Headlights burning out too often?

What brand? I went with a "brighter bulb" version one time on a pickup, but they didn't last that long. I looked at the packages next time and noticed the brighter the bulb rating, the shorter the projected lifespan. I just went back to the basic bulb.

 

I went with the cheapest bulb at Walmart because you can see on the package it is rated for longest life. They've lasted I do not know 3-4 years already. Next time I may go with Toyota OEM as mine are a bit dim.

 

I had the same problem, got these and it solved the problem H11

 

There has been discussion about possibility of loose crimp connectors possibly causing problems. ie new bulbs every 6 months or less.
Solved by recrimping/soldering.

 

30 years ago I carried a penlight flashlight in my shirt pocket for years while being bench technician..
My penlight flashlight was powered by AA nickel cadimum rechargable batterys...
I learned I could condition/breakin the bulbs. after break in procedure bulbs lasted over 100 hours as compared to 1 or 1.5 hours..
When ever I loaned my penlight to anyone they would bring it back turned off. the very next time I would power it up would blow the filiment with an extra bright flash ! Everytime I loaned it this would happen..

If my penlight flashlight was on for 10 or more minutes continous. I would then cycle it on and off during cool down.
bulb fairly hot at 10 minutes runtime.. flicking it on at the first 15 second cool down period for 1 second then at 30 second cool down point cycle bulb back on for half second then at 40 second cycle on for even less duration... Bulb filiment would now be cool and conditoned..I would do this after every extended use of the flashlight..Bulbs would be black in appearence but still functional..

When I first got my prius I heard it was difficult to change headlight bulbs so after extended night drives I tried this breakin procedure..
I have 2009 gen II at 76000 miles and orignal headllights.. not for sure how much my conditioning has add to prius bulb life at this time. Most of my driving is night time and I didn't think they would last this long. These orignal bulbs have lasted longer than any cars headlights i've ever owned....But the gen II prius 12 volt battery voltage is regulated at about 13.6 volts (all my conventional previoius cars run at 14.1 or more volts taking bulbs out sooner than 13.6 volts would). And I've found sylvania seal beam headlights only lasted me about a year or so..I think sylvania brand is brighter than most but with out good life... And that is an absolute the brighter the light the less life it has..
The Gen III prius runs much higher voltage 14.2 with occasional peaks to 14.8 volts durring the first 20 minutes of operation
Don't expect gen III to last longer than gen II !

The idea with this form of bulb conditioning is to slow down the filiment cool down time...
My penlight bulbs glass were pure black but still working at the 100 hour mark using this proceedure...

I had to replace my passenger fender a few months ago and removed headlight bulb from reflector housing mostly to see how it is done..
The bulb was about 20% darkended brown glass but not uniformly brown everwhere just above the filiment area.. The headlight socket looked rather cooked. again with orignal bulbs...So be carefull running higher wattage lamps..

To conditon prius headlights I would recomend cycle back on at 40 seconds intervals ( for 3/4 second) till you think the major cool down has taken place. The longer the headlight was operated the more back on cycles are suggested but no more than 3 or 4 cycles should be needed... Definately do this with brand new bulbs. and maybe once every 6 0r 10 months after that..

Just don't call me crazy.... ED

 

Crazy? Never. Anal? Definitely.

 

Wow

 

Once a year and you call it too often? lol. I noticed a bulb out first time since i owned prius. So i went ahead and replaced with medium brightness good quality bulbs brighter than stock bulbs and kept the stock one which was still not blown. After about a month, one of them blew so i put in the old one in place. Now after about 2 to 3 weeks the other newer one also blown. This is called too often. I think i need to get HID instead. Any suggestions on which HID kit is better and would not give issues. I saw a few sub $30 kits on ebay but hesitant.

 

I'm going on 2+ years with the original OEM bulbs.
So I'd say if you are replacing with any frequency more than that, you probably have a peripheral problem. I mean, it's not "normal".
I work swing shift so I do a lot of night driving, so I would say my headlights are on more than the average amount of time.

I'd try the crimping resoldering....and/or inspect the whole housing.
If all is right in the headlight illumination universe, you should expect a longer life from your bulbs.

 

A dumb question, what is crimping resoldering? and what part specifically?

 

Well, sorry, I was referring to post #5.
Since I haven't had the problem, I obviously haven't had to do this.

I'm just saying, I would say, that it seems you have "something" abnormal happening. I think you are fully justified in being disappointed and seeking out further solution.

 

I've posted this already but here goes again.
If you run halogen bulbs at too low a voltage they will burn out prematurely. They are designed to run at a range of voltage such that the internal temperature of the bulb is high enough that the tungsten that evaporates from the filament will recombine on the very hot part of the filament where it left (hotter because the wire is now thinner). It recombines from tungsten halide back to tungsten and halogen gas. That is why the halogen gas is in there.
If the voltage is too low they will not get hot enough to recombine, and so will thin out prematurely and fail. For those who may cry foul about this because some vehicle they have or have had use the halogen lamps -in series- for DRL, in that case the voltage is so low and the temperature of the filament so low that the tungsten does not evaporate (just like the old "standard" non-halogen lamps we old timers remember).

Now, here's the interesting part. There is, I am told, a TSB about this. Some Prius apparently left the factory with headlamp wiring that was too thin, causing too much voltage drop, which causes the halogen bulbs to burn out prematurely. You may also find sockets that are loose causing this.

 

yea, have 2011, have replaced them 3 times, maybe 4

 

Gen3 2010 2011 Headlight bulb longevity - upgrade to HID? | PriusChat

 

wish I had found this out 4 years ago. I just replaced the bulbs about a month ago so they good for about a year. We trading it or selling it for a 2016 anyhow so will let the next owner figure it out.

 

I think everything on the "Prius" is built on a budget. I own a 2015 "v". After taking things apart for mods. I get the sense that Toyota QC and quality is not like before. For example my headlight and tail light wiring are half the size of my 2001 is300. Rear interior panels screws were not even tighten. Cheaply use bolts too. Rear bumper support bar weld joints are showing rust spot. And I live in SoCal. I can go on and on about the BS I found.

Anyways....I am not surprise about your light bulb crappyinv out so soon. Maybe OP should go with an aftermarket hid kit and use a good harness relay kit.

 

I've got a 2011 Prius. The passenger side (main) headlamp went out after about 3 years. After watching a YouTube video or two, it looked like I could to this repair myself, so I went to the auto parts store and bought 2 new good quality bulbs. Opened the hood, saw that it was a bigger job than I was willing to tackle, so I let the dealer do it at my next oil change. The dealer used my bulbs and had to take the front bumper off to do the repair, so they said. The same passenger side bulb, yes the new bulb, is still not right. It's not out, but it's clearly not as bright, or pointing the same direction, as the driver's side. Do these bulbs have a vertical/horizontal adjustment like in the old days of headlamps? Thanks!

 

Sounds like they didn't mount it correctly in the socket. Take it back and let them mount it correctly at no charge to you.

The crooked bulb can melt the headlight housing, so try not to drive while using the headlights. If you have to drive, if I were you, I'd unplug the passenger headlight bulb until it can be corrected.

If the headlight housing is melted/damaged already, the dealer is on the hook to replace it at their expense.

FYI, they didn't need to remove the bumper to change the bulb, that's crazy. All they needed to do was remove the bolts holding the air intake hose bracket and move it out of the way to gain access to the passenger side headlight bulb.

 

Urgh. Thanks!