OT: Philips headlight bulbs dying after only a year?

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick electricians who are handy with modern cars as well,

My sister has a 2009 Chevy Cobalt which just went over 100,000 miles but otherwise runs well.  Alas it has developed an annoying habit of burning up headlight bulbs.  We had the car for several years before either bulb died.  At the time, I noticed that the headlight housings were leaking, so I went ahead and replaced both housings with genuine GM replacement parts - so they are in good shape.  We attempted to upgrade to the higher output bulbs but found they only lasted a year.  In frustration we returned to the original Philips bulbs that came with the car.  Here is where I bought them last - Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019QIU038/

I replaced the bulbs last Summer and here were are a bit over a year later and another bulb has failed.  It seems to me that these bulbs are failing prematurely.  Unfortunately, it is a real pain to replace these bulbs and every time I remove the housings to get to the bulb, the mounts get more and more worn out.  So I really would like to find a more durable bulb.  Could it be that I'm making a mistake buying these bulbs from Amazon?  Is there better sources for the OEM factory bulbs?  Any other thoughts as to why these bulbs would be dying so quickly when they used to be very durable when the car was younger?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Brian]

Have you tried your local Chevy Dealer?  I would also check the voltage on the car when running.  If the regulator on the alternator has malfunctioned and the voltage is running high, that could cause pre-mature bulb failure as well. 

[GreatScat1965]

A less than perfect ground will speed up the demise of halogen bulbs. Had a similar problem on Gail's Saab 93.

[Loren At 65GS]

 I will throw this out there.  We also experienced what I considered premature headlamp bulb failure with one of our newer vehicles. It was a 2009 Hyundai .  It allowed the head lamps to be left turned on, so that when you turned the engine off the headlamps also went off. In other words, I didn't have to switch off the headlamps with the switch when shutting off the engine. Turn the engine off, the headlamps turned off.  This resulted in another issue. If the headlamp switch was left in the on position, when the engine was started, the headlamps would go on then off till the engine started. Basically flashing the bulbs with short pulses of electricity.  After discussing this with the dealer technician, we made sure the headlamps were turned off with the switch before shutting the engine off. It seemed to make a difference in bulb life.

  Loren

[197064buickspec]

This may sound odd but do you touch the glass portion of the bulb when putting them in?

Oils from you fingers affect the bulbs.

[elagache]

Dear Brian, Jerry, Loren, Brian, and mid-60s Buick electricians who are handy with modern cars as well,

Have you tried your local Chevy Dealer?

I didn't have a chance to do that, but I made a quick check at an online dealer and got an unpleasant sticker shock.  Here is their listing for that bulb:

https://www.gmpartsonline.net/oem-parts/gm-headlamp-bulb-19257058/

I purchased new headlight housings from this outfit and they had the Philips bulbs I bought from Amazon.  If I go to a dealer, I think I'll end up with the same product but perhaps pay as much as double.  Unless GM really gets better bulbs than what Philips sells through other retail channels, that's only a waste of money.

I would also check the voltage on the car when running.  If the regulator on the alternator has malfunctioned and the voltage is running high, that could cause pre-mature bulb failure as well.

I did check the voltage and the regulator looks okay.

A less than perfect ground will speed up the demise of halogen bulbs. Had a similar problem on Gail's Saab 93.

I would have to take the housings apart to check on this but this could be a factor.  The ground is I believe to the chassis and therefore depends on those worn mounting points.  Unfortunately that's why I'm reluctant to take the housings apart since I don't have a bright idea how to fix the worn mounting plate.

I will throw this out there.  We also experienced what I considered premature headlamp bulb failure with one of our newer vehicles. It was a 2009 Hyundai . 
. . . .

Thanks for the suggestion but the Chevy Cobalt has electronics that controls the headlights completely.  Under normal conditions the car decides when it is dark enough to use the headlights and the same electronics keeps the headlights on even after the engine has been turned out to allow you exit the car move away before turning off the headlights.

I don't think this affects the life of the headlight bulbs.  Our 2000 Buick Century has the same functionality and she still has the original factory bulbs after over 18 years!  It is hard on the battery though.

This may sound odd but do you touch the glass portion of the bulb when putting them in?

Thanks for the warning, but I was also aware of this and I was extremely careful not to touch the glass of the bulbs.  Installing headlight bulbs isn't as simple as most people realize!

I'm going to continue looking into this, but it sure is a dizzying problem.  This car uses standard 9007 bulbs that are manufactured by many companies.  For example, this bulb from Hella is supposed to be brighter and have double the life of typical bulbs:

https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-H83300102-9007-High-Performance/dp/B00O616P4E/

There are even LED conversion kits from a number of companies!  So what are you supposed to choose!

Oh well, stay tuned as this one is likely to turn into another soap opera of sorts . . . .

Oh well, . . . . Edouard

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick owners who are called upon to service modern cars,

Returning to this caper with my sister's 2009 Chevy Cobalt, I decided to try a LED conversion kit in the hopes it might be more durable.  I choose this product from SEALIGHT:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GGRHPPY

One of the main reasons for this is that this unit is Department of Transportation (DOT) approved.  I couldn't locate any others that were.  Today was the day I was hoping to make this conversion.  For reference, there is what the front of this car looks like:



The headlights housings are plastic and need to be removed to replace the bulbs.  Of course they are difficult to remove!     Here is the back of the headlight housing:



If you look carefully, you will notice a ring shaped retainer around the outside of the blue connector that provides power the headlight bulb.  This will become important in a moment.  For comparison, here is the original Philips bulb and the LED conversion:



Something I wasn't aware of is that these LED units require an external controller box and a large heat sink at the back of the LED assembly.  In the case of this conversion, the heat-sink is the problem as can be seen in this photo:



The ring retainer is designed to press against the back of the bulb flange.  On a bulb that works fine, but the heat-sink on the conversion kit is the same diameter is the bulb.  There is no way for the retainer slip past the heat sink in order to secure the bulb.  So this conversion kit clearly won't work on this car.  I made a quick check of the competition and I doubt any other LED kit will work either.

I'm returning the kit I purchased and going instead with some Hella conventional light bulbs.  The Hella bulbs are supposed to have a longer life along with some additional brightness.  Hopefully that's a reasonable compromise that will spare me having to replace the bulbs every year.

Hopefully this will spare one classic Buick owner from having to take a modern car apart only to find the parts don't fit after all! 

Cheers, Edouard