Head Light Plugs Melted, 1991 300E
 

My 1991 300E's head lights keep going out,, i look at the plg and it is obvious that the plugs are melting,, what should i do to correct this, and can someone give me the part numbers for the plugs??

I think eBennz has some "heavy duty" plugs for sale. I'll probably upgrade to these when i get higher wattage headlights for my Euros.

Whats the link to Ebenz?

ebennz is a member here. I'm sure he'll see this post soon and reply to it ;)

evan

3 questions to start

1. do you have euro loghts-H4 bulb?

2.what brand of bulbs and what is the wattage of the bulbs you are using ?

3. when you're checking do you smell a plastic smell or a funny electrical smell?

peter

I bought these sylvania super whites $24 a piece... had no problems for a year then my head light went out,, i wiggled the plug and it went back on, it continued to go on and off over the next couple weeks.. Now i cant keep the damn lights to stay on, i have replaced the OEM bulbs and no difference... i need new plugs.. i do spell light electrical burn when i smell the plug and the plastic looks as though it has bubbled.... any ideas?

I bet the wattage of the super whites are much higher than OEM!
 

That caused the problem. Since you need new plugs, get the "heavy duty" and go from there.

OK sounds good, where can i get the heavy duty plugs and how much are they? also what is involved with installation?

This is a common problem on cars which take the USA ridiculous 9004 and 9007 bulbs
 

even with the standard wattage, because the contacts are badly designed. It helps a lot to regularly spray the contacts on the bulb and the socket with some expensive electronic contact cleaner.

See if you can find a NAPA auto parts store. They carry a replacement bulb socket for W124s that looks cheap but is supposed to be made of a more heat-resistant plastic. Requires some cutting and soldering to install.

I got some from an auto electrical repair shop -- High temp and heavy duty for about $7 a piece. They came prewired with 10" or 12" wire tails. I cut and used crimp on splices. I did not pull the unit and rewire the whole thing as I felt this was overkill. My local dealer said they see this all the time on the W124, and as the MB repair is $Hundreds, they also offer a non MB repair to their customers, which is the cut and crimp slice method.

Thanks i found this link that looks like it will work,, its used for a ford truck but is very similar

http://www.eurekaboy.com/f250/harness.htm

this is good for someone looking to get brighter lights as it appears

i guess you don't have euro lights.

i still would like to know the WATTAGE of what you were using??


the ONLY WAY to get better lights, is to get euros, period.

there is enough info here [use 'search' feature] on euros, to have you dreaming about them when you sleep

It's obvious that you are running high wattage bulbs. More light improvement can be had by the use of Euro headlights than by high power bulbs. The reflector and lens configuration are everything. This allows you to have good lighting without the electrical component killing high wattage bulbs. Replace your headlight sockets, put in standard wattage bulbs and hope that no other electrical components fail because of this excessive current situation.

Good luck,

I'm with Ebennz.

Quit monkeying around with different bulbs and get rid of your worthless original headlights and invest in some Euro's so you can see where your going.

The difference in light output is mind-boggling.

What's more, they look much better that the U.S. lights.