It really amazes me to see the number of brand new and late model vehicles in oncoming traffic at night with one headlight out. I know the halogen bulbs are a bit touchy but have you ever noticed that on these cars the majority of the bulbs burned out are on the driver's side? Is the left side more prone to this for some reason? o No:
I'm reaching but since the left light is closer to the center lane it is more prone to flying rocks and other crud from other cars?
GM bulbs? I thought I was the only one who noticed. Every time we take a trip, I bug the heck out of the "happy wife" pointing at the GM vehicles with bulbs burned out... Bert
"I wear my sunglasses at night." I've always attributed it to the bulbs being handled rough while they were in the supply chain, and in the factory. The worse part of it is, most of these people probably don't even know they have lights out! How many times have you seen a vehicle that may have 6 tail light bulbs, and all but a couple are burned out? :spank:
Let 'em burn out........the headlights on many late models are way too bright and they blind me! :rant:
Well, on the Chevy trucks it is because the supplier validated the durability of the daytime running lamp bulb at 12 volts. Guess what? The charging system runs higher than 12 volts so they burn out pretty quickly. The left side goes first because it is closer to the battery and charging system (in other words, the length of wire to the right side allows enough of a voltage drop for the right bulb to last longer). K
Keith, can I quote you on that? Keith, why hasn't this been fixed, since we still see it in the current models. ?
No excuse for driving around with lights burned out. Check them when you do an oil change...check them once per month when you're checking your tire pressure.... I don't own GM trucks at my place, but dad does. I like to laugh at his seemingly-constantly-burned-out daytime running lights.....and everybody else's.
Not sure why not; I thought they had already fixed it back when he told me the background. I'll ask...
As far as the DRL bulb, GM has a Bulletin out that when 1 goes out, to replace both sides with their updated "more robust" bulb. But my take is this...... Have you ever noticed in that DRL bulb capsule how discolored the lens gets in that area?(Mine isnt, will explain later). Its the heat thats killing them. I replaced my DRL bulbs right after my truck was purchased 6 and 1/2 years ago with Amber in color bulbs. Guess how many Ive changed. ZERO. And the socket isnt burned. Looks new. Look at ANY socket that has the clear bulb, and it is burnt sometimes to the point of brittle. Bulb STAYS on while driving during the hottest past of the day(daylight), less area to dissapate heat= failure. BTW, its on my 99 Chev Z71. When I worked at the dealership, GM was chasing their tails on these bulbs. Look at the brake lamps on Envoys/Trailblazers ou:
Bert - the system engineer is sitting here next to me so I asked him. He says (like we often do) that we tried to "sneak up on it", by releasing a slightly higher voltage level bulb but didn't totally kill the problem. We have gone back a second time and released yet another higher voltage bulb and he now believes it is fixed. K
