club.liberty.asn.au

Hi Guys,

A newby to the Forum but multiple Subaru owner over the years (old Mercedes are my other addiction...)

Question on why these festoons keep blowing...owned the car 12months and replaced about 4 globes, each lasting about a week to two weeks, then darkness until I am bothered to try again
No other known faults with the car too. I know many of you convert to LEDs, but does anyone know what fault I should be hunting for ? (Car is also a Premium Pack, thus light is mounted way back behind sunroof)

Cheers

Mark

Tread lightly and cautiously imho.
Getting the wiring mixed up there can blow the body integrated module, which can be an expensive fix.
Well that's from reading the map light mod on LGT...
I'm no electrician but maybe try cleaning the contacts, try an led festoon, or get the FSM and a spare module and swap it out

Hi Mark,
That is a weird problem. Because even if you did get voltage fluctuations (from eg dirty contacts), you'll just have a dimmer bulb. It's only electronics that don't like lower voltages than required. Bulbs are just filaments.

Yeah, try cleaning the contacts, it might help. But I'd suspect the bulbs themselves. Are they el-cheapo ones? Try some good Narva or Philips ones.

Oh and what Merc do you have? I've restored my 1985 W201 over the last 5 years. Love it!

tom_kauf wrote:Oh and what Merc do you have? I've restored my 1985 W201 over the last 5 years. Love it!

Hi Tom,

Apologies on the very late reply on my Mercedes.

I have a C123 pillarless 280CE coupe, which turns 30 years old in July 2015. It is midnight blue with blue interior, which is not common, and is very reliable as my daily driver (the Suby is our family car)

Cheers

Mark

As mentioned, are you using quality globes? (should have E1 stamped on them)

Maybe make sure the globe is secure as possible to prevent vibration damage?

Do the blown globes look black at all?

RX25SE wrote:As mentioned, are you using quality globes? (should have E1 stamped on them)

Maybe make sure the globe is secure as possible to prevent vibration damage?

Do the blown globes look black at all?

Surprisingly, the globe I fitted last year, when I put up this post, is still going strong. I can't recall if this one was from a servo/Repco or Bursons, as far as the brand goes, and I'm not game to remove this one until she blows

I had this problem in my 04 GT. I was using cheap ones from Super Cheap, ended up buying one of the Philips "long life" bulbs and it was good to go.

Also make sure that it is contacting properly as they are a bit touchy

I don't have any globes in my car - all LED, and no problems

LED also for 2years and no probs