Left/Right Low Beams Simultaneously Out

[WeeYari]

Autumn 2014 I had to replace a 9 year old OE headlight bulb. Replaced both left and right with Sylvania Silverstars. Today, both low beam and DRL functions are gone in both lights.

Is there something I can check for specific to low beam, or is this an EPIC Sylvania fail?

[CTScott]

I am betting it is the bulbs. My Silverstars usually fail that way and typically one year to the day.

[WeeYari]

I knew the life expectancy of Silverstars was considered short, but 5 months! Pieces of shit. :thumbdown: And to both go at exactly the same time just blows my mind.

No idea at the moment what the dealership wants for OE bulbs, but based on this experience, they could charge me roughly $972 for a pair. That would be my break even with OE vs Sylvania.

[IllusionX]

972$?! Lol

I think they are probably about 7$ the bulb at the dealer.

[shepd]

Buy headlights on eBay. Way cheaper than Canadian Tire. My experience has been they last about 2 - 3 years. Not particularly long, but then again, at under $3 a bulb shipped to Canada, I don't care. Takes a couple of months to get them, though, so you might just want Canadian Tire bulbs to tide you over. Keep a few in stock. The sizes are standard for most vehicles other than if the connector is straight or angled so you can even use them in your next car.

Just watch that you get ones that are clear/white. A lot of the eBay bulbs have that stupid blue coating which is both illegal and going to make it hard to see at night.

[IllusionX]

Hehe i used to buy the 100w blue ones, and scratch off the blue film. But don't use 100w it's going to melt the harness...

[WeeYari]

I'll probably just go to the dealer for replacements and hope they are of the quality of the factory originals.

If the bulbs weren't so damn tedious to change on these cars then maybe I'd fart around with stuff with questionable lifespans. It's still damn cold out and without heated space in which to work, I'm pissed enough that I'm forced to replace these pigs at this time.


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[nortonfb]

The local dealer uses the silverstar. Charges $75 including bulb for replacement.
It took them 1 1/2 hours for a "20 minute job".
I found this site because of that misadventure.
Norton

[WeeYari]

Was indeed the bulbs. Blown filament is visible in both of the Silverstars. 5 month life must make them eligible for the Hall of Shame.

Threw in some CTC store brand bulbs at $10 per. Factor in some CTC$ I had, and they ended up running about $8 per. May not be as bright, but I'm willing to bet they will outlive the ones I just pulled.

[sheekeebut]

Boo to Silverstars, hurray for function over cool color!

[WeeYari]

Headlight in other car blew and got me thinking about this thread.

Update: cheap store brand bulbs installed in the Yaris still hanging in there. To date, that's 3x longer than the costly Sylvania bulbs lasted me.

[IllusionX]

2 sets of HID bulbs here. Still using the original ballasts. I'm what.. like 8 years with my HIDs?

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[Bluevitz-rs]

yeah I gave up on the high priced silverstar bulbs too. I think there's still one in there but the last time one of them blew I found an OE bulb I had lying around, wiped the dust off with alcohol and put that in.

[Exiwolfman]

remove the day time runner box and problem solved

[WeeYari]

remove the day time runner box and problem solved

No.

And I don't have a problem.

[Exiwolfman]

No.

And I don't have a problem.
Lol 😁

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[IllusionX]

I have my fog lights as DRL. They run full intensity all the time. And I am still using the original 10 years old bulbs....

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[thebarber]

time for LED

[B.B._07]

In my opinion Sylvania SilverStar's, GE Nighthawk, etc and all the other premium performance halogen headlight bulbs are one giant waste of money. There's a reason why those bulbs don't come as OE on any vehicles and it's because the performance gains are generally marginal, the prices are ridiculous compared to standard halogen, and the durability is often questionable.

Long life halogen bulbs are another great waste of money. Just today I saw an ad in a CT flyer for 2 long life Sylvania H11 bulbs for only $50! The H4 bulbs in the Yaris have an shorter lifespan that the newer H11 bulbs and it's still common for them to last up to 10 years. So anybody buying a long life H11 bulb had better plan on hanging on to that car for the next 20 years to justify the high price of those bulbs.

[Exiwolfman]

Daytime running lights is what kills the bulbs I'm almost two years on my silverstar bulbs by simply removing the daytime running function box under the dash driver side.
I run led front Park light 6000k and they are supper bright so I can run in park light mode if needed with great visibility from the front just like daytimes.
But that is just me and its just the gray area when it comes to laws.

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[Bluevitz-rs]

Daytime running lights is what kills the bulbs I'm almost two years on my silverstar bulbs by simply removing the daytime running function box under the dash driver side.
I run led front Park light 6000k and they are supper bright so I can run in park light mode if needed with great visibility from the front just like daytimes.
But that is just me and its just the gray area when it comes to laws.

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why don't you just rewire so the park bulbs are used instead of the main lights for your DRLs

[Exiwolfman]

why don't you just rewire so the park bulbs are used instead of the main lights for your DRLs
One could but to lazy this works fine for me.

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[thebarber]

why don't you just rewire so the park bulbs are used instead of the main lights for your DRLs

how do you disable DRL's on the echo? is it as easy as unplugging the DRL relay like the yaris?

while i like the idea of parking light DRL, it IS easier to just unplug the DRL module and turn on the lights when you need them....unless you have an RS yaris with factory fogs

[IllusionX]

how do you disable DRL's on the echo? is it as easy as unplugging the DRL relay like the yaris?

while i like the idea of parking light DRL, it IS easier to just unplug the DRL module and turn on the lights when you need them....unless you have an RS yaris with factory fogs
Adam, i believe the DRL module works exactly the same as the one found in the Yaris. You have one wire that will activate the low beam on a pulse. Just take that and tap it to the light you want to turn on as DRL..

If you unplug the module, you will lose the handbrake light on the dash.

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[thebarber]

Adam, i believe the DRL module works exactly the same as the one found in the Yaris. You have one wire that will activate the low beam on a pulse. Just take that and tap it to the light you want to turn on as DRL..

If you unplug the module, you will lose the handbrake light on the dash.


lose the ebrake light? thats odd...

[Exiwolfman]

lose the ebrake light? thats odd...
It's fine on mine, light still there.

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[IllusionX]

It's fine on mine, light still there.

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Barber got an echo. The only thing that affects the Yaris is the fog lights. Just tap the orange wire to ground. For me, I modified the relay box to turn on the fogs as DRL. It's the big blue wire that I wired up to the orange wire. I also had to add a cap so cancel out the pulsing effect since the fog relay doesn't like that.

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[IllusionX]

lose the ebrake light? thats odd...
Yeah, I went with 100w H4 bulbs in the end on my echo, until I sold it.

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[thebarber]

well, im aiming to projector retrofit the echo and with a pair of big LED spot fogs up front like a rally car

[IllusionX]

well, im aiming to projector retrofit the echo and with a pair of big LED spot fogs up front like a rally car
Just unplug the module and call it a day. Make your own relay for the fogs.

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[IllusionX]

Canadians who bought Sylvania silverstar bulbs...


http://www.clg.org/Class-Action/Claim/Sylvania-Headlight

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[Bluevitz-rs]

interesting...

[WeeYari]

Appears to be an extension to Canadians of a lawsuit (Chaudhri v. Osram Sylvania) filed in September 2011

http://www.law360.com/cases/4e808d595922cf3757000007/articles

[WeeYari]

Canadians who bought Sylvania silverstar bulbs...


http://www.clg.org/Class-Action/Claim/Sylvania-Headlight

Sent from my ONE A2005 using TapatalkI joined the lawsuit shortly after you posted this. I didn't actually think anything would really happen but today I received a settlement cheque. Drum roll please...a whopping $9.93, about 1/6th what I paid for them.

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