Shattered H7 light bulb - problems?

[vinvin0]

Hi,

After one of my PIAA H7 superwhites burnt out, I was changing them back to stock H7's, however I noticed that when pulling out one of the bulbs, only half of the bulb was left. I don't know if it melted, or shattered inside the housing.

I put the stock ones back on and the light pattern and brightness seem OK. Nothing was akward. Is there any reason to be concerned with this? I don't want to go through the hassle of removing my bumper and headlight just to remove the leftover pieces (if any).

Is there anyway I can ask Toyota to do this for me under warrenty?

Thanks,

[GTS808]

Maybe you touched the PIAA bulb when you installed it. THe oils form our hands will cause things like that to happen sometimes.

[alphasubzero949]

What was the wattage of your PIAA bulbs?

[hurryhurry12345]

can u see any leftover pieces in your headlight housing, if not it should be ok. the burnt bulb that u pulled out is shattered half way, like a broken glass bottle? got any pics? i wanna see....

[oONoGoAutoOo]

yeah, you gotta be really careful not to touch the actual bulb when you install. i wasnt careful once, and one of my bulbs burnt out in 2 days.

[hurryhurry12345]

Originally posted by GTS808
Maybe you touched the PIAA bulb when you installed it. THe oils form our hands will cause things like that to happen sometimes.


i've bought some HID look-alike bulbs back then. when I installed it I never touched it and it still burnt out in like 2 months. I'm not really sure what brands are made to last and what are not. but i can be sure that those aftermarket bulbs thats on ebay going for $7.00 will not last for long......trust me, i learned from experience........

[vinvin0]

Thanks for the quick replies. My PIAA's were just 55W. They have lasted for quite a long time ~2 years without burning out, so I was happy with them and was sure not to touch the bulb them during the install.

I can't see any of the leftover pieces from the outside. I can't look into the light bulb hole since it's way too small. And the shatter made the bulb look like a halfway broken glass bottle. Sorry I can't take any pics. I threw away the broken bulb already.

I just want to make sure that this won't cause me any problems in the future.

Thanks again everyone,

[APRoMeO637]

mine shattered and the particles were all in the housing. I just tried to clean out as much as i can when installin my HIDs. There was alot of glass and some powder...

-Mike

[d3fc0n_7]

I had some no name brand bulbs with the blue coating and it also shattered in the housing. After changing them out, you can see the light reflecting off of the broken pieces. I had to uninstall the whole headlamp assembly and shake out the particles.

[vinvin0]

I noticed the white powder, since when I stuck my finger in the housing, my finger turned white. I couldn't feel any glass though. It's probably out-of-reach by my finger and quite inside the housing.

Could I get Toyota to clean the housing for me? What happens if one of the "stock" bulbs shatter? Or does that never happen?

Thanks,

[Zensoku]

I bet they would just buy you a new headlight, and make u pay for it...

[hurryhurry12345]

damn...those aftermarket no brand bulbs, i suggest not using those, its not worth getting your headlight housing all ****ed up...stay with OEM bulbs or upgrade to real HIDs :thumbup:

[vinvin0]

I agree. I think I'm going to stay OEM for now. Thanks for your help,

[LEDmod]

If you don't want to take out the headlight houseing and shake the stuff out....
It should be ok, since all the debries stays on the bottom.. where in the bulb area only the top parts the reflected....

[BrianGTS]

Shop vac will work wonders.... suck it out foo!