Newbie on forum - Lights grumble

[Saxman]

Hi to all

Picked up my 2013 Monte Carlo Diesel Estate last week. Easy to drive, easy to park, compared to the Mondeo Estate I had previously anyway. So quite happy so far. Only grumble I have is that the lights are, not putting it too mildly, not very bright and Norfolk country lanes at night are black as pitch. So I got myself some upgrades and fitted them this afternoon. The bloke who designed the engine bay needs a thick ear. How on earth are you supposed to get at the lights to change the bulbs? The left hand one is not too bad, there is about an inch of clearance to get your fingers in but no decent purchase to twist the bulb anti-clockwise to remove it. So I did it after a few tries and scraped my knuckles for my efforts. It is slightly worse on the right hand side because they thought, I know, let's stuff the fuel filter in that little space there, right behind the light unit leaving no room at all to get to the bulb. After loosening the retaining bolts on the filter I managed to do it but Skoda mechanics must have double jointed wrists I reckon. I used to work on Minis in the seventies and eighties so I thought I was used to confined spaces. Anyway, rant over, this is a great site, loads of info. Thanks very much. So, who would have thought it, Trump in the Whitehouse, makes Brexit look like a pretty minor faux pas by comparison.

Cheers

Andy

[peter3197]

Did my projectors today as well so I can understand where you are coming from. I have little hands which makes life a little easier but these bulbs are a right bitch.

[Jimdiesel]

They definitely arent the best lights are they think the general rule is if you dont bleed changing the bulbs you havent done it right   , Hids are good upgrade but questionable at mot time im currently using nightbreakers which seem better than standard what bulbs did you upgrage too?

[peter3197]

I've put Nightbreaker unlimited in. Only did the dip beams, the mains, I think, are fine. I actually had to bend one of the clips very slightly on the O/S to get the damn thing to do up. 

[delta925]

As you have found changing the projector OEM bulbs to Nightbreaker or similar is an improvement.

 

In addition many cars leave the factory with the beam set very low. As posted on some of the other threads on this topic I raised mine. By roughly knowing the distance across from my drive to the opposite neighbours I made a guess. Afterwards I was never flashed by oncoming drivers nor had MOT issues.

 

If you have a local friendly MOT test station who can set them towards to top limit better still, if you did get flashed regularly just drop them slightly.

[peter3197]

I'm going to sort the setting tomorrow, at the moment I have 6 wheels and tyres in the boot which will screw the settings a bit.

[no1storekeeper]

I know what you mean about lights on Fabia mk2. they are very poor on dipped. I had a bulb upgrade today fitted new set of H7's ( H7 on all 4 on a mk2) Like you say left hand side not tooooo bad, but right side had to take retaining bolts out of fuel filter so it was loose, also loosened coolant filler tank. Anybody know best bulbs to get the maximum light?

[peter3197]

The nightbreaker unlimited are a major improvement. Other people think others are better, it's very subjective. I actually managed to do the o/s one without undoing the filter but I have got very small hands.

[PhilTheGeek]

If you're going to stick with conventional bulbs the nightbreaker are almost certainly the best. Many of the other "brighter" bulbs push the colour temperature far too high and then just quote the output.  The human eye's sensitivity drops off from about 4300K and drops very significantly above 6000K. Blue might look good from a style point of view but it's appalling for you being able to actually see anything.

 

I have been running 35W 4300K HIDs in mine for the last 3 years. Brighter than the nightbreaker and I've had no problems at all come MOT time.

[Furbytom]

I've been down the Nightbreaker route but it's a waste of time on these cars. It's a tiny bit brighter but still just polishing a turd really. Fork out for some HIDS. Job done ;-).

[peter3197]

The amount of light needed from dipped headlights is a very subjective thing. The standard bulbs are definitely not up to the mark, nightbeakers, and setting the headlights up properly, provide a decent amount of light at reasonable speeds. There are still a number of cars on the road that have lights, that compared to standard Fabia projectors,  feel as though you have a couple of candles up front. Lighting has improved enormously over the last few years and we tend to forget that and want enormous amounts of light on the road when, for the majority of motoring situations, it is not necessary.

[b1ackb1rd]

The amount of light needed from dipped headlights is a very subjective thing. The standard bulbs are definitely not up to the mark, nightbeakers, and setting the headlights up properly, provide a decent amount of light at reasonable speeds. There are still a number of cars on the road that have lights, that compared to standard Fabia projectors,  feel as though you have a couple of candles up front. Lighting has improved enormously over the last few years and we tend to forget that and want enormous amounts of light on the road when, for the majority of motoring situations, it is not necessary.

 

So you've not driven down an A road in a Fabia 2 or Roomster with your own shadow from the guy behind's lights on dip obliterating the road ahead ?

[peter3197]

So you've not driven down an A road in a Fabia 2 or Roomster with your own shadow from the guy behind's lights on dip obliterating the road ahead ?

A very interesting concept, that.

[b1ackb1rd]

A very interesting concept, that.

 

Concept? I drove about 50 miles of an 80 mile trip in the dark and the rain like this last Tuesday, I've never been so stressed.

 

I lost count how many times I clipped hit the grass verge on corners because I couldn't see where I was going. 

[b1ackb1rd]

I adjusted the allen screw at the back of the headlamps all the way anti-clockwise yesterday afternoon, yet driving home from Birmingham last night there was no improvement and I wasn't flashed once when on high beam

[malcster]

I adjusted the allen screw at the back of the headlamps all the way anti-clockwise yesterday afternoon, yet driving home from Birmingham last night there was no improvement and I wasn't flashed once when on high beam

Have you had your headlamps properly aligned ??

Before I fitted the xenon's to my roomster I ran std night breakers for 4 winter months and I live deep in the sticks only reason I upgraded was I was ordering a kit for a friend with a fabia and figured I would do them both at the same time

As you have posted on the roomster board I think there may be a fundamental issue with the alignment of light or the bulbs are on the way out or the lenses are discolouring scattering or dulling the beam

Edited 13 November, 2016 by malcster

[peter3197]

Concept? I drove about 50 miles of an 80 mile trip in the dark and the rain like this last Tuesday, I've never been so stressed.

 

I lost count how many times I clipped hit the grass verge on corners because I couldn't see where I was going. 

Might I suggest that you drive at a speed that is suitable for the driving conditions. If you can't see far enough ahead to avoid clipping verges you were obviously driving too fast regardless of how good your headlights are.