jdmztrane

Ok so i drive down the road at night and notice that my headlighs will be the normal brightness and then theyll dim. and its a big difference. sometimes theyll stay dim and then switch back after a while, and somtimes theyll flicker a lot. i thought that my alternator might be going bad, but before i spend the cash on a new one, could there be anything else that is wrong? i checked the grounds and wire connections already. any help would be great!

Boosted EM1

how about the actual bulbs...vibration could loosen them?

dat_flip

what year is your car?

jdmztrane

i know its not the bulbs. i checked that. plus theyre brand new and it happened with the last ones.

jdmztrane

its a 98 2dr dx.

crashN2u

Do you have a sound system? If so you might need a capacitor. I used to have a 250 watt amp and 10" sub in my cx. Songs with a lot of bass would make my lights flicker. Now I have 1200 watts and two 10s in my si. No problems.

You can also check your altenator using a multimeter. If you don't have one take your car to kragen's or autozone. If they aren't busy they will check it out for you at no cost.

jdmztrane

nope. no sound system, just the basic 4 speaker and head unit set up. i had a system but i took it out and it was fine when the system was in. i have a optima yellow top which is pretty much brand new and its got correct voltage and ****. im not sure what is up.

civic_driver

before changing alternator, replace your current grounds (battery, alternator, alternator to battery, motor to chasis) etc with bigger gauge wire 4ga or 2ga

can you notice if any devices are turning on/off when the flickering occurs?

i'm thinking the alternator is going bad (the brushes might be worn outetc) but it's a good idea to upgrade your power cables to make sure enough power can flow through at any time to power all your devices

95sihb

It's the actual clip that connets to the bulb that is bad....(well the wire) They rust and either get loose or they rust so bad that they will not let current flow like it should ...........it happend to me

jdmztrane

what did you do just upgrade? its not just the headlights though, the insturment cluster and the climate control stuff flickers too!

jdmztrane

thanks ill try that! anything to save some cash.