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240 Possible to run low beams with high beams?

speedn_j said:
putting the old halogens isn't happening either.
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Why don't you fix the problem? If the driver can't see then make sure the headlights are aimed properly and the housings are letting light pass through. Is there a voltage drop, etc.

You can't say the dot approved and tested headlamps that came on the car just aren't bright enough now 30 years later to drive the car safely. Yes they are.

HID's are also technically illegal since most states defer to a federal statute that says you can't change lighting parts from oem that aren't dot approved, which those things from china certainly are not.

She could get tickets.
 
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Steve Zissou said:
You can't say the dot approved and tested headlamps that came on the car just aren't bright enough now 30 years later to drive the car safely. Yes they are.

HID's are also technically illegal since most states defer to a federal statute that says you can't change lighting parts from oem that aren't dot approved, which those things from china certainly are not.

She could get tickets.
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In his defense, the 9004 lamps are pretty awful. The stock bulbs only put out 700 lumen at stock wattage. The light dispersion was "adequate" at best, but not really all that good.

If the lenses are crystal clear that's a good start, but if it's a 30 year old lamp, I'm thinking the lenses are yellow and the reflector is pitted.

New lamps at the least are in order.

You can also try higher wattage bulbs, but don't go more than 75watt as you might melt the bulb holder.

As for tickets, that's a possibility, but only if they're really badly aimed. She certainly won't pass a safety inspection if there's one mandated in her area.

It only takes one oncoming cop to not like what he sees to pull her over.

I have retrofitted projectors in mine, and love them. I've never been flashed, and I have them aimed rather low. But I still swap them out for inspection, just in case.
 
Get a more powerful halogen bulb. There are several out there for not much morey.
 
Steve Zissou said:
Why don't you fix the problem? If the driver can't see then make sure the headlights are aimed properly and the housings are letting light pass through. Is there a voltage drop, etc.

You can't say the dot approved and tested headlamps that came on the car just aren't bright enough now 30 years later to drive the car safely. Yes they are.

HID's are also technically illegal since most states defer to a federal statute that says you can't change lighting parts from oem that aren't dot approved, which those things from china certainly are not.

She could get tickets.
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So how do I "fix" the light output with halogens?

And I live in California where legalities aren't a big deal.
 
Ursan said:
In his defense, the 9004 lamps are pretty awful. The stock bulbs only put out 700 lumen at stock wattage. The light dispersion was "adequate" at best, but not really all that good.

If the lenses are crystal clear that's a good start, but if it's a 30 year old lamp, I'm thinking the lenses are yellow and the reflector is pitted.

New lamps at the least are in order.

You can also try higher wattage bulbs, but don't go more than 75watt as you might melt the bulb holder.
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I don't disagree, I just have strong opinions :) I also dd an 87 245 so I think they're fine compared to our other, newer cars.

There is a lot of good info out there on auto lighting and how it works you should really look into before making any "performance enhancing upgrades". Those series of brighter halogen bulbs have dramatically shorter lives which is why they weren't included as oem.

In conclusion, just leave it alone or add driving lights.
 
speedn_j said:
So how do I "fix" the light output with halogens?

And I live in California where legalities aren't a big deal.
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Buy her a newer car or fix stuff and spend money. :)

If you already have the HID's just install them and try to aim them at the road. With the single bulbs you won't have a high beam anymore but won't need them. They make an HID bulb that has a solenoid so it moves back and forth (in the reflector housing), giving you low beam and high beam but they're not reliable.

It is worth mentioning that halogen bulbs lose brightness over time, so if they're really old a new $2 headlight bulb can brighten things up.

They fix it like this in Sweden

HUDk6wo.jpg
 
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Steve Zissou said:
Buy her a newer car or fix stuff and spend money. :)

If you already have the HID's just install them and try to aim them at the road. With the single bulbs you won't have a high beam anymore but won't need them. They make an HID bulb that has a solenoid so it moves back and forth (in the reflector housing), giving you low beam and high beam but they're not reliable.

It is worth mentioning that halogen bulbs lose brightness over time, so if they're really old a new $2 headlight bulb can brighten things up.

They fix it like this in Sweden

HUDk6wo.jpg
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Law: nobody gets a new car till I myself gets one.

And this is the car she wanted and spent her own money on...I'm just the mechanic.

Driving lights aren't cheap..talking $100+. I can get a drop in hid kit for $25
 
speedn_j said:
Law: nobody gets a new car till I myself gets one.

And this is the car she wanted and spent her own money on...I'm just the mechanic.

Driving lights aren't cheap..talking $100+. I can get a drop in hid kit for $25
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This is what most of us have done. A set of Hella 500 driving lights, or even some ebay fogs. Screw the suckers into the bumper and (mine at least) are wired right up to the stock fog switch.

Your logic is sound (what's the cheapest fix for cheap ass car) but us car people hate it.
 
Ursan said:
In his defense, the 9004 lamps are pretty awful. The stock bulbs only put out 700 lumen at stock wattage. The light dispersion was "adequate" at best, but not really all that good.

If the lenses are crystal clear that's a good start, but if it's a 30 year old lamp, I'm thinking the lenses are yellow and the reflector is pitted.

New lamps at the least are in order.

You can also try higher wattage bulbs, but don't go more than 75watt as you might melt the bulb holder.

As for tickets, that's a possibility, but only if they're really badly aimed. She certainly won't pass a safety inspection if there's one mandated in her area.

It only takes one oncoming cop to not like what he sees to pull her over.

I have retrofitted projectors in mine, and love them. I've never been flashed, and I have them aimed rather low. But I still swap them out for inspection, just in case.
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The lights were junk. I even had new clear plastics. Couldn't see 50 feet away. No inspections here..just pay the insurance and tags keeps the cops away. There are people driving with limo tint on all windows..tail lights blacked out so dark that there's no light in them...cars have blue lights as turn signals...hookers...driving bys...

I'm not even worried about a ticket from a hid headlight.
 
Nothing more annoying than a halfassed HID install on older cars, pointing 2 different directions and blinding uncoming traffic. I think driving with brights on should be an instant ticket.

My 240 with run of the mill sylvanias and new chinabay lenses is quite bright at night.
 
speedn_j said:
The lights were junk. I even had new clear plastics. Couldn't see 50 feet away. No inspections here..just pay the insurance and tags keeps the cops away. There are people driving with limo tint on all windows..tail lights blacked out so dark that there's no light in them...cars have blue lights as turn signals...hookers...driving bys...

I'm not even worried about a ticket from a hid headlight.
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Replace the entire assemblies and put the halogens back in.

Unbeknownst to many, it's not just the plastic lenses that degrade over time, the silvering on the reflectors degrades as well, so new clear plastic lenses are only half the equation. My E-codes in the 765 legitimately suck because of this, the silvering is badly burned and no longer reflective at all just above the bulbs, the Sylvania XtraVision sealed beams in the 244 put out more usable light. But it's okay, that car is sitting, and I'll do the Morimoto mini-H1 HID projector retrofit before I start driving it agian. Thankfully the high beams are fine, and I have 100W halogens in them.
 
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I have the e code repops and they are losing the silvering after about ten years with just stock 55/60 H4 bulbs all that time. Now to help out I bought a relay kit from summit and added PIAA 85 watt bulbs and it did help but I am eventually going to have to decide on either new or maybe an hid update. Thankfully, no one cares in this area about how bight the 85 watts are which is nice.
 
dl242gt said:
I have the e code repops and they are losing the silvering after about ten years with just stock 55/60 H4 bulbs all that time. Now to help out I bought a relay kit from summit and added PIAA 85 watt bulbs and it did help but I am eventually going to have to decide on either new or maybe an hid update. Thankfully, no one cares in this area about how bight the 85 watts are which is nice.
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Back in the day I had that setup but used 100 watt bulbs and ecodes. They were definitely brighter but got hot as ****. One of my glass headlight cover cracked in the rain.
Personally I prefer the HID's. They are cheap and effective
 
dl242gt said:
I have the e code repops and they are losing the silvering after about ten years with just stock 55/60 H4 bulbs all that time. Now to help out I bought a relay kit from summit and added PIAA 85 watt bulbs and it did help but I am eventually going to have to decide on either new or maybe an hid update. Thankfully, no one cares in this area about how bight the 85 watts are which is nice.
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Problem with that is PIAA isn't always a great product. Any company that sells bulbs and implies that wattage =/= brightness needs to rethink their business model.

Osram, GE, Philips make good bulbs IF you're willing to pay for them.

Silverstars suck 3 ways to Sunday. Problem is around here, it's the ONLY thing available. So shop on Amazon or Daniel Stearn's site.

As I mentioned before, check your lamps for the silvering. Make sure it's not flaking off. If it is, nothing you do will make it better other than taking the lenses off and installing projectors.

I was JUST reading about a company that makes LED headlamp capsules that feature adjustments so that the emitters are tunable to where they need to be.

I think this is a great idea. Except you'll need to fine tune them after install.

Probably the easiest way is to replace the lamps (if needed, and they probably are) and install your old lamps. Measure them out on a wall and mark the pattern.

Then install the aftermarket LEDs and adjust the bulbs (not the lamps) so that they are emitting in or near the marks you made on the wall.

http://a.co/1jUA9Xv


I haven't personally tried these, but some of the guys on the headlamp forums think they have promise.
 
Yeah, I know that piaa has the sales bs. I had them laying around so I threw them in. Eventually, I will make the choice of what to upgrade to again. But these are doing ok for now. I have some other bulbs to try. Hella 100/80 and Narva 90/100 H4. The one silver star bulb that may be good is the ultra version.

On the hid lites, do they replace only the bulb in the housing? That's what I seem to see on ebay. Whereas when I saw the threads here is seemed like the guys here put in a whole projector light housing inside the volvo headlight housing. Is that correct?
 
dl242gt said:
Yeah, I know that piaa has the sales bs. I had them laying around so I threw them in. Eventually, I will make the choice of what to upgrade to again. But these are doing ok for now. I have some other bulbs to try. Hella 100/80 and Narva 90/100 H4. The one silver star bulb that may be good is the ultra version.

On the hid lites, do they replace only the bulb in the housing? That's what I seem to see on ebay. Whereas when I saw the threads here is seemed like the guys here put in a whole projector light housing inside the volvo headlight housing. Is that correct?
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The projector is preferred but they are direct drop ins for your bulb type. Everyone on here has a PhD in light engineering so they ALL know what they are talking about. 🤔
 
We are all so smarty pants here aren't we? I do think we are lucky to have so many well experienced folks here. When I have browsed other car brand boards. It made me like ours even more.
 
I got 2 pages on stuff when I just wanted to the low beams to stay on when the high beams were switched on. Only 2 people helped me. The rest said to put the halogens back in and deal with it... so I guess that is why my sarcastic remark.
 
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