High Beams keep burning out.

Problem is my High beams keep burning out. After I change the bulbs, it on,ly takes a couple days and they burn out again.

Does anyone know what I should look for? Possibly the voltage regulator/alternator? It is not burning out any fuses. Could be a short somewhere after the fuse.

Any insight on this would be helpful, thanks guys!

hehe no voltage problem, i wish i knew which car you had. are you sure its highs? or just the lows?

when you put it in do u touch the glass?? if u do thats a no no...i wipe mine with alcahold and put it in with a glove....

do you have aftermarket housings?

it is a Hyundai Accent (No one ever replies to anything on the hyundai board, so give me a break, I own a honda civic though, I think that gives me the right to post on the honda board). yeah, anyway 99 hyundai accent. High beams keep burning out. Radio dies once in a while, and now the air bag light is on.

stock lights, no aftermarket stuff.


Don't know if these all stem from the same problem or not.

also, another factor into the equation, I did spill coolant on the alternator when I was doing the timing belt a couple of months ago.


this evening when I got home I tested the voltage at the battery with the car running, it was a steady 14.3V at different RPMs. Although I should probably get the voltage comming right off the alternator i guess. Too dark and cold tonight for that though.

hey, if you can make any sense of my rambling, i'll be grateful!

well if ur car is running at 14.3 its pretty good..its not fluxuating right?

its ok about the wrong forum...really this site doesnt have that many members around to help, half of them arent even around. as you can see my rant for the accord forum on this forum....

well coolant on the alternator shouldnt be anything...

what kinda bulbs are you getting for your car? are they 9006 or h1,h4 or 9004? do you start your car with your lights on or have DRL...daytime running lights?

what you can test is the voltage at the light socket..see how much is going into the bulb, or if its fluxuating...let me know man.

okay, i've had a chance to take the car to work and do some driving. I put my meter on the dash and ran the wires to the battery.

It has random surges of voltage. it will run along at 14.3ish and then it will shoot up to 18+. It also is robbing the car of power when it occurs. However it will only last a few seconds and then returns to normal.


I"m hoping it is the alternator, what do you think?

I had aftermarket bulbs in my prelude and they burned out really fast, and it was because I touched the bulb. Your fingerprint leaves oils on the bulb, and once the light gets hot, those spots dissolve away. As soon as there's a hole, meaning the vaccum in the bulb is gone, they go out. I got some new ones and installed them very carefully, and they lasted WAY longer, but still burned out after like 8 months. I'm inclined to think superbright bulbs just don't last on stock lights.
Now if your carefully putting stock bulbs into stock lights and it STILL doesn't work, then I have no idea...