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Brighter Headlights - stating the bleedin' obvious

T

timbership

New member
Having followed some threads on upgrading headlights with super output bulbs or HID kits, I had always found mine acceptable. However, I was amazed at how dirty the lenses were whilst checking bulb functioning before going for an MOT yesterday. How, many of you like me have only seen them from the drivers seat when they are popped up and never actually looked at the glass? They were made worse by the previous owner not thoroughly removing the glue left by beam converters. A good clean has improved matters dramatically!

Car failed on corroded brake hose ferrules. Should get it back tomorrow.

 
Thats exaclty what I found the other day when upgarding to the phillips extreme bulbs as my dipped lights were v weak.

Made a mental note to raise lights and clean them when next washing the car.
 
How, many of you like me have only seen them from the drivers seat when they are popped up and never actually looked at the glass?
Click to expand...

They can often be pretty badly stone-chipped as well, and need the glass replaceing.
 
This is very true of the spotlights on my S2, the screws behind all appear to be rusted out though so replacement is looking expensive. Perhaps there is a way to sand the lenses down and re-polish to get them back to being clear again?

Edd
 
Another possible reason for poor performance is the voltage at the bulb. By using a simple setup involving two relays you can get 12 volts directly from the battery going to the lights. When I did my Golf headlights I was getting less than 10 volts feeding the bulbs. A simple do it yourself improvement for the price of two relays and some wire, less than a tenner.
Cheers,
 
Fred,

I have the bits to do that very job on my 944, but have yet to tackle it (story of my life, I tell you!)

Out of interest, where would you pick-up the 12v under the bonnet? The battery is in the boot, which is where I took the 12v from when I did it on my Golfs.

Back of the starter motor? Or alternator? I suppose either would work.


Oli.
 
On the driver's side there is a hook up point for the positive jump lead. You could make a nice neat connection there; at least there is one on my 92 Cab. Run it through a 15 amp fuse though.
 
That's a good idea 924nutter. Thanks.

Would need a hefty-ish wire to run along the side of the engine bay, but it would be convenient. Yes, a fuse would be very sensible.

Is it possible to connect into the wire at this point? There is the post (useful for jump-starting) there ... is there a suitable point to connect to the wire other than screwing it onto the post?


Oli.
 
Oli,
You must have one of them there new fangled wotsits with their battery in the boot. My battery is located in the engine compartment. My feedwire, which goes to both relays, is connected to the battery by means of the clamp bolt. In-line fuse between battery and relays. Then a live wire run between the relays.
Easy job but remember to check where you are routing the wires to connect to the other headlight as the headlight lifting mechanism can cause a problem. (Ask me how I know!).

Cheers,
 
Fred,

Ahhhh ... useful tip. Thanks.

To be honest, I have never explored the headlight mechanism on my S2. Just sprayed some white grease on the motor linkages at service time. I don't think I have ever taken the covers off them, let alone had a gander at the wiring.


Oli.
 
I am glad that I read this! I thought when I picked my S2 up that the headlamps were poor, and I know that bulbs go off over time which doesn't help (I have noticed that new bulbs seem to give a brighter output. I gave them a clean, and wow I am surprised at the difference that it made to the light output! They didn't even look too dirty for that matter. However, my previous MGB had sealed beams, so these are a revelation in comparison, but my Pug 306 was on brand new Valeo lamps up front, which compared to my mate's originals had a marked difference in light output.

Nice to see how simple things (and obvious factors!) can make a nice difference.
 
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