Blown bulbs.

[Geoff W]

Hi everyone, I have now had my C180 1997 for around 18 months, really love the car and have spent very little on her with total reliability, one thing i have noticed is the amount of bulbs blowing, i have never owned a Merc before, but some of my other cars have never blown a bulb whilst i have owned them, others the occasional one, but the Merc seems to have a routine where perhaps every month a bulb blows, never the same bulb twice, and it does occur both internally and externally.
I have a theory that if some of the bulbs are original, ( 10 years old) then perhaps one would expect this to happen, but yesterday i had a headlamp bulb blow which was only 8 months old ( the original had not blown, i replaced the pair as i thought they had gone dim) this may just be coincidental.
Has anyone else experianced this or does anyone have any theories on the subject?
Regards Geoff.

 

[David Nock]

I had a 2001 C180 Geoff and that blew a lot of back light cluster bulbs plus a front sidelight bulb. They were French or Belgian bulbs originally but the it blew quite a few replacements too. Conversely I'm running with a 1961 Ford stop/tail bulb in our 1985 Mazda. Been in the Ford from 1961 until 1973/74 and in the Mazda for the same time over again!

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
Did you actually test the bulbs? or did you just replace the one that was,nt working when the bulb failure warning light illuminated.
Both of my cars have only blown one side light bulb between them in 130,000 miles (combined mileage) but they both regulary put the bulb failure lamp on, a quick bang on the headlight or rear cluster with the heel of me hand its fixed and the warning bulb is out.
Try cleaning your bulb holders and re-tensioning them.

 

[David Nock]

Hi,
Did you actually test the bulbs? or did you just replace the one that was,nt working when the bulb failure warning light illuminated.
Both of my cars have only blown one side light bulb between them in 130,000 miles (combined mileage) but they both regulary put the bulb failure lamp on, a quick bang on the headlight or rear cluster with the heel of me hand its fixed and the warning bulb is out.
Try cleaning your bulb holders and re-tensioning them.

Hi Andy, mine were certainly blown. As you can see I never discard anything with an ounce of life left in it. The electronics in the merc tail light systems seemed to me to have some bearing on it.
Regards Dave

 

[BlackC55]

There are bulbs and there are bulbs. Get good quality.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

The bulbs could be going due to excess vibration.

 

[Geoff W]

Hi everyone, In response to the questions, I never buy cheap bulbs, i always buy a reputable name, and yes all the bulbs were tested, and all shown to be blown, and i do make sure the holders are clean and tight. I wonder if the good old speed bumps are having an effect, although i do drive carefully over them, as i do respect my car, and don't wish to cause undue damage. I have no preblems with any electrics on the car, but just wondered if this was a characteristic on Mercedes or am i just unlucky?

 

[Geoff W]

Hi Black C55. Can you recommend a quality make of bulb, which assuming i don't have any electrical fault causing this problem, should last longer?
All help much appreciated.

 

[Chas]

Try here, http://www.powerbulbs.com/

go for OSRAM or Philips

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Hi everyone, In response to the questions, I never buy cheap bulbs, i always buy a reputable name, and yes all the bulbs were tested, and all shown to be blown, and i do make sure the holders are clean and tight. I wonder if the good old speed bumps are having an effect, although i do drive carefully over them, as i do respect my car, and don't wish to cause undue damage. I have no preblems with any electrics on the car, but just wondered if this was a characteristic on Mercedes or am i just unlucky?

Well I was thinking more engine mounts. Might be worth checking. A mate of mine had his front room bulb go all the time, until he realised it was vibration from the upstairs bedroom (people walking around) that was doing it. He loosened the ceiling rose screws slightly and the problem hasn't returned.

Have you measured the voltage across the lights? Also, when do the bulbs go - when you turn them on with the engine already running? If so, try turning them on before the engine is started. Obviously won't work for brakes or indicators

 

[dieselman]

Check the battery elecrolyte level, if low it will blow bulbs due to over-voltage when charging.

 

[television]

As dieselman plus a meter can be bought for £5 good enough to test the running voltage

 

[Geoff W]

Thanks for the reply guys, I will check the battery and the voltages tomorrow in daylight, this has certainly given me more ideas to check out.
I will post back with the findings. Regards Geoff.

 

[television]

Do you know Geoff , some 6 years ago I had a spate with my V70R when bulbs seemed to always be blowing, I have not touched one now for years, its odd, they will probably start blowing now again

 

[Geoff W]

Hi Malcolm, i certainly hope they don't start blowing for you, we have enough problems, I am going to run the checks tomorrow, and if all is OK, then i will think about changing all the external bulbs for top quality new ones, and then keep a note of the date and log it from there on, i wonder if the bulbs are failing due to their age and nothing else?
I will update you tomorrow.
Regards geoff.

 

[Geoff W]

Hi everyone, the only problem i can find is the electrolyte level was slightly down in each cell, i have topped them up, and will see if this has any bearing on the problem.
regards geoff.

 

[Geoff W]

Hi everyone. Got the same problem yet again, Had a headlamp bulb blow about two weeks ago, so i bought two of Halfrauds own make bulbs (quite expensive) and within 1 week the bulbs blown again.
I cannot find any reason for this, it is happening to both sides, and i am blowing other bulbs on a regular basis ( roughly one bulb every two to three weeks) Could there be any way for a power surge to occur overpowering the bulbs causing them to blow? Everything else is fine, no other problems at all, but it is getting a bit boring now trying to change bulbs in the cold and wet!
Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Geoff.

 

[Razi]

Help needed (as usual)

Should I start another thread or bring this one up again. I am experiencing exact same problems as Geoff above. It used to be any bulb in random order, tailights, indicators (rear), all four headlights but now it has come down to only the nearside (driver side) main beam. It just blows within a couple of hours of changing bulbs. It all started after a recent battery change. he guys at kwikfit said that it was a heavy-duty battery. Should that cause a power-surge or something. A colleague suggested loose or dirty earth connection in headlight unit. It blows a bulb on almost daily basis. Mechanic just changes the bulb each time I take it in for repairs. What should I do? Should I buy a volt meter and check the current like Geoff did? Should I take out the bulb and check the earth connection etc. Mechanic should have done these things but he simply changes the bulb while I wait. This is getting really annoying now. Anybody knows a good independent specialist in West London? Around Staines area?

Thanks

Mercedes E240 (Estate)
W Reg 2000
140 k mile.

 

[brandwooddixon]

My last W210 used to get through sidelight bulbs at the rate of 1 a month.

I've only had to replace 2 sidelight bulbs in 7 years of ownership of my current one.

Go figure ...

 

[morshed]

Hi

Am havingthesame problem with my c180 2001.
Back brake light and tail light showing substitute light on. How do i change the bulbs or re-tention it?

Thanks