P5 Headlights intermittent failure
 

Greetings! Just wondering if anybody else is experiencing this problem. My Protege5 headlights are not working properly. There seems to be a loose connection or short in the electrical. One headlight is out but comes back on occasionally. If you release the hood, lift it, and drop it the light usually comes back on. Now the second headlight is doing the same thing. (Found out on the highway last night when both lights were out). Luckily the fog lights provide some light and the high beams cause both headlights to function normally. I'm heading for the dealer and warranty work of course but I wanted to know if this is a unique problem or a general problem people have seen. Thanks.......

Marc

OttawaP5, Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have.

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....and take it easy.

oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!!

This is the first I have heard of this particular problem...but it sounds as though there is just a loose connection somewhere....I would just turn on the lights and start wiggling connections...sooner or later you will come across something loose.

I've not checked the bulbs to see if they are secure. Seems odd that both would be not seated properly but I suppose only 1 could cause both to go on the fritz. I've played with the wiring to find a loose connection but no luck yet. The car now has 52,000 km on it and I've had it since May 2001 so maybe more of this problem will show up for others later?
Right now its -21 C outside so I'm not fond of playing around under the hood outdoors :)

Cheers,
Marc

this exact same thing happened when my first bulb burned out, it did this for a few nights then finially stopped working

Why would the bulbs on a 2002 car burn out?

Mine was acting just like yours.
It started to go on and off and after a month drivers side low beam died (P5) after 30K miles.
I have brought it to the dealer and I assumed that harness was broken and dealer said it was the bulb that was done, they have replaced it and I'm a happy camper.
Got DI super whites on order from Mitch at Protegeonline.

Just a quick follow-up. The dealer checked things out and replaced the driver side bulb. All was well for about 2 weeks. After two weeks the passenger side bulb went. The dealer replaced that as well. I've had no problems since both bulbs were replaced. Seems very odd that a bulb wouldn't just burn out all together instead of giving and intermittent on / off problem.

fez, some times the filament in bulbs aren't that great. Othertimes a scratch or oil on the bulb can contribute to the expedited burnout of a bulb

Yeah but it seems to be a bigger problem on the Proteges than on most cars... especially since many of these lights that are burning out quickly have never been touched.