Lights and headlights
 

Hi All,

Two questions relating to my 2001 Hyundai Elantra:

1) A couple of bulbs have burned out on the instrument cluster. I'm
having trouble replacing the two smaller lights that went out (fuel
gauge backlight and transmission gear indicator - drive): They're
teenie tiny bulbs - 3/16" in diameter, about 1 millimeter smaller than
a size 37 bulb. I could not get the 37 into the twist-lock socket. Is
there some other size I should be looking for? I swear I spent an hour
looking through hmaservice.com and could not find bulb size
specifications for instrument panel bulbs.

2) I have had my left headlight burn out 3 times in about a year and a
half. It's starting to be a noticeable cost. What might cause one
headlight to burn out frequently?

Thanks!
-Matthew

Re: Lights and headlights
 

1) Not all the cluster bulbs are the same. You should be able to source
bulb and socket assemblies from the dealer. Expect to special order
them.

2) -- cracks allowing water to intrude and contact the bulb
-- touching the bulb glass during installation
-- poor quality bulb

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Re: Lights and headlights
 

My 2001 Elantra had the same problems, constantly burned out headlights and
other bulbs, heard it was from an overcharging alternator. My daughter had
an accident in the car, she was stopped for trafiic, and a SUV hit her from
behind at 70MPH, drove her into the stopped car in front of her, big impact
to the front also. Air bags did not deploy, none of them. The car had a
history of airbag light being on, in the shop 7 times, said they finally
fixed it, but I also heard this problem could also be an overcharging
alternator affecting the airbag control unit.

"hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
news:c9040753ead435950cfa6201aab0f534@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> 1) Not all the cluster bulbs are the same. You should be able to source
> bulb and socket assemblies from the dealer. Expect to special order
> them.
>
> 2) -- cracks allowing water to intrude and contact the bulb
> -- touching the bulb glass during installation
> -- poor quality bulb
>
> --
> Message posted using
> http://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/alt.autos.hyundai/
> More information at http://www.talkaboutautos.com/faq.html
>

Re: Lights and headlights
 

Too soon to tell yet, but I'm beginning to think it might be a loose contact
to the bulb. I put some conductive greese on my contacts before plugging
the bulb in as I noticed the contacts seemed a little loose last time I had
a bulb go bad. So far so good, time will tell. BTW a bad alternator is not
going to burn out the left headlight 3 times and leave the right headlight
alone.

Dan

"hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
news:c9040753ead435950cfa6201aab0f534@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
> 1) Not all the cluster bulbs are the same. You should be able to source
> bulb and socket assemblies from the dealer. Expect to special order
> them.
>
> 2) -- cracks allowing water to intrude and contact the bulb
> -- touching the bulb glass during installation
> -- poor quality bulb
>
> --
> Message posted using
> http://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/alt.autos.hyundai/
> More information at http://www.talkaboutautos.com/faq.html
>

Re: Lights and headlights
 

1) I realize there are different sizes... The largest bulbs seem to be
standard 168s, so I was hoping the smaller bulbs would be something
standard too. Alas, a special order! That's a bummer.

2) a) no cracks, maybe a seal is worn? I'll have to look more closely
next time it rains. b) I'm extremely careful to never touch the bulb
c) I've always gotten sylvanias; I haven't seen anything that would
indicate them being of inferior quality.


On Feb 15, 9:34 am, "hyundaitech" <notpub...@not.public.com> wrote:
> 1) Not all the cluster bulbs are the same. You should be able to source
> bulb and socket assemblies from the dealer. Expect to special order
> them.
>
> 2) -- cracks allowing water to intrude and contact the bulb
> -- touching the bulb glass during installation
> -- poor quality bulb
>
> --
> Message posted usinghttp://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/alt.autos.hyundai/
> More information athttp://www.talkaboutautos.com/faq.html

Re: Lights and headlights
 

It is possible for one side lamp to burn out more quickly than another side.
If the length of the conductors
to the lamps differ there will be different voltage drops in the cables
leaving different voltages at the lamps.
Particularly noticeable on older 6 volt systems because of higher currents.
Once the rated voltage at tle lamp is exceeded
there is a exponential drop in lamp life. An extra 1/2 volt will kill a lamp
very quickly.See if you can get a voltmeter/multimeter to check lamp voltage
and alternator output.
Good luck
John



"Dan K" <danielgkNOSPAM@visi.com> wrote in message
news:xPotj.11060$ug.4842@fe47.usenetserver.com...
> Too soon to tell yet, but I'm beginning to think it might be a loose
> contact to the bulb. I put some conductive greese on my contacts before
> plugging the bulb in as I noticed the contacts seemed a little loose last
> time I had a bulb go bad. So far so good, time will tell. BTW a bad
> alternator is not going to burn out the left headlight 3 times and leave
> the right headlight alone.
>
> Dan
>
> "hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
> news:c9040753ead435950cfa6201aab0f534@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
>> 1) Not all the cluster bulbs are the same. You should be able to source
>> bulb and socket assemblies from the dealer. Expect to special order
>> them.
>>
>> 2) -- cracks allowing water to intrude and contact the bulb
>> -- touching the bulb glass during installation
>> -- poor quality bulb
>>
>> --
>> Message posted using
>> http://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/alt.autos.hyundai/
>> More information at http://www.talkaboutautos.com/faq.html
>>
>
>
>

Re: Lights and headlights
 

Matthew Fedder wrote:
> 1) I realize there are different sizes... The largest bulbs seem to be
> standard 168s, so I was hoping the smaller bulbs would be something
> standard too. Alas, a special order! That's a bummer.
>
> 2) a) no cracks, maybe a seal is worn? I'll have to look more closely
> next time it rains. b) I'm extremely careful to never touch the bulb
> c) I've always gotten sylvanias; I haven't seen anything that would
> indicate them being of inferior quality.

Elantras tend to eat headlight bulbs with 6 months being pretty typical
life, depending on usage. I'm on my forth brand of bulbs and so far
haven't found any that last longer than 6 months. It may just be
something inherent in H7 bulbs.

The fact that only one of yours is burning out is likely to be
coincidence. Next time, replace both of them with the same type and see
what happens. I'll bet they both burn out in about the same time.

BTW Osram-Sylvania bulbs are nothing special these days, though I've
heard that if you can find original Osram bulbs, they're better. Their
Silverstar bulbs are nice and bright, but have the shortest lifespan of
the bulbs I've tried so far. I've also tried PIAA, which were expensive
and short-lived. I'm currently running Hella lamps, but they haven't hit
the six month point yet, so I can't report on their durability compared
to the others.

Re: Lights and headlights
 

In principle I agree, but once you replace a burned out bulb, now you have
an after-market bulb. Once you put those in, you may find yourself doing it
frequently, especially if the alternator voltage is high.

In my world, I would just hope that the one on the other side doesn't burn
out. OTOH, if it does, he should know quickly whether it is that problem or
not, as now both bulbs will burn out with annoying frequency. It just
doesn't seem to take much to burn out those H7's. Which might explain why
they are quickly being phased out as models are being updated.


"Dan K" <danielgkNOSPAM@visi.com> wrote in message
news:xPotj.11060$ug.4842@fe47.usenetserver.com...
> Too soon to tell yet, but I'm beginning to think it might be a loose
> contact to the bulb. I put some conductive greese on my contacts before
> plugging the bulb in as I noticed the contacts seemed a little loose last
> time I had a bulb go bad. So far so good, time will tell. BTW a bad
> alternator is not going to burn out the left headlight 3 times and leave
> the right headlight alone.
>
> Dan
>
> "hyundaitech" <notpublic@not.public.com> wrote in message
> news:c9040753ead435950cfa6201aab0f534@localhost.ta lkaboutautos.com...
>> 1) Not all the cluster bulbs are the same. You should be able to source
>> bulb and socket assemblies from the dealer. Expect to special order
>> them.
>>
>> 2) -- cracks allowing water to intrude and contact the bulb
>> -- touching the bulb glass during installation
>> -- poor quality bulb
>>
>> --
>> Message posted using
>> http://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/alt.autos.hyundai/
>> More information at http://www.talkaboutautos.com/faq.html
>>
>
>
>

Re: Lights and headlights
 

My girlfriend has a 2004 Elantra with a similar problem. The stock
headlights lasted about 3 years, then I replaced them with silverstars
when one burned-out. One silverstar buned-out about 2 months later, and
I thought it was a bad bulb. Wiothin a week, before we got around to
replacing it, she was driving to work in the dark and the other side
burned-out. Well, We replaced those with Sylvania Cool Blues (I have
used the H2's with no problem on my Subaru). Those lasted about a year
now and one has burned-out again.

The Hyundai dealer told her it was because the lights are always on,
but I believe he was full of it because it doesn't have daytime running
lamps, and even if it did, that would be the high-beams. Do they stay
on when you turn off the car for a while though? I'll ask her, but she
might not have noticed. Maybe the lower voltage in that case has a bad
effect ?

I want to check the voltage like John suggested - can someone tell me
what operating voltage I should look for? Can I just check at the
battery terminals for alternator voltage, since the system voltage
shouldn't be any higher downstram from that? I'm not all that familiar
with the engine compartment layout in her car.

Jason


--
hasoan
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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View this thread: http://cardealerforums.com/showthread.php?t=126553

Re: Lights and headlights
 

hasoan wrote:

> The Hyundai dealer told her it was because the lights are always on,
> but I believe he was full of it because it doesn't have daytime running
> lamps, and even if it did, that would be the high-beams.

He IS full of it, as the headlights are only on if you turn them on.

Re: Lights and headlights
 

"hasoan" <hasoan.35ifmq@no-mx.cardealerforums.com> wrote in message
news:hasoan.35ifmq@no-mx.cardealerforums.com...
>
> My girlfriend has a 2004 Elantra with a similar problem. The stock
> headlights lasted about 3 years, then I replaced them with silverstars
> when one burned-out. One silverstar buned-out about 2 months later, and
> I thought it was a bad bulb. Wiothin a week, before we got around to
> replacing it, she was driving to work in the dark and the other side
> burned-out. Well, We replaced those with Sylvania Cool Blues (I have
> used the H2's with no problem on my Subaru). Those lasted about a year
> now and one has burned-out again.
>
> The Hyundai dealer told her it was because the lights are always on,
> but I believe he was full of it because it doesn't have daytime running
> lamps, and even if it did, that would be the high-beams. Do they stay
> on when you turn off the car for a while though? I'll ask her, but she
> might not have noticed. Maybe the lower voltage in that case has a bad
> effect ?
>
> I want to check the voltage like John suggested - can someone tell me
> what operating voltage I should look for? Can I just check at the
> battery terminals for alternator voltage, since the system voltage
> shouldn't be any higher downstram from that? I'm not all that familiar
> with the engine compartment layout in her car.
>
> Jason
>
>
> --
> hasoan


You can verify proper alternator output by measuring the voltage at the
battery, should be in the 13.5 to 14.8 volt range or so. You can measure
the voltage at the headlight bulbs, but that will be almost the same
provided there is nothing wrong with the cars wiring, and that is the issue
here...these cars are burning out a lot of H7 bulbs when there is nothing
"wrong". I'm still sticking to the theory that the crimp connectors that
the bulbs connect to get loose after a bulb replacement or two and that is
causing problems (my bulbs are still working after using conductive greese
on those connections), but another thought has come up: when you leave the
headlights on all the time (as I and my wife do) perhaps a surge is going
through the headlights when the car first starts, or perhaps a surge is
generated when the car is turned off. I don't have the test equipment
necessary to test this theory out. One way to do it would be to train
yourself to always turn the lights off before stopping the car and then turn
them on after you start...but its sooo much easier just to leave them on all
the time...

Dan

Re: Lights and headlights
 

I also had the same problems, see earlier post. On several occasions when a
headlight would burn out, the check engine light would come on.

"hasoan" <hasoan.35ifmq@no-mx.cardealerforums.com> wrote in message
news:hasoan.35ifmq@no-mx.cardealerforums.com...
>
> My girlfriend has a 2004 Elantra with a similar problem. The stock
> headlights lasted about 3 years, then I replaced them with silverstars
> when one burned-out. One silverstar buned-out about 2 months later, and
> I thought it was a bad bulb. Wiothin a week, before we got around to
> replacing it, she was driving to work in the dark and the other side
> burned-out. Well, We replaced those with Sylvania Cool Blues (I have
> used the H2's with no problem on my Subaru). Those lasted about a year
> now and one has burned-out again.
>
> The Hyundai dealer told her it was because the lights are always on,
> but I believe he was full of it because it doesn't have daytime running
> lamps, and even if it did, that would be the high-beams. Do they stay
> on when you turn off the car for a while though? I'll ask her, but she
> might not have noticed. Maybe the lower voltage in that case has a bad
> effect ?
>
> I want to check the voltage like John suggested - can someone tell me
> what operating voltage I should look for? Can I just check at the
> battery terminals for alternator voltage, since the system voltage
> shouldn't be any higher downstram from that? I'm not all that familiar
> with the engine compartment layout in her car.
>
> Jason
>
>
> --
> hasoan
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> hasoan's Profile: http://cardealerforums.com/member.php?userid=758
> View this thread: http://cardealerforums.com/showthread.php?t=126553
>

Re: Lights and headlights
 

Dan K wrote:
> "hasoan" <hasoan.35ifmq@no-mx.cardealerforums.com> wrote in message
> news:hasoan.35ifmq@no-mx.cardealerforums.com...
>> My girlfriend has a 2004 Elantra with a similar problem. The stock
>> headlights lasted about 3 years, then I replaced them with silverstars
>> when one burned-out. One silverstar buned-out about 2 months later, and
>> I thought it was a bad bulb. Wiothin a week, before we got around to
>> replacing it, she was driving to work in the dark and the other side
>> burned-out. Well, We replaced those with Sylvania Cool Blues (I have
>> used the H2's with no problem on my Subaru). Those lasted about a year
>> now and one has burned-out again.
>>
>> The Hyundai dealer told her it was because the lights are always on,
>> but I believe he was full of it because it doesn't have daytime running
>> lamps, and even if it did, that would be the high-beams. Do they stay
>> on when you turn off the car for a while though? I'll ask her, but she
>> might not have noticed. Maybe the lower voltage in that case has a bad
>> effect ?
>>
>> I want to check the voltage like John suggested - can someone tell me
>> what operating voltage I should look for? Can I just check at the
>> battery terminals for alternator voltage, since the system voltage
>> shouldn't be any higher downstram from that? I'm not all that familiar
>> with the engine compartment layout in her car.
>>
>> Jason
>>
>>
>> --
>> hasoan
>
>
> You can verify proper alternator output by measuring the voltage at the
> battery, should be in the 13.5 to 14.8 volt range or so. You can measure
> the voltage at the headlight bulbs, but that will be almost the same
> provided there is nothing wrong with the cars wiring, and that is the issue
> here...these cars are burning out a lot of H7 bulbs when there is nothing
> "wrong".

True, the problem seems to be wide on vehicles with no obvious
electrical problems. My car runs great and there are no obvious voltage
fluctuations. An unstable electrical system would likely wreak havoc on
the computers in the car, too.

> I'm still sticking to the theory that the crimp connectors that
> the bulbs connect to get loose after a bulb replacement or two and that is
> causing problems (my bulbs are still working after using conductive greese
> on those connections),

If you're referring to "dielectric grease", it's NON-conductive
(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dielectric). If the issue was
conductivity, the grease would gain you nothing and possibly make the
problem worse. This is a common misconception, probably due to the use
of dielectric grease on connections as a corrosion inhibitor. In that
role, it can reduce long-term degradation of electrical connections, but
it still does not increase conductivity.

> but another thought has come up: when you leave the
> headlights on all the time (as I and my wife do) perhaps a surge is going
> through the headlights when the car first starts, or perhaps a surge is
> generated when the car is turned off. I don't have the test equipment
> necessary to test this theory out.

That's a reasonable possibility, but my own experience indicates that it
may not be the problem.

> One way to do it would be to train
> yourself to always turn the lights off before stopping the car and then turn
> them on after you start...but its sooo much easier just to leave them on all
> the time...

I've tried that and it hasn't seemed to increase the life of the bulbs
at all. Granted, my experimentation with this has be limited and not
very scientific.

Re: Lights and headlights
 

Us wrote:
> I also had the same problems, see earlier post. On several occasions
> when a headlight would burn out, the check engine light would come on.

That seems pretty odd and may indicate a more serious problem. The only
indication I've seen of burned out headlights is that it's darker in
front of the car at night. ;-)

Re: Lights and headlights
 

> GUEST wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Two questions relating to my 2001 Hyundai Elantra:
>
> 1) A couple of bulbs have burned out on the instrument cluster. I'm
> having trouble replacing the two smaller lights that went out (fuel
> gauge backlight and transmission gear indicator - drive): They're
> teenie tiny bulbs - 3/16" in diameter, about 1 millimeter
smaller than
> a size 37 bulb. I could not get the 37 into the twist-lock socket.
Is
> there some other size I should be looking for? I swear I spent an
hour
> looking through hmaservice.com and could not find bulb size
> specifications for instrument panel bulbs.
>
> 2) I have had my left headlight burn out 3 times in about a year
and a
> half. It's starting to be a noticeable cost. What might cause one
> headlight to burn out frequently?
>
> Thanks!
> -Matthew

Light bulbs should last many years in these cars.
If they are exhibiting short life, there is a problem in the
electrical system. Duh!

If the measured voltage seems to be in the correct range, it may be
possible that voltage spikes are present and these are taking out the
bulbs.

Has anyone tried putting a capacitor across the bulbs to see if it
helped? Depending on the length of the voltage spike, the capacitor
may help. I would guess around 50-100 microfarads would absorb a
short spike or better yet also parallel a smaller capacitor, say
0.1-1 microfarad. Be sure to use a capacitor rated at least 25 volts
DC.

This is just a thought but maybe worth a try. The battery will also
help with the spikes.

Good Luck...Luke