Headlight bulb replacement

2004 Accord. The headlights are just not bright enough on the car and I'd
like to replace them with something brighter. I've looked at the HID bulbs,
is that the only option? What has anyone tried and how do they work? Thanks
in advance.
H-S-F

 

See my reply in alt.autos.honda, to which you also posted, but independenly
of this group.

 

Thanks Tegger for the Nighthawk info and the Stern website.
H-S-F

 

And what if there is no alt.autos.honda on my news server?
I don't get to read your pithy reply?

The headlights on my 2005 ford are much brighter than my 2003 Civic.
The Civic also has hazing that I can't get rid of with a lens cleaning kit,
and both have recently cracked, now I have moisture inside one, maybe both,
so I'm in the market for complete replacements.

 

How unfortunate that my pearls of wisdom have not graced your ears.

Wrecking yard.

 

I delight in your pearls of wisdom in the rec.autos.makers.honda that I do
get. I was going to browse through the previous bits to look for a
recommended supplier for the lenses.

I like wrecking yards for some items, but I wouldn't look there for
replacements for pieces of plastic that have suffered from aging, since all
of them would be the same age as mine.

And I didn't get to see your recommendation to the OP about brighter
headlights, unless that was it, that his lenses were bad, and you suggest
junkyard replacements.

This week, I am also in need of the underside fairing plastics for my 2003 Civic
Hybrid.

I had been driving the Ford for a while, and forgot how low the Civic is.
I pulled in too far against a parking bumper curb, snagged something on a
chunk of rebar used to anchor the parking curb, and ripped out some of the
underside of the Civic when I backed up.

 

I suggested GE Nighthawk bulbs.

He never really said just why he considered his headlights to be
not-bright-enough.

Ay. Plastic body-stuff that lives under the car has an exceedingly hard
life indeed. Plus, cars in wrecking yards are carried around by forklift,
which tends to destroy everything south of the rocker panels.

Ever considered a rice-boy fiberglass kit?

 

I haven't even looked underneath yet.

I pulled back from the curb, which seemed harder than when I've grounded
myself before, but I didn't think much of it.

I did look underneath, and everything seemed okay.

As I drove off down the road, I heard some noise, but the roads were wet,
and I thought it was tire noise.

When I got on the highway, I realized that it was not a normal noise. I
pulled over, and I could see something hanging down that had been worn away
by road abrasion. I used a handy bungee cord to lift it up.

It was raining, so I didn't investigate further. I thought I would be okay
until after a wedding the next day.

Not.

There was some noise, as the bungee cord and wind competed for control of
the plastic. The bungee cord lost, flying up onto the hood, and the
plastic folded back under the car, dragging heavily.

I left it in the parking lot at the wedding, pouring rain.

I came back the next day and tied it up with some hay baling twine in a
couple of places.


Then it snowed.

I might get under the car eventually, or I might just take it to the local
body shop and have them "handle it".

I did go back to the parking lot and drive the rebar down below flush with
the curb piece.

I wondered why people drove around with bungee cords holding up body
parts. Now I have a little better understanding.

 

Aha, that sounds like the splash shield. Given what you've just described,
the plastic just might be salvageable. It's pretty tough.

Check to see if it's torn. If so, you can use a scriber or sharp punch to
poke holes in it, and "stitch" it together with nylon ties.

If the mount holes are torn, or if the clips have pulled out of the body,
you can get "Christmas tree" clips from any auto parts place.

You may also want to check your local dealer. Those splash shields are
cheaper than you think.

 

Priceless. (Sorry.)

 

I see litigation by a crafty lawyer in your future...

JT

 

I did have the thought that "someone else is at fault here".
Then I smacked the rebar down with a hammer, looked around for some little
clips that might belong to me, lying on the ground, and got back in my car.

I have a "normal" parking place, here at the "mailbox pod" where folks in
my area get their mail. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.797162,-122.553558
Someone was in "my" spot, and I pulled in to a different spot, and ...
crunch. If I had stopped and had a look when I couldn't back off easily, I
probably could have flexed something and saved my plastic car parts from
damage.

I think I've probably ground off some of the plastic against the road. I
suppose a crawl under this Saturday, with some duct tape and baling wire.

I did glance under there, thinking I might remove it instead of tying it
up. Because it's a hybrid, there is a lot of plastic under there, probably
more than other Civics.

 

I repost my last reply:

Aha, that sounds like the splash shield. Given what you've just described,
the plastic just might be salvageable. It's pretty tough.

Check to see if it's torn. If so, you can use a scriber or sharp punch to
poke holes in it, and "stitch" it together with nylon ties.

If the mount holes are torn, or if the clips have pulled out of the body,
you can get "Christmas tree" clips from any auto parts place.

You may also want to check your local dealer. Those splash shields are
cheaper than you think.

 

I did keep that in mind, and now that the Civic is 120K, 8 years old, and
dog-eaten, baling wire is on the list of remedies.
When I tied it up, it was substantially there. I didn't look for the
fastening points, I just used the drain cutouts as a place to thread my
twine and pull it forward to where the bumper overlapped it for
aerodynamics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/clarence.dold/SquirrelUnderTheHood?feat=directlink

For it's 8th birthday in March, I think I'll take my HondaCare refund and
get the front end cosmetically repaired.

 

you can read it on google groups

 

Ewww. Google Groups sucks big time. It's a dumb way to get Usenet.

The free providerEternal September carries it, as does the for-pay Altopia.

 

"Tegger" wrote

news.eternal-september.org

It works great.

 

Crawling under the car today wasn't very exciting at all.
There is some bubbled up plastic on an edge from road rash, and some breaks
too small to be concerned about, but overall, I think I'll be in fine shape
after replacing 9 of the push-pin fastners.

The piece that hit the ground is about four inches long, from the bumper
back to about the radiator. It wraps up the sides into the fender well,
and I think the fender well connections are all that kept it on the car.

The larger piece of plastic under the engine cavity has some damage, but
that may have been from other road debris over the miles. there are a
couple of pushpins missing of the original 9 in that pan.

I can see where the bumper snagged the piece of rebar and partially tore,
popping some of the pushpins. I found one on top of the engine, pin still
in, but the bulging part of the surrounding plastic was broken off.