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Headlights no longer blink when unlocking/locking car

19K views 18 replies 5 participants last post by  bigblue14 
#1 ·
Hey everyone I'm new here and I come to thee with a problem seeking a solution from the Council of vtec :grin

Here is the situation:

I bought a pair of white LED bulbs to replace the stock ones in my 2014 Accord LX's accent/strip light portion of the headlights. So the first one went just fine. I attached a picture so you can see the comparison.

I went to go do the second and it seemed the bulb was kind of loose to fit inside the connector. I would have to adjust it to a point in order to see the LED light show up. What I did to make the light flash was locking/unlocking the car. I had the driver side door open too while I did all this because I left the spare bulbs in there.

So after installing the second one, I noticed that whenever I unlock/lock the car with the key fob the headlights no longer flash like they used to to indicate if the doors opened or not. I also have a remote starter that when pressed the car turns on and the headlight and tail lights turn on, but that does not work anymore.

The brake light and headlights work (except for the accent/strip lights) when I put the key in the ignition.

Has anyone else had this problem? What could be some possibilities?
 

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#2 ·
Hey everyone I'm new here and I come to thee with a problem seeking a solution from the Council of vtec :grin



Here is the situation:



I bought a pair of white LED bulbs to replace the stock ones in my 2014 Accord LX's accent/strip light portion of the headlights. So the first one went just fine. I attached a picture so you can see the comparison.



I went to go do the second and it seemed the bulb was kind of loose to fit inside the connector. I would have to adjust it to a point in order to see the LED light show up. What I did to make the light flash was locking/unlocking the car. I had the driver side door open too while I did all this because I left the spare bulbs in there.



So after installing the second one, I noticed that whenever I unlock/lock the car with the key fob the headlights no longer flash like they used to to indicate if the doors opened or not. I also have a remote starter that when pressed the car turns on and the headlight and tail lights turn on, but that does not work anymore.



The brake light and headlights work (except for the accent/strip lights) when I put the key in the ignition.



Has anyone else had this problem? What could be some possibilities?

Did you put the original bulbs back in? If so, did the problem persist?
Did you check all your fuses?
Where did you buy the LEDs from?
When you turn the headlight stalk to illuminate just the parking lights, what happens?
Have you tried disconnecting the negative terminal from the battery and resetting the system?
When you say the headlights and taillights used to illuminate after starting the car with your remote start, is that only when the headlights are set to "auto" and it's dark enough outside to trigger the sensor? Or they always come on no matter what the circumstances are? And when you say "headlights" do you mean the DRL/high beam bulb, or the actual low beams?
 
#3 ·
+1
Troubleshooting!! I'm just gonna reiterate lol
– Put the original bulbs back in and see if they work.
–*Definitely check to make sure all of your front lights work by switching through them ("OFF", parking lights, low beam, high beam, and "AUTO") with the headlight stalk and visually checking them from the outside.
–*Use the key fob to unlock/lock the car with the door closed (and the car off, obviously lol), both with the headlights set to "auto" and "off"

At least on my 8G and probably the 9G as well unless Honda changed this, I know for sure that when the headlights are set to "auto" and its dark enough for the lights to turn on and you just get out the car without locking it with the remote, opening either of the front doors – and probably either of the rear doors – resets the headlight relay timeout, so its possible that you might've shorted [something] out or blew a fuse while you were replacing the bulbs, since you mention doing all of this with the door open. Then again, if it was broad daylight out (or bright enough for just the DRL to be on), my suspicion is therefore invalid. It also looks like it was raining when you did this (I could be wrong) so that may play a part in the strangeness that is your lights acting... well... strange. Haha.

Let us know how you make out! Good luck!
 
#5 ·
@dkm16 All I can say is whoa thanks for the wealth of info. I appreciate the quick response. I will do everything you said when I get back from work. I have the strangest feeling that Teezy maybe right about the fuse being blown because I left my door open.

Also it would be the drl/high beams that flash when I unlock/lock the car. Its weird the firdt bulb checked out good, but the second is where problems came in.

I will keep you guys posted
 
#6 ·
At work now on break. Answers to dkm16s quesitons

Did you put the original bulbs back in? If so, did the problem persist?
- I did not put them back in, yet

Did you check all your fuses?
- I will do that soon. I have a feeling it might be that.

Where did you buy the LEDs from?
- I bought them off ebay from a company called FyreFlys LED based out of Texas. They had good reviews. A pair of those LEDs cost 15.99 + Free Shipping. They claim that its "plug and play" no modifications are necessary.

When you turn the headlight stalk to illuminate just the parking lights, what happens?
-I'm going to have to check this one out. I'm pretty sure when I put it in "Auto" the strips don't light up.

Have you tried disconnecting the negative terminal from the battery and resetting the system?
-I did not disconnect the negative terminal. I did however reset the car from the iMID to factory defaults.

When you say the headlights and taillights used to illuminate after starting the car with your remote start, is that only when the headlights are set to "auto" and it's dark enough outside to trigger the sensor? Or they always come on no matter what the circumstances are? And when you say "headlights" do you mean the DRL/high beam bulb, or the actual low beams?

-They always came on regardless of daylight or darkness.

This is what I get for trying to be cool :(
I'm going to do what you said when I get home.
 
#14 ·
Hey sorry guys I was busy with work. I was talking with the supplier on eBay that I bought the LEDs from and he linked me a video on YouTube. The dude in the video had the exact same symptoms on his Accord as I did on mine. Remote start would start the car, but would not light up parking lights. Same with unlock/lock with key fob.

So, with that in mind I went off to find the blown fuse. I lost the friggin plastic pliers inside the hollow panel where all the fuses are. I had to shimmy the fuse out with needle nose pliers. I looked at the fuse and yea it was blown.

I changed the 10a parking light fuse near the footwell inside the ****pit. Sure enough my stock strip bulbs and parking lights began to flash again. I was so excited that I gave the LEDs another shot. I am glad that I did. I learned something and I surprised myself.

I have attached some pictures.
 

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#19 ·
I would formally like to thank everyone that assisted me in this fix.
teezythakidd
dkm16
03LXV6
Mrod
Thank you guys for all your help.

Hey Mrod yes! here is the link! very helpful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMUwYS88bSE
 
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