03-18-2018, 08:50 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
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Ghost fixes lightbulb
Every once in a while something on my car will fix itself. That seems to have happened today.
For years I've been waiting to fix a left front turn signal problem. So today I have the bumper cover off and the light fixtures out to possibly replace the bulb. Inside the Civic's side marker light bulb are 2 filaments. With the light bulb plugged in and out of the headlight fixture I tested it again. The directional filament would not light up under any conditions and caused the parking light filament to intermittently shut off whenever I turned on the left turn signal. Hazards also worked improperly.
I did a "known good" test by swapping the left front turn signal bulb with the right front turn signal bulb. I didn't do anything else. I didn't clean anything or detach and reattach anything other than the bulbs. Suddenly both light bulbs worked normally. Then I put them back in their original places. And the bulb that has been failing consistently for two or three years of daily diving started working completely normally.
I am guessing that in removing the bulb I cleared some kind of minor corrosion or dust/dirt (the bulb housing was coated in fine road dust).
I suppose it might also be an intermittent open in the wiring.
Or a ghost in the machine.
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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03-18-2018, 08:52 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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(:
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Her real name is Christine.
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03-18-2018, 09:08 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Her real name is Christine.
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"Fear on four wheels"
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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03-18-2018, 11:01 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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EcoModding Lurcher
Join Date: Dec 2010
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Quote:
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The directional filament would not light up under any conditions and caused the parking light filament to intermittently shut off whenever I turned on the left turn signal.
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This the symptom of a bad ground.
-m |
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03-18-2018, 11:20 PM
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#5 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mort
This the symptom of a bad ground.
-m
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I wondered about some sort of circuit problem like that when I got the bulb out and could see that it's filaments were intact. But if it is a bad ground, then why did the problem go away without a "fix"? Did remove and reinstalling the bulb somehow clear a grounding issue? I did not clean any connectors. Should I expect the problem to come back if it is a ground issue?
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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03-18-2018, 11:28 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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Too many cars
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York State
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I've seen broken filaments spot weld themselves back together. And then break again. Over and over. Try a new bulb!
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2000 Honda Insight
2000 Honda Insight
2000 Honda Insight
2006 Honda Insight (parts car)
1988 Honda CRXFi
1994 Geo Metro
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03-19-2018, 12:33 AM
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#7 (permalink)
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Just cruisin’ along
Join Date: Jul 2009
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I had a turn signal bulb act up intermittently for several days before it failed altogether. Because it was intermittent, it threw me for a loop. Literally wiggling the bulb socket and jiggling the harness could cause it to come back to life. Like a rube, I didn't even check the actual bulb until I couldn't get it to work again at all.
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'97 Honda Civic DX Coupe 5MT - dead 2/23
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'67 Mustang Convertible - gone 1/17
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03-19-2018, 11:51 AM
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#8 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Oregon
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I have found the ground tab inside the socket is failing many times on many different makes of cars. I work on a large Ford fleet now and stock several different socket and connector pigtails. One problem and they get a pigtail, on 88-99 Chevy pickups it was a taillight plate. The plate was basically three sockets mounted to a $40 piece of plastic that the contacts melted and failed. Factory LED lighting has made the newer stuff more reliable.
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03-19-2018, 12:58 PM
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#9 (permalink)
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Master EcoWalker
Join Date: Dec 2012
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As with many problems, searching for a common ground brings enlightenment
Then, I've had more than one lightbulb with a broken filament swinging about accidentally reattaching that with the other end and burning happily for a while, be it a few milliseconds, a couple or years or anything in between.
LEDs fail much more predictably.
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2011 Honda Insight + HID, LEDs, tiny PV panel, extra brake pad return springs, neutral wheel alignment, 44/42 PSI (air), PHEV light (inop), tightened wheel nut.
  lifetime FE over 0.2 Gmeter or 0.13 Mmile.
For confirmation go to people just like you.
For education go to people unlike yourself.
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03-19-2018, 04:43 PM
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#10 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
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After consideration, I am gonna clean the connector throroughly and use the 1998 bulbs. I will switch the sides they are on so if the failure happens again, I will get new data to disambiguate what is causing it (bulb or connector ground).
My "Christine" (1983 movie, +1 Frank Lee) apparently wants another chance to get me dead or ticketed and has demented my judgement.
Thx!
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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