Help, Halo Projector Headlights are very dim
 

Hello,
I have 2010 Camaro SS with the factory projector style halo headlights, which I assume are HIDs.
I've been noticing that the headlights seem very dim lately, and so I have a friend with a 2014 Camaro SS with halo headlights park next to mine to determine if it was in my head.
(Images attached)
It seems very apparent that my lights are indeed much dimmer. I've read that HID will slowly turn blue, and thus become dimmer over time, however mine seem more yellowish in the center. There is very minor discoloration/hazing on the headlight cover, so I find it hard to believe that could be the issue.

I see prices for bulbs aren't cheap, so I hate to buy a pair just to realize that they aren't bad.
Any ideas on what I should check or look for?

Pictures (Left side=2014, right side=2010)

Change your bulbs

Bulbs won't help much, OP. While it's a possibility.... Not 100% guaranteed to fix.

GM uses super cheap chromed plastic reflectors. Not metal. The chrome starts bubbling/flaking off that reflector. It's a pretty shit design, if I'm honest. The only thing that will truly fix it is new headlights or retrofitting a proper projector housing into your existing lights.

To elaborate:

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...4&postcount=33

Are you sure you have OEM projector headlights? That output is terrible, no offense. Either those are aftermarket projector housings or the previous owner installed a 55W HID kit which destroyed your projectors like shibbs is suggesting

Yeah, the output is really bad. I'm fairly confident that they are OEM projector headlights. I did purchased used back in 2011, but this does has the 2SS/RS package which includes the halos from factory. I doubt the previous owner installed an aftermarket HID kit, but I wouldn't count it out just yet. Is there any way to check if they are the 55W HID kit?

At the end of last year, I had part of the wiring harness melt as it was leaning again the exhaust manifold, which gave me some issues to put it into limp mode. That issue has since been fixed long before I noticed this issue, but I wonder if they were related?

It's possible that harness caused some other problems. Not sure if you can tell from the outside if an aftermarket HID kit was installed, might need to get the housing apart to do that.

How long ago did the lights get that dim?

My lights have noticeably dimmed since my car was new. I think the factory housings corrode/flake/nastify just with the stock bulb. It's disappointing to say the least.
I'm looking into retrofitting something else into my housings, probably this winter while the car's in storage.

Just like aging stars in the sky, they will turn yellower and then towards the red spectrum as they age. A blue star is young, yellow middle aged(like our sun), and red is end of life.

Your HID bulbs will get dimmer and more towards the red spectrum as they age. The lumens will drop significantly.

A 2 year old, 4300K HID bulb, if used every night, will be significantly dimmer and more yellow(lower K rating), than a brand new, 4300K bulb.

You might have noticed HID bulbs emitting a flickering pink hue, in their last week of life out there I'm sure, lol,(but you just never payed enough attention).

What shibbs wrote is true as well. UV, heat, etc, prematurely age the OEM housing.

Aging HID bulb + aging housing = :thumbdown:

Bringing this one back from the dead. I noticed the stock HID light output was poor after 8 years so I replaced the bulbs which were not burnt out or changing colors. I verified the aim of the headlights and they’re still not doing it for me. I remember how bright they seemed when I got the car and I loved driving at night because of how well I could see. I’m 37 so my eyes aren’t shot yet. It feels like I am driving with just foglights but sure enough the headlights are on. Has anybody with this dim HID issue replaced the reflectors, projectors, or entire housings and noticed improvement? Driving at night in the rain is just dangerous now.

I really wish a company would make a quality replacement or plug-and-play retrofit for the stock innards. I would easily throw money at them if it got me good headlights again.

Did you just put yours back together and deal with it? I really don’t want to spend $1500 to buy new assemblies. My gut tells me that headlight assemblies shouldn’t wear out like this; bulbs and maybe ballasts, yes, but not the assembly itself. I’ve read that the BMW E46s had a problem with OEM HID projector bowls burning, so it’s not a rare occurrence for that to be an issue. However, unless you find a donor with perfect bowls, you can’t do anything to try to fix it. I haven’t even dug into mine to see what the problem might be yet and if I do confirm some damage my option is to buy new assemblies which will probably go the same route if I keep it longer than 5 years.

Is this still a problem for the late model 5th gens? I have a 2015 and I feel like they could be brighter. This could just be me, however

-Outer plastic lens polish/restoration (if sandblasted and/or yellowed from UV light)
-Replace HID Bulb
-Replace entire assembly

Most if not all cars today go through this process.

Highway cars driven at night, following 18 wheelers on wet dirty highways, will see significant degradation after a mere 2 years, even 1!

And yes, the outer lens turns yellow from UV, not just from our sun, but the HID bulb itself ;)