Cadillac Owners Forum banner

Headlamp types

561 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Glenn06STS
I have a low beam in my '06 so eventually I'll be dealing with it. I keep reading various re-lamping threads where folks are mentioning LED & HID lamps. Are these owner-installed options or are their different builds? I assumed they were H19 or similar, but since you really can't see anything until ya remove the bumper cover...
The high & low beams both have lenses similar to half a clear billiard ball, would that be the same regardless of lamp type? I figure I 'll just change all four headlamps plus the little clear running lamps since I have no idea how long anything's been in the car and I can't see doing this more than once. At 135k miles, I'll assume the new rpl. lamps will outlast the car anyway. Thanks!
1 - 7 of 12 Posts
Here's what my headlamps look like;
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Headlamp Automotive lighting

Can it be determined what type of lamps they are by looking? The low beam has been out for 2-3 weeks, and now that it's getting warmer I figured I'd pull the front and replace all four lamps as well as the bullets & turns, just to be done with it. Then a strange thing happened Friday evening. I started the car w/remote to repark it to get a car out with all headlamps working, and both low beams were lit! As I reparked it up to another garage door, it was back to just the driver's side low beam being lit. No amount of playing with the stalk switches made the right low beam come on or flash. Hate to take the front bodywork off and discover it's not the lamp, and don't know if the current lamps are OEM. Maybe coincidence, but the other day I noticed the 3 backup ind. lamps & beeper don't do anything when I back right up to another car. Any thoughts, or things to check?
Is there a build code I should be looking for on the trunk build sticker, or wouldn't it make a difference if there's more than one type of lamp that would look the same behind those lenses and I have no idea if they were changed by previous owner? Wondering if there's a ballast I should be looking at if accessible with the front plastic still in place? Thanks!
See less See more
Thanks, I'm not sure what the 9005, H11 and 192/194 refer to, though.
I guess I'm just no good at expressing a question. Yes, I can look up the OEM, no, I have no idea what is in the car now. Thought it would be nice to be able to figure out if it still has OEM and order replacements before pulling the front off.
As far as the RPO code on the sticker, I can tell you TT6 is HID headlamps. Beyond that, I can't help.
Thanks, I think I have a pic in my phone somewhere. I'm wondering if regardless of LED HID, whatever conversion, it'd look the same from the front regarding the fisheye lens, may just have leave it until it's a little warmer than the current, "could still snow tomorrow" climate around here.
Edit; no TT6 thanks for reminding me about the trunks sticker. I've got T84 for halogens http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/2009-cadillac-sts-sts-v-rpo-codes/ but no idea other than taking the front off to see what's actually in it. Oh well, such is life :)
Thanks. I just can't seem to find a way to explain that I'm asking if all the various aftermarket headlamp choices still use the same fisheye lens with the appearance in the picture of mine. I give up, not going to waste more time on it. I'll drop it off at the dealer.
You cannot distinguish between LED, HID, or Halogen from the outside front of the housing (what is now inside). You can distinguish which type was ORIGINALLY in the housing by markings on the outside of the clear plastic.
Awesome, thank you. I've seen motorcycle headlamps where the entire inside reflector of the can was changed to go to a different type of element, and ones where a separate ballast had to be added. Some ballasts seem to be troublesome either due to build quality or installation prowess, so I was trying to find out ahead of time if I should just be jacking it up and getting underneath to look for non-stock appearing wiring anywhere.
The other day when I approached the car after a remote start, the headlamp was back on. Just that one time, and it was off again when I pulled out and waited behind another car. That's what made me wonder about a bad external ballast on an aftermarket type. Since then I've noticed the backup proximity lights and beeping isn't working and the fog lamps don't actually come on (just the dash indicator) when the stalk switch is operated. Has me thinking I may be dealing with black box issues, not a burnt out headlamp element. Thanks again for the lens clarification.
See less See more
1 - 7 of 12 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top