The Headlamps on my ZX are causing me some problems at teh moment in so much as the wiring loom has shorted twice now and i have lost first my left then my right headlamp - the current state of play is i have side lights, headlamps but not main beam.
I have removed the bulbs for the moment whilst i sort out the reason for a) the car chewing through the wiring loom and b) the car chewing through bulbs at the rate of one every 2 days. Now when i come to switch teh car on with no bulb in situ the main beam warning light glows very faintly on the dash, put the bulb back in and its goes out!
How very interesting!
How Interesting (or maybe not)
Moderator: RichardW
If the bulbs are 'blowing' electrically as opposed to mechanically failing ie vibration causing the filament to break, then I would first check the alternator voltage.
It may have become unregulated and outputting too high a voltage[}:)][}:)][}:)].
Are you having to top up the battery electrolyte more often?
It may have become unregulated and outputting too high a voltage[}:)][}:)][}:)].
Are you having to top up the battery electrolyte more often?
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martyhopkirk
Battery is one of those sealed for life jobbies and has so far given me no trouble - voltage at the terminals when running is 13.8v - drops to 12.3v when the engine is off and the drop test when cranking is 9.7v - so im fairly sure all is in rude health there...
Does seem to be chewing through (good) bulbs quickly - the last set were philips ones and cost £££ and lasted less than a week. - put in cheapo car mart specials today at 99p a bulb - lets see how long they last! Still puzzled about the faint glow from the dash. Perhaps a bulb failiure warning?
Does seem to be chewing through (good) bulbs quickly - the last set were philips ones and cost £££ and lasted less than a week. - put in cheapo car mart specials today at 99p a bulb - lets see how long they last! Still puzzled about the faint glow from the dash. Perhaps a bulb failiure warning?
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uhn113x
- Posts: 1161
- Joined: 06 Jan 2004, 22:06
- Location: Near Leeds, United Kingdom
- My Cars: 1981 Dyane - on road all year round.
1982 GSA Pallas - on road April - September.
1997 ZX 1.9D Dimension. - x 1
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by bernie</i>
If the bulbs are 'blowing' electrically as opposed to mechanically failing ie vibration causing the filament to break, then I would first check the alternator voltage.
It may have become unregulated and outputting too high a voltage[}:)][}:)][}:)].
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I would have thought that in this case the smaller bulbs would fail more often. A poor connection that continually switches bulbs on and off, probably too fast for you to see, will cause failure. Another possibility is a drop of water getting on to the bulb envelope - do they go white or grey when they fail?
If the warning light goes out when you put the bulb in, sometingg is drawing a heck of a lot of current - probably a loom fault.
HTH
If the bulbs are 'blowing' electrically as opposed to mechanically failing ie vibration causing the filament to break, then I would first check the alternator voltage.
It may have become unregulated and outputting too high a voltage[}:)][}:)][}:)].
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
I would have thought that in this case the smaller bulbs would fail more often. A poor connection that continually switches bulbs on and off, probably too fast for you to see, will cause failure. Another possibility is a drop of water getting on to the bulb envelope - do they go white or grey when they fail?
If the warning light goes out when you put the bulb in, sometingg is drawing a heck of a lot of current - probably a loom fault.
HTH
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martyhopkirk
My thoughts exacly.
Too much molten blobby bits of wire and scotchblocs now to be able to neatly sort out i think. Time to get rid. Off looking at other motors this weekend (and off to Liverpool to get my crate of shonky Total Quartz) - Even (shame on me for saying this) considering a Diesel Rover 100 (PSA engine - just lotsa rusty bits).[:(]
Too much molten blobby bits of wire and scotchblocs now to be able to neatly sort out i think. Time to get rid. Off looking at other motors this weekend (and off to Liverpool to get my crate of shonky Total Quartz) - Even (shame on me for saying this) considering a Diesel Rover 100 (PSA engine - just lotsa rusty bits).[:(]