(T) Seicento headlights are dim

Hi,

My 2001 Seicento headlights are really dim - I actually thought they weren't working at all the other night!! Indicator and sidelights are all fine, but the main ones are dim. If I switch to full beam, they're only about as bright as they should be when dipped. If I try to adjust the dip, it doesn't seem to be doing anything. This is a pretty recent problem, they were fine a month ago. Last MOT was February.

I did a quick board search but I'm not sure I found the same problem. They do work, just not very brightly! Do you think it could be electrics, or the bulbs, or something else? And any idea how much it might cost to fix...?

Thank you very much in advance!

change the bulbs not an expensive fix, couple of quid for the bulbs

I have the same problem with my cinq sporting I even put uprated bulbs in whitch alegerly are not street leagel as siad on the bulb packaging but its still like a victorian gas lamp and I had the electrics checked and its showing normal power output maybe its just a Fiat thing,even my son's mopeds got brighter lights, I thought I was the only one with problem

get some spot lights

Or strap my sons moped on the roof

when i first got my cinq i thought the lights were awful. Then i realised i was driving on side lights all the time . . .

And I thought I done silly things

It's worthwhile carefully pulling the connectors off and cleaning them, then popping some vaseline in. I've seen headlight connectors where the contact was so bad the whole of the plastic around the connectors had melted.

hmm i had a difference experienece, i always felt the cinq headlight was pretty good!

Ming

The Cinq doesn't have a separate side-light bulb; it passes a lower voltage through the main bulb to give you "sidelights". Seic' must be the same.

This setup needs some kind of electrickery-pokery to manage.. like a regulator/rectifier.. and yours is probably Fubar'd.

First of all check that the bulb actually switches to a brighter output when you put the dipped beams on (rather than sidelights). If it doesn't, there's a problem.

High Beam is a different plate of pasta, as it has a separate circuit.. but side and dipped is controlled by a "box" somewhere using the same circuit. The box (a relay?) is probably the culprit.


Ralf S.

This is wrong. The Cinq does have a seperate side light: there's a picture of a Cinq headlight shell in my gallery.

The white blobby bit is the sidelight holder.

But some Cinqs (maybe early Seis, too) have a dim-dip arrangement as well.

Relays tend to either work or not: if there's voltage at the connector (and in this case there must be) then the relay isn't going to be the issue.

Mine hasn't.. or at least.. I didn't see one!

When my dipped beam in the bulb died, so did the sidelight. When I replaced the main bulb, the sidelight started working again..

So... I dunno!


Ralf S.

I've replaced the sidelights and the main headlights...and they're still pretty dim! On a road with street light I can't even see my ice blue bulbs

Luke.

my sei and cinq lights are poor.... thank the lord for spots!

Done the same got the same effect as you did
as for the side light thing my cinq has them I found the the bulb holders
disconnect hanging from the back of the headlight without bulbs in
put some in n they worked still crap though