Difference in headlights between years?

[entirelyturbo]

While I was putting my new bumper cover on today, I put some used headlights on, both from eBay but from separate auctions/separate sellers.

I don't remember exactly what year car the sellers said they were from, but there are remarkable differences between not only each other, but from my originals.

The passenger one I got had a grey casing in the back of the headlight, while the driver one had a black casing.

Also, there is one thing they have in common that is a big difference from my originals. On my originals, the bulb was held in place by a rotating pin of sorts that attached under the bulb and clipped above the bulb. These new headlights I bought both have a retainer that kinda screws onto the headlight. Unfortunately, the passenger one was quite bare. It, in fact, did not come with the bracket that bolts to the core support. I had to take my old one and reuse it. This one didnt come with the bulb retainer, either. The driver came with everything.

So I will have to go get a retainer somewhere.

Anyway, my point: Why is there a difference? Did I happen to get two `90 headlights that were designed differently than my original `91's? Or is it a conspiracy of some sort?

[vrg3]

It's possible that one of the lights you bought was from a Japan-manufactured 1990 Legacy and the other was from a US-manufactured 1990 Legacy. It would be reasonable to think those two cars would both be different from yours. Just speculation, though.

[entirelyturbo]

Okay, I went to the dealer (again ) the other day, and ordered one of these collars that holds the bulb in...

The 90-91's were supposed to have this collar thingy and the 92-94's were supposed to have the swinging metal retainer thingy.

So why did my 91 have the swinging metal retainer thingy????

[Legacy777]

see this is what I had thought when you talked to me......I just found it very strange that your 91 had the clip......

Someone probably put it on and didn't know any better.....

[vrg3]

Yeah, you never know the history of some used parts... A lot of the time people have several incomplete parts and put them together to make one complete one. Someone may have figured a 1992 headlight's pieces would fit on a 1991 headlight.

I would suggest that you be sure to get the correct fasteners on. The bulbs used are different so the retaining mechanism would be sub-optimal, and you really don't want your bulbs mounted in the wrong place (even if it's slight; the optics get screwed up badly) or wiggling around while you drive.

[entirelyturbo]

Josh, look at the picture I sent you. There were holes for the clips to install in to, and there were tapered edges for the upper end of the clip to slide onto. This was not a ghetto-rigging! vrg3, if you want me to send you a pic too, I can do that.

It is simply impossible to put the metal clip where the plastic collar goes. And you can't take the back piece out of a 92-94 light and fit it to a 90-91 front, coz the shape is too different.

If it were a ghetto-rig, that would explain it. But this is the way it was made from the factory!

Furthermore, don't the 92-94's use H4 bulbs? Isn't that what you told me Josh? Yet my connector only fits the 9004 bulb...

I did get a collar from the dealer, so all bulbs are firmly placed in the headlight, don't worry, I know better than to leave it sitting in there by goodwill alone

What the hell is going on here ???

[vrg3]

Yeah, I'd be interested in seeing a picture... Actually, Josh, could we get you to put it in your web space?

[entirelyturbo]

I sent him a pic, but he's moving and his site will be down for a while as I understand...

vrg3, your BC5 is a 93 right? Does it take H4 bulbs or 9004 bulbs?

[vrg3]

It's a BC6, but yes, it's a 1993, and yes, it takes H4 bulbs.

All 1992-1994 US-model BC/BFs have harmonized DOT/ECE lights that use these bulbs. H4, 9003, or HB2 (which are all the same bulbs).

[entirelyturbo]

Okay, now I'm really stumped.

My car is a 91 that takes 9004 bulbs. I haven't tried, but I doubt the H4 bulb will fit in the 9004 harness connector. Apparently, the H4 bulb is supposed to be held in place by the metal clip and the 9004 is supposed to be held in place with the plastic collar. Yet my 9004 bulb was in place with the metal clip.

It's still weird enough that my 91 has the metal clip only reserved for the 92-94's according to you all and the dealer.

I threw out one of those old headlights, because the bottom was covered in overspray from the body shop's sloppy work. I kept the other one to keep as an example. Now I think I shoulda kept em both, since they're so unusual...

[evolutionmovement]

My '90 has the plastic collar, but I can't remember which bulb it used... I believe it was 9004, though. Car's still in body shop, so I can't go look.

Steve

[vrg3]

Yeah, subyluvr2212, you shoulda hung on to it. :)

It's possible that it was neither OEM nor a ghetto-rig but rather a careful bit of body work and fabrication.

The 9004 and H4 connectors are indeed different; the bulbs are completely different. 9004s have a transverse filament (which in general is a bad thing when you're trying to make reflector headlights) while H4s have axial filaments. The H4 also has a shield for its low beam filament to make it possible to have a horizontal cutoff. It wouldn't make any sense even if you could fit one bulb in the other's place.

Incidentally, the H4 connector is the same as that for most sealed beams, though the pin assignments are at least sometimes different.