My headlights were insanely yellowed and fogged over and replacement housings (reflector) were actually pretty affordable. I went ahead and bought some as well as getting a set of LEDs to use instead of the halogen bulbs that came with it.
No problems getting it installed, they are bright and clear. Problem is there is a section of the beam pattern that seams to be throwing light up high like a column.
I made sure the bulbs were rotated to where the chips faced 9 and 3 o clock yet the problem persists.
I didn’t get flashed on my way to work this morning but I’m sure I will eventually. Bit counterintuitive to waste light output on the atmosphere, don’t want to be that guy either.
Any ideas as to what may be the issue, common occurrence?
Switching to LED bulbs in headlights that aren’t designed for them often causes issues like this. I would have stuck with the original type of bulb here.
I suggest putting in the halogen bulbs and seeing the difference.
Aftermarket headlamp assemblies may not be as precise as the OEM stuff, but they do have affordability going in their favor. LED bulbs introduce one more complication.
I have seen many negative comments about them here, and no comments from happy users of them.
I have used aftermarket headlamps on both of my present cars. They are a definite improvement over aged original headlamps. I would not bother with LED bulbs in them. They were designed for halogen bulbs.
Just curious, LED’s require lower power supply voltages than halogen bulbs. Does the replacement fixture include an electronics section that reduces the voltage? If so, its conceivable there’s a problem which only affects a portion of the LED’s.
Isn’t that sort info in the instructions that come with the LED replacement fixtures? Or maybe there no instructions?
Reminds me of that Will Smith movies about the alien ufo invasion. WS decides to fly one of the captured ufo’s himself, but doesn’t know which of the two controls makes it go up and down and which makes it go left and right … WS makes a guess and sticks a note to the dashboard showing presumed orientation. UFO goes wrong direction at start-up, so WS turns sticky note upside down … lol
I adjusted the housings with the adjusters on the car, had no idea they still worked. The left lamp was higher than the right so I fixed that. Pointed the right side inward and couldn’t adjust the left horizontal because it’s adjuster is broken off sitting in my console since a few years ago.
This doesn’t really address the bright column in the middle but I got it pointed in a better direction at least. It’s quite the improvement already.
You might be thinking of the hid systems that run at 20,000 or so. But yeah just put the halogen back in. There are brighter ones if you still need more light, but what was the purpose of putting leds in?
I’ve tried the bright halogens before. They’re about $46 for a pair and they burn out pretty quickly in my experience. With these I get a complete set of 4 for about $60, so there’s more value, they are just as bright if not brighter and they’ll last longer.
Lamp housings and reflectors are designed for the light pattern created by halogen bulbs. LEDs often emit patterns very different from halogens.
EDIT: Looking at the Auxbeam website, I do not see any DOT approval listed. The poor English in the narratives also gives me pause. I would not buy bulbs from them.
Whoa, those illumination patterns are horrendous if my interpretation of the pictures is accurate. There is almost no mixing of the light output and that is likely due to a serious mismatch between the lamp design and the reflector- as mentioned previously. There’s no way that can be fixed by rotating the lamp assembly.
Do you have specifics on the model you bought? Perhaps we can see the LED arrangement and any specifications on intensity/uniformity of light emission from them.
In most cases, even though they are more intense and last longer, if they are not projecting a good enough light output to make them useful, it’s no bargain compared to the original lamps.
