Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega Electrical and Audio Help => Topic started by: Humpy on 24 October 2008, 09:28:50
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Chaps,
Not sure whether this belongs in this section or in the general section as this is mechanical related rather than electrical, if you see what I mean!
Is it me or Omega headlights just bloody rubbish? My story started with my '95 Elite which had the older pattern yellowed lights. Obviously rubbish so I got some of the Depa clone lights (cos nobody had any genuine ones on Evilbay at the time :(). Now these look the part but the beam on the road is crap! I forked out for a set of those Osram Nightbreakers which made things a little brighter but the fact remains that the beam is patterened and not a solid consistent beam. Anybody had any experience with these?
The second and third set of lights are genuine Vauxhall lamps (projector type again) but all of them are b**gered in one form or another >:( It seems that the adjusters inside are fragile as with three of the units the reflectors inside the body of the headlamp flop about like a preverbial dick in a well ;D I tried to get the lens off the front of one unit but it's sealed with some sort of mastic so that I don't think you'd get it off without damaging it. So you can't see inside to see what's wrong. I can see that at least one adjuster is broken but I can't tell whats wrong with the others and it' SO FRUSTRATING :'(
What I want to know is
a; is there an easy way to get inside the lights to try and fix them or failing that
b; will somebody please sell me a set of lovely HID lights that will solve my problem for once and for all as I'm beginning to loose the will to live ;)
The funny thing is (everybody groans now) I keep on harping on about the old Monza but....the lights were bloody superb on there (still are!) and I have spare lamps which I have been sat in my lockup for the last 10 years and they'll be better than the Omega lamps I have now! And of course they were metal and glass so you could put some whopping great bulbs in them without any fear of damage.
Progress? Hmmm.
Please help an OOFer near to tears :-[
Humpy
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The lense will come off, I used a Stanley knife to gently cut through the black mastic. I did manage to glue the plastic adjuster in mine with epoxy glue (Double Bubble) & so far it's still glued.
I have HIDs on mine though. ;)
Any way of grafting your spare Monza lights to the front of your Omega? ;D ;D ;D ;D
[size=8]The Omega did step back in a few ways from the old Ople/Vauxhall[/size]
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Andy,
Any way of grafting your spare Monza lights to the front of your Omega?
Yeah, I wish :y The other thing about the Monza lights was, when you went onto main beam you had four bulbs on as there was a combined dipped/main lamp and a long range lamp and they were both adjustable individually as well. Ah, those were the days!
I'll try the stanley knife approach and see how I get on. That'll keep me going maybe until I can get some HID's as I think that's the way to go.
Humpy
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Andy,
Any way of grafting your spare Monza lights to the front of your Omega?
Yeah, I wish :y The other thing about the Monza lights was, when you went onto main beam you had four bulbs on as there was a combined dipped/main lamp and a long range lamp and they were both adjustable individually as well. Ah, those were the days!
I'll try the stanley knife approach and see how I get on. That'll keep me going maybe until I can get some HID's as I think that's the way to go.
Humpy
I'm a tad confused .. in your opening post you mention "older pattern yellowed lights. " then you talk about replacement "genuine Vauxhall lamps (projector type again)" now you are after "HID's".... they are all different !!!
many folks confuse projectors with HIDS as they look the same on the outside .. but they are very different internally..
As to swapping from one to another .. there are lots of other bits involved other than the light units themselves .. :(
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Entwood,
Yup, I was one of those confused people!
The original lights I had were of the older style and awful! At the time I didn't realise the difference myself between Projector and HID lamps so bought these DEPA clones as I couldn't get hold of any genuine Vauxhall lamps at the time! I then got a pair of lamps from a OOF member (to be fair he did say they'd seen better days and that they'd need some TLC) but I decided not to fit these as I'd decided to go for some HID lamps and go the whole hog.
The last pair I got I thought they were HID but they were just ordinary projectors, although genuine, but the adjusters are US.
Hence my request for HID lamps if anybody's got any :y Hopefully my quest will be over when I get a decent pair of them. Hopefully!
Humpy
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Technically .. and there are several threads on this argument ... if you fit HIDs you should also fit the self levellers for the HIDs and the Headlamp washers.
The self levellers are needed as the suspension self levelling is not reactive enough, and the lights will blind oncoming traffic if too high
Washers are needed as the light output is rapidly diminished by even a small amount of crud
The argument is centred around the legalitities .. basically to fit HID's on a new car the construction and use regs demand levelling and washers. Retrofitting, some folks interpret that the only requirement is the E marking on the lights.
I am no where near clever enough to answer the legalities .. but from a practical viewpoint I thing the levelling and washing are a requirement .. but its your choice in the end .. :y :y :y
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he drives a elite entwood so has the washer system and the self levelling on the rear so is fine with fitting hids (in the eye of the law) which is an arse !!!! :y
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there is a VOSA bulliten i think about fake HID's a local chav racer failed his MOT because he had aftermarket HID's with no washers or Self Levelers
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he drives a elite entwood so has the washer system and the self levelling on the rear so is fine with fitting hids (in the eye of the law) which is an arse !!!!
Amen to that! ;D That's me sorted then!
Humpy
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self leveling doesnt mean the headlights self level it just means the arse end lifts up!
Xenon headlights have there own leveling system sensors in front passangers side and rear drivers side to work out the cars posistion
i think!
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as long as the car stays level when loaded up xenons are fine ! i have converted 3 cars now and never had a problem come mot time !! :y
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self leveling doesnt mean the headlights self level it just means the arse end lifts up!
Xenon headlights have there own leveling system sensors in front passangers side and rear drivers side to work out the cars posistion
i think!
I couldn't find a VOSA bulletin, but the advice from DOT is here:
DOT, Fact sheet: Aftermarket HID headlamps - Clicky (http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps)
From it comes the following statement.
Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate).
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You can get them apart mate. I got some off the bay and when they came guess what broke adjusters so i put them in front of a fan heater on hot for a while then just pulled them apart carefully i did take some photos and was going to do a how to but never got round to it. I did the same as andy and glued mine back together. If you have the old 95 headlights and the new projector type it mite be worth your while pulling both sets apart as the older type have a better adjuster and they tend not to break......Just a thought.
Lee.
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Sounds daft but mines an elite so can i fit the xenon type then mate cause the projectors are better than the older type but not as good a xenon ones.......All i have to do is fit them right or is there more to it than that. :-/ :-/
as long as the car stays level when loaded up xenons are fine ! i have converted 3 cars now and never had a problem come mot time !! :y
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Sounds daft but mines an elite so can i fit the xenon type then mate cause the projectors are better than the older type but not as good a xenon ones.......All i have to do is fit them right or is there more to it than that. :-/ :-/
as long as the car stays level when loaded up xenons are fine ! i have converted 3 cars now and never had a problem come mot time !! :y
yep you certanly can dude :y
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I have 5 pairs of genuine Vaux Xenon HID headlights with packs and bulbs included going spare here (well 4 as one pair is going on my car!) £120 delivered (next day special delivery)
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PM sent! :y
Humpy
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Andy,
Any way of grafting your spare Monza lights to the front of your Omega?
Yeah, I wish :y The other thing about the Monza lights was, when you went onto main beam you had four bulbs on as there was a combined dipped/main lamp and a long range lamp and they were both adjustable individually as well. Ah, those were the days!
I'll try the stanley knife approach and see how I get on. That'll keep me going maybe until I can get some HID's as I think that's the way to go.
Humpy
Keep harping on about the Monzas please! Didn't realise you were on here as well Stuart, small world....
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Hello Tony, small world!
Humpy
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Well, thanks to Chris Mutant Cav's help, I can see :D Got them fitted today but had to wait for some darkness to see what they look like. They need adjusting but they're a sight better than what I had :y
Humpy
PS Don't the main beam look yellow in comparison!
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PS Don't the main beam look yellow in comparison!
I thought that too! :y :y
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Well I managed to get my old headlights apart earlier and took the plastic adjusters out (which are still intact) and I will be attempting to put them in my projectors at the weekend if not sooner. So the idea is to heat up the lens to soften the mastic goo and the lenses should then come apart with ease?
Paul :y
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Well I managed to get my old headlights apart earlier and took the plastic adjusters out (which are still intact) and I will be attempting to put them in my projectors at the weekend if not sooner. So the idea is to heat up the lens to soften the mastic goo and the lenses should then come apart with ease?
Paul :y
dont work mate totally different ! have tried mesen sorry :(
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oh yeah experiment for you all...
fitting facelift lifts on the prefacelift :P
after some modifications to the under light trims...
i'll let you know the results if i get the units ;)
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Totally different how Markey?? Not had any problems doing this before mate...works fine...
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Totally different how Markey?? Not had any problems doing this before mate...works fine...
the adjusters inside the ribbed lights are toatally different and when you come to set lights up you carnt get the right adjustment on them !! :(
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As an aside, you know those little RHD/LHD levers inside the headlights, which way should they be for RHD? I think one of my lamps may be the wrong way round :)
Humpy
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As an aside, you know those little RHD/LHD levers inside the headlights, which way should they be for RHD? I think one of my lamps may be the wrong way round :)
Humpy
pull upto a wall and see if you can see a kick up then try flicking lever makes the beam allmost flat ! you need to have the kick up :y
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As an aside, you know those little RHD/LHD levers inside the headlights, which way should they be for RHD? I think one of my lamps may be the wrong way round :)
Humpy
Can't remember now which way is which, but one will be up & t'other down when correct. :y
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Well I managed to get my old headlights apart earlier and took the plastic adjusters out (which are still intact) and I will be attempting to put them in my projectors at the weekend if not sooner. So the idea is to heat up the lens to soften the mastic goo and the lenses should then come apart with ease?
Paul :y
Thats it mate heat them up and then pull apart you will have to use a screw driver to lift the lugs that clip over the backing but sould be no probs....... :y :y
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What do you heat them up with...hairdryer?? :y