01_VTEC

Does anyone have a wiring diagram for a 2001 honda civic EX? I added high-power headlights a few months ago. Just recently, i started smelling burning wires. Then, when i turned off my headlights, the low-beam wont come back on! Only high-beam. Has anyone heard of this before?

Beastiek2

Not to sure if its a wireing diagram you need. There really isnt much too it. Pull the headlights bulbs out check your wires, it would be melting at the beginning. My experience with high powered bulbs such as SYLVANIA SILVERSTARS is that they are to hot for the civic headlight housing. When I did my JDM headlight converstion I noticed that the top reflective part of the headlight directly over the bulb was all burnt from the heat. The bulbs also kept burning out with in a month or 2 of each other. Since the highs and low are 2 different bulbs the first thing I would do is replace the low beam bulbs with your stock ones to see if they come back on.

01_VTEC

Thanx alot, I figured out what the problem was. I knew that the smell was coming from the inside of the car, so i began to look by the lightswitch itself. When i looked under the steering collar, i saw a discoleration of a wire close to the harness that goes to the healight switch. I took off the collar, and i saw that one wire was burned and melted through the harness; the wire was naked. Since nothing is open for the holiday, temporarily, i scrapped the corrosion from the wire and covered it with electrical tape. I also put alot of tape around the one wire that was next to it. When i plugged it back in, it worked just fine. i might try to go with a different wattage bulb (lower), but with the same purple color. Thanks for your help; i really appreciate it!....

rick03

there is a recall from honda for this problem. check out the nhtsa recall site. wire harness gets too hot and melts. honda will repair!

rick03

recall info:

DETROIT, March 2, 2004; Reuters reported that Honda is recalling about 440,000 of its Civic and Insight small cars after discovering they are prone to sudden low-beam headlight failures, federal safety regulators said on Tuesday. "An unexpected loss of low beams could result in a crash," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a posting on its Web site.

It said 2001-2002 model year Civics and 2000-2002 Insights were subject to the recall, which was prompted by overheating in the headlight switch.

The Insight was the first gas-electric hybrid car sold by Honda in North America.

Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker, told NHTSA in a letter late last month that no accidents or injuries had been linked to the headlight malfunction.

Beastiek2

^^Good to kno there was also another recall this year for automatic 7th gen civics 2003 somthing with the tranny.

eckoman_pdx

Slyvania Silverstars' and PIAA's are not high power headlights. HIgh power headlights, AKA high wattage lights, run a higher wattage. This can melt wires causing the headlights to not work, or worse yet cause and electrical fire.

SIlverstars and PIAA's use the STOCK wattage. What they do is increase light output by increasing the lumans and candela, not the wattage. Higher wattage means greater lumans and candela. This is a method many cheap lights employ. Thhis isn't the only way to increase lumans. This of it like 2 60 watt house bulbs, one with 700 650 lumans and one with 950 lumans. Both have a 60 watt power draw, but the 950 luman bulb will provide more light. PIAA and Silverstar are like the 950 luman bulb in this example.

If you want more in-depth information and explinations on this, read this sticky in the exterior/bodykits/lighting forum. It covers this and much more, in greater depth.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=298500

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Beastiek2

^^Ecko this would cause my headlight housing to burn over time?

eckoman_pdx

Bulbs like PIAA and Silverstar will not. These are high output bulbs. They produce more light output (which is measured in lumans) without raising the wattage. For example, it is a 55 watt bulb but produces the luman output of a regular 85 watt bulb. This is why it's a HIGH OUPUT bulb. It has more luman OUTPUT without more power draw (wattage). High wattage bulbs would be true 135 watt bulb. These on the other hand will fry your wiring or worse yet possibly cause an electrical fire, since they are much higher wattage than the stock lamo is ment to handle.

Think of it this way. YOu have a lamp in your room, and it says "use only 60 wat bulb max. It came with a 60 watt bulb that puts out 650 lumans (consider this the OEM bulb). You go to the hardware store and look at the light bulbs. They have a 80 watt bulb that puts out 925 lumans (This is a high wattage bulb). This will provide more light but is too high in it's power draw. Putting an 80 watt bulb in a lamp ment for 60 watts can cause and electrical fire and melt wires. This wont do. You keep looking, you find a 60 watt bulb that puts out 975 lumans, more light output than even the 80 watt bulb!!! It's a high output bulb, producing more lumans (light output) but still only 60 watts, so it's not too high a wattage, it's fine to use it in the lamp (this bulb is a PIAA or SIlverstar bulb, a high output bulb). You look at the cost. It costs more than the 80 watt bulb though, due to the fact it's a high output bulb. They always cost more, it costs more to manufactre a high output bulb. This is the reason high wattage bulbs sometimes cost less. It' can be more cost effective to simply raise the wattage to get more lumans instead of manufacturing a high output bulb. Remember, PIAA and Silverstars use stock wattage but have more luman output; they are high output bulbs (The PIAA Super Plasma H4's for example are only 55 watts low beam and 60 watt high beam, but they put out the lumans equivilant to an 125 watt low beam and 135 watt high beam bulb. They put the lumans equivlent to a bulb or that wattage while still only drawing 55 watts low and 60 high. Many cheaper choose to simply raise the wattage. It may cost less, but f you choose to run a high wattage bulb it can fry your wiring harness and/or cause an electrcial fire. This is one of the reasons that PIAA and Silverstars are commenly recommended. They are not high wattage bulbs. They are high output bulbs, are discribed above.

I hope this made sense. If you didn't read the link yet, please do. It's a sticky I wrote for the exterior/body kit/lighting forum, it has been there for a while. The thread goes pretty in-depth about lighting.

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