'02 TA Eating Headlights

**rocknta** · 03-20-2006, 04:30 PM

Love this car!!! I've owned it just under 3 years and 55,000 miles and I still get excited driving it.

True to all things mechanical, though, there is one squawk I'd love to fix. This car goes through headlights like no tomorrow. I had to replace both low beams within a month after purchase. The terminals were a little corroded, so I dismissed it as poor maintenance on the new car lot, replace all 4 lights and went on. I've found that I have to replace each headlight on average once a year. It's irritating and getting a little expensive! I've learned I get a little more longevity if I apply silicon dialetric compound to the terminals when I install the new lights, but I really think I should get better than 12 months between burnouts. Anyone else having this problem??

If so..how did you solve it?

**third_shift|studios** · 03-21-2006, 09:15 AM

you gettin water in there at all? make sure there's no leaks. check right after it rains or about and hour after you wash it...

**rocknta** · 03-21-2006, 12:36 PM

Water shorting the terminals could be the problem. The connectors are not insulated. You can access them from behind the headlight covers easily. Is there suppose to be an insulating cap covering the connector shielding the posts from moisture? Mine are the only headlights I've ever seen and the service manuals are not that detailed.

**04goatinmass** · 03-21-2006, 01:52 PM

just seal it up with some electrical tape .im sure theres condensation forming on the terminals

**Orcus79** · 03-21-2006, 06:34 PM

Do you check the lamps for conductivity? My truck going through high beams every six months or so until I checked for conductivity and traced it to the connectors They were corroded and worn, fixed it with a gerous anount of di-electric grease and some emery cloth in the end of a small screw driver to remove the corrosion worked great. Have yet to replace a lamp.

**rocknta** · 03-22-2006, 11:49 AM

I apply a lot of silicon dielectric grease on the terminal posts each time I change the lamps, but I've never thought to check the terminals in the connectors. I'll check them too and seal the lamps with the tape and see what happens. Thanks!