[Solved] - Honda one low beam not working

Headlight problems can be a pain. In some cases, the headlight bulbs can be in a hard-to-reach area, and as soon as you replace the bulb, it still does not turn on. In this case study, we will talk about some common causes of headlight problems and diagnose a Honda with a bad low beam headlight.

What can cause a headlight to not turn on?

Possible issues with headlights can be:

1. A blown bulb

2. A blown fuse

3. A broken wire

4. A loose connector

5. A bad headlight switch

6. A faulty module

Diagnosing any of these components can take time, but doing a visual inspection can easily eliminate potential problems and possibly find the solution.

A visual inspection is using your eyes to inspect the problem area.

Case Study

A customer came into the shop with a 2013 Honda Accord and a complaint of a low beam headlight not working. Specifically, the driver-side low beam bulb was not turning on. All of the other bulbs were working fine including the high beam light which was a separate bulb.

What would cause one low beam light to not work?

Here are some possible causes for only one low beam light to work:

1. A bad bulb

2. A blown fuse

3. A loose connection

4. A broken wire

When the customer brought the Honda into the shop, they said they had already replaced the bulb.

Also, when they replaced the bulb, they noticed that part of the insulation on the connector was hanging out.

Just from that piece of information, I have a feeling that this was going to be a loose connection issue.

I pulled the Honda around to my work area, opened the hood, and started to wiggle the connector on the low beam light that was not working. Instantly, it started working.

The loose connection was confirmed.

What would cause the low beam light to have a loose connection?

I removed the connector to the low beam light and saw the concern that the customer expressed.

In the picture above, you can see the insulation on the connector popping out of place.

This insulation is there to protect the back of the connector, wires, and terminals from moisture and debris.

Most likely when this insulator is coming out, it means that the terminal that the wire is connected to is also coming out.

When I inspected the plug-in side of the connector, it look like it had melted. The picture below shows the melted connector.

This connector needs to be replaced in order to fix this Honda.

What probably happened is the connector may have melted over time because of corrosion and resistance on the terminals causing too much heat. Then, when the customer replaced the low beam light bulb, it pulled the terminal out of place because there wasn’t much there (after it melted) to hold it correctly. Of course, this is just a theory.

How to fix the one low beam headlight out problem?

In this case, I had to replace the connector to the low beam headlight in order for it to work properly.

The picture below shows the new connector. It is available at your local auto parts store and should only take a skilled mechanic 15 minutes to repair.

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