Honda Car Forum

Hello,

I'm having a persistent problem with my 1990 accord headlight bulbs.
These bulbs have been fine for over 6 years. The other day they both
blew out. As soon as I replaced them the bulbs blew out again. Someone
suggested that it may be a problem with the ground wire. Anyone know
where the ground wire is? I can't seem to find it. Or any other ideas on

what I should check next?

Perhaps your voltage regulator is broken. Elevated operating voltages
dramatically decrease bulb life. With the engine running and the brake
pedal pressed you should have 14.5 V +/- 0.6 V measured at the battery,
regardless of RPM. If the voltage rises above 15.1 V as you increase the
RPM, the voltage regulator is broken. (Voltage numbers from '94 Civic
service manual, doubt your Accord would be different)

Jonathan Lim wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm having a persistent problem with my 1990 accord headlight bulbs.
> These bulbs have been fine for over 6 years. The other day they both
> blew out. As soon as I replaced them the bulbs blew out again. Someone
> suggested that it may be a problem with the ground wire. Anyone know
> where the ground wire is? I can't seem to find it. Or any other ideas on
>
> what I should check next?

In article <402440A1.C8FA60AD@junkmail.com>, Randolph <trash@junkmail.com>
wrote:

> Perhaps your voltage regulator is broken. Elevated operating voltages
> dramatically decrease bulb life. With the engine running and the brake
> pedal pressed you should have 14.5 V +/- 0.6 V measured at the battery,
> regardless of RPM. If the voltage rises above 15.1 V as you increase the
> RPM, the voltage regulator is broken. (Voltage numbers from '94 Civic
> service manual, doubt your Accord would be different)


great post--I would not have thought of that as a solution. Your advice
makes perfect sense.

This note is to the original poster:
Have you recently changed the fuse related to the headlights? If so, you
might have installed the wrong type of fuse. If you have recently changed
the fuse, I advise you to remove it and buy a new fuse from a Honda
dealership. Tell the service department person the year your car was
made--type of car, etc. so that he can sell you the right type of fuse. If
it was a used car when you purchased it, the prior owner might have
installed the wrong type of fuse.

I haven't touched the fuses since I purchased the car - that was in '96. The
headlights have always been fine until now. Every time I put a new bulb in
it blows out immediately. Thanks for the tips though. I will have a look at
the voltage regulator issue. In the meantime, any other tips or ideas would
be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

"T. Nelson" <tnelson@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:tnelson-0702041520400001@pm5-broad-85.snlo.dialup.fix.net...
> In article <402440A1.C8FA60AD@junkmail.com>, Randolph <trash@junkmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Perhaps your voltage regulator is broken. Elevated operating voltages
> > dramatically decrease bulb life. With the engine running and the brake
> > pedal pressed you should have 14.5 V +/- 0.6 V measured at the battery,
> > regardless of RPM. If the voltage rises above 15.1 V as you increase the
> > RPM, the voltage regulator is broken. (Voltage numbers from '94 Civic
> > service manual, doubt your Accord would be different)
>
>
> great post--I would not have thought of that as a solution. Your advice
> makes perfect sense.
>
> This note is to the original poster:
> Have you recently changed the fuse related to the headlights? If so, you
> might have installed the wrong type of fuse. If you have recently changed
> the fuse, I advise you to remove it and buy a new fuse from a Honda
> dealership. Tell the service department person the year your car was
> made--type of car, etc. so that he can sell you the right type of fuse. If
> it was a used car when you purchased it, the prior owner might have
> installed the wrong type of fuse.

The fuse wouldn't cause the headlights to burn out. Check the voltage
like someone else said.


"Jonathan Lim" <jonlim@telus.net> wrote in message news:<QQkVb.11965$QX4.1598@clgrps13>...
> I haven't touched the fuses since I purchased the car - that was in '96. The
> headlights have always been fine until now. Every time I put a new bulb in
> it blows out immediately. Thanks for the tips though. I will have a look at
> the voltage regulator issue. In the meantime, any other tips or ideas would
> be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
>
> "T. Nelson" <tnelson@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:tnelson-0702041520400001@pm5-broad-85.snlo.dialup.fix.net...
> > In article <402440A1.C8FA60AD@junkmail.com>, Randolph <trash@junkmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Perhaps your voltage regulator is broken. Elevated operating voltages
> > > dramatically decrease bulb life. With the engine running and the brake
> > > pedal pressed you should have 14.5 V +/- 0.6 V measured at the battery,
> > > regardless of RPM. If the voltage rises above 15.1 V as you increase the
> > > RPM, the voltage regulator is broken. (Voltage numbers from '94 Civic
> > > service manual, doubt your Accord would be different)
> >
> >
> > great post--I would not have thought of that as a solution. Your advice
> > makes perfect sense.
> >
> > This note is to the original poster:
> > Have you recently changed the fuse related to the headlights? If so, you
> > might have installed the wrong type of fuse. If you have recently changed
> > the fuse, I advise you to remove it and buy a new fuse from a Honda
> > dealership. Tell the service department person the year your car was
> > made--type of car, etc. so that he can sell you the right type of fuse. If
> > it was a used car when you purchased it, the prior owner might have
> > installed the wrong type of fuse.

"Randolph" <trash@junkmail.com> wrote in message
news:402440A1.C8FA60AD@junkmail.com...
> Perhaps your voltage regulator is broken.

Maybe, but it may also be that there IS a ground problem, such that both H
and L filaments are on. This overheats the bulb and soon burns it out. With
one new bulb, test if high and low beam switches correctly.

Stewart DIBBS

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 06:39:44 GMT, "Jonathan Lim" <jonlim@telus.net> wrote:

>I haven't touched the fuses since I purchased the car - that was in '96. The
>headlights have always been fine until now. Every time I put a new bulb in
>it blows out immediately. Thanks for the tips though. I will have a look at
>the voltage regulator issue. In the meantime, any other tips or ideas would
>be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

If your voltage regulator is putting out enough voltage to blow the bulbs,
it could be stressing other components which could be very costly to
replace. You need to check that voltage soon and if that's the problem,
get the thing fixed.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

Jonathan Lim wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm having a persistent problem with my 1990 accord headlight bulbs.
> These bulbs have been fine for over 6 years. The other day they both
> blew out. As soon as I replaced them the bulbs blew out again. Someone
> suggested that it may be a problem with the ground wire. Anyone know
> where the ground wire is? I can't seem to find it. Or any other ideas on
>
> what I should check next?

=====================

If you install a halogen lamp but don't tighten it in place properly, it
won't get the cooling it requires. I kept blowing left headlamps in my
Caravan because previous owner had lost the locking collar, which holds
the base of the lamp intimate on the body of the lamp housing.

If you've put the bulb in with the base not sitting flat against the
mating surface, it won't dissipate heat and will burn out way too soon.
I think there's only one way for the notch in the base to align with
place it fits into...

'Curly'

================

Noted. Thanks.

'Curly Q. Links' wrote:
> Jonathan Lim wrote:
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>I'm having a persistent problem with my 1990 accord headlight bulbs.
>>These bulbs have been fine for over 6 years. The other day they both
>>blew out. As soon as I replaced them the bulbs blew out again. Someone
>>suggested that it may be a problem with the ground wire. Anyone know
>>where the ground wire is? I can't seem to find it. Or any other ideas on
>>
>>what I should check next?
>
>
> =====================
>
> If you install a halogen lamp but don't tighten it in place properly, it
> won't get the cooling it requires. I kept blowing left headlamps in my
> Caravan because previous owner had lost the locking collar, which holds
> the base of the lamp intimate on the body of the lamp housing.
>
> If you've put the bulb in with the base not sitting flat against the
> mating surface, it won't dissipate heat and will burn out way too soon.
> I think there's only one way for the notch in the base to align with
> place it fits into...
>
> 'Curly'
>
> ================

Noted. Thanks.

'Curly Q. Links' wrote:
> Jonathan Lim wrote:
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>I'm having a persistent problem with my 1990 accord headlight bulbs.
>>These bulbs have been fine for over 6 years. The other day they both
>>blew out. As soon as I replaced them the bulbs blew out again. Someone
>>suggested that it may be a problem with the ground wire. Anyone know
>>where the ground wire is? I can't seem to find it. Or any other ideas on
>>
>>what I should check next?
>
>
> =====================
>
> If you install a halogen lamp but don't tighten it in place properly, it
> won't get the cooling it requires. I kept blowing left headlamps in my
> Caravan because previous owner had lost the locking collar, which holds
> the base of the lamp intimate on the body of the lamp housing.
>
> If you've put the bulb in with the base not sitting flat against the
> mating surface, it won't dissipate heat and will burn out way too soon.
> I think there's only one way for the notch in the base to align with
> place it fits into...
>
> 'Curly'
>
> ================