Off topic, if I may, advice needed

Jon54

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I’m always impressed by the auto knowledge on this board. I grew up in the muscle car era where a tune up included changing out the distributor cap and setting the timing with a timing light.

simple question from an old guy. Again, off topic, but I need to replace the headlight bulbs in my wife’s ‘12 Honda CRV. I Google the topic and am overloaded with options. Help?
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dmeyer302

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Generally speaking, newer headlamp units have a large (~3") rubber dust cap. Remove that and the bulb unit is revealed inside. Snap off the electrical connector, and twist out the bulb. Pretty simple. I don't know about your CRV specifically.
 

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I’m always impressed by the auto knowledge on this board. I grew up in the muscle car era where a tune up included changing out the distributor cap and setting the timing with a timing light.

simple question from an old guy. Again, off topic, but I need to replace the headlight bulbs in my wife’s ‘12 Honda CRV. I Google the topic and am overloaded with options. Help?
Going to be tough topic to give any specific advise on unless someone on the forum has experience with Honda CRVs. First and simplest is to replace in kind, you manual will give you bulb number required. Or, your local parts dealer will have a book you can look your vehicle up in to tell you what bulb will fit. If you are looking to replace stock halogens with LEDs, the options are countless. You still need to know bulb number you are replacing. Fitting into your housing under the dust cover is probably the biggest issue you need to deal with as all LEDs are not the same physical size even for the same bulb number. My best advise is to find a Honda CRV forum, I'm sure there is one, and ask your question there.
 

Big Blue

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Generally speaking, newer headlamp units have a large (~3") rubber dust cap. Remove that and the bulb unit is revealed inside. Snap off the electrical connector, and twist out the bulb. Pretty simple. I don't know about your CRV specifically.
One point of advice don't touch the bulb itself with you fingers. The oils from your hands will cause the bulb to burn out prematurely. Especially halogen bulbs.
 
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Jon54

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I confused by the selection of bulbs. Sylvania has about 5 options. I may just pick one in the middle price range.
 


Big Blue

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I confused by the selection of bulbs. Sylvania has about 5 options. I may just pick one in the middle price range.
Probably a safe choice. Some will be brighter but have shorter life others will be whiter than the one halogens. If I remember correctly Sylvania has an expected life span grad on their package so you can compare. Make sure to replace in pairs.
 

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I confused by the selection of bulbs. Sylvania has about 5 options. I may just pick one in the middle price range.
One thing to keep in mind is the ones that promise to be brighter won't last as long. You can't go wrong with the SilverStars
 

slowmachine

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Bulb changing procedure is on page 309 of the downloadable owner’s manual. Definitely wear rubber gloves to keep skin oils off of the bulbs. Wipe with alcohol if needed. This is a 10-minute job

http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/OM/0A1212/0A1212OM.PDF

It was mentioned above that the brighter bulbs have shorter service lives. This is true, and Sylvania provides nominal life spans, in hours of usage, for each grade of bulbs. I installed the Silverstar Ultra bulbs about a year ago, and they are still working fine. I have read that a person who is 60 years old needs 3-4 times the amount of light to see the same detail as someone who is only 30. At 58, no bulbs are too bright. The LED headlights were a large factor in me choosing Ranger Lariat over a lower trim. They are good enough.
 

cfhgarza

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I have read that a person who is 60 years old needs 3-4 times the amount of light to see the same detail as someone who is only 30. At 58, no bulbs are too bright.
Great perspective here and something I didn't consider. Seems like the Silver star Ultras might be a good choice.
 
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Jon54

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Great perspective here and something I didn't consider. Seems like the Silver star Ultras might be a good choice.
The CRV has really been a great value. 8 years old, 150,000 miles and still runs and looks great. My bride of 43 years (65 years old) needs more light.
 

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I confused by the selection of bulbs. Sylvania has about 5 options. I may just pick one in the middle price range.
Look at the life rating on the bulb. You will see the bulbs that are greatly brighter than the stock bulb also have a very smaller life rating. I felt the stock bulbs in my last vehicle were bright enough considering the shortened life of the "upgrades".
 

KJRR

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The other issue as the cars age is the lenses become cloudy and pitted dispersing light everywhere except where it should be going. Much like our old eyes.
Brighter bulbs help overcome that and so can polishing the lenses or replacing them.
 
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Jon54

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Guys, thanks. Silver star ultras installed. Happy wife, happy life. Who’d know the original bulbs lasted 8 years. I replaced simply because they got dim.
 
 



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