A head light (or head lamp) is attached to the front of a vehicle. Its purpose is to illuminate the road during periods of low visibility (i.e. nighttime, snow or rain, etc.).
Symptoms of Wear or Failure
- One or more of the head lights will not operate
- Discoloration of the head light lens
- Head light not aimed correctly
- Water or condensation in the head light lens
Related Repair Advice
- The most common failure is simply a burned out bulb. However, the repair may be difficult since access to the bulbs can be limited on some vehicles.
- If one head light bulb burns out, the other may not be far behind. In many cases, a repair shop will recommend replacing both blubs when one burns out
- Depending on the model, one bulb may contain both the high and low beam filaments; or, two separate bulbs may be used.
- Care must be taken when head light bulbs are replaced so the head light still aims in the right direction
- Systems using separate high and low beam bulbs will have the low beam located outboard or above the high beam
- Some vehicles use high-intensity discharge (HID) or Xenon type head light bulbs, which can be very expensive to replace
- Failure of the head light or high beam switch could also cause the head lights not to function correctly
