Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

I just treated Gumdrop to a pair of PIAA Intense White 4100K H3 low beam bulbs. One had burnt out, and since the other was likely moribund, and they come in pairs anyway, I replaced them both. I chose them partly from discussions here, and partly because that was what the Lordco down the street had when I stopped by on my way home from work.

As is usually the case in such things, swapping the first bulb took 4 times as long as swapping the second. I also ran in to a Mitsubishi build quality issue, where the driver's side headlight pod took some major fiddling and profanity to get it to clear the opening, but the passenger's side slipped right out.

Any tricks to getting the bottom side marker screws back in? They are captive and aren't going anywhere, but I know at least one isn't screwed in to anything...

Tonight: a drive test. I'm looking forward to it. At that price (ouch!) my expectations are high.

...laura

Very cool. Love to see some pics. Good luck with it - may they shine brightly for many years.

Just one thing to note, I highly recommend getting your headlights aligned either before or after. This make a world of difference, even if you are not running the good PIAA's. I had mine aligned @ CCAutos and that made me happy, then I upgraded both highs and lows to the PIAA's and that made me very happy. I was shocked at the improved visibility from a simple 10 minute alignment, even with stock bulbs.

marsgal42 wrote:Any tricks to getting the bottom side marker screws back in? They are captive and aren't going anywhere, but I know at least one isn't screwed in to anything...

...laura

Not sure where they all go, but it would seem that the outer screw 'block' disappears as soon as these vehicles get off the boat in North America. I've heard a number of us who no longer have what it takes to screw in that outer screw. Between the other two screws, though, I don't think the marker light thingy is going to fall out of place.

The test last night was a partial success: looks like I have a wiring problem. The visibility with the PIAA headlights is drastically better (and the aiming is about right, as far as I can tell), but the driver's side headlight has cut out again. The old one, which I thought was bad, tests OK. So it's wiring. I'm thinking positive here, because for a $40 bulb to last less than a day is not something I wish to contemplate.

The wiring is so anemic it will be a pleasure to replace it with some real wire and get some real amps in to those bulbs.

BTW: all the fixtures the screws screw in to are there, including the white plastic ones for the side screws. It only took three hands to get those in. I made a special tool for the bottom ones, by buying a No. 1 Philips screwdriver then sawing most of the handle off so it can reach the screws but not foul on the bullbar. A stubby No. 1 won't reach.

...laura

I made a special tool for the bottom ones, by buying a No. 1 Philips screwdriver then sawing most of the handle off so it can reach the screws but not foul on the bullbar. A stubby No. 1 won't reach.

I tend to use a philips screwdriver bit in a socket adapter and a ratchet wrench with 2 extensions... seems to work pretty well...

I'm pleased (I think...) to report that the problem is intermittent wiring, not a burnt out bulb. I drove to work this morning and had two perfectly good low-beam headlights.

My suspicion is the terminal block on the back of the headlight pod.

...laura

My suspicion is the terminal block on the back of the headlight pod.

I'm not sure which of the "E code" lights you have, but if they are like mine, the wiring on the back is rather questionable, wires are simply wrapped around eachother rather than soldered, worth taking a good look to make sure they're all good, and a few dabs of solder wouldn't be a bad idea either...

I've just finished soldering and re-crimping connectors, and have an unexpected problem.

Gumdrop keeps blowing her low beam/DRL fuse. As near as I can tell the problem is the very low cold resistance of the PIAA bulbs (about 0.2 ohms), causing a surge that blows the fuse before the bulbs come up to temperature. If I disconnect one bulb (it doesn't matter which one) the fuse holds. Plug them both in and the fuse blows as soon as I turn on the ignition. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as an automotive slow-blow fuse - this is precisely the situation they are designed for.

The old bulbs measure about 2 ohms cold. For the moment I'm going to back off to some "conventional" H3s like the cheapie GE ones they have at Crappy Tire, while I put my electrical engineering hat on and think of a way to limit the initial current spike. It's nice to see where you're going at night.

They're obviously not new, but Gumdrop's headlight pods are the same sort that all the dealers use. Among other things they say E13, and the manufacturer appears to be "Soueast Daioku"

...laura

I've had no problems with my drl since installing my PIAA bulbs. You're the electrical engineer so I'll defer to your knowledge of course, but I think there is a thread where the fuse blew when the drl was wired downstream of the vehicle fuse block. Is yours wired before or after? I see also that certain grote models are more inclined to pop fuses - this is somehow related to a wire that is intended to go to high beams. Worth checking into.

--T

The fuse is holding so far. Fingers crossed! I had an intermittent connection in one of the headlight pods, and I wonder if that could have had something to do with it.

This won't be a major issue until about October, so I have lots of time to sort it out...

...laura

maybe the uneven or fluctuating load had something to do with it then.

I found that the factory harness had a poor ground giving me an intermittent connection so I bypassed it and made a direct ground when I rewired my headlights to 10 guage.

I'm not sure if you can get these in the right form factor, but it sounds like you need a slow-blow fuse...