Burnt Bulbs Hella 80/100W

[prybar]

Hi all,

I recently put 80/100W Hella bulbs up front for better view at night, with the supporting wiring harness. I originally got the idea from the thread listed below, and everybody said it worked great for them. Only a month or two after install though, I noticed one bulb was very dim, but still lit up. Inspection of the bulb shows that the reflective material at the tip of the bulb has started peeling off (see photo). Both sides look like this, and I imagine it's only a short time before the other one goes out too.

Anybody else experienced this, or have any ideas why it could have happened? Seems like the bulbs are getting too hot, but I'm not sure why. I do have the rubber dust boots on my headlights. I ordered some new bulbs from a different supplier, will see if it was some knock off product form amazon.

Anyway, any ideas are welcome. Thanks

Source for idea:
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/292052-drop-headlight-upgrade.html

 

[JZiggy]

I ran those bulbs for a couple of years without issue. If I recall they were pretty cheap, like a few bucks each. Probably just a manufacturing defect. Seems like you covered the other bases.

 

[deves2]

I installed mine over 3 years ago and they are still going strong.
i dont buy anything from Amazon that could be counterfit...i got burned too many times.
good luck
Dave

 

[prybar]

Thanks for the responses guys. My thinking was an Amazon ripoff too. And yeah, luckily they're only $4 each. New bulbs on order now.

Cheers

 

[JustAnother3GT4R]

I'm also running those 80/100 Bulbs, going on about a year and no issues.
I got mine from RockAuto, Amazon does seem to sell a lot of lower quality or even counterfeit stuff.
I'm also running them with a Dual Beam (Hi & Lo at the same time when Hi Beams are on) Harness.
Thinking of trying the 90/130 Bulbs but I've seen a few of them "Pop" and burn the inside of those housings, though I'd like to chuck that up as someone touching the bulb or not wiping it down clean before installing.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy them from RA again.

 

[nissanh]

I am running those too and also bought from RockAuto. The bulbs are running good and no issues. I am using the stock wiring as well. The fading of the outside of the bulb should not cause any drop in output intensity. How is the reflector of your headlamp housing? Has it become dull?

Never buy any electronics off of Amazon or eBay.

 

[gamefreakgc]

I am running those too and also bought from RockAuto. The bulbs are running good and no issues. I am using the stock wiring as well. The fading of the outside of the bulb should not cause any drop in output intensity. How is the reflector of your headlamp housing? Has it become dull?

Never buy any electronics off of Amazon or eBay.

I also think this may be the issue. With a perfectly clean new glass like I had when I installed these same bulbs it is a non-issue. If there's dust on the inside/outside of the glass or on the reflector itself, that energy (energy = heat) is not leaving the housing and instead is being reflected elsewhere in the headlight housing and potentially back onto the bulb itself. We are running almost double the wattage over stock so it's almost double the heat as well.

 

[Ed_C]

Is it tinted blue? I looked up a 80/100 on Summit Racing's site (legit retailer) and their photo shows a clear bulb

 

[prybar]

[MENTION=741224]JustAnother3GT4R[/MENTION] - the 80/100 are plenty bright for me, and the 130/90 bulbs would probably be overkill for my use. I'm thinking the same about Amazon.

[MENTION=85046]nissanh[/MENTION] & [MENTION=115347]gamefreakgc[/MENTION] - Like the other 20+ year old rigs out there, yes my housings are dull. The reflective part has started to oxidize but I cleaned them out with soap & water recently, so no contaminates. I don't really see the bulbs burning out from the housings being slightly hotter due to oxidation. But we'll see when I get the new bulbs. Thanks for the input.

[MENTION=75868]Ed_C[/MENTION] - The bulbs are clear, the blue tint is most likely reflection from the sky. Good eye though!

 

[nissanh]

I ended up buying OEM new headlight (multi-reflector style) for my 97 along with upgraded OEM corner lights that came for 2000 and up 4runners. OEM new each was about $150 shipped (wait for the deal to come one). Camelback would not sell headlights but Decatur toyota in AL will sell headlights at a good price (sometimes they run 30% off).

 

[19963.4lsr5]

Please don’t drive by me with those bulbs in. I’ll be seeing blue and red spots for a mile afterwards.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ed_C]

Rock Auto part number?

Anyone have the part # Rock Auto uses for the 80/100 bulbs? So far the only H4s I've found there are standard wattage/standard wattage + tinted.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Anyone have the part # Rock Auto uses for the 80/100 bulbs? So far the only H4s I've found there are standard wattage/standard wattage + tinted.

They do not seem to sell this bulb as I tried putting in the part number. I could only find a H7 100W bulb. Amazon is fine, I doubt anyone is counterfeiting a $4.59 light bulb.

 

[prybar]

Well, here's an update.

Threw in some fresh bulbs this afternoon, driver's side still extremely dim, looks on the verge of burning out.

Broke out the multimeter and am getting 12v on passenger side and 11.4ish on driver's side. The driver's side fluctuates a good amount while passenger side stays steady. So I believe I can chock this up to a bad wiring harness?

I inspected the fuse and the harness itself, and all looks good to my eyes. Any ideas what could have caused it to go bad?

I'll likely be ordering another harness/adapter. The one I have currently is made by trumods and seems to have been used by multiple forum members without any problems. If anyone recommends a different company though I'm all ears.

Edit: forgot to mention that I pulled off the harness/adapter and tested the voltage at the stock headlight harness. Got a solid 12v on both sides.

 

[JZiggy]

Well, here's an update.

Threw in some fresh bulbs this afternoon, driver's side still extremely dim, looks on the verge of burning out.

Broke out the multimeter and am getting 12v on passenger side and 11.4ish on driver's side. The driver's side fluctuates a good amount while passenger side stays steady. So I believe I can chock this up to a bad wiring harness?

I inspected the fuse and the harness itself, and all looks good to my eyes. Any ideas what could have caused it to go bad?

I'll likely be ordering another harness/adapter. The one I have currently is made by trumods and seems to have been used by multiple forum members without any problems. If anyone recommends a different company though I'm all ears.

Edit: forgot to mention that I pulled off the harness/adapter and tested the voltage at the stock headlight harness. Got a solid 12v on both sides.

Yep, bad connection somewhere in the harness causing a resistance.

 

[pluton]

I've put these made-on-demand harnesses on 4 Toyota trucks so far:
HL282S SMS Upgrade Headlamp Harness for Switched Ground Vehicles | Rally Lights. Note: I haven't tried the 80/100 bulbs yet.

 

[Ed_C]

Well, here's an update.

Threw in some fresh bulbs this afternoon, driver's side still extremely dim, looks on the verge of burning out.

Broke out the multimeter and am getting 12v on passenger side and 11.4ish on driver's side. The driver's side fluctuates a good amount while passenger side stays steady. So I believe I can chock this up to a bad wiring harness?

I inspected the fuse and the harness itself, and all looks good to my eyes. Any ideas what could have caused it to go bad?

I'll likely be ordering another harness/adapter. The one I have currently is made by trumods and seems to have been used by multiple forum members without any problems. If anyone recommends a different company though I'm all ears.

Edit: forgot to mention that I pulled off the harness/adapter and tested the voltage at the stock headlight harness. Got a solid 12v on both sides.

Possibly the relay(s). A friend had intermittent flickering with his HID setup and finally fixed the issue by temporarily replacing the harness' "sealed" relay with a standard Bosch/Tyco. I wrote that in quotes because it was actually just a generic relay shoved into a housing to make it look like a skirted weatherproof relay like what Hella offers.

 

[prybar]

In case anyone was on the edge of their seat waiting for an update on this riveting story:

It was the harness. New harness installed, lights as bright as the sun.

Cheers. :cheers:

 

[shadow247]

In case anyone was on the edge of their seat waiting for an update on this riveting story:

It was the harness. New harness installed, lights as bright as the sun.

Cheers. :cheers:

Which harness did you buy?

 

[prybar]

Which harness did you buy?

I ended up just going with the same harness I got before, as other members on the forum seem to be using it with no issues. Probably just a loose connection somewhere. The return window expired though, so I just ordered it again and returned the bad one :shrug:

Here's the one I got, by truMods

Amazon.com