I have a 2018 Chrysler 300. The high beams are very weak...almost useless. When I park the car in front of my garage door and switch from low to high, I definitely see the changeover. low beams seem to be good. Any ideas? are they just that poor from the factory. I feel like I can take it to the dealer and complain but they will say they are working and nothing will get done. Any ideas?
2018 Chrysler 300 High Beam Weak
- Thread starter scottdw
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
Welcome to the board. Two different headlamp systems were available on the '18 300: BiHalogen and BiXenon. Unfortunately, both of them are poor systems. Take a look at the IIHS ratings (find the "Headlights" button on the left side of the window). Short seeing distance and too much glare...that means a poorly-engineered headlamp system. If it were one or the other (short seeing distance but no glare, or just glare but good seeing distance) then a careful aim job can usually improve those situations, but you're stuck with both at the same time, which kind of puts you in a cage about it.
Assuming you have the BiHalogens, there's not a whole lot you can do without wrecking the safety and legality of your lights. Do not install an "HID kit" or an "LED conversion"—those are all unsafe and illegal. Your lamps take a 9005 bulb, which can be safely and effectively upgraded by replacing it with an HIR1 (9011), that is this one. You'll have to trim a plastic tab on the new bulb's base as shown here, then it'll go right in. It's electrically and thermally the same (65 watts) so there's no chance of overload. It puts out quite a bit more light, which will improve the low and high beam seeing distance, possibly by an amount that makes the lighting satisfactory for you, though it also means you will have to be extra careful with lamp aim.
Lamp aim is the most important factor in how well you can see. Having a new car doesn't guarantee correct aim in North America, and even many dealers are sloppy about it (if they check at all). You'll have to quiz your dealer (and probably other shops) to find out how they aim lamps. The one and only correct answer is that they use a headlamp aiming machine. Shining the lights on a wall or screen is the wrong answer, that's just not good enough. This VW technical bulletin gives a good "show and tell" of what it looks like to do a proper job of checking and adjusting aim (not just on a VW, but on any brand of car).
Assuming you have the BiHalogens, there's not a whole lot you can do without wrecking the safety and legality of your lights. Do not install an "HID kit" or an "LED conversion"—those are all unsafe and illegal. Your lamps take a 9005 bulb, which can be safely and effectively upgraded by replacing it with an HIR1 (9011), that is this one. You'll have to trim a plastic tab on the new bulb's base as shown here, then it'll go right in. It's electrically and thermally the same (65 watts) so there's no chance of overload. It puts out quite a bit more light, which will improve the low and high beam seeing distance, possibly by an amount that makes the lighting satisfactory for you, though it also means you will have to be extra careful with lamp aim.
Lamp aim is the most important factor in how well you can see. Having a new car doesn't guarantee correct aim in North America, and even many dealers are sloppy about it (if they check at all). You'll have to quiz your dealer (and probably other shops) to find out how they aim lamps. The one and only correct answer is that they use a headlamp aiming machine. Shining the lights on a wall or screen is the wrong answer, that's just not good enough. This VW technical bulletin gives a good "show and tell" of what it looks like to do a proper job of checking and adjusting aim (not just on a VW, but on any brand of car).
Sadden
Enlightened
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2015
- Messages
- 262
Can the halogen models benefit from a wiring upgrade? Dodges can be kinda fussy there from what i hear.
It would be foolhardy to, well, fool with the wiring. Recent-model cars aren't like the ones we used to have. Today's electrical systems often do not react friendly-like to random modifications. Besides which, the answer is no, it wouldn't really help. The problem is FCA didn't put good headlamps on the car.
