Fiat Punto Mk2 - headlight bulbs lifespan?

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Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann - 06 Feb 2005 18:59 GMT

Hi,

in the last 40 months ( 42000 km ) I already had to replace 5
broken H7 halogen bulbs of the headlights of my Fiat Punto Mk2
and these H7 bulbs are quite expensive and difficult to replace.
Is that normal? The H4 bulbs of my previous Punto Mk1 lasted
several years each...

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Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann
Quickborn, Germany

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ato_zee@hotmail.com - 06 Feb 2005 23:47 GMT

On 6-Feb-2005, Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann
<20050206.3.jwinckelmann@spamgourmet.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Is that normal? The H4 bulbs of my previous Punto Mk1 lasted
> several years each...

Broken physically or burnt out?
Any particular brand of bulb?
Battery ok, or on its last legs, battery helps
to stabilise the alternator output.

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Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann - 07 Feb 2005 22:30 GMT

>> in the last 40 months ( 42000 km ) I already had to
>> replace 5 broken H7 halogen bulbs of the headlights of my
>> Fiat Punto Mk2 and these H7 bulbs are quite expensive and
>> difficult to replace. Is that normal? The H4 bulbs of my
>> previous Punto Mk1 lasted several years each...

> Broken physically or burnt out?
> Any particular brand of bulb?
> Battery ok, or on its last legs, battery helps
> to stabilise the alternator output.

Just burnt out, different brands. The battery is o.k. I think.
Very strange! I only see two possible causes: too much
vibrationys or unstable voltage. Or maybe the bulbs overheats in
these tight lens headlights.

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Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann
Quickborn, Germany

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ato_zee@hotmail.com - 07 Feb 2005 23:40 GMT

On 7-Feb-2005, Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann
<20050207.3.jwinckelmann@spamgourmet.com> wrote:

> > Broken physically or burnt out?
> > Any particular brand of bulb?
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> vibrationys or unstable voltage. Or maybe the bulbs overheats in
> these tight lens headlights.

I'd start by checking the voltage across the battery terminals at
fairly high (autobahn/motorway) speeds. There are cheap
digital voltmeters over here (UK). Just run a lead through one
of the bulkhead grommets. Round about 14.4V is an upper
figure but depends on battery mfrs. recommendations.
14.5V or over needs investigating. Charging systems carry
heavy currents so conections and lugs need to be clean.
Best to test at speed during daylight, headlamp load will pull
the voltage down, so if it's ok in daylight it should be ok at
night. What might be happening is you are overcharging,
raising the battery volts, then you put the lights on across
this higher voltage, and phut.

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E-Cie - 08 Feb 2005 11:31 GMT

> On 7-Feb-2005, Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann
> <20050207.3.jwinckelmann@spamgourmet.com> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> raising the battery volts, then you put the lights on across
> this higher voltage, and phut.

Just a thought... do you start the car with the lights switched on? It seems
that sometimes, just when the engine is about to run while starting it, a
higher (peak)tension in the boardcircuit can occur (forgive my bad
tech.english). This seems to shorten the life of your headlamps
considerably. At least, that is what i found with our own MK II. So i turn
my lights on after startingprocedure. Overheating is not an option in my
opinion. The headlamps of my MK II have lifespan for about two years, and
that's not bad i think.

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Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann - 09 Feb 2005 20:41 GMT

> Just a thought... do you start the car with the lights
> switched on?

Yes, I don't switch them off because it's allways dark when
driving to or from work.

> It seems that sometimes, just when the engine
> is about to run while starting it, a higher (peak)tension
> in the boardcircuit can occur (forgive my bad
> tech.english). This seems to shorten the life of your
> headlamps considerably.

Thanks for the tip, I will try to switch the lights off before
starting the engine. In 12 months I will give a short report on
my experiences ;-)

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Jan-Sebastian Winckelmann
Quickborn, Germany

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