Under Hood Automotive Lighting

[NightSky]

I like the M12 Rover, too. The one in the pic above. Strong magnet on the back.

 

[Bearded_Dragon]

Another vote for a good headlamp, I've given up on everything else excluding shop light.

 

[Qualitytools]

Headlamp, no shadows

 

[wyb2]

Another vote for headlamp.

Rechargeable, get a 2-pack, run them on medium or low. The 2nd will finish charging before the one on your head dies.

Ever time I try to use something else, I eventually grab the headlamp for “this one spot.” Once I have it on I sorta forget I have it on, and completely forget where any of my other lights are, because they don’t matter anymore.

 

[RTM]

I have read in the past that at age 60 you require 7 times the light that you did at age 20, so 3-1/2 times at age 40, maybe?

Geez, only 7x? I thought I had pretty good eyes, but I now have a penlight in every car, flashlights near every door to the outside, and a headlamp or three near the downstairs doors as well.

I’ve become a bigger fan of headlamps in the last 2 years as I’ve finally gotten some bright enough, with adjustable brightness levels. I bought one that runs forever on an 18650 battery, and a smaller brighter one that uses a half sized 16340 battery. It only runs about 30 minutes on high (1100lm), and gets warm. (Both Sofirn, and each with multiple batteries, and a 4 batter charger ) I usually use the little one for tight areas, and turn it down several levels so it doesn’t blind me.

I usually pair one of them with the Astro SL52 for most projects, it gives me nice light wherever, and the headlamp adds more wherever I am looking.

 

[1Bad55Chevy]

I like the M12 Rover, too. The one in the pic above. Strong magnet on the back.

I didn't know I needed this until now...

I think once I hit retirement age and I am still working I will blame Garage Journal!

 

[spyerx]

I didn't know I needed this until now...

I think once I hit retirement age and I am still working I will blame Garage Journal!

It's a really good light. I use it more than any of my others.

 

[M635_Guy]

I have the M12 underhood light. I got an open-box deal on it, and still felt like it was expensive, but it works great. It attaches easily, wonderful light dispersion/color/brightness, does not scratch the car and has very-good longevity on M12 batteries. I do wish there was an option to plug it in.

I also have the Icon bar. I already owned one light and they had a big coupon on the kit that made it almost the price of the light itself, so I got it. With two Icon lights it's vastly more light than the Milwaukee, and good color temp/etc., but it's not super-easy to mount. I would up just putting the two lights on the hood itself and haven't tried again since.

Just before I bought the Icon bar I got the (HF) Braun, which is a knockoff of the DeWalt. It has the fatal flaw with me of having the emergency flash mode, and you always hit it while cycling through. I immediately returned it. My understanding is the DeWalt does not have it, or maybe it is something you aren't required to cycle past every time you use it. It's almost $200 though. Neither the DeWalt or the Milwaukee are a great deal if you're not already on the battery platform (IMHO).

 

[bwringer]

I like the M12 Rover, too. The one in the pic above. Strong magnet on the back.

I have that one, and a different M12 light as well. They're the primary source for many jobs, with a headlamp or another light for backup.

One thing Milwaukee has done with their LED products is called TRUEVIEW; the LEDs and their output are designed for full spectrum output and accurate color perception. It makes a HUGE difference in usability when you can actually see things like wire colors correctly.

Some other brands are doing something similar, but so far the Milwaukee seems to be about the best in this regard. Most amp up the lumen rating with a harsh blueish light with lots of spectrum gaps.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

I have the Snap-On CTLUH761 (from the 14.4V range) with the padded mount and all.

I bought this in 2016 because of my rather unique (on GJ terms) situation.

I’m not going to pretend to work a lot on cars, but I know how to change a battery, transfer/exchange winter to summer washing fluid and vice versa, change a tire, (…).

The unique situation is, that we own a parking spot inside a 50 or so spots underground garage. Generally ‘working’ on cars is not permitted inside, but no one bats an eye at a battery or washing fluid exchange.

There’s no outlet except one for the janitor/ maintenance personell and all lights (except for the emergency lights) as well as the door run on timers. Lighting barely meets minimum requirements to safely get in, out & parked - but definitely not enough to do anything under the hood. You can manually switch lights back on obviously, but it’s always timed, so that gets old pretty fast.

So that was the main reason to buy the CTLUH761. I did use it two or three times for that purpose inside an otherwise pitch black garage - and I’m very happy with it.

In fact I’m so happy with it, that I use it as work light around the house, garden & sheds as well. Sometimes even with the mount, as it is easily zip tied to beams and tubes.

Additionally I have one of these Snap-On hexagon shaped stand-alone lights with magnetic base from a couple of years back, that makes a great spot light when ‘under the hood’. The magnetic base is lined so it doesn’t scratch.

My ScanGrip headlight I only purchased years later, I like it as complimentary/navigating light, but wouldn’t want to miss the CTLUH761.

Technology is advancing so fast, I just wanted to participate in this thread with a bit of information, I guess overall the CTLUH761 is not really comparable to what is available today anymore.

Still I would always prefer a bar light over a spot light for general/ and ambient lighting.

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[1Bad55Chevy]

It's a really good light. I use it more than any of my others.

I can see that as a nice addition to my Milwaukee LED stick light. I originally bought the stick light for under dash/interior work but it's so bright and versatile I use it for a lot of other things. The rover will a much better light for smaller under hood jobs.

On a side note I have forgotten my M12 under body light under a vehicle now twice. The magnets on it are so strong it made it through both test drives!

 

[N8sToolz]

I own the M12 under hood light, nice & bright, attaches nicely not to mar the painted surfaces and I own a bunch of M12 batteries. I work fairly slow on my vehicles so sometimes rechargeable lights won’t last long enough at my speed. I have dual power M12/M18 tower LED lights as an alternative.

I have a couple amazon 5.0 knock off batteries that I use exclusively for the underhood light. Will get me right about 8 hours.

 

[Sumboodie]

The M12 I have works nice.

Would be handy if it had the ability to plug to 120v too, but batteries last decent, maybe 4-5hrs.

 

[Beerhippie]

Headlamps. I use the ones that have swapable batteries--my newest uses CR18650s (most of the 18650s I have are salvaged from "dead" computer or tool battery packs--it only takes one bad cell for the entire pack to stop working and the rest are usually fine, especially for a headlamp). Over an hour run-time at reasonable brightness, a few seconds to swap batteries. My current ones are Fenix.

 

[M635_Guy]

My M12 light at work:

 

[charbar]

I have the Milwaukee M12 underhood work light as well but rarely use the actual light because I have to swap batteries so often. The bigger batteries are the answer to this but I've never bothered to buy any since I already have so many 1.5, 2.0, 3.0 and XC3.0 batteries.

I have a pile of the $12 four foot l.e.d. 120v shop lights so I hung one from the Milwaukee extendable hood bar and I now have more light than that Milwaukee could dream of making and don't get aggravated that I have to change the battery for the fifth time today because it died while I was waist deep in an engine bay. The Milwaukee light itself is still handy for a lot of things though.

 

[Y00PER]

I have read in the past that at age 60 you require 7 times the light that you did at age 20, so 3-1/2 times at age 40, maybe?

I think it's 3x, not 7x @ 60. I used to just use the drop lights that were under the hood, now they don't have those any more

 

[M635_Guy]

The Milwaukee light itself is still handy for a lot of things though.

I had it on the ground while I was dropping the subframe in my Mini, and it was pretty great - a lot of omnidirectional light. I used it when I was exploring the attic of my "new" house too

 

[Coloshaver]

Headlamp

This. ^^^

Very little under the hood of a modern car is iron/steel so there is virtually never a good place to stick a magnet. It seems that everything I need to see is in a shadow of whatever light I can hang somewhere.

My brother gave me one of these: The diffuse light from the LED band reduces shadows and has been my go to now for months. There are several brands, but this style has been the solution for me.

 

[Coloshaver]

A recent thread in "Tools" with almost the same title reminded me of this from almost a year ago. This was my solution. It works great!!

 

[Coloshaver]

This whole discussion sounded familiar. See: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/under-hood-work-lights.516075/

 

[kbuhagiar]

This whole discussion sounded familiar. See: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/under-hood-work-lights.516075/

What are you, some kind of efficiency expert? That thread is over two years old!
It wouldn't be GJ if we didn't re-hash the same topic every year or so, lol!

 

[Squankum]

I just use simple LED headlamp -- a Petzl from right before things got too fancy, too bright. When I'm in an engine bay, wheel well, or underneath, I don't need a gazillion lumens. It's smart enough to turn itself off with one touch of the button when it's been in use in the mode you chose up front.

"So far, a head lamp has been the best, but if I turn my head to point the light beam where I need it, now my eyes aren’t lined up. "

(scratch head) Headlamp goes in the center of the forehead?

"I reach up with dirty hands to realign the light and get the light and my hair grungy. "

Hair? Summer's coming, shave your head!

 

[zendriver]

I want to get this one from Harbor Freight. https://www.harborfreight.com/845-lumen-led-rechargeable-underhood-work-light-63990.html

I have one.

It's really "not all that", but maybe my old eyes just need more light.

 

[mrjaw14]

I use one of those Icon magnetic lights. Works well. Used it under my hood couple times and outside in the backyard along the walkway. Lost it for a moment but found it.

I have the older non-folding version of that. i really want one of the newer folding ones, but I hate the battery isn't removable like the old ones. I had 18650 cells I'd swap out to keep working. The new one you have to recharge via cable only so you have to have duplicates and they will eventually die and be disposed of. i hate disposing of the whole light because the battery konks out. I'll still probably get one as a travel light where I'm not using it for hours and hours.

 

[zendriver]

I use one of those Icon magnetic lights. Works well. Used it under my hood couple times and outside in the backyard along the walkway. Lost it for a moment but found it.

I have the new icon light and like it, but with old eyes, I really want a setup that lights up the whole vehicle work area like it's a Hollywood movie set.

I have LED pedestal light that lights the area pretty good but only from the bumper, so It can't get above. Also use the Braun drop light, which works pretty good, but constantly have reposition and to move it around.

 

[zendriver]

What are you, some kind of efficiency expert? That thread is over two years old!
It wouldn't be GJ if we didn't re-hash the same topic every year or so, lol!

Fair points, but with most kinds of lighting, they do seem to come out with newer/better/cheaper products, regularly.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Two current threads have been merged.

 

[gsanvi]

I bought a corded underhood lamp - it took me a while to find one though. I think in this application cordless doesn't make sense, replacing batteries is a hassle, and the cord doesn't get in the way that much. I really like using it, makes working much easier.

I have the M12 rover and don't like it for underhood work - somehow it always shines straight into my eyes.

 

[bagsanthony]

I bought a corded underhood lamp - it took me a while to find one though. I think in this application cordless doesn't make sense, replacing batteries is a hassle, and the cord doesn't get in the way that much. I really like using it, makes working much easier.

I have the M12 rover and don't like it for underhood work - somehow it always shines straight into my eyes.

I have been on the lookout for a corded version. I'm aware of the Sabre underhood corded light. Which one did you go with? I can't stand swapping batteries constantly.

 

[gsanvi]

I have been on the lookout for a corded version. I'm aware of the Sabre underhood corded light. Which one did you go with? I can't stand swapping batteries constantly.

I am located in Poland, so I guess that’s of no help