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Headlights are an important safety feature in any vehicle. Over 40% of car accidents happen during the hours of darkness even though there are far fewer vehicles on the road. Even slightly reduced visibility makes it harder to see obstacles and hazards and slows down reaction times. With this in mind, if you notice the following signs of faltering headlights, visit your nearest Acura dealer right away for new headlights or to repair any underlying problems.
Flickering Light
If the light ahead of your vehicle is flickering, the problem might lie with one of your bulbs, the wiring behind them, or your alternator. The first step is to test your bulbs with a multimeter or ask a technician to test them for you.
Make sure you test both low and high-beam bulbs if your Acura model uses separate bulbs for the high beams. If the bulbs are fine and all other electronics are also working well, then it’s likely you have a loose connection in the headlight wiring, which will need to be fixed.
Fading Light
Some headlight bulbs fade and grow dimmer with age. If your lights seem to be dimmer than before, check that the lens isn’t dusty or dirty. Sometimes the acrylic in headlight lenses grows cloudy from continual exposure to UV rays in sunlight. If your lenses seem clean and clear, your bulbs might be on their last legs.
Tungsten-halogen bulbs can lose 20% of their brightness before dying. Xenon bulbs also tend to grow dimmer in the last few months and weeks of their lifespan. High-Intensity Discharge (HID) bulbs and Light-Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs, on the other hand, rarely dim before they suddenly fail.
Aging Bulbs
Whatever type of bulbs your car uses, it’s good to know their expected lifespan. That way, you’ll have an idea in advance of when you might need to replace them.
Tungsten-halogen bulbs tend to last between 500 and 1,000 miles of usage. HID bulbs can last anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 miles. And high performance LED bulbs can last up to 30,000 miles.
Blown Fuse
As with any electrical issue, a repeatedly blowing fuse is usually a sign of trouble with the bulb or the wiring. If you find your headlight fuse blowing a few times in a row, have a technician diagnose the problem for you.
How an Acura Dealer Can Test Your Bulbs
A technician will usually start with a visual inspection of your bulbs, looking for signs of cracking, hazing, or burnt filaments. They may then use a scanner to integrate with your car’s onboard computer, which can sometimes reveal useful data about the problem.
They can then remove the bulbs and use an ohm meter, voltmeter, or amp clamp to test each bulb’s voltage. Malfunctioning bulbs usually need to be replaced. If the bulbs are still working well, they’ll examine the wiring to locate and repair any broken connections.
Have your headlights checked, repaired, or replaced today at Ed Martin Acura. We’re an award-winning local dealership offering extended servicing hours for the convenience of our customers.
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