One headlight is out on my RTV

I wonder if they make a bulb that will fit in the silver star bulbs that are supposed to be much brighter.
Mark I agree with you about the jb weld being a miracle in a tube!!

I tried the Ultra Star H11, as it looked like a match. However, the barrel of the bulb socket that enters the housing is much larger than stock and would not fit. My local AutoZone and O'Reilly's haven't a clue.

When I bought my '06 RTV900 off eGag the write up said no lights and they were true on that. I have no switch in the dash and there were no bulbs in the front assemblies, the wiring was there though. Somehow I found a conversion that said an "893" bulb would interchange with the 37W/12v description. I ordered a pair of LED equivalent 893s again from eGag. The pair cost me $12.26 including "free shipping", They are a 36 SMD LED bulb. I had to spread the two contacts in the bulb socket a little (<1/16" each) and the wiring plugged in. As soon as I get the new water pump installed and the battery reinstalled I will see if I can get them to light up.
My local dealer just tagged me $8.00 +tax shipping when I had him get me a new water hose #3, ($9.56 +tax) that connects to the bottom of the pump.
Bryce

Thanks RTO and shinnery.
I had never heard of the eGag site. Will be checking it out for sure.

....edit to add:
I can't find eGag please post a link Shinnery. I found EGAG engineering and EGAG: East Gippsland Art Gallery (Australia) ....and lots of others but no website that had bulbs.

JB Weld is my go to "fixer-upper" in many cases. Sometimes I use it because its convenient and other times because I have confidence it has the flexibility and bonding power for the job at hand. I'm thinking that most folks here on the RTV Forum have some JB on their workbenches. I have used JB Weld at one time or another to repair; several gas tanks, attach sling swivels to plastic rifle stocks, fill-in for smoothing welds, other metal and plastic bonding projects.

That reminds me, I think I need to go buy some more.

This is not an endorsement of any product... just saying what has worked well for me.

I just replaced the OEM right front head light bulb last week. It had 2,030 hours on it. We turned the lights on when we bought the machine in June 2004 and they've been on ever since. It gets used for chores at zero dark 5AM every single day. We had one bulb burn out in the accessory work lights we had put on it when we bought it. That happened last year.

From the pictures, heat seems to be related to failure in some circumstances. If that's the case, putting in a higher wattage bulb than stock doesn't make sense to me unless it's required to perform some task that can't be performed with the stock bulb. I can't imagine what that task would be - we use ours in the dark every single day, twice a day this time of year, with stock bulbs. A higher wattage bulb will run hotter in the same environment.

My inclination, if I needed more light, would be to adapt some LED work lights to the machine. Their are versions of those that are really bright and quite energy efficient.

Fitch

Doc, I think "eGag" is his euphemism for eBay, also sometimes called "FleaBay!"

Fred

+1 G..W.. I wish I had figured that out before I spent a few minutes searching...

Thanks, Thunderdome, for suggesting SilverStars. They do make them, and they seem like the safest bet. There are some good LED lights, but I'm not sure if they will give me the distance I'm looking for. I've used SilverStars and UltraStars many times, and have been very satisfied.

And a thanks to shinnery for the stock bulb number (893) I was looking for.

The bulbs in my 2004 RTV900 are GE 896 bulbs and are available at all auto parts stores and Wal-Mart for less than $10.

Plastic headlights were the stupid thing they ever came out with....older cars you can hardly see out of them.

Art454 said:

Plastic headlights were the stupid thing they ever came out with....older cars you can hardly see out of them.

Click to expand...

I don't know what you mean, after all plastic doesn't start yellowing for at least 6 months. LOL
Bryce

Clearing up haziness and scratching in plastic headlight cover is a piece of cake. Novus plastic cleaners are the solution. You can get the stuff in just about any motorcycle store or marina. We used an unbranded equivalent ... looks and smells the same ... for cleaning aircraft canopies in the Navy, and I used it (Novus 2, to be exact) forever on my motorcycle windshields. No fancy polishing equipment or power gadgets ... just apply to the light cover and polish off. This stuff works.

https://www.novuspolish.com/

Heatwave said:

Clearing up haziness and scratching in plastic headlight cover is a piece of cake. Novus plastic cleaners are the solution. You can get the stuff in just about any motorcycle store or marina. We used an unbranded equivalent ... looks and smells the same ... for cleaning aircraft canopies in the Navy, and I used it (Novus 2, to be exact) forever on my motorcycle windshields. No fancy polishing equipment or power gadgets ... just apply to the light cover and polish off. This stuff works.

https://www.novuspolish.com/

Click to expand...

Interesting.
I've been told that the foggyness in the plastic headlight covers can be fixed by rubbing with toothpaste. I was leery of the advice so I never tried it but wondering if anyone here has heard this or tried this?

Yup! Toothpaste works, Doc. So does flat top stove polish for kitchen stoves.

Doc: Yes ... toothpaste works. I'm guessing toothpastes and Novus plastic polish all contain fine bits of pumice packed in a watery paste. Sixty years ago, or thereabouts, I made a letter opener in shop class ... cut out a letter opener shape on a slab of plexiglass, then shaped it down to a thin, curved blade and sanded everything as smooth as possible, but it was still a mass of scratches. Then I went to work with a damp rag and toothpaste. It took several days of polishing, but when it was done the plexiglass letter opener was as clear as glass.

Still should have let it be glass like the old cars......then no worry about a 150 to 200 stupid plastic piece of plastic and when it gets melted.

They making more junk everyday.