One headlight dimmer than other

[SpeedySub]

This morning a friend noticed my lefthand head light is dimmer than the right one. I had to replace both bulbs after they blew on Christmas day. When I replaced them they both were the same brightness. I have read that there is a fuse for each headlight and one could be blown, but I thought that would not make it work? (i havent had time to check yet). Does this sound right to you guys? The bulb is just a standard H7 bulb.

[Kiwi_Fozze]

Check your earths too

[SpeedySub]

Sorry not very electrically minded. Do you mean all the earth connections or just the headlights?

[boon]

 SpeedySub said:

Sorry not very electrically minded. Do you mean all the earth connections or just the headlights?

You may be a little out of your depth on this one.

Do you own a multimeter?

If you do, check the voltage at the bulb plug. If it's the same on both sides, your bulb is bad. If it's different, it's something between the battery and the bulb.

[SpeedySub]

Yeah, I own a multimeter will check it out tonight, see whats up. If it is the bulb do you think theres any comeback from where I brought it from? If its not than might just have to bite the bullet and take it to an auto sparky.

[boon]

 SpeedySub said:

Yeah, I own a multimeter will check it out tonight, see whats up. If it is the bulb do you think theres any comeback from where I brought it from? If its not than might just have to bite the bullet and take it to an auto sparky.

It's a headlight bulb, they die sometimes, if it's the bulb go and buy a new one.

I will also add that some bulbs have to be handled very carefully or their lives are drastically shortened.

[SpeedySub]

 boon said:

It's a headlight bulb, they die sometimes, if it's the bulb go and buy a new one.

I will also add that some bulbs have to be handled very carefully or their lives are drastically shortened.

Ive only had the bulbs since boxing day! thought it would last a bit longer than that. And made sure I handled it correctly (touching only where told to)

[DRFVDR]

Sounds to me like you have electrical issues, very unusual to blow both headlights at the same time, and now you have a further headlight issue

[SpeedySub]

When both bulbs went I thought that there might be an issue, so googled it and found that it was not as unusual as you think to have both bulbs go at the same time. But now I am suspecting there might be more too it. Will see what the multimeter says tonight.

[falco]

Things to check:

1. Swap bulbs left/right and see if the dimness moves too. If so, it's a bad bulb.

2. Check the connector on the back of the bulb. If it's deformed, cracked etc. it can cause issues.

3. Check all other earths and connectors for heat. If there's a bad connection somewhere, and the headlight is still running to some extent, there will be a lot of heat being generated somewhere. Find that, and you've found your problem.

[Marky]

Is it actually dimmer and not just pointing a different direction?

Dumb question but you never know

[SpeedySub]

 falco said:

Things to check:

1. Swap bulbs left/right and see if the dimness moves too. If so, it's a bad bulb.

2. Check the connector on the back of the bulb. If it's deformed, cracked etc. it can cause issues.

3. Check all other earths and connectors for heat. If there's a bad connection somewhere, and the headlight is still running to some extent, there will be a lot of heat being generated somewhere. Find that, and you've found your problem.

Will do these checks tonight. Thanks for the list

[SpeedySub]

 Marky said:

Is it actually dimmer and not just pointing a different direction?

Dumb question but you never know

Never thought about that. I have been on some rough gravel roads since replacing the bulb (sometimes a bit faster than I should!), something that I didn't think of either.

[SpeedySub]

 Marky said:

Is it actually dimmer and not just pointing a different direction?

Dumb question but you never know

You were right it wasn't one was dimmer it was one was brighter. Looks like I didn't quite get the clip closed properly holding the bulb in and its moved out of place. Luckily it got wedged in and didn't move anymore. Thanks for the help guys.