A Paper on the Generation One (1993-1996) Mark VIII Head Lamps
An informative document by Michael A. Binckley
Owner of a 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII (with bad lights)
There has been much concern shown in various places, most notably the 'electrical' forum of the website http://www.markviii.org, about the general lack of normal driving lighting at night on the 1993 through 1996 Lincoln Mark VIIIs, aka Generation One (Gen1) Mark VIIIs. I myself have noticed my 1995 Mark's bad lighting, and was contemplating ways to fix the problem. After much reading of the aforementioned forums, and perusing the Internet for more information, I found a great deal of different remedies, which I will get to in a while. I wanted first to address the 'why' of the problems: "Why are the lights so bad?"
What it is.
The problem is one of many factors:
Heat
Plastic
Ultraviolet exposure
Bad design
All rolled up into a nice mess. The headlight assemblies are made in such a way to be aerodynamic, functional, and "molded to the car," if you will. The lenses are attached to the reflector housing, glued and sealed. The holes in the back contain the mounts for the three lights, two 9005 series Halogen bulbs (one for low, and one for high) and a standard filament turn signal bulb.
This desired effect of a nice, low profile, curving head lamp is a good looking product, from an aesthetic standpoint, but produces many bad qualities, all of which produce the problem lighting. The Halogen bulbs used are quite hot. This is a known fact. Add in the short height of the housing, and you have a real problem. Also, inside the low beam housing, there is a diffuser, which is used to cut down the direct light from the bulb, and produce a slightly lower intensity beam.
All of these "features" of the assembly contribute to generating so much trapped heat from the bulb, the top side of the reflector material is burned away. This reduces the reflective qualities of the reflector, of course, but it also leaves a black and yellow charred area which actually absorbs some of the light. Not only is there less light being reflected from the top (and this is important in the design of the light itself), there is less light in general due to the darkened spot! The problem is so severe that I believe, given enough time, the assembly itself will actually melt away. There is simply no where for the heat to go, except up.
HERE is a picture and documentation of the damage produced by the lamp in the reflector assembly.
Univision!
This is the reason why so many 'Univision' drivers are starting to see the problems crop up in their high beams. ('Univision' has been coined in the forums as a way to describe the use of high beams only, and adjusting the assembly downward to make the high beams work as if they were low beams. The only problem would be the blue high beam indicator is always on.) Univision drivers are seeing the problem show up again in their high beams. The longer use of the high bulb has done the same thing as the low bulb: eat the reflective material and darken the top, producing less light.
Now couple these problems with the fact that the plastic clear lens tends to not only yellow with age (due to cleaning problems and Ultraviolet exposure) but also start to have hundreds of tiny stress cracks in the lens itself. The yellow dims the light again, and the tiny cracks diffuse the remaining light. The result is a dangerous situation of low lighting of the road. All in all, a pretty bad system for something that came on a $35,000-$45,000 car, don't you think?
What it is not.
It is NOT anything to with the electrical system of the car, in any way, by and large. The voltage to the lights is just fine. It's what that electricity is doing (heating the headlight assembly) that is causing the problem. Unless the heat is removed or redirected, or the part is properly protected from heat stress, the Halogen system will successfully produce the problem every single time. Glass or metal, may have been a better choice, in this case, rather than the plastic, for example, in the housing. Not the lens, it's actually not a problem, *if* it can be kept clean, and it resists chipping and such from road use.
Is there anything we can do?!?
Yep. Some measures you can take to try to remedy the bad lights are:
Brighter (and hotter) bulbs.
Cleaning of the lenses with polish (get rid of yellowing.)
Removal of the low beam diffuser.
Replacement Halogen assemblies.
Replacement HID assemblies, bulbs and ballasts (as used optionally on 1995-1996
LSC Mark VIIIs.)
Additional driving lamps
Among others, I'm sure, but these are the most prevalent. There are pros and cons with every one of these, which I'd like to address:
Relatively cheap, but...
1) Brighter bulbs, generally speaking, are also of a higher wattage, which produces more heat. While they will be brighter, they will accelerate the problem even more. In fact, there is the possibility of destruction of the assembly due to heat, the plugs and sockets for the bulb, and even electrical fire due to the higher wattage. Normal wattage for a standard 9005 Halogen bulb is 65 Watts. The same bulb is used in both the high and low beams, the diffuser and direction of the lens' prisms causing the difference in high and low. The cool blue and other bulbs usually increase the wattage to 100 watts, which is why they are a bad idea. Also on this front, the use of just about *any* Halogen bulb is pointless, as it just eats the reflector, no matter what type you pick.
2) The cleaning of the lenses would need to be done inside and out. Outside cleaning can be done with plastic polishes, or another method is to use lacquer thinner to cut plastic, and the polish with a very fine rubbing compound. The insides can be done with a mild caustic cleanser, such as CLR (not a plug, an example!) However you clean them, the effect will be marginal at best if the yellowing is slight. Heavily yellowed lenses will show some decent improvement. But all of this depends greatly on the condition of the reflector.
3) Removal of the low beam diffuser is something that has been suggested, but I'm not too sure this is truly helpful. I believe that you are going to get more of a "penlight" effect, a circle of light that doesn't do much. The diffuser is in there for a reason, proper direction of light to produce the correct light pattern, dim though it eventually may be. It is most likely some sort of safety issue regarding oncoming cars, I would guess. I will admit, any extra light in these cases is welcome, so to each his or her own on this one.
Now you're talkin' dough.
4) Replacement of the Halogen assemblies is a costly affair. Last I checked at my dealer, the assemblies are approximately $250 each, or $500 per car. Parts only, of course, installation extra, should you be so inclined. And while this will work immediately, it will just start showing the problems in a year or so. Maybe two, maybe more, but the problems *WILL* show up with new assemblies, unless Ford has changed how they are made. Reports are that they haven't.
5) Replacement HID (High Intensity Discharge) assemblies, bulbs, and ballasts seem to be the thing to do. Unfortunately, they can be as much as $1000 without installation. Further, research seems to indicate the "Check Head Lights" on the information monitor inside the car will be a common occurrence when these are installed. There are also some users of these retrofits that have solved the problem, and all who convert are happy with the results. While the Ford HIDs for 1995-1996 LSC Mark VIIIs are not as bright as some HID systems, they do work. However, again, the cost is high, and another byproduct is the word that when the bulbs fail, you are railroaded into also buying the ballasts with them as a set, at about $200 or more a bulb and ballast.
6) There are aftermarket HID lamps and ballasts available that will go into a Halogen socket. They are also nearly $1000 and more without installation. But after that, I'm sure you can just get the bulbs, as at that time, you are not locked into Ford's (and apparently Sylvania's, the maker of the HID kits) requirements of the ballast. If you can get new assemblies (or good used ones), then they should not produce as much heat, and damage the housing as the Halogens are. Plus, they'll look more "right" than the retrofits, if that matters to you.
Powerusers.
Another "fix" for the problem is to do nothing about the assemblies, bulbs, etc., and simply install some driving lamps of some kind inside the grille between the assemblies. I personally don't have a problem with this "solution" except for two things: It's not the way the car came, and the possibility still exists for an electrical fire due to the bad design. Doing this as a temporary fix is fine, I suppose, but I personally didn't care for the lights in the grille effect. One last thing: The main lamps are going to get worse and worse, so pretty soon, you're only using the driving lights. The problem still needs to be taken care of.
We're not gonna take it.
Another solution seems to be a legal one. Get Ford to admit, or get a court or the feds to agree, that the Gen1 Mark VIIIs are dangerous at night, and it is caused by a badly designed headlamp system. The only fix is to either redesign the Halogen lamp system, or replace it with a known, working fix, I.E., the HID assemblies, elements, and ballasts, and the user gets it for free. In the case it's been done already, the customer is refunded his monies by Ford. Receipts required.
As a matter of fact, as of this writing this matter is being investigated by the NHTSA. The more complaints and information we can gather in this case, the better our chances of something happening on this front. Point your browser to http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov, and fill out a Vehicle Owner's Questionnaire, or you can contact Mr. Jeff Taylor, whose last known email was jeff.taylor@nhtsa.dot.gov, and if desired, can be reached at (202) 366-6544. Again, this is last known information, you can either go to the website for more information, or go to http://www.markviii.org website's electrical forum and archives.
Conclusion:
In my opinion, the absolute best hope for the 98000+ models of Gen1 Mark VIII owners is to either buy the HID retrofit, buy a different car, or hope that Ford capitulates, or is ordered to retrofit the cars. The original design is a dangerous failure, and should be outlawed.
I will update as needed, so email me at houtex@wt.net if you have anything further I might need to add, change, or remove. Thank you!
Michael A. Binckley
Updates!
May 20, 2002: TPC10's Light Conversion page has been
removed due to circumstances beyond my control Please believe me when I
say TPC10 is in no way responsible for their removal, this was *my*
choice. All links are disabled regarding the page. Sorry for the
inconvenience.
May 9, 2002: After some research, I have found an extraordinary thing. It would appear that, to the best of my knowledge so far, the 1993 through 1996 Generation 1 Lincoln Mark VIIIs with Halogen four lamp systems are the ONLY CAR EVER OFFERED IN THE US for sale with 9005 bulbs use for low beams. All other makes and models use the 9005 for high beam in a four lamp system, and never as a low beam. Further, in the case of specifically Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles, no vehicle before or since in the three marques has had HID lamps for low beam, except the Mark VIII. Current Ford, Lincoln and Mercury production vehicles have Halogens bulbs (not 9005s for lows!) with refracting lenses or rear projection reflectors. It is further interesting that the 1996 LSC models had the HIDs in them at all, what with Ford changing the design in 1997 to a totally different system anyway. What was the point? Sure, the Marks are unique cars, but that's REALLY unique...
April 21, 2002: TPC10, a person who owns a 1995 Mark VIII, and is posting to the forums at www.markviii.org, had his Halogens converted to HID assemblies for virtually free! You can find the information and pictures HERE.
April 3, 2002: Reporting the problem to Ford may also help. You can contact them through various ways using this link. You can probably also contact them through a dealership. It's been reported that Ford is not acknowledging or aware of any problems with the lights, and is also reporting they have no other complaints. They then are requesting VIN numbers from other owners to prove it's not an isolated incident. This information is from various other owners, and not Ford. I will be investigating the matter. If Ford requires VINs, so be it. We'll get them, I bet.
Here's the NHTSA's toll free number:
1-888-DASH-2-DOT, or 1-888-327-4236, 8:00AM to 10:00PM ET Monday-Friday
List of MAIN DOCUMENT updates:
May 20, 2002: Removed TPC10's Light Conversion page.
May 9, 2002: Research regarding use of 9005 bulbs as low only in Gen1 Mark
VIIIs.
April 21, 2002: Added pictures and information regarding TPC10's '95 Mark
VIII: HERE.
April 3, 2002: Added hyperlink to second document showing damage to
reflectors: HERE.
April 2, 2002: Corrected wattage of 9005 from 55 to 65 Watts; added
hyperlinks.
March 21, 2002: Original document.
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All content contained Copyright (c) 2002 by Michael A. Binckley, all rights reserved. You know what that means. If you use it for money, I want a share, so contact me first.