[abhinav.s]

Thanks to Mr. SreeHarsha, a good friend and fellow Figo Tdci owner for his feedback on this issue.

Have been fighting with Ford for close to a year now on the headlight issue. They claim that they have rectified the issue with newer batches but the same shoddy quality headlamps are fitted even now after almost 2 years. So chances are that the replacement headlights will also likely start having the same issue. This is issue is NOT due to High beam alone and mostly due to the usage of Low beam itself during the city drives. Have also tried to reach the OEM vendor direct for feedback but was unable to elicit a response from them with regards to this issue.

I tried 100/90 set up first which is a strict no for the new Figo headlights. Reverted quickly to stock rating but still faced an issue about a year since purchase. Replaced under warranty. Then tried a projector set up which ruined the headlight. For the benefit of fellow owners please avoid getting after-market projectors in the headlamps; the quality is not upto the mark and will cause the headlight to get damaged completely when attempting the projector install. Finally purchased a set of headlights at my own cost and running a custom 100/55 set up with wiring and relay kit currently. Not seeing any issues with this set up so far. Fingers crossed!!

Also a good point made by skanchan - maybe a cut out at the point where the reflector is getting burnt is the solution which is overlooked by Ford? Is this something that can be done DIY or aftermarket maybe?
@Blackbandit, the Sports variant headlight is also manufactured by the same OEM vendor with no improvements to the reflector build quality and only cosmetic changes.

[jetti]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

One thing I have noticed with our Grand i10's headlamp cluster today is that right above the headamp bulb, there is a cut out and it has no reflective surface in that area (corresponding spot in the cluster where the reflector has a white patch in the Figo).

Good observation. Can you post a picture of it here? As abhinav.s suggested, we can think of DIY solution as the replacement reflectors are burning out too.

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Also a good point made by skanchan - maybe a cut out at the point where the reflector is getting burnt is the solution which is overlooked by Ford? Is this something that can be done DIY or aftermarket maybe?
...

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by jetti

Good observation. Can you post a picture of it here? As abhinav.s suggested, we can think of DIY solution as the replacement reflectors are burning out too.

Here is our three year old Grand i10's Headlight cluster pic. No torched white patch in it inspite of our Grand i10's age and that it is driven around more(compared to our Figo).


Just above the bulb, there is a cutout and the area around it is non-reflective. Not sure what the purpose of the cutout is, but it may serve as a vent to dissipate heat produced by the bulb.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by tharian

If it was a 100w bullb, it will burn a hole in the reflector.

What I'll say is, revert to 60/55W bulbs, take the car to Ford and get it replaced under warranty.

If you go with 100/90W bulb they'll use that as an option to deny warranty.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

What I'll say is, revert to 60/55W bulbs, take the car to Ford and get it replaced under warranty.

If you go with 100/90W bulb they'll use that as an option to deny warranty.

@Tharian is using the 60/55W bulbs itself but Philips Extreme Vision IIRC. So it should ideally not have burnt out like that.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

If you go with 100/90W bulb they'll use that as an option to deny warranty.

This reminds me of a similar excuse that Hyundai used to make to deny steering rack replacement under warranty over the first gen i20 steering rattle issue.

The i20 owners who had upsized to 195 section tyres(from factory fitted 175 or 185 section tyres), were denied warranty claim/steering rack replacement stating that upsized tyres caused steering rattle to crop up in their cars. The cause for the steering rattle issue was defective design, not upsized tyres.

Similarly, the cause for this white torched patch on the Ford Headlamp cluster may be poor design or poor materials used in manufacturing it. If higher wattage bulb was the cause, then guys like me who never even thought of upgrading to a higher wattage bulb, should not have had the issue, but we do.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

@Tharian is using the 60/55W bulbs itself but Philips Extreme Vision IIRC. So it should ideally not have burnt out like that.

Oops. Apologies, I misread his post. Thanks for correction.

[Thilak29]

I have got mine replaced couple of months ago, when Figo review thread started mentions. I am surprised it is popping up now for larger discussions.
My replacement involved bit of rolling conversations between Ford - Service station and myself. I still use stock lamps, I may change to better ones with same rating though.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by blackbandit

We had a doubt that the sports model might have something updated. But your case clearly shows that even the sports model is not spared

The old Figo I had was running on 100/90 lamps for almost 7 year's I used the car. There was no degradation of reflectors at all except the glass showing some minute cracks towards the end.

I don't think I'll be going for a warranty replacement especially since the new ones have the same issue.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by tharian

I don't think I'll be going for a warranty replacement especially since the new ones have the same issue.

Yup, good idea to wait it out until confirmed reports of the replacement being better in quality is received. No point going for replacement for the new pair to burn out a few months down the line!

[Venkat_Figo]

Does this patch/burn have an effect on the throw or intensity of the headlights? Has anyone experienced it?

If there is no such effect, owners might as well wait till the new better quality batch of reflectors arrive.

[NaXal]

Originally Posted by Venkat_Figo

Does this patch/burn have an effect on the throw or intensity of the headlights? Has anyone experienced it?

LHS has more of that (burn mark) compare to RHS in my Aspire and I can notice the difference clearly with intensity of the light being less at LHS output.

There are no change with throw in any of the side but intensity in LHS is a lot lower compare to RHS.

Though both of my headlights suffer from this issue, but strangely for my car, the damage in LHS is more than RHS.

[Vid6639]

The point where the reflector is getting burnt is where the low beam is pointed at. You can see the shield which points upwards in the H4 bulb. That's the low beam. That portion of reflector is also one of the most important cause max light and heat are focussed towards that and it's job is to reflect that onto the road smack bang and centre. The sides then also angle towards that point. So this is clear case of quality issue with the design.

[blackbandit]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

@Tharian is using the 60/55W bulbs itself but Philips Extreme Vision IIRC. So it should ideally not have burnt out like that.

Anything other than the stock osram bilux 55/60 bulbs will be held against you during warranty claim. Suggesting everyone who have changed bulbs to revert to your stock osram bilux bulbs before going for a claim.

[blackbandit]

A small tip to detect the issue when it's not easily visible based on my observation

Well in some cars that I noticed it's hard to see the patch because it is in its initial stage. The patch is never visible under sufficient light during the day. But yes it was clearly visible when kept under shade. So some useful steps to detect the issue in its initial stages

1. Make sure your car is parked in shade and observe closely.
2. This step will surely help. Switch on the headlamps at night and see inside. You will be able to clearly tell if your cluster is affected. The light will be focused more on the spot. Posting a photo for reference.