Hello,

My driver-side headlight is acting up. It is about 30% of the intensity it should be when my headlights are turned on and when off (just the daytime running lights), it is so dim that you would think it's not on.

I have changed the bulb many times and my passenger-side light is fine. I'm thinking it may be an electrical issue. On that note, someone backed into my driver-side fender about two years ago. This light problem only started happening about 8 months ago, so I'm not sure if the two are related.

I've taken some pictures and a video (below) and someone from another forum mentioned that the melted harness is a sign of a short. I'm not very good with electrical stuff; does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can find the source of the problem and fix it? Thanks a lot.

[quote=96hatch;1379792]Alright, so I took a closer look at the wiring and I must admit that I am a bit lost. There are three wires coming from the headlight--black, red/yellow, red/green. I'm assuming the green is the ground. On the headlight end, the connections are a bit messy, but look alright. I'm not sure where the wires end up on the other end though, does anyone know where the wire gets grounded?

Here are a couple pics:





I also took a few pictures and a video of the lighting situation to give a better idea of what is going on and hopefully spark some ideas. I'm not great with electrical stuff, so I'm just going to post these and see if I get any feedback. Thanks for the help!

DRLs:


Headlights On (dim light gets a bit brighter):


High Beams (light actually dimmer than normal headlights):


YouTube Video showing all the different light settings:
Settings:
regular beams on = brightest
high beams = dimmer
DRLs = dimmest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzFp8UkYmus

 

you can reground it anywhere just cut the original ground. worsest case senario is rewire and loom as far back as you can. or go to the junk yard and cut as far back as you can from the bulb plug in to the fire wall and use that. thats what i had to do it work. the original wires were pinched crimped and not getting enough power

 

Thanks for the tip. Do you know where those wires travel to? I can only follow the wires coming out of the harness so far before I get lost. Where do they connect to on the other end?

 

they go all the way throught the harness. i wouldnt recommend cutting open the factory loom and tape on the hole harness. just go 2 or 3 feet back as far as you can without getting lost or cutting wrong wires. the ground could be bad to. before you do anything replace your engine grounds with good new bigger cables. you have 2 of them on the tranny and ps pump. that always help stuff like that.

 

Black is ground. Most vehicle manufacturers pick one wire color for ground and stick with it. Honda uses black, Toyota uses white/black, etc. You can pick up a plug with about a foot of wire on if from an auto parts store, all the wires are generally black. Cut and splice the wire one at a time matching the to the correct slot on the new plug.

 

Thanks guys, that helps quite a bit.

I was wondering, does anyone know where I can find information on where all the grounds are connected? I've seen a couple posts about grounding kits, but most of them assume that you know where the connections are.

 

lookup wiring diagram for 96 civic
also its in a haynes manual