Headlight keeps burning out

Always Low Beam

Low beams see a lot more use for the average driver, so shorter lifespan makes sense. Are you driving around with the lowbeams on all the time? Do you leave the lowbeams switched on, so they get hit with high voltage spikes when you start the truck?

Can burn out either side.

Do you replace them in pairs when one burns out? The driverside headlamp is likely seeing slightly average higher voltage, meaning it will usually be the first one to burn out. If you replace both at the point one burns out, then when one burns out you know the other is also near the end of its life. If you're just replacing one at a time, then you really have no way to gauge the expected remaining lifespan of the other, so you're more likely to have a "surprise" burned out bulb. And if one is burned out and replaced every "couple of months," then that seems reasonable if you're just replacing the one that burns out. Especially if you're mixing bulb types, where one may have a shorter expected lifespan than the last one or the other one to begin with.

 

My 04 was doing that. I’ve been good lately. No real solution. Someone recommended Toyotas bulbs. But….

given our low beams are on all the time it makes sense, but not every month.

the do dim a scoach with the switch in the off position. But I leave mine on all the time.

 

Sorry... but in my experience that's not right. I have vehicles that are over ten years old that are running the original bulbs. In fact I can't think of a time I have replaced an original bulb unless there was some kind of other problem. I know they do burn out, just not as often as you are suggesting.

 

A bulb that last 10 years of use puts out so little light as to be useless. Imagine trying ti keep a 10 year old set of dry rotted tires on a vehicle. A bulb is a cheap maintenance item that should be replaced either as a pair, when the first one burns out, or on a regular schedule. Your headlights are safety equipment to enable to you see effectively at night and in times of poor visibility.

Lifespan is effected by the voltage they see. Low average voltage, like most older vehicles have with long wire harnesses, combined with clean system charging voltage (no major voltage spikes) will extend the lifespan of a bulb drastically, but that low voltage decreases the bulbs output significantly, just the same way that slight increases in voltage boost output significantly. You're left stumbling around in the dark behind a way-too-dim set of headlights. The tradeoff in lifespan is really a tradeoff in safety.

That being said, if you are running a standard headlight bulb and the same bulb is burning out very frequently, then you need to take some basic steps to identify what the problem is. If you're not cleaning the glass bulb with alcohol and making sure it doesn't touch dirty rubber or hands when its being installed, then it might be that the envelope fails due to heat being concentrated by finger oils or debris. If the envelope is clean, and you are not leaving the headlights on when shutting the vehicle off and starting it then you need to check your alternator or any other electrical mods you have performed, because your electrical system is experiencing voltage spikes that could be damaging other systems as well.

If you're buying expensive performance bulbs with the goal of maximising your ability to see, then yearly bulb replacements (in the 200-250hr range of estimated use) should not be unexpected, especially if you're maximizing their performance with relay harnesses, higher/boosted charging voltage (for an AGM battery) etc.

 

Took that info off of the packaging that the lamps were in.

 

OK, so it seems we are all in the same boat.

Has anyone found a solution??

I'm about to take my truck in to get it fixed, hopefully. At this point, I don't care how much it costs... Tired of being a Wallflowers song

 

How often is "too often" for a bulb to burn out on you?

 

3-9 months for regular bulbs. Nothing fancy.

Its always the same thing, passenger bulb goes out (sometimes banging on it turns it on, but not often enough to be a fix)
Then shortly after, the drivers bulb goes out.

I have tried varying levels of bulb, but for the past 3 years, they all burn out by 9 months (approximately)

 

Are you replacing them in pairs? It does not sound like it.

If you replace both, when one goes out, you'll never be caught in this loop of "damn, I just replaced the other one. Damn, I just replaced the other one."

9 months sounds about right for a middle of the road performance oriented bulb. 1hr commute 5 days a week is 10hrs a week, plus other trips and drives. Even just basing off the commute, 9 months would be 360hrs, well past the typical 250hr bulb life of average performance bulbs.

BUT...

This assessment also depends on your driving habits, headlamp use, what bulbs you're using, etc.

A performance bulb trades lifespan for improved focus and higher intensity/output.

A long life bulb inverts the tradeoff. Everyone in here [tacomaworld in general] boasting about "bulbs have lasted 10 years!!!" Are driving around behind shit output bulbs that should have been replaced years and years ago, despite the fact that they still light up. Bulbs are a tradeoff. You want to actually be able to SEE at night, so bulbs should be considered a maintenance item, replaced frequently before they've burned up.

This "sometimes banging on it [the headlamp] sounds like the filament is blown, and by jostling it around, you get it to bounce to where the broken filament makes connection for a bit longer. Congratulations, just replace the bulb, it has already burned out.

 

Had the truck since Nov '07
Replaced bulbs roughly every 2 years. Until the past 3 years, it was fairly regular. I could almost anticipate when a bulb would go out, then replace both.

I can only assume that there is a short in the wiring. I'm buying new bulbs twice as often with less usage (stopped working evenings)

The fact that there are a lot of us with the same issue means there is a universal problem.

I can only assume nobody has figured it out, or else there would be a posting?

 

I bought my 2013 new, it's been having this issue its entire life. I'm lazy and haven't figured out the issue. Instead what I do...and while not strictly ethical, it saves me a buck or two. When I purchase new bulbs (many years ago) I painstakingly saved and cared for my receipt (from Napa as they have that 3-year warranty on the gold bulbs)...when a bulb burns out, I return it for a new one. Sometimes I get charged "core-like" fee and sometimes I don't, depending on the employee I have helping me. Along with the new bulb is a new receipt. While this doesn't sound unethical as I'm just following their program...but where it gets shifty is I may (or may not have over the years) given them a failed bulb I bought online that looks very similar to their Napa bulb...