Headlights, and adventures in Chrysler 300's

[srozell]

So my dad calls me up, and needs help with his headlights. His mechanic quoted him $937 to replace a bulb. Ridiculous right? After a little more info I determine that is actually not the bulb that is the problem, but each headlight has some kind of ballast or whatever Chrysler calls it to power these headlights. He was quoted about $700 for the part, and two hours labour to remove the front bumper to install it.

I call up my local parts supplier, and my list price was$540 bucks, but my "face discount" got it down to $295. About an hour later (after waiting a day to get the parts) the job was done and my old man's happy. I roll his car out of my shop, put my track back in, and show him my headlight. $15.00 or less to replace. Sure, his lights are brighter, but I can get a LED swap for less than the part to fix his car and be better off.

I kind of found the whole thing appalling. I can't imagine why any car manufacturer thought it was a good set-up.

[roundhouse]

To change the bulbs on THe new chevy impala
You have to remove both front wheels both inner fenders. Then the front bumper ...
Just to get to the bulbs


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[LTZ C20]

Roundhouse is right. Starting in 2009, the Malibu ' s also have to have the front bumper off. 2007-13 tahoe, suburban and avalanche you have to Unbolt the top of the grille, fold it forward to change bulbs.

[Stewart G Griffin]

Back last summer, one of my headlights on the truck was getting very dim.  Since it was a halogen i got conflicting info on the net whether they get dimmer over time.  i wasn't sure what to do because i really needed some good light as i was driving at night a lot.  i wanted to go LED but it was expensive.  i was thinking of getting some off-road or auxiliary lights and wiring them up.

But i'm glad i discovered Sylvania's Silverstar series.  i think it's a good compromise if you're not ready to go LED yet.  Pretty bright.

[Stewart G Griffin]

P.S.  Silverstar was $24 at Advance auto vs. the $295.

i was talking to a BMW tech last week and he said they got BIG PROBLEMS frequently.  i think what's happening is that, especially with the luxury manufacturers, they think that the people/rich people into luxury cars think complicated and fancier is better.  So they are in a race to make the most do-dads and most complex systems possible.  But with that you get more problems............

[roundhouse]

Some cars have a neat design.   The beetles don't have any room under the hood to change bulbs
But instead of removing half the front of the car.  The headlights are on a track , they slide out like your kitchen silverware drawer
You Release a latch Under the hood using a long screwdriver (can't reach it with your hand ) and slide out the whole assembly.  Open up a door on the back and swap the bulb


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[Dr_Snooz]

It's amazing what passes for state of the art these days. I just pulled the plastic lights out of my 1990 C3500 and swapped over to the earlier sealed beam headlights. The plastic kept turning yellow and I got tired of it. All my cars are sealed beam now.

I had one car with the mega bright headlights. Honestly, I couldn't see a thing with them. The cutoff, to keep them from blinding other drivers, was so low that the lights never lit up any street signs. Driving in the country was nearly impossible. Sealed beams don't have a cutoff.

[LTZ C20]

Yea. Sometimes gizmos and do dad's are cool and sometimes the want or cool factor doesn't exceed the giant PITA it is to make the idea work. My buddy got a nice set of HIDs for his 79 GMC High Sierra K25, they look great, work great, do wonders at night BUT they were about 500 bucks and he now has to get headlight buckets for a jeep cuz he had to modify his old ones so they aren't aligned perfectly.