So my headlights were dimming and just assumed it was the bulbs. I wanted to buy some good bulbs and bought some piia purple ones. The problem is they still seem to be dim. Would this be a result of a dying alternator?

Thanks!

 

check your battery, sounds like its on its last leg...do you have a high power stereo, or run a lot of aux power, etc?

 

Now that you mention in the battery kind of old. But should this matter if the car is running? Wouldnt the alternator be charging it therefore it should be maxed at at least while the car is on? No sound system or voltage going anywhere else.

 

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...adlights.shtml

 

yea, u can take the battery out as long as the car is on and the alternator is good, but it sounds to me like the alternators about to die.

 

Check the voltage at the back of the headlight bulbs and see if that is the cause of the dimming:



http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...ryBeforeYouBuy

 

In my opinion the blue or purple aftermarket non-HID bulbs don't put out that much light, so it could be the lights, even though they are pricey PIAA's.

Rob

 

What part of the bulb/connector do i need to test with a voltage meter?

 

hmm all hondas/acuras of the 90's have these problems, when an accesory put a load on the motor it would dim the headlights, by replacing the battery with a deep cylce this fixed the problem for me.

 

Hmm ok, well actually i am at work and can test it when i get home. Actually one of our customers i ahve to call back is a good toyota mechanic, maybe ill just ask him ^^

 

Woohoo! I beat Roger to posting his own link! LOL

 

See the picture above. If the back of the connector is open, you can back-probe the wires there (find the common and low or high beam pins). If the connector is closed on the back, slide the connector off of the bulb prongs slightly until you can see/access the prongs on the bulb and probe there.

The idea is you want to measure he voltage under load. If you unlug the connector and measure, of course you will see the full system voltage, as no current will be flowing.