low beam blowout... gen 3 halo projector lights.

[Civ2kEx]

First, Great forum.. just stumbled across it. Found some very good, helpful information here..

on to my question. I recently (1 month ago yesterday) bought a set of gen 3 halo projector headlights for my 00 Ex. Installed them without a problem. Worked great, looked sick.. on friday of last week the driver side lowbeam stopped working.. then on sunday the passenger side quit. i just got new h1 bulbs for them and replaced the bulbs (hoping that was all it was. Nope.. that didnt do anything. Still no low beams. I checked both the fuse box in the car and the fuse box next to the battery and both fuses were fine.

Is it possible that the headlight wires from the fuse box to the light is fried? Keep in mind the High beams work fine and the halos work as well just not the low beams themselves. Im a little ticked that i paid 150 bux and only got 1 month use out of them..

Thanks to anyone who can offer any advice!

[tibby01]

if they are those "HID" bulbs which are not actually HID, then those bulbs have a tendency to melt the headlight harnesses.

[Civ2kEx]

hmm.. i dont think the originals were HID bulbs but i will check. thanks for the tip though.

[eckoman_pdx]

Okay, I have know of this happening before. They never found the problem, just bought a different brand of projectors, and it worked fine. It is possible the internal wiring somehow messed up, but it seems strange the bulbs that came with it would fry it like that. Also,check all the wires, and make sure none somehow got cut. You can use a test light to see if any power is going to the low beams. If there is none, then it's either a fuse you missed, a cut wire, or a problem inside the housing. I know with some projecotrs, the wiring harness bundle runs to fuses, different from the ones on the car, like a seperate little box with a with. If your set-up has that, then check that fuse if you missed it before. Sorry I can't be of more help. If I was there to look into it, then maybe that would be a different story.

[Civ2kEx]

Thanks for the help ecko.. one of my buddies is an electrician and is going to check the wiring and fuses for me on saturday so i should have an answer to the problem then.. Hopefully!!..

[Silverbolt]

Use a volt meter and try to find a current. See if there is an open or closed current at the harness. Check beforer and after each fuse and relay to see if one of them is the problem. Doing this should pretty much pin point where its open through process of elimination. Thats what I would resort to if I couldnt figure it out buy just looking at it.

[eckoman_pdx]

Let us know what it is when you figure it out.

[Civ2kEx]

will do eckoman... gonna start working on it in just a little bit.. ill try to take some pics too (although the car needs a bath... LOL!!)

[Ispankyourmom]

Wow, I've seen people have had quite a few problems on here when installing different head lamps.

Does anyone on here recommend a certain brand or type that has been so far reliable for them?

[caminsc5]

i bought mine off ebay fpr about $150, and had the exact same problem as Civ2kex. drivers side low beam went out, then pass side, the next day. i bought new bulbs, still didnt work, and the fuses were blown. now (about 1 week later) the drivers side flickers a lil bit, when the headlights are st turned on and the pass side wont come on (u have to get out and smack the headlight for it to come on). why is it doing this? the high beams and halos work just fine.

[jeffseby]

Its the HeadLight harness.
$10 at autozone. easy to do. they melt kinda easy.

[Civ2kEx]

well i got good news and bad news (for me).. good news is i know what the problem is.. bad news is that its the lights themselves.. checked with a voltmeter and the light harness was getting 12v as needed. But what i notices was when i switched on the high beams the voltage spiked up to 20v and back to 12v.. Strange i thougt.. i swapped the original h1 bulb out and put in a new h1.. low beam came on then flickered. switched to high beam and pop goes the low beam light.. same 12-20 spike. from what we could tell it looks like the light isnt designed quite right.. its not regulating the voltage on the low beam bulb.. and running the highs we noticed a weird smell like wires burning.. checked the lowbeam and the halo wires were starting to get really hot.. unhooked everything and put the OEM's back in for now.. gonna go back to the shop and get an exchange for black housing JDM's.. Funk da Halo's.. to much hassle and money for only 3 weeks of useage...

thanks for everyones tips and ideas.. guess i learned not to go with the flashy new thing and stick with what i know.. LOL

[Ispankyourmom]

Can anyone answer my question?

What brand/type of custom headlamp is reliable and will last as long as factory installed?

[jeffseby]

Did the Lights come with a wirering harness.

ISpankYourMom: I don't know, what ever is very name brand, and has a warrenty.

[Civ2kEx]

yeah the lights did come with a harness that clipped into the factory headlight clip.. all the wiring matched up fine... what is weird though is that the factory clip has 3 wires and the new headlight clip had 4 wires going into its clip.. Im assuming that since the oem light is dual purpose that eliminated the need for the extra wire?

either way they are still going back.. too pissed to try and Force them to work.. LOL