Anyone here have their headlight plugs melt from aftermarket bulbs? The way mine went out was odd. At first the drivers side low beam went out ("Lamp Out" on the dash came on), and then once in a while the light would go back to normal. Then it went out again, but now the high beam doesn't work earlier. So I finally got around to removing the headlight assembly and found the connector all burnt and melted. I found some high temp replacement plugs on ebay, but now I'm wondering if that might cause problems farther back on the wiring. Any info or comments welcomed. Thanks!

 

Yes certain aftermarket bulbs will melt your harness. It has happened to the best of us. An aftermarket bulb will not hurt your wiring as long as you buy the correct voltage and wattage for your truck. I noticed you said you found "A high temp". When I read this, I am thinking this might be a bad idea. Our bulbs get hot, but if it is advertising high temp, that could be bad for you.

If your harness is melted, you will have to replace it before you change the bulb. Not all bulbs are good. I would do a search here for replacement lamps, or just buy the stock ones so you won't have any troubles. Alot of thing take into account for how a bulb works. You can actually buy a bulb that is the correct voltage and wattage, but if it is a cheap bulb (meaning cheap glass, filiment, contacts, & base), the temp will go to high, thus decreasing the resistance of the woring and connector, in turn melting everything.

In short, save money now, pay more later.

 

Mind telling us which aftermarket bulbs you got so we can stay away from them?

 

the brand is "APC" The model is their "Ultra White" 9007 bulbs. The package says "actual wattage = 65/55 watts, Xenon Equivalent Brillance = 100 watts". It also shows in a few places where that the bulbs are DOT approved and street legal. Overall the bulbs work really well for the $30/per bulb price tag. But it caused a melted plug, and I'm not sure thats worth it.

 

How long did you have the bulbs installed before they melted the harness??

 

I want to say one year or more. It was in the summer, and it wasn't this summer. I used to run these in my dodge Neons all the time. The only problem I ever got in those cars was that the bulbs didn't seem to last very long. I still need to look into my wiring dagram for the truck and see where the headlights are fused. Maybe the fuse is too big. I know I never changed it.