Headlight Brightness

[Espious]

Sorry y'all, but I'm back with another question.

I've been trying to figure out the expected headlight brightness on these cars, and if mine are properly shining.

So far I've installed new Night Breaker bulbs and made sure the voltage between the battery and chassis ground is correct. There are two differently aged headlight enclosures on my car. The driver side is fairly new seeming with a clear outer plastic (I assume because the previous owner broke the one on the driver's side and replaced it), this one was clean when I swabbed the reflector with alcohol. The passenger side is cloudy, the reflector for the bulb was a bit dirty, but after cleaning the reflector with alcohol it seems to match the brightness of the one on the driver side. So I'm thinking it's not a dirt issue.

The thing I've been looking at lately is the ballasts. I've read that they can make the bulbs dimmer when they are failing, but that seems to come along with the whole bit of other problems like cutting out completely and flickering. Mine aren't cutting out or flickering at all. Also, ballast problems seem like they seem to affect only one side, not both evenly at the same time. Is it possible that they're both just tired and need replacing?

I figure the next step is checking the voltage right before the ballasts? I figure that'd probably be within spec. Checking the voltage to the bulb seems like it could be quite shocking, though?

My end goal is getting the headlights to match the cheapo aftermarket ones I had on my Chevy Cruze.

[VStar650CL]

The bulbs get dimmer over time too. Bulbs all do, even LED's. One thing often overlooked on projectors is buildup of aluminum oxide from the faux chrome on the backs of the lenses. It's usually invisible to the naked eye, but the beam will know it's there. Al2O3 is an excellent light diffuser.

[Ilya]

Yeah, as VStar said, this is expected. I recently changed out perfectly working D2S bulbs on both my QX60 and my M56x with some new Phillips and instantly the light output improved, even with the original ballast (on my wife's '16 QX60) and newer aftermarket ballasts (on my '11 M56x - likely 5-6 years old now).

[Espious]

I originally thought the problem was the old bulbs, after installing the nightbreakers though the brightness didn't improve too much.

Then with the oxide buildup I actually tried what you did for the Altima VStar, but no dice.

I think maybe I'm just expecting too much from an older headlight design!

[VStar650CL]

There are outfits now selling D2R and D2S LED upgrades. You might try just ditching the xenon welding torches for a better technology.

[Espious]

There are outfits now selling D2R and D2S LED upgrades. You might try just ditching the xenon welding torches for a better technology.

I think that might be my next step. A lot of people say they don't shine as far, but the pictures online look promising. I'm a little worried about blinding people, but I assume as long as they're aimed correctly it won't be an issue. Guess I'd rather blind some people than accidentally hit someone at night.

[VStar650CL]

It's hard to blind anybody with projectors because they all have a beam cutoff behind the focuser. So unless you deliberately adjust them way up, the only way you blind anyone is cresting a hill. That happens even with factory beams. Reflectors are a different story, if the beam pattern is wrong or you go too bright then there's nothing to limit the light.