My Hyundai Elantra is eating headlight bulbs. Anyone know why?

good question, here are some bst cause's

a) touching bulb (You answered)

b) Bulb getting wet or oil on it (Seal)

c) Vibration mounting not working

d) bad bulb mfg try an alernate mfg at auto parts store(really)

e) some sort of charging system problem where alt is overcharging

the circut causing bulbs to burn out. this has happened on older cars.

hope this helps, most are easy to check

2008 Hyundai Elantra Headlight Bulb

Hyundai Sonata Headlight Bulb

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

My Hyundai Elantra is eating headlight bulbs. Anyone know why?

Ever since I got this car (2003 Elantra) we have had to replace the low beam bulbs at least once every 6 months. Is there a special fuse we should use? We are not touching the bulb during installation, so why should they burn out so fast?

My 2004 GT5 Elanta and my 2008 Santa Fe both have the H7 light bulbs and both eat them like they are free! I get 3 months on average, but I do run with my lights on. There are a couple of issues that cause this, one is the H7 bulb. It's a piece of donkey doodoo. Second, both vehicles have the same sealed light bezzel assembly. The lights give off a lot of heat and there is no venting in these bezzels. Third, dirt. As the bezzel lens get dirty with age (both inside and out) they reduce the amount of light that can pass through the bezzel increasing the internal heat. These vehicles did not start eating bulbs until the bezzels started to show wear, then the frequency increased with age. My understanding is that newer Hyundai vechicles are not using the H7 bulb.

Because it is a 2003 Hyundai Elantra

Consumer Reports 2008 Car Edition says

2003 Hyundai Elantra

Engine Major Pretty Good

Engine Minor Not Great

Engine Cooling Pretty Bad

Trans Major Pretty Good

Tans Minor Pretty Good

Drive System Pretty Good

Fuel System Pretty Good

Electrical Pretty Good

Climate Syst Pretty Good

Suspension Pretty Good

Brakes Pretty Good

Exhaust Very Good

Paint/Trim Very BAD

Body Integrity Pretty Good

Body Hardware Pretty Good

Power Equipm Not Great

Audio System Pretty Good

That totally doesn't answer your question

But I'm sitting at home with Pneumonia and have nothing else to do

So I figured I'd report that for you

Does the fuse burn out as well as the bulb?

Are you putting the correct type of bulb in the correct spot?

Like, high beams in low beams or low beams in high beams spot?

I don't know

I would walk up to the Hyundai and start yelling at it and say, if you eat another bulb, no more oil changes for you, Mr. Hyundai!....Then you see your bulbs won't be burning out anymore....It works all the time on my 93 geo tracker, just yell at it and it won't bring down...Mine hasn't broken down for about 3 years now when I started yelling at it...Good Luck!

I have a 2004 and have the same problem. once a year I have to replace either the left or the right bulb.

Check two things first, one and most probably the cause, is to check the output voltage of the alternator. Next check the ground to the headlights, and if your car is using a ballast or transformer to power the lights, check output voltage there also.

Peggy