wtf?! headlight on 97 Z28 !?!??! - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

IROCZman15 · 12-22-2006, 04:58 PM

my best buddy has a 1997 black Z28, since he has owned it, he has had to replace a headlight bulb on average of once a month... he ALWAYS has a headlight or high beam out, and is replcing bulbs like crazy; really way too often?

is this common on lt1 cars (1997) ???

any type of bulb he can buy to last longer?

could a short/too much voltage be causing this? how??

?

deadtrend1 · 12-22-2006, 05:04 PM

nevermind ... had a thought but didnt notice it was a camaro not a ta

curt86iroc · 12-22-2006, 05:31 PM

time to get the multimeter out! check for shorts in the wire. a short could cause increased current in the line which would fry a bulb.

WildBillyT · 12-22-2006, 10:14 PM

He isn't using silverstars, is he?

Mike · 12-22-2006, 10:18 PM

is he touching the bulbs with bare hands when he changes them? somthing about oils on hands kills those bulbs

maroman88 · 12-22-2006, 11:57 PM

werent 4.1 gens still sealed beams?? touch that big bulb all you want

deadtrend1 · 12-23-2006, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbrrmike

is he touching the bulbs with bare hands when he changes them? somthing about oils on hands kills those bulbs

i thought that was just with maglight bulbs

V · 12-23-2006, 11:20 AM

the oils create hot spots on the bulbs that causes uneven heating i believe, or some crap like that. either way, ideally, you should never touch any bulb like those. especially HID bulbs. The sealed beams lenses are fine, those are completely different.

the 4.1 gen camaro have bulbs just small glass housings that look liek sealed beams at first glance

IROCZman15 · 12-23-2006, 12:44 PM

nah, his 97 runs the seled beams.... which is why he is getting irritated, because every couple weeks he is spending another $30 on the entire bulb, one side or the other

i guess ill hook up a volt meter, and look for shorts.exposed wiring...

he was just curious as if this happend on a lot of 97's, cuz if so, he will just bite the bullet and keep buying lights

Savage_Messiah · 12-23-2006, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokingSS

the oils create hot spots on the bulbs that causes uneven heating i believe, or some crap like that. either way, ideally, you should never touch any bulb like those. especially HID bulbs. The sealed beams lenses are fine, those are completely different.

the 4.1 gen camaro have bulbs just small glass housings that look liek sealed beams at first glance

no... they're sealed beams... maybe you're thinking of the foglights instead?

V · 12-23-2006, 06:11 PM

...then i am mistaken. i parted a 94(the green POS) and it had actual bulbs. they werent locked in too well so perhaps it was a custom hack job. before that car i thought they were small sealed beams. hmm..

edit, i looked at a spare headlight bar i have and yea i see how its sealeed beams just with an odd side hookup connector, i thionk the last ones i looked at, the bulb was broken out of the back and with that type of connector hook up i assumed bulbs, now i know

Knipps · 12-23-2006, 07:35 PM

i learned that the hard way when i bought ultra bright bulbs only to find out they were sealed !@#$

V · 12-23-2006, 08:14 PM

do a 4.2 gen front end swap and forget that sealed beam crap

Blacdout96 · 12-28-2006, 07:08 PM

Well what I found out is that the sealed beams are nothing more then 9006 and 9005 ( sylvannia bulbs) and all you have to do is turn and pull them out, and then replace them wiht whatever company or brightness you want, RTV or silicone it, let it dry, and put back in. its wayyy cheaper then 25 a pop for headlights. But im running Silver star Ultra's, and havent had one problem so far.

SupermanX24 · 12-28-2006, 10:17 PM

Man, and I thought I had replaced my lights alot on my 95 camaro. I had the car for 2 and a half years and musta replaced the low beams at least 5-6 times. But yeah, curt86iroc I believe nailed it. There must be a short somewhere and there's too much current draw. I can't think of anything else.

IROCZman15 · 12-30-2006, 04:28 PM

thanks for the input fellas, 've been too busy to go to his house and put a voltmeter on the wires, with the holidays and whatnot

ill check for draws/shorts sometime next week.. thanks again

01ws6TA · 12-30-2006, 06:16 PM

sounds like my TA had to replace blinker bulbs about once a week (both lenses were cracked) so water got in and messed up the sockets pretty badly eventually had to replace the whole harness for them

Silent Z · 01-05-2007, 09:38 AM

I had the same problem with my 95 Dodge Stealth. I know its a dif. car but all I did was replace the grounds for both lights. That solved my problem no more burnt out headlights and melted bulb sockets. There was to much resistance for the driver light bulb causing the other bulb to be brighter.