Possible Useful Information Re Headlights

Post by **ARCHINSTL** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:25 pm

I found this on ToyotaNation's Tercel site, and thought I'd pass along the address (word?). There are a number of large pix, and the posts are pretty informative, I thought. Maybe some of you can use the info.
And - while I don't have 'em on the '86, I still don't know what "composite headlights" are...
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t107091.html
Tom M.

Mosquito · Post by **Mosquito** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 8:23 am

Composite headlights mean headlights composed of a housing and a removable lamp, as opposed to a sealed beam--right?

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:37 pm

Composite implies multiple pieces or parts. Thus, you have a housing in which the bulb assembly can be removed and replaced. In a sealed beam setup, there is only one piece, and the whole unit must be replaced as a whole.

Post by **ARCHINSTL** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 1:58 pm

Interesting - Thanks.
I have noted that the composite has a high cost compared to sealed-beams, as there has been a lot of bewailing this fact on the forums.
My '86 626 therefore had composite, with a separate bulb. I don't recall the bulb as being outrageously expensive, though. Guess it varies from car company to car company, huh?
The Mazda, much as I loved it, did have really crummy headlights, even when I put in much stronger (semi-legal) bulbs and a separate wiring harness. The '86 Tercel stock beams have much better lighting, both with spread and penetration.
Tom M.

Post by **ARCHINSTL** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:53 pm

For those who are looking - Sylvania has a $5 rebate coupon on its site for the Silverstar sealed beams. I dunno its longevity, as my computer keeps burping when requested to enlarge the coupon.
Advance has the lamps at $20 apiece, which is probably a typical price.
They look pretty impressive, if kinda (I thought) short-lived....
Tom M.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:46 pm

The bulbs are not the price issue. Its the bulb housing. The part that remains in the car. If you buy some from a good company, you'll look at high price because the reflector is polished metal vs. plastic and the lens is glass versus plastic.

Fingers · Post by **Fingers** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 5:17 pm

Thanks for the rebate info Tom.

I might go pick up several pairs (Tercel, Rolla 1, Rolla 2), even though I never seem to get my rebates back. Bosch didn't send me my gas card, fuji didn't send me my $6, and WD didn't send me my $35. Am I cursed to live a rebate free life? BTW, the silverstars do have a really cool light to them, and they tend to light up the entire front of the car.

Fingers

Post by **ARCHINSTL** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:18 pm

Hello, Fingers !
Check out Advance's site as well. I think it was there that I saw that the Silverstar bulbs (only) were "Buy one, get one free", PLUS the $5 rebate. Dunno if this applies to the sealed-beams as well, though, as I did not pursue it further. I suppose you might Google "Silverstar" and see what happens, because it may have been on the Sylvania site...

Off the subject, "Goldie" finally passed emissions, with superlow ratings. I will be posting this soon, and thought your car would be an ideal comparison, as we're both in MO and are in the Enhanced Area to boot.

I did receive my Bosch $10 gasoline card/rebate, though. As I recall, it only took a couple of weeks back in May.
Tom M.

Finder349 · Post by **Finder349** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 4:00 pm

Just my change for the pot. I have the Silverstars and I love them. I have not had issues with them buring out and I run them any time that I am driveing and I drive a lot. At this point I have them in my truck, Tercel, and Corolla. I had them in my last truck, the Geo, and I have put them in my sisters, moms, moms boyfiend, brothers, and brothers girlfiend cars. They are all happy though my moms car has issues but I think it durns out regular bulbs too.

Calvin

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:06 pm

We had a pair of Silverstars in our 99.5 Ford truck (composite bulb) and they died very quickly. We were disappointed, as they worked well in our Passat and Excursion. When I pulled them out, one bulb had actually started to melt the glass while the other had fried the plastic bulb retainer thingy. Wacky.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:56 pm

so, he bought a relay off sumit, then bought some sealed beams, am i missing something? whats the big deal? the factory set up uses a relay too, his problem is more likeley the contacts for the lights are dirty, same deal with my tercel, untill i sprayed them with electronic cleaner, made a HUGE differance.

the only other thing i can think of is that mabey the new relay activates the high and low filiments in the bulb at the same time, i know alot of cars will only activate one at a time, which is dumb because you have pretty much the same amount of light(10W dosn't made a differance), only aimed a little bit higher, so the road isn't iluminated as well, only straight ahead is illuminated.

my echo activates both filiments at the same time which is nice becase my highbeams light up the whole road.

Gasoline Fumes · Post by **Gasoline Fumes** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:01 am

Mac wrote:the only other thing i can think of is that mabey the new relay activates the high and low filiments in the bulb at the same time, i know alot of cars will only activate one at a time, which is dumb because you have pretty much the same amount of light(10W dosn't made a differance), only aimed a little bit higher, so the road isn't iluminated as well, only straight ahead is illuminated.

my echo activates both filiments at the same time which is nice becase my highbeams light up the whole road.

Does your Echo use a seperate bulb for low and high beams? I know some Hondas run with both filaments on and they have dedicated low and high beam bulbs. 9005 and 9006, to be exact. I've tried using both low and high beams with halogen sealed beams and the internal bulbs overheated and exploded. Too much heat.

There's another issue with having the low beams always on too. Driving down the road, you might tend to look where the most light is. The low beams will make the area right in front of the car extra bright. Which is great for lower speeds. At higher speeds, you wouldn't have enough time to react to anything in the road if you're looking right in front of the car. I've actually thought about putting a switch in my parents' Honda Civic to allow the low beams to be shut off for higher speed driving.