I have 107k miles on my 07 fit sport. Over the past year I have begun to have some odd electrical problems that I can't seem to nail down. My headlights (and ALL interior lights for that matter, and brake lights as well) dim and brighten over and over between 2 -4 times a second. I can stifle this flashing by turning on the ac full blast for sometimes doing something else to put more load on the battery, but nothing is foolproof... it sometimes occurs with nothing but the engine running, sometimes with every bell and whistle running. This problem has been mostly an annoyance but it seems to ever so slowly be getting worse.

Then last night- both my high beams dimmed and then went out at the same time... low beams still work great high beams haven't come back since. I haven't had a chance to check the bulbs since they're annoying to get to.. but they were brand new... only put them in 3 days ago... So.. I am worried that I have got some sort of alternator or voltage regulation problem that is somehow tied up in these 2 issues.. Or maybe they're unrelated.. any ideas folks?

-Chris

 

Additionally - I have a scanguageII which reads my voltage as fluctuating between 13.5 to 16.8 . Is this normal? When the voltage goes about 14.2 THATS when the lights begin to all fluctuate. Sorry I neglected to mention this before. Anyone else have a voltage meter of any kind that can tell me if my readings are normal?

 

I'd get the alternator tested.

 

X2

The regulator should not allow more than 13.5 - 14.0 V. 16V is WAY too high. On other (non-Honda) car forums, a high voltage results in whacked-out electrical symptoms.


COULD be a shorted battery however...you don't mention it's age. As a first step I would have the battery load-tested.

Finally, a simple cause could be a loose or corroded battery terminal/connection.



PS the voltage surges could have burned out both hi-beam bulbs... that is common...especially on CR-Vs, weak batteries seem to cause repeated headlight bulb failure.

 

How long do alternators last on Fit's? They look like a bear to replace. Let us know what the problem was when you find out!

 

Hey that happened once to the old CR-V, blew both lights, although I blamed the cold weather... it got ridiculously cold for Michigan and it killed both lowbeams and the ABS computer on the same night, not to mention one of the lowbeams, the ignitor, and two axle boots on the Civic. That was a BAD morning.

 

Alrighty so I got it fixed and voltage is back to 13.9 to 14.2 at all times.

After research here and elsewhere I guessed it was a bad voltage regulator. The voltage regulator is , of course, inside the alternator so I had to have the whole thing replaced which was several hundred dollars.(400? it was a while ago now) Honda disagreed with my diagnosis all the way up the line, insisting that my high voltage was totally possible under normal conditions and even sent messages to corporate trying to figure out what was wrong. They really couldn't figure it out. In the end, I persisted and like I said...

now its fixed!

07 NHBP Fit Auto, 112k miles

 

Thanks for the follow-up...


Did you replace the battery too? One car, I had a bad battery (intermittently shorted) that took out 3 alternators (voltage regulators) before I wised up and replaced it....

 

had the same problem...just saw a recall for head lights wires.

 

I had the same problem. Got alternator replaced. Fixed.