Honda Accord 1993 – Front Bumper Directional Light

[Damien Hill]

Hi Guys,
Just thought I would get some opinions on this one… I have two lights on either side of my front bumper which are supposed to be wired to come on the side in which you indicate when your headlights are on… (So the indicatators should flash, but these side lights will stay on until you cancel the turn signal) This is a replacement bumper and have never been wired. How would I get this to work, and where should I start looking to wire from.

Thanks

Topic

[EricTheCarGuy]

I’m not completely sure what the issue is. So you have a new bumper and no indicator lights? If you want to know how to wire them the first thing to start with is to find a wiring diagram and find out how the circuit should be wired up. Here are some videos that may also help you.

Basic Electrical troubleshooting 1

Basic Electrical troubleshooting 2

[Damien Hill]

Thanks for the reply Eric,
Sorry I should have been more specific. Nothing related to the indicators here, but these are seperate lights which light up only when the headlights are turned on. I think you call them directional side lights. I just wasn’t sure where I should wire them to. They are supposed to work with the the indicators only when the headlights are turned on but only one side will light up at a time depending on the direction you are indicating.

Hope this helps.

[Damien Hill]

*Note: If you take a look at my Profile Picture you can see them on the side of the front bumper.

[Charles]

I think you are talking about corner lights. They are lights that illuminate the direction you are turning. Mostly high end autos have them, Park Ave. comes to mind. If a version of your car came with these they should be on the wiring diagram. You should look there first. If not you can use a time delay on release relay that picks on turn signal on. Just google “Time release circuit” or “Snubber Circuit” automotive relays are cheap enough.

[Damien Hill]

Hi Jotman1,
Yes! Corner lights are what I am on about. Sorry my explaining was terrible, I didn’t know what name you guys called them. I understand these lights work off a control module… But I was looking around on Google today and came across this, which is exactly what I want to do. So here is the link for anyone interested later. http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=45499&highlight=cornering+light

[EricTheCarGuy]

Yes those are not stock at least here in the states. I see what you’re talking about though and understand how they’re suppose to work. As for wiring them up it looks like that article you found has it. I believe they’ll be hooked up to the turn signals and the control unit keeps them from flashing on and off. I suppose you’ll need one of those control units to make it work.

[Damien Hill]

Thanks for your reply Eric.
Yeah, sorry for my terrible explanation to start with. The bumper I have for the car also has some spot lights, and this model car is made to have those as well. I found the loom for those inside the car as the little spacer which fits in where the switch is suppose to go has a plug behind it. I managed to find a switch at a wrecker, but for those spot lights its now its a matter of finding out where the wires from the switch goes on the outside of the car.

But one thing at a time! I’ll let you know how I go with this and possible post some photos for other peoples reference.

[EricTheCarGuy]

That would be great, keep us posted.

[Damien Hill]

Eric, I have designed and built a circuit to control these lights. After much brain power I am positive it will work. I was hoping to ask you a quick question about the indicator switch…
I want to be able to find a 12V line which becomes a stable 12V on the side you indicate, without that line flashing. Where would you suggest I start looking? Should I look around the control box.

Once I get these lights working I will upload a DIY on what I did.

[Charles]

There does not have to be one. In general, without looking, 12VDC is applied to one side of the bulb when the ignition is on. The other side (ground) is routed to the flasher by the turn signal switch. The current draw by the lights causes a heating element in the flasher to open the ground circuit (can also be electronic). When the element cools the circuit closes again. This is why the lights don’t flash if one bulb is out and flash too fast if you attach a trailer light to the circuit. When you add a trailer you have to change the flasher to the heavy duty version to accommodate the heaver load.

Unless you can get into the turn signal switch and add the feature you will have to be satisfied with the flashing ground to detect when the lights are flashing.

To do this, apply 12 VDC (ignition on) to one side of a circuit (design it yourself or find one) and latch 12 VDC to the output (corner light) when you detect a ground on the lamp circuit. Seems to me you will need to have this circuit time out after a second or two in order to turn it back off.

Sorry, I’m old and rattle on like most of my cars.

[EricTheCarGuy]

[quote=”Jotmon1″ post=35638]There does not have to be one. In general, without looking, 12VDC is applied to one side of the bulb when the ignition is on. The other side (ground) is routed to the flasher by the turn signal switch. The current draw by the lights causes a heating element in the flasher to open the ground circuit (can also be electronic). When the element cools the circuit closes again. This is why the lights don’t flash if one bulb is out and flash too fast if you attach a trailer light to the circuit. When you add a trailer you have to change the flasher to the heavy duty version to accommodate the heaver load.

Unless you can get into the turn signal switch and add the feature you will have to be satisfied with the flashing ground to detect when the lights are flashing.

To do this, apply 12 VDC (ignition on) to one side of a circuit (design it yourself or find one) and latch 12 VDC to the output (corner light) when you detect a ground on the lamp circuit. Seems to me you will need to have this circuit time out after a second or two in order to turn it back off.

Sorry, I’m old and rattle on like most of my cars.[/quote]

I think you’re part right here however I believe it’s the power side that gets routed through the flasher, in fact I can’t think of a flasher circuit that’s ground side switched, that would be after the load of the bulb and there wouldn’t be enough current to work the flasher. Think about it, the signal comes from the turn signal switch and then goes to the fuse box which is much closer than switching the ground side. Manufacturers save money wherever possible and copper wire isn’t cheep these days.

That said you might take your feed right off the combination switch itself as that is the signal BEFORE the flasher, it would be even better if you could take it right from the flasher however there is a danger that you’d overload the circuit and burn it up. I believe this is why Honda ran a control unit for this to prevent this very thing from happening. I feel if you take the signal right from the power feed to the flasher you’ll pull so much out of the circuit that the flasher won’t work properly and your signal light won’t be bright enough. You pose an interesting problem that’s for sure.

[Author]

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