Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I've recently picked up a '93 R33 GTS (JDM model)

I've had it for a couple of weeks now, but my headlights blew out...

I replaced them with brand new H1's but only 5 min after installing they blew out again (%^#$$!!!!!!!!) :action-smiley-069:

I've noticed the brightness of the headlights fluctuating since I bought it and think that might mean something

any advise??

I'm not sure if JDM models need different bulbs or if it's an electrical problem...

..... It's probably the latter but just thought I'd get a second opinion

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/272357-r33-headlight-issues/
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

It sounds like your alternator's voltage regulator is broken. They often start overcharging your battery when they wear out. Use a voltmeter and check the voltage of your battery while the car is running, if it is anything over 14.4V or so then the regulator needs to be replaced. If the alternator is overcharging then you are lucky that the headlights have blown before the more expensive electronics in the rest of your car. Get it checked/fixed before that starts happening or it could get very expensive soon.

The other thing if you didn't know is you have to make sure you don't touch the glass bits of your headlight bulbs with your hands/fingers. The oil from your skin causes a heatsink effect on the bits you touched and this will greatly reduce the bulb life. I don't think it'd be bad enough to cause them to blow within 5 minutes, but keep it in mind anyway. If you accidentally touch the bulbs, wipe them clean with metho or something before installing them.

people seem to exagerate a bit on the touching of the bulbs. the first time i changed bulbs (back when i was 17) i touched the glass (was holding it by the glass to put it in the plug) and they both still worked when i sold the car about 4 years later. i have probably touched the glass in some way on every bulb i have ever installed (some cars you have little choice due to the way they go in, but i don't hold them like i did that first time) and i have never had a headlight blow or anything like that. the current set i have had in the car for probably 6 years and i'm sure i would've made some skin contact with the glass when either getting them out of the packaging (cause it was really hard to get out) and putting them in.

however you are pretty spot on with the alternator voltage regulator. first place i would be looking.

oh and all r33 skylines are JDM models.

There are 3 things that blow globes

1. Over charging Alternator

2. Poor quality globes

3. Vibration

Often with overcharging the blown fillament will be stuck to the inside of the glass.

Past experience of being an Auto electrician for 18 years.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • This is for an RB20DET. Sorry for not including that. 
    • Welp, this is where my compression lands after my rebuild. Thoughts? I have ~6 hours on the motor. 
    • Well, after the full circus this week (new gearbag, 14 psi actuator on, injectors and AFM upgraded, and.....turbo repair) the diagnosis on the wastegate is in. It was broken. It was broken in a really strange way. The weld that holds the lever arm onto the wastegate flapper shaft broke. Broke completely, but broke in such a way that it could go back together in the "correct" position, or it could rearrange itself somewhere else along the fracture plane and sit with the flapper not parallel to the lever. So, who knows how and when exactly what happened? No-one will ever know. Was it broken like this the first time it spat the circlip and wedged itself deep into the dump? Or was it only broken when I tried to pry it back into place? (I didn't try that hard, but who knows?). Or did it break first? Or did it break between the first and second event of wierdness? Meh. It doesn't matter now. It is welded back together. And it is now held closed by a 14 psi actuator, so...the car has been tuned with the supporting mods (and the order of operations there is that the supporting mods and dyno needed to be able to be done first before adding boost, because it was pinging on <<14 psi with the new turbo with only a 6 psi actuator). And then tuned up a bit, and with the boost controller turned off throughout that process. So it was only running WG pressure and so only hit about 15-16 psi. The turbo is still ever so slightly lazier than might be preferred - like it is still a bit on the big side for the engine. I haven't tested it on the road properly in any way - just driven it around in traffic for a half hour or so. But it is like chalk and cheese compared to what it was. Between dyno numbers and driving feedback: It makes 100 kW at 3k rpm, which is OK, could be better. That's stock 2JZ territory, or RB20 with G series 550. It actually starts building boost from 2k, which is certainly better than it did recently (with all the WG flapper bullshit). Although it's hard to remember what it was like prior to all that - it certainly seems much, much better. And that makes sense, given the WG was probably starting to blow open at anything above about 3 psi anyway (with the 6 psi actuator). It doesn't really get to "full boost" (say 16 psi) until >>4k rpm. I am hopeful that this is a feature of the lack of boost controller keeping boost pressure off the actuator, because it was turned off for the dyno and off for the drives afterward. There's more to be found here, I'm sure. It made 230 rwkW at not a lot more than 6k and held it to over 7k, so there seems to be plenty of potential to get it up to 250-260rwkW with 18 psi or so, which would be a decent effort, considering the stock sized turbo inlet pipework and AFM, and the return flow cooler. According to Tao, those things should definitely put a bit of a limit on it by that sort of number. I must stress that I have not opened the throttle 100% on the road yet - well, at least not 100% and allowed it to wind all the way up. It'll have to wait until some reasonable opportunity. I'm quite looking forward to that - it feels massively better than it has in a loooong time. It's back to its old self, plus about 20% extra powers over the best it ever did before. I'm going to get the boost controller set up to maximise spool and settle at no more than ~17 psi (for now) and then go back on the dyno to see what we can squeeze out of it. There is other interesting news too. I put together a replacement tube to fit the R35 AFM in the stock location. This is the first time the tuner has worked with one, because anyone else he has tuned for has gone from Z32 territory to aftermarket ECU. No-one has ever wanted to stay Nistuned and do what I've done. Anyway, his feedback is that the R35 AFM is super super super responsive. Tiny little changes in throttle position or load turn up immediately as a cell change on the maps. Way, way more responsive than any of the old skool AFMs. Makes it quite diffifult to tune as you have to stay right on top of that so you don't wander off the cell you wanted to tune. But it certainly seems to help with real world throttle response. That's hard to separate from all the other things that changed, but the "pedal feel" is certainly crisp.
    • I'm a bit confused by this post, so I'll address the bit I understand lol.  Use an air compressor and blow away the guide coat sanding residue. All the better if you have a moisture trap for your compressor. You'd want to do this a few times as you sand the area, you wouldn't for example sand the entire area till you think its perfect and then 'confirm' that is it by blowing away the guide coat residue.  Sand the area, blow away the guide coat residue, inspect the panel, back to sanding... rinse and repeat. 
×
×
  • Create New...