Dome light burns out in a few days

[taco-man]

I have a 05 CR-V and recently i have been having some issues with the dome light (light inside the car that comes on whenever you open the door). The light bulb burnt out in the dome light. After replacing it the next bulb burnt out a few days later. Whenever i put a new light bulb in it, the bulb burns out in a few days. What could be causing this, any ideas?

[Black Pearl]

Very mysterious problem. The only thing I can think of is that the bulb you are using is the wrong kind, or you got a bad batch of bulbs. Thats pretty lame.

Another thing that it may be is perhaps the circuit that dims the light has gone bad and is creating some kind of problems. Do the lights flash or burn brightly?

Let us know what you find out.

Welcome to the club, and good luck with your repair.

[maddog duck]

I'm having the same problem on my 2005 EX. I had never replaced a bulb anywhere on the CR-V and then a couple of months ago, the dome light burned out. Now, the bulbs last less than 2 weeks.

There is no flashing or blinking, it just quits working. The bulbs don't look burned out (the filament isn't visibly broken), but the light just doesn't work anymore.

I bought the replacement bulbs from an auto parts store...1.25" 12v 10W bulbs. No where on the package does it say "halogen", so I don't think that is the problem. Just to be safe when replacing it this last time, I was careful not to touch the glass, but it still quit working in less than 2 weeks.

Any ideas? My dealership has been less than useless on this and, of course, our warranty runs out in a month.

Thanks,
Matt

[Black Pearl]

As you can see there hasn't been an overwhelming response to the original post. Very odd problem. Welcome to the club, and if you find out what the problem is please post it. Good luck.

[maddog duck]

Thanks, BP. I'm a "long-time listner, first-time caller."

I've got my fingers crossed that the OP will have some good news for me.

I just took the dome light fixture apart. Nothing appears to be corroded or loose.

This most recent "burn out" actually messed up the bulb. The bulb came apart when I tried to pull it out. The inside of the glass was covered with a milky looking film. In previous bulbs, the bulbs actually still looked like they should have worked.

[maddog duck]

At the risk of looking like I'm talking to myself...

I just took a gander at the fuse for the interior light...which is under the hood. While looking at the fuses and comparing them to the fuse box cover, I noticed that the interior light and backup light fuses where switched.

The interior light should have a 15 amp fuse and the backup light should have a 10 amp fuse...they were switched.

Neither fuse has ever blown, so I don't really think this is a part of my problem, but I found it interesting/disturbing that it came from the factory that way.

[Badgerland]

Not having replaced a bulb in years I have one suggestion to offer. When you are handling the bulb out of the package, are you barehanded or using some type of latex glove? The oils from your hand (however slight) can cause bulbs to fail at an alarming fast rate. Just a thought...although a batch of bad bulbs can happen...I just had 2 of 4 R65 bulbs bad out of a brand new package.

[revel22]

Question. How do you remove the dome light cover? My bulb just burned out on my 05 CRV and I don't want to destroy the cover by prying it off incorrectly.

[apfurste]

I am having the same problem. Checked the fuses and they were ok. I am also getting the milky looking problem when the bulb goes bad. Wierd. I also checked to see if it dim when the door is closed and then shuts off and it does. Ughh....I keep blaming my 4 year old as he has been the culprit in the past.

[Radar24]

I have gone thru this problem before. After much research, it turns out that some same size bulbs will have a different wattage or voltage ratings. That is one bulb might be intended for a slightly different voltage than regulated 12v which is about 13.5 to 14.5 volts. It might be intended for true nominal 12 volts or some other value. Who knows if it is unlabeled.

The real issue is both bulbs look the same and if the ratings are not imprinted on the metal contact or painted on the glass you cannot tell. Not without actually measuring the current.

Using Ohms Law P (Power) can calculated as:

P = I x V = I x I x R = (V x V) / R

If the V is fixed by the regulator in the alternator then a bulb with half the equivalent resistance will result in half the wattage rating. Doubling the intended wattage will result in the bulb burning soon.

Now if a 12 volt bulb nominally rated at 1.2 W draws 100 mA. So the bulb appears to be 120 Ohms. If it is inserted in the 14.5 regulated socket then it will consume about 1.75 W. That is almost 1.5 times as much power.

Now if the bulb is intended for 9.6 V applications or worst yet 6.0 or even 5.0 V, I think you might start to see the problem. The power goes up with the square of the Voltage or square of the Current!

Insert a volt rated for nominal 12 into a 14.5 V regulated socket and it will not last as long. A bulb rated at 9.6 volt might burn out right away. While one for 6 or 5 V will burnout almost immediately if a fuse does not burn out first.

Given that there is a timer circuit in series with the dome bulb that might regulate the voltage or current applied at the bulb, if that circuit is out of calibration it might cause the bulb to burn out too by drawing excessive current.

So in a nut shell:
0) The white telltale deposits indicate too much power has been dissipated.
1) Make sure you have the correct bulb. If it is an unlabeled generic bulb then you do not know what you have. Most all GE or Sylvania/Osram bulbs are labeled. They cost a little more but do you want to know what bulb you have and the quality controls that go along with that? Or do you want to save a few cents?
1a) What Power is it rated for and at what Voltage? It must match the Honda designed bulb parameters. It will be too dim or too bright and will burn out fast in the later case.
2) The Dome timer circuit might be out off whack. I would check the bulb first as it is more likely that if the control circuit fails it will not work at all.
3) Is your voltage regulator in the alternator is out of cal or too high in this case? If it was other bulbs would be burning out too! Are they? Now you know your problem if they are. It should generally be under 14.5 v.
4) Find the Gremlin in your V and beat it silly with a stick... Problem solved!

It is not rocket science. In freshman electrical engineering they taught us that all you needed to know was Oms' Law. The rest of the laws you can look up. This is one such case.
V = I R
Incidentally P = I V

Good luck.

-Rg