Help - very dim headlights

[Gethin]

The light from our headlights was so poor we could hardly see the road.
We changed the bulbs for 100/80w bulbs but this has made little difference.
The headlamp glass is quite yellow inside, but not enough to warrant such poor light from the headlights.

Help - any suggestions?

[pippin]

You may have the aftermarket dim-dip system fitted.

Look for a switch somewhere by the dash that you have wondered about its function in the past.

If you find it, switch it and see if all is revealed!

[dandywarhol]

You need to watch with some modern wiring looms - the fashion is to go for the thinest guage wire to do the job to save weight (the average large family car used around 6 miles of wiring before year 2000 )

If you fit larger wattage bulbs than the loom has been designed for all you get is the same light brightness but hot wires!!

[Veg_Ian]

Yellow glass? Yes it's actually plastic and "discolours" over time due to the UV from the bulbs. Had a similar problem with my old Townace. Not much you can do really other than replace the units. I believe you can now get bulbs that filter out the UV.

[white van man]

larger bulbs will create more problems as the plastic light will get too hot and discolour even faster,you can "t" cut the lamps and a thin protective film will come off making the lamps clearer,you could also fit xenon bulbs,not the cheap 2 for a tenner on ebay,the real mcoy as used on beamers and mercs ect,will cost about 250 to 300 to do properly but worth it if you do a lot of night driving plus they only use 35watts so are cooler and cause less discolouration ,nice white light to drive by

[rwill19050]

Another problem could be the contacts in the headlights relay, corroded / pitted contacts would allow some current to flow (dim lights) but not enough to allow full' brightness'
On the other hand, I could be talking out of my exhaust pipe