Headlight/ Parts

Car headlight function

If you've ever had your headlights fail at night or part of your lighting system didn't work properly, then you know how dark it really is at night without lights. The road seems to disappear into nothingness, making it almost impossible to drive safely in such a situation. This makes it all the more clear how important functional car headlights are. These are an essential component of vehicle lighting and are permanently installed in the front of a vehicle. Thanks to their bright luminosity, the headlights ensure that the road is well illuminated in the direction of travel, even in the dark and in bad weather. As a result, you are able to see the road ahead as well as potential obstacles and danger spots more clearly, even in the rain or in the dark. The vehicle lighting also has a signalling effect, making you visible to all other road users. Due to these important functions, the functionality of the headlights is of fundamental importance when it comes to road safety.

What kind of headlights are there?

Various headlights are installed on a car to optimally illuminate the road depending on the conditions and also to make your vehicle as visible as possible to other road users. The front and main headlights contain the headlights and dipped headlights. In most cases, a structural unit comprises main headlights, parking lights, main-beam headlights and cornering lights. However, there are also systems on the market in which, in addition to these headlights, the turning light for indicating the direction of travel is also built into the headlights. There are also models in which the turning lights and the main beam are not part of the main headlights and are integrated as separate components in the front of the vehicle. All these headlights, regardless of whether they are realised in different components or as a single component, must comply with the rules laid down in the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations.

Apart from these regulations, however, manufacturers are very flexible when it comes to the shape and technology of headlights. And as the headlights are an integral part of the front end of a car, they play a key role in determining the design and appearance of a vehicle. For this reason, great importance is attached to appealing aesthetics in addition to compliance with the applicable regulations when developing and manufacturing them. This is because the headlights not only convey a certain dynamism as part of the appearance of a car, but also power and vitality. In addition to these different types of headlights, a distinction is also made between the different lamps with which the headlights are operated. Halogen is a classic among the lights used. Here, a filament inside a glass housing is energised with electricity to produce light. Xenon lamps have also been on the market for a little longer, but are much more modern than halogen bulbs. Here, the filament is replaced by a gas filling in the housing. This gas filling is ignited with the aid of two electrodes, producing a flame with a very bright light. The most modern variant among the lights is the LED headlamp, which is operated with many small light-emitting diodes.

What defects occur in headlights and how can they be repaired?

Headlights and in particular the light sources required for them can fail after a certain time due to their limited service life. For example, the filament of halogen bulbs burns out after a certain time. Xenon lights and LED lights may last considerably longer, but after a certain period of use they will also fail due to wear and tear. The same phenomenon also occurs with the headlights themselves, whose mounting elements also wear out after some time. However, these can be easily replaced with new, functional mounting elements. You can also easily repair broken reflectors or a cracked headlight housing yourself without much effort. You should only rely on the advice of experts in a workshop if the headlamp wiring is defective. The same applies to the replacement of defective xenon lights and LED lights. Due to their fixed wiring, these should also be replaced by a specialist.