Importance of Checking Your Head and Tail Lights

Introduction

Lights, whether located on the front or rear, perform their dutiful function in ensuring the safety of the vehicle and passengers. But what most drivers tend to forget is to examine their car’s head and tail lights frequently.

Just like your daily refreshments, a car needs it clean-up at a time. They are an easy way to enjoy a safe journey without ending up in a crash due to dimmed, flickering, or blurred view. Wherefore, it should be added to every driver’s to-do list, both daily and weekly, to do their car lights maintenance.

There are few things you can consider observing the sound condition of your car lights, as well as few triggers to know when to visit a repair shop or replace them permanently. All of this is what we’re going to learn, so stay tuned!

How to take care of front and rear lights

Headlights illuminate the road ahead, but it is the headlamp that counts for better lights. In contrast, taillights lighten up the road behind and are mostly used when parking.

What deteriorates car lights?

There can be many reasons why car lights deteriorate, and some of them are:

• Skipping on a fair car lights maintenance routine.
• Insufficient power supply to the bulbs.
• Over usage of bulbs, using impaired bulbs.
• Old lenses in headlights and taillights.
• Flawed electrical system, damaged wires.
• Constant exposure to debris, snow, water, UV rays.
• Uncleaned headlights and taillights for a long time.
• Fading of lights due to faulty headlamp.
• Fading of lights due to oversized or undersized bulb.

Car lights maintenance

Both headlight and taillights function as important as any other mechanical system, and thus, should be properly taken care of. Here are the top headlights and taillights maintenance tips for you to relish bright lights for the longest time possible!

Clean regularly

No matter how many stances are given, there is no way a regular clean-up would lead to a dimmed light. Your car stays with you throughout the seasons, getting exposed to downpours, mildews, snowstorms, and even extreme heat and UV rays. Frequent contact with harsh atmospheric elements can soon damage the brightening of lights.

The best solution to avoid it is to regularly clean your car lights with gentle clothe and mild glass soap/wash. Even if you don’t have time, dust off the debris over the glass surface, and it’ll do most of the work. If you notice any fogginess or yellowish shade, know that a clean-up is needed.

Examine weekly

At least once a week, it will help if you closely observe both the headlights and taillights. This check-up is different from car lights maintenance at a repair shop. Turn on your car headlights and examine them deeply. Detect any dimness or glare from different angles, especially while sitting on the driver’s seat.

You can either turn on the full lights for taillights or ask someone to press the brake pads while you examine them the same way stated above. The best time to check up on lights is the nighttime in a dark space. This way, no external light would be there to affect the illumination.

Any dimness, flickering, or uneven illumination can mean a faulty bulb, insufficient power supply, old lenses, and damaged wiring. Examine them too!

Wash the lights

Depending on when you wash your car, don’t forget the lights and run some water over them. This will deep clean all the impurities or harmful constituents, leaving the glass in your car lights crystal clear. But don’t forget to clean with sober clothes gently afterward since not letting any water stay and damage the device is also the primary goal.

Assist an expert

While the above methods go for the outside, there are chances debris has already made your car lights a home. If that’s the case, you can do nothing to clean the lights unless you are an expert yourself. Otherwise, perform your part of taillights and headlights maintenance by hiring a professional. Don’t try to open the lights yourself because an unfit, wrongly fit, improperly cleaned light is way worse than a broken device.

When to replace your car lights

Here are few criteria which you can rely upon:

• Dim lights: a regular clean-up and weekly examination will keep them from problems, but you may not see any other difference after years of use. The bulbs can be weary and aged, wires can be damaged, or the whole headlamp can deteriorate. Consider replacing accordingly.
• Flickering lights: When the fibers in a light bulb are broken or old, the bulb often flickers. This on and off suggests that it is about to burn out if proper precautions aren’t taken any sooner. Flickering lights are most common in taillights, explaining why taillights maintenance shouldn’t be ignored.
• Broken lights or fused bulb: Maybe the filament in the bulb is damaged, which is causing the light not to glow when turned on. Or in other words, the bulb has finally reached its end and needs a replacement. At this time, the only solution is to invest in new car head or tail lights.

Lastly, you should also take your car to inspection if the lights have trouble turning on. When going for a new set of head or tail lights, reach out to your car’s manufacturer or read the user’s manual to have better insights!

Bottom line

Having car lights maintenance strengthens the longevity of headlights and taillights, giving you bright illumination even in the darkest times. The lights get dim because of faulty wiring or junction, old, faulty lenses and/or bulbs. That being so, have your car lights inspected by a reliable expert ASAP.

Yet you can solve most of the car lights problems by cleaning them daily and whenever you wash your car. A frequent examination by an expert can also save your car from deteriorated lights. Lastly, it’s almost better to replace them with new gear when the light flickers or the bulb fuses!