Windshield Wipers and Headlights

Headlights and wipers. They always seem to go together. Which makes sense, since most accidents happen in low visibility situations. In fact, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 50% of traffic-related fatalities occur in the dark, despite only 25% of traffic traveling during darkness. Good visibility is what avoids accidents. This is why many car makers have daytime running lights as a standard safety feature.

So with winter fast approaching, and my wipers and headlights fast deteriorating, I decided it was time for some routine maintenance. I’m not sure what a repair shop would charge for this job, but I am sure that it would probably be shockingly expensive. And this is a very easy and inexpensive job to do yourself. The high performance winter wipers cost $8 each and took 30 seconds to install and the super bright headlights cost $14 (regular versions were $8) and took 1 minute to install. Here’s how you do it:

Headlights come in two basic styles. The old style, which consists of a sealed beam unit where you replace the entire lens assembly (mostly on older cars) and the new style, where the lens assembly is fixed in the car and you replace the bulb only (found on newer cars). Headlight technology has changed a lot in recent years (and if you want a detailed description of the styles and history of headlights, click here). The new styles reduce glare, increase visibility and look pretty cool too. With new and old headlights, it’s always a good idea to replace them in pairs as beam quality inevitably degrades over time.

The bulbs-only style can usually be replaced easily and quickly without needing to adjust the beam angle. Check your manual for the exact procedure, but on most cars there is a plug on the back end of the headlight assembly which can be accessed through the engine compartment. Simply unplug the old bulb, undo a clip holding the bulb in place, remove the old bulb and slide in the new one. They usually have a notch on them so they fit in the housing assembly correctly. This is necessary as bulbs have several different filaments, each which must point to a specific reflector in the headlight assembly for the headlamp to function correctly. Be careful not to touch the glass part of the new bulb during installation (the oils on your fingers can cause the bulb to heat up and burn out prematurely) and be sure to replace the rubber plug over the bulb unit in the engine compartment (because if moisture gets into the headlight, you’ll get a foggy headlamp and you’re in for a pricey replacement).
Replacing the old headlamp assembly, like mine, is even easier. On my car the headlights are held in place with a flexible bracket which has four screws holding it onto the car. Simply unscrew two of the four screws, bend up the bracket, remove the old headlight and unplug the electrical plug. Then put in the new headlight assembly, reinstall the plug and reinstall the screws. Unlike the bulb only replacement, you will need to realign the headlights because the lamp will not sit in the housing in the exact same way as the old one did. If you look on the sides of the lamp there will be a screw behind the mounting bracket on the top and side of the lamp. Tightening or loosening these screws will tilt the headlamp up and down and side to side. Check your manual for the proper headlamp alignment for your vehicle, but aiming them at a wall at night is a usually a good way to tell if one of your lamps is askew.Windshield wipers are hot right now. Hollywood even just made a movie about them, called Flash of Genius. If you doubt the transcendent genius of the windshield wiper, watch the movie and try driving in the rain without them, just not near me. But when the rubber blades start to wear out and you get chattering, squeaky and streaky wipers, it’s time for a replacement. I’ll be replacing my wipers with winter blades which is heavy duty and especially good at removing snow and ice. They cost marginally more and are worth every penny if you live in a snowy area.

First, find out what size wipers you need for your car. It’ll usually be around 14-18 inches. For the vast majority of cars there are three attachment systems but most replacement wipers have clasps that fit all four styles. The first style is the male pin arm (shown in the picture), where there is a 3/16th inch pin on the arm which is inserted into the blade assembly and snaps into place. The hook arm style has a hook which slides around the clip and snaps into place. The bayonet arm is a flat arm with a small pin which snaps onto the wiper blade. Lastly there is the female pin arm which has a small hole at the end of the wiper arm through which a pin attaches to the wiper blade. If you’re unsure which blades fit your car (some might not be universal) then ask your auto parts store clerk to help you find the right one. They can also explain how the snap works on the replacement blades. This is a very easy job which anyone can do themselves.