Philips Xtreme installed...lousy light pattern

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
May 25, 2005
Messages
772
Location
Northern Michigan
I'm not sure what the problem is but I installed a set of Philips Xtreme bulbs in my Mercury Villager (9007) and the light pattern is AWFUL! The pattern is random and broken up with a lot of "dark spots". I noticed that the bulbs are a little shorter than the originals and don't have the dark coated end. Is there any possibility they're installed incorrectly or does the lens just not do well with the bulbs? I'm obviously no expert here and I thought I would go with this highly-recommended bulb for a little better vision. I'm about ready to remove them and try something else.
 
I personally think all those "souped up" bulbs are junk.Go with oem type replacement and dont expect more.Get a hopped up bulb,and throw colors and/or live a very short life.The DOT should crack down on some of the stuff thats out there now.Actually the DOT does not regulate bulbs,no matter what the imprint of "DOT" on the bulb implies.Its kind of a self regulating industry.
 
Can you post up a picture of the bulbs themselves? It might be a manufacturing defect.

A headlight harness with standard replacement bulbs is often the best halogen-based solution for brighter lights. The physics is simple. More volts in = brighter headlights. It will reduce bulb life, but not as low as hopped-up bulbs. IIRC they sell upgrade wiring harnesses for $40 or so, like this Putco harness on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Putco-239007HW-Pre...ds=9007+harness
 
If the bulbs are shorter or otherwise different in shape than the originals they are the wrong ones. The fillament needs to be in exactly the proper position inside the housing to produce the designed pattern of light distribution.

Recheck that they are installed correctly and recheck that they are 9007 bulbs. Earlier villagers used a 9004 bulb which looks similar. Check this:

http://www.candlepowerinc.com/pdfs/9004_9007.pdf
 
If it's a 9004 instead of a 9007, just skip the harness and go straight to a HID projector retrofit, as nothing will help a 9004 make better light. 9004 bulbs are junk. 700 lumens for low beams with a brand-new bulb and assuming no voltage drop is pathetic, and less than my camping lantern.
 
Last edited:
I do a lot of early morning (like 4AM driving) on winding roads in deer country. I obsessed about headlights for quite a while, and finally concluded the following:

1. You have to have headlight lenses in good clear condition. Nothing you can put inside will work on a frosted lens. There are OEM replacement housings out there, and I opted for new housings because the polishing routine is a lot of work, and at least around here, you have to repolish every 3 months or so.

2. Per the above, headlight harness. Try your regular bulbs, you may be surprised.

3. Still want more? Go to an off-road rated higher wattage bulb, 80/100W. Get the plain white ones, do a good job of aiming, and nobody will know except you. I got bulbs from Hella via amazon and they were terrible, burned out after a day or less. Go with someone else, anyone. Pity, Hella is a good company but these lamps are made in India and something was not right with them. FYI, you MIST do the harness before the higher wattage bulbs, or else you will burn out your headlight switch, and probably melt the connectors.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: clarklawnscape
how can a properly installed bulb affect pattern?
The filament has to be placed in exactly the right position inside the bulb, when they crank them out by the millions in southeast asia, sometimes that does not happen. I've seen lamps where the quartz envelope itself wasn't even square to the metal socket. If you don't want to do a lot of work adding a new harness, a relay and fuse right to the battery which takes the load of ONE headlamp and is triggered by the voltage sent by the stock wiring to the other lamp is a neat and quick trick. Net result, the stock harness has it's load reduced to just one bulb, and the relay supplies the other bulb. Just don't forget the fuse. You can buy a dual relay in one can and drive both high and low with it.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Roadrunner777
I do a lot of early morning (like 4AM driving) on winding roads in deer country. I obsessed about headlights for quite a while, and finally concluded the following:

1. You have to have headlight lenses in good clear condition. Nothing you can put inside will work on a frosted lens. There are OEM replacement housings out there, and I opted for new housings because the polishing routine is a lot of work, and at least around here, you have to repolish every 3 months or so.

2. Per the above, headlight harness. Try your regular bulbs, you may be surprised.

3. Still want more? Go to an off-road rated higher wattage bulb, 80/100W. Get the plain white ones, do a good job of aiming, and nobody will know except you. I got bulbs from Hella via amazon and they were terrible, burned out after a day or less. Go with someone else, anyone. Pity, Hella is a good company but these lamps are made in India and something was not right with them. FYI, you MIST do the harness before the higher wattage bulbs, or else you will burn out your headlight switch, and probably melt the connectors.

Depends on the car, many have a relay system and the switch only suppplies control voltage. I would agree, though, that a lot of sockets are very cheap. Ceramic ones are available.
 
Last edited:
This van definitely takes a 9007...which is what I installed. The lenses are crystal clear so that's not an issue (I'd have replaced or cleaned them otherwise knowing that clouded lenses can block light...not so sure that could cause this problem). Is it possible to install them incorrectly? I know they're in the receptacle properly (took my time). As I mentioned, the originals were slightly longer and had a gray/black coating on the ends of them...these are clear. I'm wondering if the slight difference in length is the problem...in which case my only other reasonable option is a set of Philips Xtra Vision which appear to be the same length with the coating on the end although probably not as bright.
 
9007 replacements should all have a blacked-out tip. It's possible that the wrong bulb was in the package. What's printed on the side of the bulb itself?
 
Originally Posted By: lyle
9007 replacements should all have a blacked-out tip. It's possible that the wrong bulb was in the package. What's printed on the side of the bulb itself?
The blacked out tip is to keep light from going straight out the front of the bulb instead of being controlled by the reflector and lens. Clear headlamps, with no pattern in the "glass" depend entirely upon the reflector shape to control the pattern.
 
If an HB5 bulb doesn't have a coated tip, then it's not a correct HB5 bulb. Philips bulbs are at or near the highest quality bulbs that you can buy. It is possible that the bulbs are mis-packaged or are counterfeit bulbs.

OP, please remove one of the bulbs and take a photo of it and post it here. We'll be able to tell what it is.
 
Originally Posted By: oilmaven
I'm wondering if the slight difference in length is the problem...in which case my only other reasonable option is a set of Philips Xtra Vision which appear to be the same length with the coating on the end although probably not as bright.


There are a number of upgrade bulbs on the market. Did you get the Philips XtremePower or the newer XtremeVision? Either way, it sounds like the bulbs are somehow defective if they don't have the coating on the tip. Philips also makes a Vision Plus which is also a nice upgrade over stock.

Sylvania makes the Xtra Vision. It's in the same general class as the Philips Vision Plus.
 
I put Sylvania xtra vision in our CRV. I had the Ultras. Definitely better. My Tacoma has the Ultras as well Xtra will be going in.
 
The very best H4/HB2/9003 bulb you can use is the Philips Xtreme Power or new Philips Xtreme Vision. I have used Sylvania Xtra Vision, Philips Vision Plus, and Philips Xtreme Power in our CR-V and it's quite a dramatic difference. Even the Philips Vision Plus is noticeably better than the Sylvania Xtra Vision. I have all three sets in the garage now, and the Vision Plus is actually in the car at the moment.

Philips Xtreme Vision > Philips Vision Plus > Sylvania Xtra Vision
 
The Xtreme bulbs from Philips are still yellow like oem bulbs, just brighter so it appears whiter. It's still very suitable in bad weather, where blue tinged bulbs wouldn't be.

I've also read that some of the Philips bulbs retains its euro spec beam pattern.

267700d1256255597-euro-spec-headlight-beam-pattern-headlight-beam.jpg
 
The design of the housing/reflector dictates the beam pattern, not the bulb itself. Changing the bulb CAN affect beam pattern by moving the filament slightly within spatial tolerances, but only in shifts of the original pattern. A bulb cannot change a USDOT pattern into an ECE pattern.
 
The headlight design for the Quest/Villager sucks. No light bulb will help that short of sticking a HID kit in it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top