of rear bulbs too. Ended up that the dealers used to just give me a box of 1 dozen bulbs to keep me going, as they guaranteed their bulbs for 3 years apparently!
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12 yr old MazdaXedos , front parking light after only 9 years, the reversing lamp then blew a few weeks later. Start of a slippery slope - no, none since.
Front parking light took 2 mins to replace
Reversing light - about 1 hour inc help from a neighbour - the handbook instructions/diagram was about as helpful as a chocolate fireguard.
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Changed a headlight bulb about 2 months ago in wife's 106.
We have owned from new: first new bulb of any sort since manufactured in 1993...
Edit: the change was very difficult and took at least 1 minute...
Last edited by: madf on Tue 23 Mar 10 at 11:24
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Bulb life - FotheringtonTomas
