REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

zulutango · 03-02-2010, 07:08 AM

And what kind of motor vehicle comes "as required" with one headlight? That's right....a motorcycle. Cars and trucks & other 4 wheeled vehicles are required to have two headlights. You have to read the whole section in context.

The MVSA requires 2 headlights

General lighting requirements
4.02 (1) A vehicle on a highway must only be equipped with and use lamps, reflectors or other illuminating devices authorized by this Division or authorized in writing by the director.

(2) A vehicle on a highway must be equipped with lamps equivalent to those provided by the original manufacturer in accordance with the requirements that applied under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Canada), or a predecessor to that Act, at the time of vehicle manufacture.

(3) All lamps, lamp bulbs and reflectors required or permitted by this Division must comply with

(a) the approved standards established by the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Canada) and the applicable SAE standards,

(b) the conditions of use described in this Division, and

(c) the requirements of Table 1 of the Schedule to this Division

sebberry · 03-02-2010, 11:29 AM

Zulu, do you keep spare bulbs in your cruiser and personal vehicles?

zulutango · 03-02-2010, 03:03 PM

I do a walkaround of my personal vehicles and my work vehicles before I start riding/driving. It's called a "pre-trip". if it's burned out I get it fixed immediately before I leave. We used to keep a supply of bulbs/light in a filing cabinet in the office and I have changed burned bulbs on many occasions. Most HP units do that. Can't speak for GD units. MY personal vehicles..same way, although my HID car has never had a burned bulb. My personal motorcycle has 2 low beam bulbs and I have ridden in daylight with one burned out to get it fixed. Never after dark.

sebberry · 03-02-2010, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zulutango

I do a walkaround of my personal vehicles and my work vehicles before I start riding/driving. It's called a "pre-trip". if it's burned out I get it fixed immediately before I leave. We used to keep a supply of bulbs/light in a filing cabinet in the office and I have changed burned bulbs on many occasions. Most HP units do that. Can't speak for GD units. MY personal vehicles..same way, although my HID car has never had a burned bulb. My personal motorcycle has 2 low beam bulbs and I have ridden in daylight with one burned out to get it fixed. Never after dark.

If a headlamp in your cruiser burned out at night while not near the police station would you immediately call for a tow truck?

skidmark · 03-02-2010, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebberry

Zulu, do you keep spare bulbs in your cruiser and personal vehicles?

Don't you? I keep a spare headlight and stop/tail bulb in the glovebox. It's cheap insurance because I never seem to notice a bad bulb in my driveway. Besides, what's a cop going to say if he pulls you over for a light out and you reply "Thanks for telling me! I have a spare in my glovebox and can pull over there and replace it right now..." Kind of hard to write paper for it then.

sebberry · 03-02-2010, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skidmark

Don't you? I keep a spare headlight and stop/tail bulb in the glovebox. It's cheap insurance because I never seem to notice a bad bulb in my driveway. Besides, what's a cop going to say if he pulls you over for a light out and you reply "Thanks for telling me! I have a spare in my glovebox and can pull over there and replace it right now..." Kind of hard to write paper for it then.

I do keep some spares on hand in the car. That reminds me, I used up a couple already and need to re-order.

Since I reverse-park 99% of the time I usually have a reflection off of something to check my rear lights.

slammer111 · 03-03-2010, 01:36 AM

1 bulb isn't too bad, but I'd sure try to get it replaced the next time I got home. Knowingly driving around for days/weeks without proper illumination is asking for it.

Even with 2 working headlights it's often quite hard to see pedestrians and pets. Why they wear all black in unlit areas is completely beyond me. I make it a point not to wear dark clothing (for my pants if not both pants/jacket) if I know I'll be walking around in a high-traffic area.

Another phenomenon you see quite often is people who drive around with headlights where a) the plastic has turned yellow + opaque, or b) water got into the reflector and turned it dull. I'm surprised more people don't get tickets for this. I remember this happening to our van as a kid and the illumination as basically no better than a Mag-lite.

zulutango · 03-03-2010, 08:21 AM

The Crown Vic PCs went to the plastic headlight enclosure a few years back. The plastic gets dirty and dull quite quickly. The headlights are marginal to start with. I up watted my bulbs to 55 watt lows and 65w highs and that helped a bit. I also used abrasive plastic cleaner or something like Solvol Autosol to remove the grunge. After about a year I would just replace the whole plastic enclosure. The Impalas were not much better.

zulutango · 03-03-2010, 08:25 AM

My car has HIDs so I'm not carrying a $700 spare headlight bulb but I do carry a couple of spare bulbs for my motorcycle and trailer. I always do a pre-trip walkaround. if the bulb is burned out I will either fix or park it...or take my wife's car.

sebberry · 03-03-2010, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zulutango

The Crown Vic PCs went to the plastic headlight enclosure a few years back. The plastic gets dirty and dull quite quickly. The headlights are marginal to start with. I up watted my bulbs to 55 watt lows and 65w highs and that helped a bit. I also used abrasive plastic cleaner or something like Solvol Autosol to remove the grunge. After about a year I would just replace the whole plastic enclosure. The Impalas were not much better.

"Up-watting"... is that PD lingo for getting away with installing overwattage bulbs? You guys are such sticklers for this sort of stuff when issuing VI orders...

zulutango · 03-04-2010, 09:23 AM

No they are not overwatt bulbs. 70 watts is the max permitted for headlights.

sebberry · 03-04-2010, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zulutango

No they are not overwatt bulbs. 70 watts is the max permitted for headlights.

I was under the impression that making any modifications that deviate from what the vehicle manufacturer originally installed was illegal?

Or does that only apply to modifying the class of headlight, ie Reflector -> Projector, Halogen -> HID?

underscore · 03-04-2010, 10:49 AM

^ if a light is rather at a max of 70W but comes with a 45W bulb, you don't have to stick to 45W bulbs. but you can't exceed the maximum wattage the unit was designed for, as the wiring and plastic probably can't take it (I'm sure there is a safety margin, but I wouldn't want to push it).

for those running around with only one headlight, do you honestly not know how to change a bulb? it usually isn't much harder than changing a bulb at home...

I don't keep spares bulbs in my car as I have essentially 5 taillights (2 bulbs per side + LED strip for the 3rd) and the headlights are huge sealed units. But I have fuses in the glovebox and spares of all the lights at home.

zulutango · 03-04-2010, 01:28 PM

Replacing an approved halogen bulb with another approved halogen bulb, under 70 watts is legal. Replacing an approved halogen bulb with a "non-approvable" HID "conversion" is unsafe and illegal.

silva95teg · 03-05-2010, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zulutango

My car has HIDs so I'm not carrying a $700 spare headlight bulb but I do carry a couple of spare bulbs for my motorcycle and trailer. I always do a pre-trip walkaround. if the bulb is burned out I will either fix or park it...or take my wife's car.

D2S bulbs are not 700 dollars. Hid bulbs don't usually just die anyway, they change color and lose lumens. When it changes to a pinkish color it is definitely time to change it. Unfortunately on cars like my TL it is a huge task and not something to be done at the roadside.

sebberry · 03-05-2010, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silva95teg

Unfortunately on cars like my TL it is a huge task and not something to be done at the roadside.

Is Acura the same as Honda in that they don't offer roadside assistance should you need a tow-truck when a bulb dies?

silva95teg · 03-05-2010, 01:55 PM

No they have road side assistance, and i have it through ICBC as well. I don't have any worries about the bulbs dying though as i change them before they ever get to that point. They have a lifetime of approx 3000 hours and start at 3200 Lumens but at 1500 hours they are at 70 percent of that. I still doubt i would call a toe truck though, unless both died.

simsimi1004 · 03-05-2010, 02:05 PM

Just a tohught.
i havent read the whole thread but having one bulb is a ticketable offence and shouldnt happen right?
(case A)if a ticket is issued,
(case B) is the driver allowed to continue on driving? or the vehicle will be towed?
(case C) or the driver has to walk and go buy a bulb and come back.

If case A is true and case B or C is not true, why bother giving the ticket at all? the cop still gonna let teh driver drive? same goes for tints, lowering, any thing. if its so unsafe that its worth of a $100+ ticket, why do they still let them continue to drive after the ticket?

zulutango · 03-05-2010, 08:20 PM

You could get a VT AND a vehicle inspection for any defect. Level 3 would permit you to drive away, fix immediately and report within the permitted # of days. #2 requires a mandatory inspection within 30 days and you can drive till then. #1 means a tow hook. As to what level would apply depends on a lot of things...one burned tail light bulb of 4 tail light bulbs would not likely require an inspecton or removal...but no tail lights functioning at all after dark should be a # 1. Not enough ground clearance or rubbing tyres or bald tyres = #1, several minor defects on the vehicle = #2 ...that sort of thing.