headlight shutter

[DonST]

On my 2014 RT-S SM6, the left "high beam" went out last Sunday. Since the "low beam" worked, and I did not know or remember anything about a shutter system in the headlights, I thought the high beam filament was burnt out. This seemed to be confirmed by the fact the owner's manual says a H4 bulb is used in the headlights. The H4 has both low and high beam filaments ( as used in my Honda ST 1300 and Gold Wing 1500's). So I bought an H4 bulb before "denuding" the Spyder to get the headlight out.

What to my wondering eyes but an HB3 was in the headlight. Only one filament ,that was intact. So a search on this and another Spyder website educated me on the shutter system used in the Spyders headlight. Apparently a shutter closes off half (?) the beam for "low beam" and raises it so full light is emitted for "high beam". One site said the clunk heard when flipping between beams is the solenoid controlling the shutter.

My Spyder is now with a local dealer. The service manager has initiated a warranty claim for the shutter with BRP after checking two fuses and a relay , and hearing a "rattling" of something loose/brooken in the headlight after it was removed at BRP's direction.He said the whole headlight assembly will have to be replaced.

Has anyone had this problem in the past?

[Cruzr Joe]

I have not heard about this problem before ............................ But anything man made is subject to breaking.


Cruzr Joe

[billybovine]

That's a new one. The shutter system seems to be very reliable.

[4 MARIE]

Just the thought of a mechanical apparatus between your light
and the highway IS bizarre.

If it was such a "whippy" idea, it would be on every car on the road.
It's QUIRKY, like our starting drill.

Would a little MAINSTREAM really kill BRP ?

[DonST]

Just the thought of a mechanical apparatus between your light
and the highway IS bizarre.

If it was such a "whippy" idea, it would be on every car on the road.
It's QUIRKY, like our starting drill.

Would a little MAINSTREAM really kill BRP ?

I am told some high end cars have headlight shutters. Definitely not " mainstream".

[Bob Denman]

GMC is currently using a shutter system... on their truck line-up.

[billybovine]

GMC is currently using a shutter system... on their truck line-up.

I see they are on the Ford Mustang and Taurus for 2016 models.

[SpyderAnn01]

I had one go on my 2010 RT. It had been temperamental before finally quitting and was replaced under warranty.

[Sam Mac]

Oh Goody, something else to take a crap...............

[robmorg]

GMC is currently using a shutter system... on their truck line-up.

I see they are on the Ford Mustang and Taurus for 2016 models.

Yep, my 2013 GMC Acadia SUV has projector headlights with the shutter, but I don't hear the shutter "clunk" , like I do on my Spyder. They've also been on the Ford Taurus since at least 2013. (You can find all kinds of complaints on the Internet by Ford owners about how "clunky" those shutters are.)

These "Projector Headlights", with single lamps and shutters, are apparently becoming the "new trend" in automotive lighting technology. From what I've read, the advantages are...

• They are small and people like how they look - the style complements the new LED headlight module trim found on most late model automobiles.
• They offer a very bright focused light that comes to a pre-determined focal point in front of the vehicle (rather than being scattered) That offers very good visibility in high beam mode. (That's certainly true on my Spyder RT.)
• When you have "low beams" on, the shutter will divert the light down and to the right (or left in some countries) - away from driver's eyes in oncoming traffic.

There is a company called "Spyder Automotive" (no relationship with BRP) that makes these as aftermarket items to replace the current headlight modules on many late model automobiles. See here. Other companies make shutter bypasses that police and emergency vehicles can use with wig-wag headlight modules, if they have vehicles with projector headlights. (I'd LOVE one of those bypass kits and a headlight modulator on my Spyder for daytime use.)

So apparently, whether we like these new fangled headlights or not, they will likely be around for at least the next several years. Perhaps they will eventually go the way of the push-button transmissions of the early 1960's.

[GeoffCee]

... different countries have different configurations of the lights.

Anyone that has taken a moment and noticed that the headlight aiming cables are mounted on a bracket would recall there are two available mounts on the bracket. HB and LB. Here in the US we only use one of the two. In some countries the second cable is mounted to what seems to be the US version of the fog light housing.

Also, these other countries have different headlight housings.

I would need to check again, but I thought they were using the fog light housing for the low beam, and a non shutter headlight housing as high beam.

Regardless, with 3200 lumens of quality light in each headlight, and two more 3200 lumens in each fog light. I no longer really even bother with high beam.

When I verified the aiming of the lights, I also verified the fog lights, which are now basically white driving lights are aimed properly also.

All the best with you repair, sounds pretty simple. Sorry for rambling on...

PK

Can't fault your observation skills or your logic, PK!

The UK is one of those "different countries" of which you speak and as you rightly said, (to meet UK lighting regs), BRP uses the lower pair of lamp housings for low beam and the higher pair for main beam.
Aside from simplicity, the main advantage this has over a mechanical shutter system is the ability to differentially aim the 4 beams so that each illuminates the near and far distances of the road to best effect.

The low beams come on with the ignition and so are always lit, (motorcycles, etc, must have permanent daylight running lights by law in Europe), but a further peculiarity of BRP thinking, as you switch over to main beam the low beam lamps go out! Switching of light positions and brightness can be confusing for approaching traffic at night because, (so far as I'm aware), no other vehicle on our roads shares this arrangement!

[GeoffCee]

Curious, can you explain further/

Is the low beam used only as a day time running light or is it a night time headlight?

Is your main beam a no shutter or shuttered light assembly?

If the main beam is not shuttered, does it become the high beam? I ask since I thought some versions did use a two element bulb.

Regardless, 4 housings, each pumping out a legal 3200 lumens for a combined 12,800 lumens is a huge step above the oem halogen bulbs.

As is normal, the only time it is offensive is when high beams are selected.

PK

The low beam comes on with the ignition so functions both as a running light & low beam. It goes "off" only when the high beam is selected.

The main beam is a simple un-shuttered bulb operated via the main-beam switch. There would be no point having a dual-filament bulb - the dipped filament's job has been replaced by the dedicated low beam lamp.

In the UK a normal filament bulb's illuminating power is related to the bulb's wattage. Having never had to change a dead bulb on my RT I can't say what the low and high beam wattage values are.

I haven't done this for some time but my understanding is that the only way you can have high and low beam lamps illuminated at the same time is by holding the lighting switch in the "flash a warning" position. I can't imagine why I would ever want to do that... I have never had an American licence plate up ahead!

[DonST]

Here's an update on my "shutter problems". The dealer replaced the whole headlight assembly. The warranty claim had been submitted to BRP when I picked the Spyder up on Friday. The dealer and I expect BRP to pay it.

When I got the Spyder home , I park close to the closed garage door and worked the headlights. I could definitely see that the "low" beam was the "high" beam cut off at the top. A nice straight top edge to the Low beam . Never noticed this before. Oh, and the clunk is loud and clear when switching beams.

[vided]

Thank you, now I know what the clunk is

[finless]

Comes in two's I guess. Local guy here just last week the shutter system went out on his 2014 RT.

Bob