I got a used 91 accord last week and tried changing the bulbs of the headlights.
A few times, I went to the drivers seat to turn on the lights (without starting the car) to see if the new bulbs were working. They never did, but that's not what I'm concerned about.
I fully installed the new lights, deciding I'll just take them to the auto garage tomorrow. After putting everything back together, I tried turning on the lights. The only lights that were on were the parking lights, and they were VERY VERY dim.
I tried the brights, they didn't turn on at all. My dashboard didn't light up. I tried starting the car, and nothing happened. I didn't hear ANYTHING. The battery light on the dashboard was lit, but it was very faint.
I couldn't have had the lights on for over 10 minutes total.
What gives?
2007-11-09 17:51:26 · 7 answers · asked by Chris C 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
By the way,
I took the car into pep boys before I bought it, and they said it was running fine. I don't know how thorough they were though.
2007-11-09 17:52:44 · update #1
Go and have the battery tested at an auto parts store, Pep Boys might be able to do it. It's usually free to have it tested however, with Pep Boys I'm not too sure but Autozone for sure it's free. Test the Battery first then go from there. If it's good then it's the alternator with the issue. Whenever you do anything electrical you always want to disconnect the negative cable from the battery. Even if it's just a simple bulb or fuse for that matter. That is what the instruction manual states to do. It is possible that you may have fried the battery. See some people don't realize that some batteries when being replaced over time along with battery cables being replaced the prior owner may have forgotten to connect the ground wire. Without the ground and such a surge of power that gets redistributed back to the battery will fry the battery because it has no ground to go too. It's probably the battery though. Best of luck!
2007-11-09 19:22:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
(1) chk the ground leads. (2) if the battery light in the car is on, the car is off, its OK, but if the car is on and the battery remains on, than its the alternator, that needs to be replaced be carefully a bad alternator sometimes can revers the polarity on the battery so have it checked (3) if the lights wer only on for 10min than the battery is not holding a charge, replace it.....good luck....be safe...
2007-11-09 18:38:58 · answer #2 · answered by arts8866 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you change the bulbs for the same type??
Check the connectors, the battery posts.
Check the individual fuses for each headlight, driving and brights. On the under the hood fuse box.
2007-11-09 18:04:36 · answer #3 · answered by Oswaldo P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The first thing you need to do is have your battery fully charged the have it load tested, this will determine whether or not it is good or bad, if its ok, then make sure the cables are good, if they are ok, then you check the charging system with an AVR Pep Boys can handle all of that, but you give them these instructions and make sure they follow them OK?
2007-11-09 18:04:35 · answer #4 · answered by mach1shotgun 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't sound like a battery problem to me. It sounds like you have a bad ground to me. Check the ground on the lights you installed they are probably trying to back feed through the original lights.
2007-11-09 18:24:21 · answer #5 · answered by Knuckles™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
id say start with a battery.
after you install a battery, check the voltage output on the alternator. the last step is to check for any system draws.
2007-11-09 18:03:40 · answer #6 · answered by frigginmike 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
check the fuse box, you should find a fuse for the head lamps. ill bet it blew....
2007-11-10 00:52:09 · answer #7 · answered by mdk68gto, ase certified m tech 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋