1990 Civic Headlight Problems

Does anyone know what might be causing my low beams not to come on when I
turn the switch to on?

The lights come on after a couple of minutes, but have not been coming on
right away. It usually takes a few minutes. The high beams work just fine
and come on right away.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Hi,
Check ground connection and relay.
Tony

 

Which relay and where?

Thanks for the help

 

The Civic generation before yours did not use a relay for the
headlights, and neither did the generation after yours. I have never
seen the wiring diagram for the '90 Civic, but doubt it uses a relay for
the headlights.

When you say that the high beams work right away, are you talking about:

A). Using the "high beam flash"

B). Switching to high beams after the low beams have come on

C). Switching to high beams before turning on the lights, then turning
on the lights.

Unless you mean "C" I would say your light switch is the culprit. You
could try cleaning it with contact cleaner (and lots of it) but you
probably need a new switch.

 

I usually turn the light switch to on and then put the high beams on until I
see the low beams on also. The funny thing is that the colder it is outside
when I start the car, the longer it takes for the low beams to come on.

I am not so convinced it is the switch because everything else reacts as it
should when you put the switch to "on" (ie. the dash dims as do the other
lights in the car). Maybe I am wrong, I don't exactly know. I have the
Chilton's manual and I can't find a relay in that circuit on the diagrams
they have. That doesn't mean it doesn't have one but I can't locate them.

I appreciate the help.

 

The dash lights, tail lights, marker lights etc. operate from a set of
contacts separate from the head lights in the light switch, so my guess
is still the switch. A can of contact cleaner is a cheap experiment...
There is usually a small amount of lubricant in the switch, and as it
accumulates gunk and moisture over the years it gets sticky. The colder
it is the worse it gets.

 

Agreed, I had a flaky switch in my '88 Civic where the headlights would work
but none of the other lights did. I removed the switch, cleaned it,
polished the contacts with some 400 grit sandpaper, and relubed it with some
fresh Sylglide silicone grease. This fixed the problem and saved me the ~
$80 for a new one.

Eric

 

Thanks for the help. I will figure out how to get to the switch and try
cleaning the contacts.

Kevin

 

Remove the steering wheel first by popping out the H with a small screw
driver and then remove the retaining nut.

Eric

 

|I usually turn the light switch to on and then put the high beams on until I
|see the low beams on also. The funny thing is that the colder it is outside
|when I start the car, the longer it takes for the low beams to come on.

Obviously, your Headlight Fluid is of the wrong viscosity for winter.
You need a winter grade headlight fluid this time of year, unless you are in
Florida.
Rex in Fort Worth

 

You are way off. Honda started using multi-grade, synthetic headlight
fluid decades ago. However, there was a recall for some models where the
factory filled with regular incandescent fluid instead of the required
halogen fluid.