Dear The Garage,

My name is Katherine. I am a girl. I have a 1997 Honda Accord EX. Yesterday I replaced a headlight bulb in my car and felt very accomplished. Then I noticed two other lights next to the headlight were burned out TOO. I don't know what they're called, but I went and got replacement bulbs. I got something called an Instrument/License 168 and a Signal / Back Up 7440.

What in the wooooorld do I do now? I tried to google (that worked yesterday) but I don't even know what the lights next to the headlight are called. Turn Signal annnnnnnnd??? Something else? Parking light? Whatever the heck that is. So anyway, I need to change the bulbs myself because my car is due for inspection and I am poor and I don't want to pay anyone to do it for me. So tell me, TWW, what do I do. Also, I don't really know in-depth the parts of cars. I opened the hood yesterday to change my headlight bulb, but the way I knew my way around was by descriptive terms (not technical terms). Like "intake"??? Yea didn't know what that is, but "cylinder plastic thingy" I can comprehend.

So if anyone has any tips, that would be AMAZING. Thaaank you.

Love,
Katherine

3/25/2008 3:46:11 PM

when is the last time you got an oil change, what color is it, and how many miles does it have?

3/25/2008 3:48:16 PM

tits or gtfo ?

go to autozone and talk to the man behind the counter. he'll come outside and take a look for free.

thnk me later, or just post more pics

3/25/2008 3:48:34 PM

jesus christ where's all this riff-raff come from?


where are all the white knights for this young lady? I'd do it but I'm 2hrs from raleigh

3/25/2008 3:50:51 PM

i don't know i need to take it to get it changed BUT i wanted to do that with my inspection and i won't pass without liiiiiights. and i want to autozone DUH that is how i got the bulbs. but i want to do it myself. there won't always be a big burly man behind a counter to help me out. sigh....

3/25/2008 3:51:44 PM

you want to learn how to do it yourself without having a qualified person show you how?

i guess i could come down and show you how to fix it. don't you have a bf that could show you?

3/25/2008 3:56:38 PM

nevermindddd i figured it out myself. no thanks to the 20 people that read this without saying anything

thanks for the support, the garage. i'll let you know how it goes.

3/25/2008 3:58:57 PM

Um, Advanced Auto should have a Haynes Manual. They go for like $15.00 IIRC $18.88+tax. Otherwise, here's what I found:

"The easist way is to partially remove the wheel house liner and stick your hand through there. There should be 4 push clips that you can remove with a small regular screwdriver. Pry out the center part and then remove the whole push clip. At this point you can pull down on the plastic liner and reach through to the light socket. Good Luck"

There's nothing wrong with having someone show you this time, so you know how to do it next time. IMO, this is a "get it done now, learn later" situation.

The Haynes manual is the best way to go if you are poor but want to do it yourself. Otherwise, I'd try a Honda forum.

[Edited on March 25, 2008 at 4:02 PM. Reason : .]

3/25/2008 3:58:59 PM

thanks!!! i think i can figure it out now

3/25/2008 4:00:19 PM

High/Low Beams (sometimes on the same bulb), Turn Signal, and Running Lamps (both of which can also be on the same bulb). Running lamps, usually yellow/orangeish, are on whenever you engage the dashboard lights -they're all the pretty ones showing your speed and RPM's at night. Sounds like your turn signal, and running lamp is out.

This is not something that costs a lot by any means. You could probably get away with batting your eyes at the dude behind the counter to get him to come out and get it for you.

3/25/2008 4:01:03 PM

well i'm not going back now i already bought new bulbs anyway. maybe if i bat my eyes at myself, myself will figure out how to do it. it can't be THAT hard anyway, right?

3/25/2008 4:03:08 PM

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_replace_the_headlight_bulb_located_on_a_1997_Honda_Accord_EX

3/25/2008 4:05:48 PM

How did three different bulbs burn out around the same time? How did you notice the other two were burnt out?

3/25/2008 4:09:12 PM

I just now read it.. sorry, I woulda helped

3/25/2008 4:17:34 PM

i'm done i'm done!! ^^ bc my mom was like your head light is burned out so i didn't think about checking the other ones and then when i checked the headlight yesterday i realized the other ones were burned out. anyway. now i have to degreasify. thanks for the hizelp. or maybe i should just thank myself juuuuust kidding. next up, oil change. is it possible for me to learn this? i dunno, but i'd say i'm a quick learner

OH AND i am kinda sketched out that 3 burned out around the same time. but honestly, the like "parking light" or whatever it is might have been gone for awhile, i don't know. i'm not exactly perceptive. but i'm scared something worse might be at work here, my car IS old. but we'll see.

[Edited on March 25, 2008 at 4:28 PM. Reason : .]

3/25/2008 4:19:55 PM

changing oil is easy

hardest part is getting the filter off

assuming you have the right tools and are strong enough you won't have any problems doing it

3/25/2008 4:36:29 PM

honda's are easy to work on.

unscrew the single screw on the top of the parking/running lights, pull straight out.

turn the bulb holders counterclockwise to remove.

done.

do you normally throw your hands in the air and give up?
------

most likely the bulbs were installed at the same time and have the same lifespan. my car never needed bulbs, till i replaced them anyway at 10 years.

[Edited on March 25, 2008 at 4:44 PM. Reason : d]

3/25/2008 4:43:13 PM

she did it herself

3/25/2008 4:58:00 PM

is your car a V6? i have an oil filter for a ~'97 accord v6 laying around that i dont think i'll ever need (bought it for my ex-gf, then she wrecked the car).. lmk if you need it for when you change your oil

3/25/2008 5:19:48 PM

nah mine is a 4 cylinder...that is how i roll. but thanks! check back soon for me searching for oil change advice!

3/25/2008 5:44:49 PM

yay, can't wait!

3/25/2008 5:51:53 PM

so what ended up happening?

3/27/2008 8:15:43 PM

Quote :

"go to autozone and talk to the man behind the counter. he'll come outside and take a look for free. "

that's a terrible idea. most people who work at those places (zone, advance, etc) know NOTHING about cars. it's no different than going to the grocery store and asking the bagger to come look at your car. i mean, yeah, there are definitely exceptions, but if you don't know cars yourself, you'll have a hard time picking them out.

3/27/2008 8:20:40 PM

^ Tr00 Tr00 Igor And I went into the one on western and asked for Tire irons the guy said we dont have any but cant you use a drill and a socket?!?!?!?!?

3/27/2008 8:23:26 PM

like nascar or some shit?

3/27/2008 8:34:37 PM

Quote :

"^ Tr00 Tr00 Igor And I went into the one on western and asked for Tire irons the guy said we dont have any but cant you use a drill and a socket?!?!?!?!?"

ahahah that was classic. after that we asked him if they sell butterknives, he was all confused

Quote :

"I am a girl"

you'll get a lot better response if you post some pics

not of your accord of course. even drunknloaded knows what a 97 accord ex looks like

[Edited on March 27, 2008 at 9:58 PM. Reason : fuck my wolfweb taggin skills are going to shit these days]

[Edited on March 27, 2008 at 10:00 PM. Reason : dammit]

3/27/2008 9:57:34 PM

Quote :

"most people who work at those places (zone, advance, etc) know NOTHING about cars."

uhhhh yea figured this one out. when i went to buy the bulbs (before i asked for help (not from him--on here)) he had to go out and look at my car twice and he was like "i'm just questioning what the computer told me" and then he gave me like 5 million packs of bulbs (ok it was like 3, but 2 come in each one and he gave me 3 packs of 3 different kinds of lights). yea, i only needed one. hmmmmm.

Quote :

"so what ended up happening?"

i just figured it out myself before tww stepped in to save the day (i was impatient). plus, once i opened the hood i realized it wasn't even hard at all. i probably should have looked before i asked for help. ooops. lesson learned.

[Edited on March 28, 2008 at 9:54 AM. Reason : .]

3/28/2008 9:54:30 AM