My 08 Mazda5 is eating headlight bulbs.

R

Rockin03mp5

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'13 Mazda3 / '13 Edge / Your Mom
My 08 Mazda5 touring just had its second headlight go out in a month. (Halogens, not HIDs) It is barely 2 years old. I havent seen too many posts here about the 5's having this problem, so I wanted to see how many others have been experiencing this.

The first one to go was the drivers side low beam, and that was about 3 weeks ago. Still under warranty so I didn't have to deal with it. The dealership fudged it at first by not geting the clip tight so the bulb wasnt seated and not putting out a beam at all. Had to go back and get them to fix it, since i spent 15 minutes trying myself to no avail. (i think they bent it the stupid retaining clip or something) they did fix it, and everything was better until today i noticed the passenger side low beam out. dammit!

Now, I always run my headlight and fog lights on. It is just something I always do. It is a safety thing for me. So far, my fogs havent burned out.

Just find it funny they would both burn out so close to each other.

So... anyone else have this problem with their 5?
 
ALWAYS REPLACE YOUR HEADLIGHT BULBS IN PAIRS! There, I'm done yelling. I'm surprised yours lasted another month, I've had them go out 1 day apart.

And why do you think they burned out so soon?

Here's why -

...I always run my headlight and fog lights on.
Click to expand...

There's an hour life on them for a reason, the more you use, the quicker they burn out. Simple as that. Your fogs may be soon to follow.
 
I agree with flcrusing. Service supervisor should have advised you to replace in pairs. But then again the dealer tech must know its kind of 'not easy' removing
that clip @ the passenger side light bulb. lolz. they probably took a shortcut and hope you would come back after the warranty.

I have a 2006. 2 yrs ago, the driver side went out. I bought 2, I replaced both lamps then used the old 'working one' as emergency spare. So far no problems yet.
 
I have an 06 and use the Auto-Headlight feature with the fogs on. So far I have not had to replace ANY bulbs. Not headlight, turn indicator, brake or interior lights. On past cars I always replaced the pairs.
 
getting them to replace the pair under warranty wasnt going to happen. oh well, another reason to visit the dealership and drive a mazda2.

the thing is, ive owned non mazda's and went 7 years and over 100000 miles without a light bulb going out, and i always have my headlights on. maybe it is the stiffer suspension rattling the halogens to death. (and the crappy MI roads)

wondering if any of the canadian people (with DRLs) have had issues. Sounds like 2 years is normal. Looks like HIDs will be in the future for the 5 as well.
 
I can't beleive that they would EVER replace bulbs under warranty, that just seems weird. besides, for the cost of a bulb, it wouldn't be worth my time taking it to the dealer for that.
 
Dont waste your time going to the dealer for headlight replacement even if its free, your time is not. Just replace the low beam and fogs with HID less than $25+S&H from DDMtuning and guaranteed will last longer than ordinary halogens, this comes with lifetime warranty. even if you decide to change bulbs it will be still cheaper than halogens @ $12.50 + S&H.

nicer + brighter + choice of color + lasts longer + lifetime warranty
 
^ I was going to say the same thing, but I didn't want to be critical of the whole topic.

Auto headlights are when they come on when ambient light levels are low, not whenever the car is.

DRLs run the bulbs at reduced power, so the lifespan is barely reduced.
 
Only thing with HIDs, when you have DRLs there is no reduced power, HIDs are like fluorescent bulbs. it needs a starting high voltage to start upteh bulb hence the ballast. With DRL + halogens, you are running @ reduced voltage, while with HIDs with DRLs you are basically running at normal 12 volts (using harness w/ power + direct to battery and switched by a relay) the DRL only switch the relay on. Well I been running the HIDs for a year before I encounter a problem ( the stupid wire clip not properly hooked on, I didn't realize that all the while I'm not using an adapter on the HIDs. Fixed and running my new HID (low beam and fog) continuously night and day.
 
Canadian (Read DRL's) '06 with 60,000Km, mostly city driving and no problems with any of the bulbs in the car yet. I've got a dead mosquito trapped on the inside of one of the map lights but that's another story :)
+1 for replacing head lamp bulbs in pairs. I'll replace a brake or indicator light by itself but I've always replaced head lamps together.
 
Sorry, my ^ was for mpvue, but you beat my post.

Yes, agree about the DRL / HID thing.

Thanks for the info about ddmtuning.com too. I've bookmarked for ordering in a couple months.
 
yeah, they replace bulbs under warranty. bumper to bumper still.

and i did it last time because i needed an oil change as well. plus, i didnt want to deal with the stupid wire clip.

and what is the difference with replacing in pairs? because the other is probably going to go out soon? ill just wait for it to go out and replace it then, like just happened.
 
Because they burn out at the same time, plus the light outputs will decrease with age. I think the number is like 80% output towards the end of life?
 
Thats probably why I see a lot of cars running with different intensity between their left and right bulbs?
 
One thing to check if you are burning out bulbs fast is the ground cable. If you ever had any accident repairs or live in an area where there is a lot of salt on the roads, you could have a bad ground affecting bulb life. I dont think this is the case with your car but its a tip worth mentioning.
 
winters arent too bad here. the engine compartment is pretty clean, but i havent checked the battery in a while. i clean my p5 connections every year.
 
so, i replaced the bad bulb with an old (but working) bulb from when i put HIDs in the p5. just needed some light for now since the drive into work for the wife is getting pretty dark.
 
I went through several pairs of bulbs quickly, and since using my following methods, I have not had a problem for a long time.

The bulb is a real pain to get it properly installed, and I think some bulb failures were due to improper springclip or rubber boot install.

I have also made it a point to only turn on the headlights AFTER the car has been started, which keeps the bulb filaments at a steady voltage.
 
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