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Topic: Horrible Headlights (Read 1042 times) |
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supatall
Newbie
So many cars, so little time....
Posts: 12
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Horrible Headlights
« on: Sep 6th, 2007, 2:22pm » |
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Hi
The dark evenings are drawing in again and the perenial problem of lousy night time illumination makes itself apparent once more. The light output of the frogeye lamps is just awful. I've fitted Xenon bulbs which made a slight improvement but I'm still of the opinion that the beast is dangerous to drive at night because it is so hard to see the road. I'm driving an MR2 and a Cinquecento as well and both are a pleasure to drive at night in comaprison to the Scorp, the MR2 especially.
Some questions:
1) Has anyone got an idea how to improve output? I'm considering fitting 100w Zenons (even tho' they are illegal for road use) on the basis that they are only likely to give me more 'standard' illumination. Will the Scorp wiring cope with thses bulbs?
2) Has anyone ever fitted aftermarket headlamps instead of the frogeyes? If so, what, how and how much (£) and did you get better illumination?
Cheers
Simon
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mr._floppy
Junior Member
Posts: 100
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #1 on: Sep 6th, 2007, 6:32pm » |
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Maybe your reflectors are dull leading to poorer light output.
I agree, compared to a modern car the headlights on a Scorpio are fairly
ropey. Although you get used to it 
Putting 100 watts bulbs in will certainly warm up the wiring and the relay.
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dan_the_man
Full Member
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 314
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #2 on: Sep 6th, 2007, 8:16pm » |
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I used to drive a metro, now they do have seriously Bad lighting. the scorp is awsome in comparison. I did fit xenon blue 4300 kelvin bulbs anyway though. 18 quid from ebay.
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Octavian_P
Senior Member
 
Posts: 1126
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #3 on: Sep 6th, 2007, 8:58pm » |
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In the passing of the years the headlight lenses become full of dust, a dismantle and a good clean can make wonders. Also the "xenon" blue bulbs are bunch of hot air. A very good bulb is Osram Silverstar +50%. They have a reduced life expectancy, about half a normal bulb but do give a very powerful white beam. Also they are 55 W legal. On the cossie i had the original 12 year old bulbs !!!. They light they gave was yellow. The filaments were so worn that you could see how the wolfram metal burned ....PS they still work 
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2.0 16V Ultima|2.3 16V Ghia|2.9 24V Cosworth Ghia
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supatall
Newbie
So many cars, so little time....
Posts: 12
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #4 on: Sep 6th, 2007, 10:16pm » |
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on Sep 6th, 2007, 8:58pm, Octavian_P wrote:| In the passing of the years the headlight lenses become full of dust, a dismantle and a good clean can make wonders. Also the "xenon" blue bulbs are bunch of hot air. A very good bulb is Osram Silverstar +50%. They have a reduced life expectancy, about half a normal bulb but do give a very powerful white beam. Also they are 55 W legal. |
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One of the first things I did when I got the Scorp a couple of years ago was to dismantle the lamps and clean the interiors. The lenses are in reasonable condition too. My concern is that the lamps just 'glow' on the road even after the Xenon upgrade (these were a big improvement on the stock halogens which struggled to do anything.) My old Granada's had superb headlights as does my '95 MR2. You really notice the difference when you get back in the Scorp after driving something with 'proper' lights.
I'll see if I can find some of the Osrams. Keep the tips coming! I'm still hoping that someone has found some aftermarket/custom head lamps that actually do the job.
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scorpio_man
Administrator
Ford Kuga awd
Posts: 5654
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #5 on: Sep 6th, 2007, 10:27pm » |
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hi there
one reason for the poor lighting could be the lens. if these are worn/scratched, then the light output direction won't be great (the light will spread).
new lenses make a big difference.
other than than, you could fit a HID conversion kit. something like ebay. a few members have fitted them (not sure what kit they used, though).
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #6 on: Sep 6th, 2007, 11:30pm » |
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I drive at night all the time in my facelift & I've never really had a problem with vision. Although, I must admit that my previous, new shape Mondeo had better illumination.
The headlamps may not be the best in the world, but the beam seems quite sharp & not just a glow....& it has improved since fitting Xenon bulbs 
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Matt
Senior Member
Manual'd and a 4.0 in the making
Posts: 2816
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #7 on: Sep 9th, 2007, 11:48am » |
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lol here we are with the headlights again! not to worry, its been mentioned loads of times
well there is few things you can do,
firstly strip the headlight and clean the inner round lense, these get very dirty, and can make a huge improvement,
next replace the outer glass with new items, as said these get worn and can defuse the light output
and the more expensive option it to do what myself and a few other members have done and fit a HID kit
firstly though, just give the inner lense a clean, just with a bit of dry tissue on both sides, it will make a huge difference 
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FDS2000 Scans - Birmingham
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supatall
Newbie
So many cars, so little time....
Posts: 12
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #8 on: Sep 9th, 2007, 12:55pm » |
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on Sep 9th, 2007, 11:48am, Matt wrote:
and the more expensive option it to do what myself and a few other members have done and fit a HID kit
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I've been looking at HID kits since they were mentioned in a post above. What has been your experience with them?
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Matt
Senior Member
Manual'd and a 4.0 in the making
Posts: 2816
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Re: Horrible Headlights
« Reply #9 on: Sep 9th, 2007, 1:18pm » |
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there pretty much faultless bth, you get a warm up period of a few seconds before there at the full brightness and you get a very slight flicker going over large bumps but you get that with any discharge bulb which they are, light out but its fantastic and the reflective road signs really stand out at you, take about an hour or so to fit, thats mainly due to getting the headlights out, and finding some where to fit the ballast, wiring up is easy
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FDS2000 Scans - Birmingham
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