melted headlight harness?

[rrubel]

Ok, I'm well aware that those of us running higher-than-stock-wattage headlights will eventually melt a harness or two. But... has anyone melted one with the STOCK lights? Went to change a bulb on my wife's 97 GT and found the negative terminal on the plug VERY melted. Bulb wasn't bad; plug wasn't making contact.

Anyone?

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[ejicon]

Sorry to hear about the damage.. I bought some super bright white xenon bulbs, used them for about 2 months when the driver-side harness totally melted. I'm still trying to contact the vendor who sold them to me on EBAY to get my money back.. Hehehe They have a Guarantee NO HARNESS MELTING Thing so I'm gonna get them goooood!!
-Ells

[CRAZY KEN]

...go H.I.D. & FORGET ABOUT IT!!!



CRAZY KEN

[VOLTIS5]

and how much is it?

[AGscooby]

I think you're looking at a minimum $500 for the HID conversion. I'd spring for the Morettes, then convert to HID. It'll cost more altogether, but you'd have a better lamp reflector than OE.

AG
May the B4 be with you!

[BG5]

dirty or otherwise poor contacts=
increased contact resistance=
heat=
melted plug

even with an all stock system.

A swab with isopropyl alcohol to clean and 'headlight grease'
you can find at Wal-Mart may help if they're dirty otherwise
you probably just got a bum bulb with poor contact points...

[legaseegt]

im in the process of getting hid conversion kit for my01 legacy. but one problem how do i shut off the daytime running lights? i cant seem to find the relay.can anybody help

[kkozma]

Originally posted by legaseegt
im in the process of getting hid conversion kit for my01 legacy. but one problem how do i shut off the daytime running lights? i cant seem to find the relay.can anybody help

Well, before I found the really easy way to do it on my 00 GTI, the DRL's were controlled by the e-brake light relay. So what you need to do (probably ) is find the relay that turns your e-brake light on and off and yank it..

[dscottf]

I did.

Left side harness ground melted with 55/65w bulbs. Exactly the same discovery (bought a new bulb, went to put it in...)

So I ordered a Competion limited harness and 80/100w bulbs. Take that you stupid plug chincey factory lighting system.

Been flawless, and I have been able to really see at night for the last six months (about 15,000 miles with the lights on)

Scott Frey

[VOLTIS5]

how much for the Competion Limiteed harness? was is easy to install and what kinda bulbs did u get? i've been trying to get one but lost the website and phone# .

[dscottf]

Very easy, plug 'n play (ok, you do have to make sure of your grounds and read the instructions.)

I got the *Clear* 80/100 watt bulbs from Comp Limited. They are not partcularly high quality (the beam pattern is not nearly as precise as my Narva Rangepower 55/65w), but damn they are bright. (Please re -aim after installing)

http://www.htnews.com/comptltd/parts.html

Several members of the USMB have had problems with blowing bulbs, I haven't

*begin rant*

Before you go order some silly "superwhite" or blue bulbs, you owe it to yourself to read:

From Daniel Stern, an lighting engineer

PIAA's wattage equivalence claims ("55w = 85w", etc.) are very misleading. They cannot be verified with proper laboratory equipment, and they CERTAINLY aren't true when compared with real overwattage bulbs on the road. Here's the full scoop: http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/info/bulbs/superwhites/

Many blue headlamp bulbs are dangerous and illegal. This article explains.
http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/info/bulbs/blue/bad/

Aslo, regarding HID:
Are HID ("Xenon") lamps better, and why "upgrading" to them may not be the best idea. http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/info/bulbs/HID/

and from Overboost.com, a test of several bulbs

"Now we’re not so sure about you, but we think it quite ridiculous that these lamps are producing half the usable light output than the stock bulbs! Especially considering that they cost twice what stockers do. We thought we’d never hear ourselves say this, but we had to bite the bullet in this case: stock is best." http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102.

Unless of course you are more interested in how good you *look* than how well you *see*.

end of rant

[rrubel]

I've got the Competition Limited harness on my Outback because I was running higher-than-stock bulbs and kept blowing them (started out with 90/130's!). It really is plug and play, *BUT* your driver's side stock harness has to be good because the new harness plugs into it. And it may still melt (mine did; partially fused the CL harness to the stock one, crossed the high and low beam wires, and kept blowing fuses).

Still haven't figured out the stock GT harness melting; we hadn't unplugged the bulbs ever, and there appeared to be some dialectric grease in there as well.

Incidently, I was blowing high-wattage bulbs on the Outback about every three months (90/130, 90/100, 80/100). Every time I'd use the high beams after a few weeks, I'd blow the lows. I've switched down again, now to 70/80's, but the krypton-quartz ones that CL sells. They're about the same price as the Hella 80/100's, and put out almost as much light, and it's very white (better than pretty much any "superwhite" bulb I've seen). And they've also lasted 10 months so far, with my keeping my lows on all the time.

[dscottf]

Good point about replacing the melted harness first.

I found one at NAPA (aut parts) that was identical to the Comp Limited one, no signs of melting so far

Incidentaly, according to Stern, there are no 9007 harnessess that are really any good for overwattage bulbs, none of them have good heavy duty contacts. That is part of the reason Comp limited is so specific about good and multiple grounds (one to the chassis with a *new* bolt and one to the battery). If I melt another one, I am going to make my own from bare leads and contacts.