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Weird headlight issues (bulbs keep dying)

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by golfmk681, Jan 3, 2019.

  1. golfmk681

    golfmk681 Active Member

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    So in March 30, 2018, both headlights went out. I thought that was weird so I changed the headlight low beam. I thought that was weird. On December 2018, I forgot maybe the second week, the headlight on the drivers side went out again. Then this week during Christmas the passengers side went out. So I have to drive with high beams lol. The bulbs i used were sylvania. Anyway has anyone experienced something like this before? I’m buying another pair of bulbs but I might jerryrig an eBay HID kit running off the battery using a relay if these pair go out again. I do leave my headlights on as day time running lights so maybe that’s the culprit. I won’t run them as drl when the new pair of bulbs arrive...
     
    #1 golfmk681, Jan 3, 2019
  2. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    I do believe Sylvania bulbs carry a one year warranty, but also know they are not preferred by the wise ones...
     
    #2 jzchen, Jan 3, 2019
  3. DMC-5180

    DMC-5180 Active Member

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    If they are Silvania Silverstar bulbs, this is very typical. They are high performance, but it comes with a compromise of a short lifespan. I used them for years and the durability was virtually identical to what you have experienced. I was lucky to get 9 months out of them. It was so bad, I would always carry a spare set in car for when the inevitable failure would happen again. It was like clockwork, that when the first failure would occur the second would follow within 2-4 weeks following. I learned enough to know that when one failed, just replace both at the same time, because the other would be failing soon anyway. After changing these more times than I can count over the years, I found a high performance LED option that was also a Sylvania product and installed them. They were very expensive at the time, but its been 2.5 years and they have been flawless. The only downside to the LEDs is that they don’t produce any infrared heat to help melt ice and snow off the housing lens.


    iPhone X ?
     
    #3 DMC-5180, Jan 3, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 3, 2019
    Skibob likes this.
  4. golfmk681

    golfmk681 Active Member

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    Wow this is really helpful guys. I got cheapo ones. Do you all have any amazon recommendations?
     
    #4 golfmk681, Jan 3, 2019
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