Poor Headlight performance on 2017 Vista

lawnarjax · 07-11-2023, 05:53 PM

Good Evening all,

On this jaunt out to AZ I did a fair amount of listening to the significant other comment on how lousy the headlights are. I agree they are not up to par on hue or brightness. I pulled the bulb from the housing and it's a Hella H1 55W with a blade connection on the end, the housing completes the circuit when the bulb is connected/installed. I want to go LED as the draw will be lower for a brighter bulb, do not want to put in a 100w halogen. Any suggestions on a bulb that will work in this setup? I see some options on the Amazon but would like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

Morich · 07-11-2023, 06:41 PM

This is one where I would ditch the Amazon and just want to walk it in to a parts store and ask for better and be able to hold them up together to make sure what I'm getting. I find it much quicker and I get things done much better if I can see the parts without fussing with the shipping.

lawnarjax · 07-11-2023, 08:13 PM

Does anyone know if the 2017 f53 chasis is going to throw a dash light warning for the lower resistance of an led bulb?

thompwil · 07-12-2023, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lawnarjax

Does anyone know if the 2017 f53 chasis is going to throw a dash light warning for the lower resistance of an led bulb?

I upgraded our 2018 to LED and did not get any codes or warning lights. I also discovered when replacing them that they were very much not adjusted correctly right from the factory. After adjusting them and adjusting the rotation of the LEDs to get the proper top cutoff line, I can see now. I selected a higher kelvin range that more closely resembles natural sunlight (not those obnoxious blue things either). The LEDs make everything more sharp, crisp, and of course brighter. There's a bunch of places to get them, I got mine from these folks.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/vehicle-lights

Ray,IN · 07-12-2023, 08:00 PM

As tompwil said, buying the correct LED bulbs is important. Plus the OEM headlamp reflectors are not designed for LED light patterns, like he said, play with them to obtain the proper projection beam.
LED headlight "bulbs" get very hot, it's important they have enough ventilation.

The reason MH headlamps look so poor at night is distance between the drivers eyes and the headlamps. In your car that distance is perhaps 2'-3', in a MH it is closer to 6'-7'. In your MH you are looking down on the beam from your headlamps instead of along the beam.

thompwil · 07-13-2023, 06:17 AM

I contacted Hella who makes the headlight housings to ask them their opinion. The information I received was,, it’s fine as long as you don’t exceed the wattage rating of the housings (I think it was 55W). The LEDs I bought had a set screw on the bulb housing to adjust rotation to level the top cut off line which was a really nice feature for correctly aiming them. They also had the electronics that get warm remotely mounted with about a foot long pigtail to the bulbs. The bulbs themselves are only 25W. I believe the newer ones now have heatsinks on the back of the assembly outside of the Hella housing, Its been a few years since I’ve shopped for them so the technology likely has improved. It was well worth the effort for the better lighting.

tderonne · 07-13-2023, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

A
The reason MH headlamps look so poor at night is distance between the drivers eyes and the headlamps. In your car that distance is perhaps 2'-3', in a MH it is closer to 6'-7'. In your MH you are looking down on the beam from your headlamps instead of along the beam.

If this is true, how come cars passing by light up the road so good?

Properly aimed, and getting adequate voltage, a set of Hella 90mm round lights (like on a 2017 Vista) with regular bulbs should light up the road pretty good.

lawnarjax · 07-14-2023, 08:13 PM

Ordered a cheap pair of lights from Amazon to test. Polarity was the first issue. Had to pull the end of the harness off and reverse the connectors. Pretty easy if I had not blown one of the mini fuses in the driver's area fuse box. If anyone has worked in there I'd like to meet your chiropractor. Anyhow they work just fine. The cuoff is good, will have to take it out later this week for a road test. I imagine I'll spring for a better bulb at some point, I spent 15 on this pair instead of the Sylvania ones as they are closer to 100. If you blow a fuse doing the same. It's bay 25 in the fuse box on the driver's side panel. Get your smallest adult or contortionist to do that part.
Easiest way to get to lights is jack up the front, jack stands then you can sit up in front of the wheels and the lights are all there. Watch the sharp corners of frame etc.

AlanO · 07-16-2023, 05:25 PM

I too had serious issues with my halogen headlights which simply weren’t bright enough. I tried buying LED replacement bulbs but they would not fit in the headlight housing. I also worried about the heat generated and plastic headlight housing.
So, I bought a pair of LED driving lights that I mounted in the grill assembly. They are powered with a dedicated switch and relay.
The difference was dramatic. The increased illumination was absolutely stunning. After proper aiming the visibility improved and oncoming traffic was unaffected by the brighter lighting