Hello everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had any input on what can casue this. I have the V-LED Type 2 switchbacks as do many other people here and I installed them yesterday and it really looks great. I did however notice that the bulbs actually have a very slight flicker to them. They don't actually shut off and turn on, but they are flickering between full strength and a slight dimming.

Right now, I have the switch backs, LED rear blinkers, and 30 ohm resistors wired into the trunk.

Anyone have any idea what's causing this? Could it just be faulty bulbs?

I also have a UR Underdrive pulley. Can this be happening becasue the alternator isn't getting it's usua dose of power? I don't have a system or anything else that's power hungry installed.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Here's a little update, maybe this will help. I've determined that this is not a bulb problem, but rather has to be a voltage problem of some sort.

I looked down into my footwells and noticed the LED lighting in the footwells was also flickering just like the switch backs. I noticed this when I was sitting at a red light. When the light changed, I accelerated and looked down into the footwell again. The flciker stopped! I stopped accelerating and came to a stop, the flicker started again.

When I got home, I put the car in neutral with the parking brake on, and I gave it a little bit of gas and sure enough, the flickering stopped again, once I released the gas and the car got back down to idle, the flickering started again.

Nothing else seems to be flickering though. I have an LED strip in each headlight similar to steven bell or bforbrian and that doesn't flicker. It's getting it's power from the wiper motor. The headlights don't flicker, my interrior lights (gauges, domes, radio, etc) don't flicker. The CCFL's in my trunk don't flicker. I don't beleive my side markers are flickering...

I noticed that my Acura battery SUCKS...can this be attributed to that? When the car is idling, the battery is doing a shit job of powering the stuff in my car, then when I accelerate, the alternator is really juicing up the battery so everything gets the power it needs?

 

Test your battery... Seems like a battery issue

 

Got it. Where do I get that done? Autozone? Or can I stick a multi-meter on it and test the voltage?

 

autozone does it for free!

 

Understood, but I'll save the trip to Autozone or to the stealership if someone can tell me what this battery test that they do comprises of? Can I hook up a multimeter to the battery while the car is off and see if it's giving me 12V? Then turn it on and make sure the alternator is bumping it up to a full 14V?

 

Ok, here's an update.

Upon closer inspection, the items that flicker are:

Parking lights (switchbacks)
Sidemarkers (Front and rear, all OEM)
Tail light (not with the brake on, all oem)
Footwell lights (LED strip wired to oem plug)
LED strip in headlight (wired to windshield wiper motor, doesn't always flicker)

I tested the battery today. I disconnected the negative and positive terminals, 12.3V. I reconnected them and started the car, 14.3V, so no problems there.

With the car off, running soley off the battery, no flicker.

With the car on (no accesories like radio or A\C) it will flicker.

If I press the accelerator, the flicker speeds up then goes away.

If I turn the car on and disconnect the battery, then I have mega flickering.



So I have ruled out a battery issue, I'm thinking it's either a ground issue some where, or a charging system issue.

The only modifications to the charging system is the under drive pulley that I installed. When the car is idling, the pulley isn't spinning the alternator as fast as it would be at stock.When I give it some gas, it speeds up the alternator, so could that be it?

I can't imagine that's the problem though becasue everyone says the under drive is fine unless you're running a stereo system with an amp, and I'm not running anything additional at all. All the bulbs in my car are not LED's and that should be using even LESS power!

The car is under warrenty but I'm really iffy about taking it to the dealership as I'm sure they'll dismis all my problems as issues associated with me having LED's installed...

 

Based on your testing and analysis of times where you have flickering. You may be correct with assuming its a charging system issue. I don't know if it could be caused by the underdrive pulley.

If you take it to autozone, they will hookup either a handheld unit or a wheeled unit to the battery, and then they can do a test on the alternator by applying a simulated load and see if the outputs are good from the alternator.

I would shy away from the dealership right now. Stop by autozone, advanced auto, oreilly... and they can check it out for you within minutes.

let us know the results then.

 

It might be the underdrive pulley.

 

Thanks for the help. Will stop by Autozone or Advanced tomorrow.

 

Update:

Before I went to Autozone or Advanced, I wanted to see if maybe this issue was being caused by one of the LED bulbs I had installed, or the resistors, or a ground, etc. What I had installed all at once were the following:

- LED Strips in the headlights powered by the wiper motor wire
- Front LED Swtich Backs
- Rear LED Blinkers
- Resistors to fix the blinker issue

First thing was I disconnected the LED strips. That didn't do anything.

Then I replaced the switchbacks with regular bulbs. The flicker was noticably less with the regular bulbs, but it was still there.

I put the switchbacks back in and changed the rear blinker LED's for regular bulbs. No luck.

I disconnected the resistors. No luck.

I replaced the switch backs with regular bulbs so now the entire exterrior lighting is all OEM...no luck.

So now I'll get it tested....ugh

 

Here's an update,

I took the car to Acura, they don't want to look at it becasue of "aftermarket electronics", so now I'm reverting the car (bulbs, LED's) to full stock before they take a look at it, what a PITA.

I spoke to the foreman and told him that I think it's an issue with the voltage regulator on the alternator, and he told me that these alternators don't have voltage regulators, that they have a diode in the fuse box that regulates voltage, and if that crapped out, I'd get a CEL. Is this true? Is there no voltage regulator on this alternator or does this guy not know what he's talking about?

Please someone let me know, I need help!

 

its your under drive pulley...it under drives the accessory belt to lessen parasitic loss from the belt driven accesories.... ie...alternator@ idle

 

It's not the under drive pulley. Acura is refusing to fix this issue becasue my electrical system has been breached due to a remote start, but I'm 99% sure that it's the voltage regulator on the alternator, so I'll b replacing it this weekend.

I've been driving around for baout the last month with the regular pulley and the lights still flicker...

 

Ok, so it's been a few weeks but I finally got my rebuilt alternator and finally had time to install it and guess what? No more flicker!

Thanks to all of those who helped me with this one!