[LOFOCI WAGON]

I have a question that I hope someone maybe able to answer about my headlights! I have been using Superwhite Plasma or Xeon headlight bulbs pretty much since I owned the car. As you all know they have a poor life span, but the shine brighter than the OEM ones? I just replaced them on the weekend and the drivers side headlight is shining brighter than the passenger side headlight? It was also harder to plug the lightbulb back into the socket compared to the drivers side which slid right in. Could there be a connection problem inside the socket or damage from changing the bulbs frequently? Copuld the connection points not be lineing up? I will have to take a closer look inside the connector to see whats up. Do any of you have an idea, also when you look at the bulb you can seen a small orange glow inside the buld? :huh:

[BrooksZX3]

you could very easily have a bad bulb too. The electrical engineers here at the office tell me they ALWAYS replace a few when a new building is complete, it's not that uncommon for manuf. malfunction.

[LOFOCI WAGON]

The same thing happend with the last set aswell!

[Spyder01]

Is this a HID bulb or is it just a normal type?? If it is a HID, i would say it might had a bad burn in when first installed...if its a normal one...hummm, maybe one is aimed higher than the other giving the impression one is brighter??

[naz]

swap the new bulbs from either side.. is the same side still dimmer?

swap in the stock bulbs.. is the same side still dimmer?

i think from that you'd be able to tell right away if its bulb specific or not

check the connector really closely in good lighting.. maybe its been melted a little and the connectors aren't making solid contact.. worse case you'll have to snip off the old connector and splice a new one on there.. no biggie..

[01-yellow-ZX3]

Well those definitely don't sound like true HID's.

But try using a good set of bulbs, no ricey blue stuff for a good comparison.

Now is the headlight shining brighter when you look at it, or when you're driving?

Could be the aim of the headlight.

[LOFOCI WAGON]

No they are just regular H4 bulbs, just the Superwhite Plasma bulbs! They are like the Silverstars! They shine white not blue.

[guilty]

Your best bet is to do what Naz suggested.. eliminate all variables so you can determine whether it's a bulb, wiring, or housing problem. That's the only way to know for sure.

[01-yellow-ZX3]

Yah, take out the headlight if you can't see the connections, I bet the 'superwhites' burnt the wiring. Can be covered under warranty if you put the stock bulbs back in though.

[Frost__2001]

How old is the car ?

One thing that might factor into the problem is moisture in the head light it self, resulting in the aging of the bulb, I had that problem with my prevous focus sedan, and ford changed the whole head light out free of charge.

Or it could be a result of Sand blasting of the head light making it look dimer then what it is.