So, uh, who's good wth wiring?
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Warm Fuzzy Admin
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From: Sacramento, CA
Car Info: 97 LOB, 05 FXT, 03 Tundra
So, uh, who's good wth wiring?
My Morette low beams won't come on. I've checked both headlight relays, good, both headlight fuses, good. Checked high beam operation, works fine, fogs work fine (usually on a shared grounfd with the low beams.)
If I unplug the morettes, and plug a stock bulb into either harness, low and high beams work. So it's something with the Morette setup.
Morettes are set up so that they take the input from the left headlight socket, and dump to a relay. From there, the highs are both wired off the relay, there's a common ground for both lowbeams (the right headlight only uses the power trigger from the right headlight socket), and the ground for the relay operates off the common ground (it's on the negative battery terminal)
I switched out the Hella relay on the Morettes, no dice, same issue.
Ed's got my @%#$ing signal tester, but I have a feeling it's that a ground is bad somewhere, but I can't find it.
Only other thing Ican think of is that both headlight bulbs died, simultaneously, after less than 2 months (I already replaced the Hella bulbs with Sylvanias after one of the Hellas burned out; I thought it was a fluke.
Any other ideas?
If I unplug the morettes, and plug a stock bulb into either harness, low and high beams work. So it's something with the Morette setup.
Morettes are set up so that they take the input from the left headlight socket, and dump to a relay. From there, the highs are both wired off the relay, there's a common ground for both lowbeams (the right headlight only uses the power trigger from the right headlight socket), and the ground for the relay operates off the common ground (it's on the negative battery terminal)
I switched out the Hella relay on the Morettes, no dice, same issue.
Ed's got my @%#$ing signal tester, but I have a feeling it's that a ground is bad somewhere, but I can't find it.
Only other thing Ican think of is that both headlight bulbs died, simultaneously, after less than 2 months (I already replaced the Hella bulbs with Sylvanias after one of the Hellas burned out; I thought it was a fluke.
Any other ideas?
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Originally Posted by Aaron@S-S
Un-****ing believable.
Both bulbs are ****ing burned out. Simultaneously, brand new ****ing bulbs.
Both bulbs are ****ing burned out. Simultaneously, brand new ****ing bulbs.
The way you've described the wiring, your ground is lacking, and if you've used non-oem double crimp terminal ends, you got a "high" resistance ground.
This resistance will contribute to short bulb life.
That's been my personal experience.
Another factor which I can't see from desk, is what gauge wiring you've used.
While all OEMs cheap out when it comes to wiring, the Japanese seem to me to be the cheapest. The entire electrical system, starting with the alternator, has a very low to no "cushion" factor.
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Originally Posted by LagnWagn
Do you think the clear-bra had anything to do with it? I heard that some lights need to release heat through the lense, and that would keep the heat in ...I don't know.
It protects the lenses just fine, but causes the tranny to grenade every 10K miles.
Well, that's my story anyway.
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,391
From: Lovely Reno, NV
Car Info: 2004 Sti
Originally Posted by Oaf
I have 3Ms super thick clear bra stuff on my Saab's euro spec lamps.
It protects the lenses just fine, but causes the tranny to grenade every 10K miles.
Well, that's my story anyway.
It protects the lenses just fine, but causes the tranny to grenade every 10K miles.
Well, that's my story anyway.
Yeah, clear-bra causes my tires to wear out every 8,000 miles, but my paint looks good.
Thread Starter
Warm Fuzzy Admin
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From: Sacramento, CA
Car Info: 97 LOB, 05 FXT, 03 Tundra
Originally Posted by Oaf
Not really that surprising.
The way you've described the wiring, your ground is lacking, and if you've used non-oem double crimp terminal ends, you got a "high" resistance ground.
This resistance will contribute to short bulb life.
That's been my personal experience.
Another factor which I can't see from desk, is what gauge wiring you've used.
While all OEMs cheap out when it comes to wiring, the Japanese seem to me to be the cheapest. The entire electrical system, starting with the alternator, has a very low to no "cushion" factor.
The way you've described the wiring, your ground is lacking, and if you've used non-oem double crimp terminal ends, you got a "high" resistance ground.
This resistance will contribute to short bulb life.
That's been my personal experience.
Another factor which I can't see from desk, is what gauge wiring you've used.
While all OEMs cheap out when it comes to wiring, the Japanese seem to me to be the cheapest. The entire electrical system, starting with the alternator, has a very low to no "cushion" factor.
I'm actually thinking it was a voltage regulator failure/spike, because it blew the filament material onto the bulb on both bulbs, simultaneously, when I fired them up (lights were off when I started the car, but I know that's a common problem). Oh well, Sylvania's Silverstars are marketing gimmick anyways, and in the projectors, they gave me weird color shifts. Running cheapie Sylvania H1's until my order of decent bulbs from Susquehanna gets here.
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You may already know this but try not to handle lamps by the glass portion. I think that manufacturers warn against any oil residue on the glass may lead to shortened life. I handled my Silverstars with my fingers but only after washing my hands thoroughly with soap and water, then holding the lamps between my knuckles (not as oily as fingertips). Both Silverstars have lasted for about 20k+ miles, I think.
There's nothing extraordinary about Silverstars but they don't cost much and I do think they are better than the factory halogens. I really want HIDs!
--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush
There's nothing extraordinary about Silverstars but they don't cost much and I do think they are better than the factory halogens. I really want HIDs!
--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush
Thread Starter
Warm Fuzzy Admin
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From: Sacramento, CA
Car Info: 97 LOB, 05 FXT, 03 Tundra
Oh yeah, I never touch the glass. This is just a freak thing, never had any problems with tons of different types of bulbs over the last 9+ years, just blowing out a bunch of low-beams. I'm going to get some Hella replacements and try muy luck there 
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