Originally Posted by bigdan

Hi,
New member here. Just bought the 04 on 8/12 for the wife. A nice car that we're admired since the beginning.

Those headlite bulbs are a pain, eh?

Get this: the passenger side light did not look right at night. After reading a few of these threads, after first thinking that it was just an alignment problem, I took the rubber cap off. The bulb then fell out. It was never clipped in place. In fact, the clip was gone.

So, I got a worklight and searched around at the bottom of the radiator header/fender apron and I found the clip! How lucky is that?

It took me a while to get the clip back in, and reinstall the bulb. A small mirror was invaluable.

But I'd like to know what a-hole mechanic dropped the clip after knocking it out, let it get lost, and then just lay the bulb in the socket and put the rubber cap on to keep it in. What a jerk!

Anyway, after fixing it and getting the headlite assemblies lined up against the wall, I now see this problem: when driving at night, the patterns of the 2 headlites are visibly different, and I cannot even see any extra light from one side when the hibeams are on.

After researching all of the bulbs available, it seems to me that it is wise to use the same bulbs on both sides to avoid this problem.

So, tomorrow, I'll be taking all 4 bulbs out to match them up and go to the store to make 2 matching pairs if I can.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by bigdan

Thanks for the support....

I replaced all 4 bulbs yesterday in 100 degree heat. Good thing I'm not too old!

Last night I aimed them and then went out for a ride, the difference was huge. On hi-beam, it's like the sun came out and even on low beam the patterns are matched and correct.

The info on this site has proven invaluable to me already, and I thank you!