Anyone else having problems with broken headlight switches? - Honda Prelude Forum

mean89 · 11-08-2011, 11:20 PM

Does anyone else on here seem to be having problems with their headlight switches? I just replaced mine last month cause the first one was feeling "dry" and stuck in the mornings, one morning I went to turn the lights on and something broke inside the switch, so I ended up driving home from work with no lights. I replaced it with a junkyard part which worked fine for the last month, but when I went to turn the lights on tonight it felt dry and didn't want to turn at first. After I got it to turn and the lights came on the switch felt fine, but I bet by morning it'll be dry and stuck again. Is this a common problem, or just my bad luck? Any way to fix these or lube them?

Colfax · 11-09-2011, 08:38 AM

It doesn't seem to be a common problem, at least I haven't heard of a lot of people having problems with them.

I'm pretty sure you can open them up and lubricate things inside. You might as well try on your old one since it's no good anyway. Post back if you find a way. It could be something that more of us will start seeing now that our cars are more than 20 years old.

mean89 · 11-09-2011, 08:40 AM

I took my old broken one apart this morning when I got home from work, there's only a small plastic "finger" with a ball shape on the end that moves the whole thing around in there, my "finger" had snapped off. Looks like there was a lil bit of heat in there too cause the plastic around it looked a lil melted. I then took the one apart that's in my car now and it's also showing signs of heat, though not as bad. I sprayed some lube around the moving parts and put a lil grease on one of the sliding connections that was really dry looking, seems to be a bit better now. If it starts to dry out again I'm gonna get some white lithium grease (or something along that line) and do the same thing again. I have at least one more replacement in the junkyard down the road if I need it, usually he just gives me small parts like that. If they all fail I'll be looking for new (or at least newer)

Colfax · 11-09-2011, 12:57 PM

Did it come apart easily, or did you have to break it to open it up? It might be worth my while to take mine apart and throw a little lithium grease in there. Or at least take a look and see if it's drying out in there.

mean89 · 11-09-2011, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colfax

Did it come apart easily, or did you have to break it to open it up? It might be worth my while to take mine apart and throw a little lithium grease in there. Or at least take a look and see if it's drying out in there.

Came apart super easy, just a few lil screws and it opens right up. Just open it slowly cause there's a few loose parts in there

Colfax · 11-10-2011, 08:17 AM

Thanks for the info. I'll put it on my list of things to do in the spring when it warms up again.

mean89 · 11-10-2011, 10:23 AM

Just an update, it's the day after I took the switch apart and greased it up and it's working 10x better than ever, turns very smoothly and isn't drying up at all. Hoping this info helps a few people out there, if your switch starts to feel dry it could literally break any time. My last switch only felt dry for a day or two before it broke