Hello all,

About a year ago my first headlamp went out on the drivers side of my Outlander. So I replaced the lamp with no issues. about a month later the passenger side bulb went out, so I replaced it. 6 weeks later the drivers side went out again. needless to say I have been having this battle with the bulbs every three to 6 weeks, the last I had to replace the fuse to the light as well as both bulbs. Today marked the day of the death of both bulbs. I been using off the shelf NAPA bulbs to replace them. I called my local dealer and they suggested using factory bulbs. I went to a parts website and noticed that there are two separate priced bulbs, high and low,the low beam bulbs costing around 41 US, and the high beam around 13 US. The bulbs I have been buying up until this point have been around 14 at NAPA, before I go and drop $82 on bulbs I have been getting for 28 is there anything I should know before I take this step?

Any and all help is very welcome.

 

Don't touch the new bulb glass with your hands. The oil in your hands degrades the bulbs outer glass when it heats up under operating temperatures. It then will crack eventually and cause the filament to burn out early as atmosphere pressure now gets in. At least that's the theory.

Use a paper towel or disposable latex/nitrile gloves to install.

I would be skeptical that there would be a significant difference between NAPA and factory bulbs. Most bulbs have at least a 1 year warranty if your lighting system is operating normally.

The fuse blowing is an interesting issue. Do you think there is a problem with the lighting system or just coincidental? I'd continue to use the cheaper bulbs until you can have the system diagnosed.

I always replace bulbs in pairs even if only one goes out since I'm working in there anyway and usually it's not too long before the other one goes.