Hi all...

Firstly, Merry Christmas to you all.

Mrs Grrs SDI has developed a fault with the dipped headlights.

Her mum was driving it from Bedford to Bristol and they failed mid journey.

She continued on home regardless managing on the led parking lights and fogs.

I've been out today to have a look despite the cold now I am here in Bristol and I'm stumped...

Parking lights and main beam work okay and the indicator lamp in the instrument binnacle

lights up okay "saying" the headlights are on.

I've checked fuses 50 and 54 and they are okay, as are the bulbs.

I reckon possibly a bad earth (But where??) or relay (Again, where???)

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Garry

Hi all...

Firstly, Merry Christmas to you all.

Mrs Grrs SDI has developed a fault with the dipped headlights.

Her mum was driving it from Bedford to Bristol and they failed mid journey.

She continued on home regardless managing on the led parking lights and fogs.

I've been out today to have a look despite the cold now I am here in Bristol and I'm stumped...

Parking lights and main beam work okay and the indicator lamp in the instrument binnacle

lights up okay "saying" the headlights are on.

I've checked fuses 50 and 54 and they are okay, as are the bulbs.

I reckon possibly a bad earth (But where??) or relay (Again, where???)

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Garry

The headlights are earthed to E4 - "behind battery on strut tower", according to Haynes. Diagram indicates four separate brown earth wires, one from each main or dipped HL bulb.... Though maybe they're paired for connection to the earth connector? Other earths involved seem to be single connections... So I'd guess if it's an earth, E4's the one.

Power for the dipped beam goes straight to the fusebox from the HL switch. As dipped lights remain on when main beam is used. Can you see if there's power to F50 and F54 and can you see if there's power to the bulbs? Do you have a multi-meter?

J.

Garry have you actually changed the bulbs? They may look OK but looks can be deceptive! Start with the easiest option and work your way from there!

Edited 24 December, 201015 yr by Mike B

I'd agree with changing the bulbs, they have been known to both fail at the same time. The filament may look ok, but it only takes a hairline break for the bulb to stop working alltogether.

Hope you sort it Garry

Mike and Manny you hit the nail on the head.

BOTH bulbs had failed.

I suspect one went at first and the mother in law didn't notice

until the second one packed up too. I reckon the failure was mostly down to the fact that they were

cheap and cheerful bulbs and the mega low temperatures we've all seen lately.

(Come to think of it I've noticed loads of cars with various bulbs not working over recent weeks.)

I only had more cheapo hong kong bulbs to replace them with in the short term but have a pair

of Osram Silver Star +50% bulbs on the way from Powerbulbs.

(Just over £14 a pair with Freedom discount )

I'll pop those in when they arrive and they should fare a bit better with any luck.

The higher quality bulbs in my vRS have been fine through these wintery conditions.

I wanted to get them for Mrs Grrs car too but she said it was too much money for a

pair of lightbulbs. I thought the Silver Star bulbs would be a nice mid range option.

The moral of the story is don't buy cheap bulbs. It's a false economy.

Thanks again for the help fellas. :yes:

We had similar with a customers car, it had two new Lucas bulbs which both failed after a couple of months. We noticed that they were flickering on tickover, we came to the conclusion that the battery was weak in that it was not capable of transferring enough power to the steering system and the headlamps at the same time and that the flickering was fatigueing the bulb filaments.

We had similar with a customers car, it had two new Lucas bulbs which both failed after a couple of months. We noticed that they were flickering on tickover, we came to the conclusion that the battery was weak in that it was not capable of transferring enough power to the steering system and the headlamps at the same time and that the flickering was fatigueing the bulb filaments.

Seeing as you have mentioned "Lucas" I feel that its only correct to point out that as a company building quality parts, Lucas does not still exist, its bulbs etc arm was sold off and only, I think, remains as a "name" that can be rented/leased to give potentially duff "foreign" parts a bit of credability. I only discovered this accidentally when researching to find out anything I could about the rear disc brake assembly fitted to these cars.

I'd suggest that buying cheap Hong Kong bulbs is exactly what you end up doing by buying from a trusted brand like Lucas - though don't confuse any thing I've written with the remaining "Lucas" branded OEM brake stuff that started life as Girling - and is now owned by ??? but still gets known as Lucas. Also, I seem to remember that ECP might just be the people that are renting out the old "Lucas" brand name that covers bulbs etc. Personally I would not touch current Lucas bulbs with a barge pole - though a similar thing seems to be creeping in to Bosch's ranges of small bulbs - maybe check the manufacturer's name on the fitting end, it just might be the same as the Halford's branded cheaper bulbs that you avoided buying (oh cruel world!).

Lucas as a company I think went belly-up earlier this year. I remember it being on the local news as the factory is in Plymouth from memory, and about 200 people were out of work as a result... Not good, and not happy to hear Lucas branding could be being applied to dodgy, low quality goods!

i have replaced 3 halfords taillight bulbs of late...

have changed to bosch and no blown bulbs so far....

i was changing the halfords items on a weekly basis

Lucas as a company I think went belly-up earlier this year. I remember it being on the local news as the factory is in Plymouth from memory, and about 200 people were out of work as a result... Not good, and not happy to hear Lucas branding could be being applied to dodgy, low quality goods!

I'm probably showing my age, but, back in the days I was building and modfiying bikes, Lucas was commonly known as 'the prince of darkness'. And no, it wasn't a compliment......

Paul.

Prince Of Darkness

More Love the fuse guide!

Edited 30 December, 201015 yr by Mike B

Prince Of Darkness

More Love the fuse guide!

Ouch, thats a lot worse than I was crediting "Lucas of old" products to be like!! Mind you, given the choice of rear lights fitted to some older Landrovers, I'd always chose Lucas over Sparto (whoever Sparto were) the Lucas tail lights were smaller and so resisted getting crunched more than the cheap looking larger Sparto ones.

I'm probably showing my age, but, back in the days I was building and modfiying bikes, Lucas was commonly known as 'the prince of darkness'. And no, it wasn't a compliment......

Paul.

Yes, as an old (but not yet ex) biker myself, I remember replacing Lucas alternators on my Triumph on a regular basis. They couldn't even use decent copper wire and insulate it properly. Lucas electrics were one of the main reasons why the Japanese took over. And don't get me started on Italian electrics of that era...So it looks as if the Lucas name has returned to its Prince of Darkness status, as toothandnail so accurately reminded me!