My nearside dip beam went out and when I popped the rubber cover off to replace the H7 bulb I smelled a slight electrical burning. Next I discovered that the bulb-socket release lever wouldn't move...it had melted and was stuck. After removing the battery to improve access I eventually wiggled the socket out and saw the it was melted and brittle, as was the base of the bulb. A friendly local Fiat garage sourced me a similar scrap headlamp, allowing me to cut out the socket, which meant I could splice the wires and replace the socket without the need for an expensive whole headlamp replacement.
My question is, what could have caused this and do I need to check to prevent a reoccurance? My only thought/suspicion is that the H7 bulb was sourced from eBay and was of Chinese manufacturer, advertised as a brighter bulb....
My question is, what could have caused this and do I need to check to prevent a reoccurance? My only thought/suspicion is that the H7 bulb was sourced from eBay and was of Chinese manufacturer, advertised as a brighter bulb....