Firebird Headlights--ALL COMMENTS/QUESTIONS REGARDING HEADLIGHTS GO IN HERE
#2061
Save the manuals!
iTrader: (5)
Awesome thank you! I recently decided to change the headlights to the LED lights from Headlight Experts. Took everything apart and sprayed it down with some krylon flat black after sanding down rust spots and what not. I disconnected and went well ****. But connected and they light up, then it wouldn't come back to life. UGH. So I've been trying to decide what was best. The passenger side I do the same thing, everything good there though. Turn them on and off and make sure spacing is good before tightening it all up and.. I get the dreaded motor growl or whatever you want to call it. (I already replaced the driver side with a "metal" gear) Of course this couldn't have happened before I almost had everything back together! So I can't even share pictures yet.
I appreciate the help!
I appreciate the help!
The gears and motors are another thing. I suggest you solve that first. If you are going to permanently spice everything in, you might consider some new Cardone motors with serviceable gears. I'm not a fan of the metal gears - they have proven to be a waste of money on my car. (Even the metal gears strip.) New motors spliced in should last you a long long time: https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...ght-doors.html
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k3000 (10-01-2020)
#2062
Staging Lane
iTrader: (2)
This is common. The terminals will corrode around the small areas that are actually making contact and when the connectors are taken apart and re-connected, they make new contact on the corrosion. Taking the connectors out of the equation will solve that, but...
The gears and motors are another thing. I suggest you solve that first. If you are going to permanently spice everything in, you might consider some new Cardone motors with serviceable gears. I'm not a fan of the metal gears - they have proven to be a waste of money on my car. (Even the metal gears strip.) New motors spliced in should last you a long long time: https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...ght-doors.html
The gears and motors are another thing. I suggest you solve that first. If you are going to permanently spice everything in, you might consider some new Cardone motors with serviceable gears. I'm not a fan of the metal gears - they have proven to be a waste of money on my car. (Even the metal gears strip.) New motors spliced in should last you a long long time: https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...ght-doors.html
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k3000 (10-01-2020)
#2063
Save the manuals!
iTrader: (5)
I don't know anything about the other brands. When I purchased mine, Cardone was the only game in town with the screw-on covers. There's a good possibility they could all be made by the same company and just put in different boxes with different company's names on them.
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k3000 (10-01-2020)
#2065
TECH Regular
I must say, this is all great information!
I think when I run in to the motor issue I'm not getting the metal gears, just new motors!
I wonder why the metal gears worked so well for 82-92's, but not as much for the 4th gens?
I think when I run in to the motor issue I'm not getting the metal gears, just new motors!
I wonder why the metal gears worked so well for 82-92's, but not as much for the 4th gens?
#2066
Save the manuals!
iTrader: (5)
Back in the day, replacement nylon gears weren't available from GM or the aftermarket and the motors were not serviceable. All that has changed now. Replacement nylon gears can be had for cheap and the replacement motors have serviceable gear cases.
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k3000 (10-02-2020)
#2067
Ah, I looked at the LMC truck housings but wasn't sure they'd fit, so I just went with the standard sealed beams. I want to keep the halogen look to keep it period specific, but have better bulb options and especially was thinking silverstars. Oh well, I don't drive much at night anyway
#2068
Ungrounded Moderator
iTrader: (4)
Here are the lumen output ratings of the various bulbs or sealed beam lamps:
4703 low sealed beam... 439
4701 high sealed beam... 879
9006 low beam... 1000
9005 high beam... 1700
9012 low beam... 1700
9011 high beam... 2300
So you can see that each step up makes a significant difference in light output.
4703 low sealed beam... 439
4701 high sealed beam... 879
9006 low beam... 1000
9005 high beam... 1700
9012 low beam... 1700
9011 high beam... 2300
So you can see that each step up makes a significant difference in light output.
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KILL*SHOT (04-08-2021)
#2069
Staging Lane
Ah, I looked at the LMC truck housings but wasn't sure they'd fit, so I just went with the standard sealed beams. I want to keep the halogen look to keep it period specific, but have better bulb options and especially was thinking silverstars. Oh well, I don't drive much at night anyway
#2070
Copy & Paste Moderator
Whitebird00, where did you find the lumen ratings for the sealed beams? Sylvania took those off their site and I couldn't find it elsewhere searching. Sylvania's site used to have lumen ratings for nearly all their headlight bulbs on a single page, but I can't find it anymore (I don't think they want it found given their experience with people pointing out their deceptive marketing of silverstar bulbs - even a legal case).
EDIT
I just found a listing on CEC Industries that matches those numbers although written a bit odd.
https://www.cecindustries.com/produc...tPartNum=H4703
https://www.cecindustries.com/produc...tPartNum=H4701
What's with the number after the comma? It is not the amount per pair. It doesn't look like a comma in place of a decimal. It doesn't make sense to be a rating at 12v vs 14v. These certainly can't be outputting the amount if you read all six digits as a single number. (Unless this is like Cal vs KCal, but Lumen aren't shown that way.)
EDIT
I just found a listing on CEC Industries that matches those numbers although written a bit odd.
https://www.cecindustries.com/produc...tPartNum=H4703
https://www.cecindustries.com/produc...tPartNum=H4701
What's with the number after the comma? It is not the amount per pair. It doesn't look like a comma in place of a decimal. It doesn't make sense to be a rating at 12v vs 14v. These certainly can't be outputting the amount if you read all six digits as a single number. (Unless this is like Cal vs KCal, but Lumen aren't shown that way.)
Last edited by VIP1; 10-06-2020 at 10:26 AM.
#2071
Ungrounded Moderator
iTrader: (4)
Whitebird00, where did you find the lumen ratings for the sealed beams? Sylvania took those off their site and I couldn't find it elsewhere searching. Sylvania's site used to have lumen ratings for nearly all their headlight bulbs on a single page, but I can't find it anymore (I don't think they want it found given their experience with people pointing out their deceptive marketing of silverstar bulbs).
#2072
TECH Regular
iTrader: (1)
Here are the lumen output ratings of the various bulbs or sealed beam lamps:
4703 low sealed beam... 439
4701 high sealed beam... 879
9006 low beam... 1000
9005 high beam... 1700
9012 low beam... 1700
9011 high beam... 2300
So you can see that each step up makes a significant difference in light output.
4703 low sealed beam... 439
4701 high sealed beam... 879
9006 low beam... 1000
9005 high beam... 1700
9012 low beam... 1700
9011 high beam... 2300
So you can see that each step up makes a significant difference in light output.
Thanks for all the great data!
John
#2073
Ungrounded Moderator
iTrader: (4)
Yes, the stock wiring will handle any of the listed bulbs as long as you get the standard versions - there are 80W and 100W versions of those bulbs as well and they would not be a good idea with stock wiring. The standard versions draw the same power as the factory sealed beams... 55W for low beams (4703, 9006, 9012) and 65W for high beams (4701, 9005, 9011).
#2074
I know, I didn't see this thread until after putting in new sealed beams. I think until I start really driving my T/A at night, I'll leave it be. But if I have to change even a single headlight bulb, I'm going this route
#2075
Staging Lane
Gotcha, Yeah the whole set with shipping was under $200. Pretty good deal i think.
#2076
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (4)
Hello fellow bird people. Today, I turned the headlights on and only the driver side came up. I tried to listen for noise to indicate that the passenger side was at least trying to come up, but its kinda hard for me to hear from inside of the cabin. I popped the hood to make sure there was no interference, and there was none. My next step was to inspect the connections to the motor and verify power, so I manually popped up the passenger headlight door with an allen attachment on my drill. Out of curiosity I tried the headlight switch again and suddenly both headlight doors were working together perfectly; no noise or anything out of the ordinary. What gives? Has anyone every had intermittent problems with these doors? Based on everyone's experience does it sound like that motor is going out? Wiring harness corrosion? What should I be on the lookout for or try to inspect? Is the car mad because it only gets driven 500 miles a year? Thanks in advance; glad to see some of us still have these cars...
#2077
TECH Regular
I'm NO expert, but sounds like a bad spot on the motor to me. Let's see what the guru's think!
#2078
Save the manuals!
iTrader: (5)
Hello fellow bird people. Today, I turned the headlights on and only the driver side came up. I tried to listen for noise to indicate that the passenger side was at least trying to come up, but its kinda hard for me to hear from inside of the cabin. I popped the hood to make sure there was no interference, and there was none. My next step was to inspect the connections to the motor and verify power, so I manually popped up the passenger headlight door with an allen attachment on my drill. Out of curiosity I tried the headlight switch again and suddenly both headlight doors were working together perfectly; no noise or anything out of the ordinary. What gives? Has anyone every had intermittent problems with these doors? Based on everyone's experience does it sound like that motor is going out? Wiring harness corrosion? What should I be on the lookout for or try to inspect? Is the car mad because it only gets driven 500 miles a year? Thanks in advance; glad to see some of us still have these cars...
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k3000 (11-07-2020)
#2079
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (4)
Jesus, over 100 pages of this lol. Anyway thanks for the heads up-i never would've found post 1838 on my own. Ill pull the module out and look into the control board. What a pain in the a**. With all of the trouble these flip up lights cause I can see why some went to stationary lights...