Tone's headlight bulbs: fuse issue
Last night around 7pm I hop in the VX to come home for the evening from an outting with some friends. Well, the headlights don't work. 20 miles from home in a parking lot at night with no working headlights. I pop the hood and find that the left and right fuses are blown for the front lamps. I replace them and turn the headlights on. POP! They both blow isntantly. Last 2 spare 10amp fuses I had. I pull the bulbs and inspect them and reseat them again. NOT an easy thing to do in the dark, cold, and no tools.
Anyways, I thought back to what I did that day with the lights since they worked the previous night. I remembered that I had flashed oncoming traffic earlier in the day to warn them of radar ahead. Hmmm.... I never used the highbeams with these new bulbs. Could it be an equation of "bulbs + highbeams + 10amp fuses = fuse POP?"
Luckily the AutoZone across teh street was still open so I grabbed a 30 pack of 10amp fuses. I replaced the right and left and tried them out. They worked. I hit the highbeams a few times. No problems. *sigh*
It remains a mystery. Do these bulbs require perhaps a higher ampage? Couldnt tell from the box they came in since it was all in Japanese, heh. The problem remains a mystery....
Gary Noonan
'01 S/C VX / '18 Forester XT