Headlight Bulbs Burn Very Frequentlyl

[TharakaWi]

My head light bulbs very frequently - like once in two weeks!!! - especially at the passenger side. I took to few places, but none of them could figure out...

1. any ideas wht this happens (in case any of u have come across this)?

2. do u guys know any good vehicle electrical place somewhere in bamba, nugegoda, colepitty, kirolapona etc.

thanks in advance

[janz]

Hi,

I also have the same to share about Pala Auto, as they seem to do a good job, but the service charges are very costly indeed. I had a problem with the batteries getting overcharged. The both the bulbs (dim light filament only) was burnt within a gap of one week. When checked my Exide battery at the Browns PowerMart, they showed it was charging way over the max 14v. (it was charging around 17.5 v when revving up the engine). I have a 12.5v battery and as i got to know, max is 14v and when engine is idle 13v and when revving up it can go upto around 13.5v max. So went to Pala after recommendation from a guy at A*W (as they dont do Alternator repairs)

So they figured out the Regulator IC was burnt, and had to be replaced and got it done. Then the voltage issue was fixed and I was happy, though they charged Rs 2800 as service charges alone(4.6k for the Regulator IC part). Then when I started the engine in morning, I coudnt switch it off ! (first time i heard that, i have head cars not being able to start, but not this ))). Even after switching off the engine it kept on running for 15-20 secs and gradually slows down and turn off in the end. And the 'check engine' light was ON at times and would go off after driving about 30-60 mins. Then I went to Pala again, they seemed not sure what to do, and put a diode in a connector to Alternator and said ok. Still the same probs were there. Went there to the 3rd time, then they again replaced the regulator IC which was replaced with an original one came for my car. (earlier they had used a 2 pin one and the original had 3 pin one, as I was told). This time the prob was fixed. I did not have to pay extra (i woudnt also) than the initial payement, but I had to spend 3 days of my time (which they cant pay me for), for a mistake they did at first.

So my word about Pala is, they seemed good with elec repairs. And the good thing is you can discuss with the owner in a friendly way and sort things out. But their service charges seemed too high.

<!--quoteo(post=92576:date=Apr 13 2009, 10:51 AM:name=TharakaWi)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TharakaWi @ Apr 13 2009, 10:51 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=92576"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hi guys... I went to the P*la Auto Electricals last Friday. As most of you guys said, they were good at figuring out the issue. the issue was when i switch on the head-lights - both filaments (both dim and head) were lighting! I am v. pleased they figured it out and fixed. <img src="http://forum.autolanka.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

But the cost!!! - it cost me over 6k for that. It included 2.2k worth of goods purchases (bulbls, and a small circuit etc) , 1k for light cleaning, and a staggering 3k of service charge!

I personally believe 3k of service charge is way over the normal price... so the bug is fixed. but with a considerably high cost... I won't recommend this place unless nobody else can fix it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Hi Tharaka,

Well my two cents, if you had just continued running with the issue, you'd have simply busted 3K within the next 3 months replacing 6 bulbs as you have mentioned in the thread. Well may be they've charged you for the expertise & for the spot-on detection of the issue which the others failed mate. Well me not promoting or supporting this place but almost 2 years back when I just bought my car I got many recommendations thru the forum & took it to them. I still remember I walked in as a guy with zero knowledge on the electricals & these guys did a marvellous job in detecting & fixing. I had many issues such as wiring of thermostat set-up, headlight & exhaust fan plus many replacement of parts such as thermostat, bulbs & circuits. It took one full-day but 2 years back it cost me too 6K (the split was 4K for parts & 2K for labour/services) But I was very satisfied with the job because of the quality & concentration which most of the other places fail nowadays.

Anyways great to hear that your issue is sorted & Im sure you might be feeling contented too <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="cool.gif" />