DevinSidell

Ok, so first I want to thank everyone for their input on my last post, very helpful! Second, I want to express how much I am pulling my hair out over this headlight problem because it still persists. Even my local shop can't figure it out without spending "significant" time with it.

Problem: Turn the headlight switch on and either the left, the right or both headlights are either on or off. The sequence seems random. Sometimes both come on in a row, sometimes never. It also doesn't seem to make a difference if the key is turned to accessory mode or fully started. Same problem.

Knowns:

- All stock OEM parts. Ballasts, Igniters, and bulbs have all been replaced, including fogs. I had a new wiring harness kit from Retrofit Resource, sent it back because it didn't fix the problem. I also located the ground from both headlights and cleaned and replaced and got sparks for each, making the headlights come on. I thought it was fixed...until the 3rd or 4th time I tried the headlights...Back to square one.

- The blinkers work whether the headlights are lit or not when the switch is turned to the "on" position, which someone else on this forum pointed out may be a ground issue if they don't come on, so that's one clue.

- The fogs, which used to work regardless no do not come on AT ALL now. No matter what the headlights are doing there are no fogs. That's another clue as to what the problem might be.

- All fuses check out fine but given the fogs no longer work all of the sudden, that could be a fuse problem, I need to check. What could cause a fuse to blow by simply turning on a light? Short circuit?

So what could possibly be causing this issue?!

What the above tells me is it's an intermittent power problem but I have yet to find the cause. Maybe that's not the issue, who knows. This is my only car for my family and I need to get to the bottom of this. Help!

Thanks in advance!

DevinSidell

One thing I'm starting to notice that no matter what bulb, igniter or ballast combination I use, the bulb lights only on the first time I turn the key to accessory mode. Once I turn the bulb off, then on again it never lights up the second time.

I hear a clicking from the relay in the fuse box when this happens but I swapped them with known good ones and they still don't work.

Is the actual headlight switch stalk the problem?

whitetiger5

I would certainly check there. page 22-158 (for 99-01 models 220159 for 02-03) of the manual shows how to disconnect it and check for continuity at the various terminals when the switch in in various states. There's a table showing which pins should have continuity, sounds like it's limited to the low beam headlights, so that would be the row I would check.

The fog light operation may be related; if the low beam switches aren't getting a connection in that steering wheel stalk switch than the fog light circuit won't be active <--this piece of info leads me to believe your problems is further up stream than the headlights themselves as the switch control both low beams and fog lights which are showing symptoms.

since you said the operation is random, you may need to test continuity at the pins several times to confirm.

DevinSidell

@whitetiger5

I just ordered a known working headlight stalk and plugged it in. What I'm finding is odd and still leaving me very confused. The driver's side tends to come on more, albeit, not all the time. And always only on the first time. The passenger side, which used to come on randomly too now no longer works at all. Still no fogs either. The headlight wiring harness is tied up with other wires and then disappears into the fender. Not sure how to find where there is an issue between the switch and the headlights but I guess it's a good clue.

whitetiger5

Oops...sounds like you bought a new headlight stalk and are still seeing the same problem? why not test it beforehand to make sure it is the problem? sorry I may have not spelled that out...

did you check the relays in the underhood fuse box for the headlight relays?

DevinSidell

@whitetiger5

All fuses and relays check out. I even swapped relays from the other side of the fuse box and even bough a new one and nothing worked.

I had tried/replaced everything and replacing the switch itself seemed like a last ditch effort with no reward. Stupid on my part but I had to be sure. Problem is I'm not a mechanic/electrical engineer so I don't have the tool to check continuity or understand how to even use the tool. I actually have an original Acura shop manual and found the page you mentioned. I have no clue what the chart means or how to solve this problem by reading the diagram.

But what I'm finding is that the passenger side never comes on so maybe that's where I should look first for a short circuit? Could a short on that side cause the driver's side headlight to not work sometimes?

whitetiger5

Understood...these things are tricky to track down. If you have an electrical multi meter, you can follow the path of electricity per the wiring diagram to troubleshoot the fault.

If you say that the relays, fuses, stalk switch and headlights themselves are all good then I would test for voltage at the headlamp pins. Once you find the pin that has voltage (when lights are switched on) then check the other pin for continuity to the body (ground). if no pins have voltage then move upstream to the relay/fuse box, there is a problem between this point and the headlight.

electricity should follow theses paths:
I know it may be obvi but..did you check that when you apply power to the relay 3/4 switch) that there is continuity between 1/2?

DevinSidell

@whitetiger5

This is a very helpful description of how to tackle this problem, thank you! This may sound like a dumb question but what is the 3/4 and 1/2 switch referring to? Running lights and low-beams?

I'm visiting my brother this weekend who has a multi meter and we will follow your guide to see if we can nail down where there is a potential short.

I will update you then. Thanks for your help!

whitetiger5

That’s a great question!

Recall that the relay is nothing more than an electronically controlled switch. One circuit (1/2) is tasked with receiving input from a source such as the stalk switch. When this first circuit is activated, an electromagnet (similar to solenoid) in the relay box is activated and the poles from the second switch (3/4) are pulled to the closed position, which effectively turns ON the second circuit, allowing voltage to travel through it to the item being powered.

This two way switch lends itself well when you have a switch (the stalk) that drives several components with different voltage/current requirements. The stalk switch controls the lights, sends a command to another circuit allowing the fog lights to be activated (with another relay) and also turns on the internal lights.

heres a good video explaining testing/overview.

DevinSidell

@whitetiger5

PROBLEM SOLVED!

It turns out that the passenger side low beam bulb was bad. Which is really weird because I had already swapped the bulbs, igniters, and ballasts and it didn't fix the issue so I never revisited testing them again. So apparently the original owner of the car had cut the fog light wires and very poorly tapped the wires back up to a new set of after-market lights. These we not for a car and needed to be screwed directly into the bumper. Like WTF. Anyway when the fogs stopped working completely one day I knew it had something to do with the headlights. So we disconnected the fogs, replaced the low beam bulb and the head light problem went away! They are slightly different colors even though the bulbs are the same, I assume this is a ballast or igniter problem?

Unfortunately the moment I turn on the fog light switch on the dash(not the stalk) the headlights refuse to work. I can restart the car and the headlights both work again as long at the fog light button isn't depressed. So I guess for now as long as I don't use my fogs the headlights work great. I'm not sure how to fix the wiring issue but it might just be as easy as capping them off for now.

whitetiger5

“Unfortunately the moment I turn on the fog light switch on the dash(not the stalk) the headlights refuse to work. I can restart the car and the headlights both work again as long at the fog light button isn't depressed.”


This sounds like someone rewired your fog lights into the headlights circuit to fix a problem that someone was able to properly diagnose.

DevinSidell

It very well could be what happened. Of course a crystal ball would have told me that earlier sand saved me months of aggravation but oh well. Now its just a matter of ripping out the old wires and doing it right!