headlight bulb repacement fail- hardly any output

so one of my bulbs went out- a grey tipped ge h11. i picked up a set of philips xtreme visions at pep boys as a replacement. that's the brightest they make, apparently.

installation went smoothly, but the output just sucks. its even worse than the bulbs that were in there before (which i assume were stock). i was poking around old threads and was seeing a few alignment issues, but aside from not being all that amazing, the lights were just fine before. regular old yellow ones, but fine. these new ones are barely perceptible when on. they are just bright enough to keep me from getting a ticket, but really aren't doing much at all. even driving next to other priuses(?), you can see a massive difference in light output, spread and distance.

i also swapped out the brights for some sylvanias (their low mid tier ones) and those are bight as hell. you can see them from space.

so is the bulbs, or am i missing something? i picked up a different set (sylvanias) but i figured i should ask before i crack open another package. but i seriously don't feel safe with the lights as is.

 

thankfully, you were right. i used gloves when in installed them, felt them go in and they were secure. and since i was able to actually see the high beams go in, i felt ok about it. but they were a little askew. the driver's side was easy to fix and a quick check showed a vast improvement.

however, for the life of me, i can't get the passenger side straight. my hands are just too big. i moved the intake aside but between the bit of the frame where the hood props open and the bracket for that reservoir, it simply will not happen. tried for a good 20 mins but i couldn't get it. over, under, from the side, i tried it all. i'm all dirty and scraped now, but i'll take another crack at it a little later. any hints here would be much appreciated. sadly, no child sized hands are around.

 

so i'm like 80% sure i got it. i'll have to wait for the night to come to be sure, but it seems ok. the harness looks to be at a slight angle, but the gasket around the assembly seems to be flush, with an equal amount showing all around. sort of hard to tell because there is so much in the way, i can't get my face in there to be sure. throw and spread seems to be the same as the driver's side. no apparent damage from having it in crooked, so far as i can tell.

if not, i'll probably try the installing the bulb first and then connecting it, though that worries me a little. not as much as unbolting the coolant. its the bracket that's bugging me, not the reservoir itself. but i'm running out of things to try, so...

 

well, its still ever so slightly off, parked in front of a wall and you can see a slight variation between the sides, also, you can see the throw on the doors of cars to my right as i pass them by, which is probably annoying. not as annoying as having to unbolt the coolant now. is that bolt plastic?

at least i haven't observed any (apparent) damage to the headlights. yet. figured it would have happened by now, if it were to, though.

would love to hear more about this, which silicone did you use and how does it help?

 

hmm... i may have to give that a try once the stores open again. i was driving around for a little bit just now and got a faint whiff of that sort of burning smell. both headlights felt about the same as far as warmth goes but the passenger side was warm in slightly different places. so once it cools down i'll have a peek. no visible damage or change in performance yet.

 

in typical me fashion, i did not give up. i undid the intake and the hose, and i tried the unclipped bulb trick. all to no avail. i resisted the idea to use other lubricants... of a different nature i had on hand. i saw there was a little electrical tape holding the two cable covers together, so i removed that to maybe give myself more room. still, i struggled for another 15-20 minutes.

then the bulb fell.

:|

so, yeah. its gone. didn't break, but never made it out the other side. its somewhere in the bermuda triangle of plastic housing and covers and whatever below.

so i slapped the old one back on (in a still slightly askew way) to avoid legal issues and try to limp around until i can address it further. at this point, i may just take it to somewhere, simply because i've only had it about five or six months and i'd like to establish a baseline of its health, and it needs an oil change now. not that i know of anyone in my area (san fernando valley). we'll see. i may pick up another matching bulb and some silicone and try that, though i don't think that's the issue. there just isn't enough space for me to apply even pressure to get it on right. don't have the time/patience/acumen to pop off the bumper right now.

weirdly, i did find the (possible) source of the smell- the bulb itself. not sure what to make of that. i took it upstairs to see if had some alcohol to clean it off and noticed the smell followed me. i did see what appeared to be some residual silicone around the entry point- maybe a few specks of that got on the bulb from all the twisting and fussing, i don't know.