The low beams are poor on both headlight units - night driving is pretty scary -and the Croma failed the MOT today partly because of this. They were not only misaligned (after me trying to adjust them before), but the actual beam was "diffuse". The reflectors look slightly spotted, but not terribly worn, and the outer plastic casing is slightly, but not terribly, scratched.
I can´t really tell if the problem has appeared gradually, I remember noticing the poor headlight function a few months ago and hadn´t thought about it before, which makes me think it came pretty quickly. I changed the left low beam halogen bulb about 1,5 years ago, then at the previous MOT it was misaligned but they corrected it for me with the adjustment screw (maybe wrong approach, should have reinstalled bulb, it might have been askew in the reflector...). The right bulb has not been changed for the 3 years I have owned the car.
I should probably double-check the bulbs are ok and correctly installed within the reflectors, and perhaps try to polish the outer plastic, but if that doesn´t solve the problem, can you think of any there is no other remedies than to change the entire headlight units?
The main questions here are:
1. Should you rally expect the reflectors to wear during the lifetime of the car, if the correct bulbs have been used? It is a 2005 with 130 000 km on the odometer.
2. Will a worn reflective have clearly visible wear, and not only small spots on them? Can upload images if it helps.
3. Is it very difficult to change the entire headlight units by yourself, i.e. does it require dismantling the entire front plastic bumper (maybe this is in the electronic repair manual, haven´t been able to check yet)?
Thank you in advance!
I can´t really tell if the problem has appeared gradually, I remember noticing the poor headlight function a few months ago and hadn´t thought about it before, which makes me think it came pretty quickly. I changed the left low beam halogen bulb about 1,5 years ago, then at the previous MOT it was misaligned but they corrected it for me with the adjustment screw (maybe wrong approach, should have reinstalled bulb, it might have been askew in the reflector...). The right bulb has not been changed for the 3 years I have owned the car.
I should probably double-check the bulbs are ok and correctly installed within the reflectors, and perhaps try to polish the outer plastic, but if that doesn´t solve the problem, can you think of any there is no other remedies than to change the entire headlight units?
The main questions here are:
1. Should you rally expect the reflectors to wear during the lifetime of the car, if the correct bulbs have been used? It is a 2005 with 130 000 km on the odometer.
2. Will a worn reflective have clearly visible wear, and not only small spots on them? Can upload images if it helps.
3. Is it very difficult to change the entire headlight units by yourself, i.e. does it require dismantling the entire front plastic bumper (maybe this is in the electronic repair manual, haven´t been able to check yet)?
Thank you in advance!