Blown Headlamp Bulbs

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Bazzer501

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Blown Headlamp Bulbs

Postby Bazzer501 » Mon Feb 06, 2017 9:58 am

Hi all,
I had an 'interesting' experience with my A610 a few weeks back. I went out for a run and as it was a dull day had my lights switched to sidelights, I'd only been driving a few miles when suddenly the dashboard lights all lit up really bright and I mean really bright!

I was joining a dual carriageway so switched my lights to dipped beam the head lights popped up and at that the time the dashboard lights went back to their normal illumination so I thought no more about it.

I went along to the Bicester Heritage meeting in early January and it wasn't until I got my car out of the garage at 7.00 am that morning that I discovered I have no dip or main beam lights so used side lights and fog lamps to get me there.

As yesterday was a dry'ish day for once I got the car out of the garage and removed the headlamps to check the bulbs and found that all four bulbs had blown . I used a couple of old spare bulbs to test that the lights were actually working and they were. The bulbs that had blown were all Osram Night Breaker Unlimited Bulbs which I used to try and improve the lighting which always seemed pretty poor on the A610, they were approx 6 months old.
Having checked the workshop manual I couldn't see that there are any fuses or relays in place to protect the dip and main beam...unless I missed something somewhere. I also checked all of the fuses and none were burnt out.

Bit of a quandrey and I wondered if anyone could have an explanation for this...?

Any advice welcome, Barry.
Yellow 1993 Alpine Renault A610
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mettersl

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Re: Blown Headlamp Bulbs

Postby mettersl » Mon Feb 06, 2017 1:32 pm

I had a similar experience a long time ago with a car with a mechanical alternator regulator. Headlight bulbs seem to be the thing that goes when the voltage gets too high, but are also quite a bit of load so reduce the voltage on other items.
I'd check your alternator output and maybe consider a new regulator in it, I know that on. A610 that isn't the easiest of jobs, but from the symptoms, I'd start there.
Lee
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Re: Blown Headlamp Bulbs

Postby stephendell » Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:27 pm

I agree. I had the same problem on my GTA. The headlamp bulbs all blew. Halogen first and quickest. The alternator was overcharging at around 17V and the battery was getting very hot.

First step check the charging voltage with a multimeter.
Trafic, Twingo GT, Vel Satis Turbo x 2, Clio V6 Proto Ph2, Vel Satis 3.5, Avantime, Alpine A610, GTA Atmo x 3, GTA Turbo x 3, R5 Gordini Turbo Mid Engine, Alpine A310 4cyl, Alpine A110, Yellow Smart


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