It seems the passing and hi beams are switched. Is there a way to change that? While the hi beams are used the lows should be on as well, but the lows shut off when the his are on. When I use the passing lights all of the lights are on together and it is 5x brighter, i.e. what the hi beams should be doing.Again, can that be changed?

 

That's exactly how my HHR (and all my other cars) work.

It might even be technically illegal to have both high and low beams on continuously.

Having the high and low beam filaments (in the same bulb/housing) on at the same time for long periods might even damage the headlights from high heat levels.

I doubt this can be change easily (programming), you would have to do some hard wiring to make it happen.

Steve

 

The U.S. does not have passing lights, in fact, most drivers think it is impolite to flash the hi beams when passing. Sounds like you are used to the Autobahn.

Cars with 4 headlight don't what you want either. Hi beams are all 4 bulbs, low beams are 2 bulbs only. Its been a long time since I drove one, I'm pretty sure flashing causes all 4 to turn on, maybe not.

 

In my day we called them Hi beam and Low beam.

Low beam for all city driving and Hi Beam for anything else where you need better vision.

Pull up to your garage door and turn on the lights after the sun goes down and you will see exactly what happens on each beam.

Also if they have been adjusted at some point they could be out of "factory specs"

SF

 

Welcome to the site! I installed a relay in my 1988 Chevy pickup, on low beam just the outside bulb would light, in high beam all four bulbs lite up!
Now on or little buggies, they have wiring and relays and power through the BCM, so that kind of setup could cause problems or even a fire, so I didn't mess with it!

 

X2, the wiring and the BCM(Body Control Module), that's the "brain" which controls the non-powertrain functions in your HHR, could end up fried.

P.S. aboard!

 

If your hi beams alone aren't bright enough for you, sounds like they are out of adjustment or the lens covers may be hazy.

My factory stock headlights are very bright and put out plenty of light with the hi beams on.

 

Great point FMG, it could be that and low lumen bulbs or even ageing bulbs.

 

Excellent points George & Oldblue, the bulbs have a lifespan after which they will lose efficiency due to filament deposits "plating" the inside of the bulb capsule.

And in the Southern states especially, I'm seeing more HHR's from the '06-"09 model years with yellowed lenses, or cataracts as the detailers call 'em.

Luckily, both OEM and Aftermarket headlamp assemblies are not That expensive, and some of the lens polishing kits do a fairly good job at fixing yellowed lenses for a while.

 

The temperature the filament runs at is dependent on the balance of heat loss from the glass of the bulb with the heat produced by the filament. Running both at once would raise the filament temperature to the point that the bulb life would be very short - even if the extra heat didn't damage the reflector and bulb holder. That's why the superwhite bulbs you can buy have a short life - they run the filament at a temperature where a greater proportion of the power is converted to visible light.
The headlights on mine are really bright to the extent that I often get flashed to dip my headlights when they're already dipped (and correctly adjusted), Part of that is that I've been polishing the haze off the lenses so they're still clear. The first part of the lens that fogs is the UV protective coating - once you polish this off the remaining material fogs quicker, so it's a downward spiral to a new headlamp after a couple of times.