Honda Pilot Lights

local817

How do you take off the interior plastic case of the interior dome lights? 2005

local817

HOW DO THE INTERIOR LIGHTS COME OFF TO CHANGE THE LIGHT BULB?

jeff_in_lv

The cover lens snaps off. You can use a small jewelers screwdriver to pop it off. That exposes the bulbs.

etgust

New topic: We took home a 2007 Pilot, FWD to test drive for the night. Thank goodness, because the lights are very low. There is a very distinct line where the lights end. The bright lights light very well. Can this be fixed/adjusted by the dealer? Is this normal. If so, will be very hard to get used too. Just doesn't seem to be adequate lighting, unless the brights are on. Any thoughts or similar experiences? Otherwise, really like the vehicle performance.

eaglepilot

In another section, a poster mentioned that he had installed brighter aftermarket bulbs and that had fixed any light issues. Others said that they had had the dealer adjust the beams free of charge.

Chris

fx35awd

Hi Every one I am fairly new to this forum. I was wondering if the back tail lights on the 2006 will fit in the 2004 Honda Pilot since some one or some thing has broke our left tail light so I am thinking of changing them with the clear ones from the 2006 model. Also, how difficult would it be to replace these tail lights. Thank you in advance.

odie6l

I'm not sure if the 2006 lights are possible for the 2004. I do know you can purchase the red covered light kits for the 2006 and up, which makes me think there is a difference in size.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

local817

how to program 05 honda pilot keys

switch61

The adjustment is very easy; it can be done with a wrench or socket.

The 2006/2007 Pilots have projector lamps, so you'll get a very distinct cutoff. If you believe the lights are adjusted to low, have a dealer set them to the correct height. If you want brighter lights, don't waste you money on any of the hyped up blue bulbs. There may be a bulb or two that are a bit brighter, but the only way to get a decent increase in brightness through a bulb change is to go with an over-watted bulb (i.e. 80W low beam). Those types of bulbs typically do not last long, and I know of no information on whether it will not adversely affect the electrical system. The best way to get brightness, but at a bit of a cost, is to go HID. It's $250, but you will immediately notice a significant difference.

dave2500

I just leased a 2008 Pilot EX-L. Like the car a lot except the headlights. They are not bright enough and you see a very distinct line where the low beams end. I personally feel that this vehicle is unsafe to drive in rural areas such as where I live. I have spoken many times to Honda and they will admit nothing is wrong and I am the ONLY customer complaining about this issue. I want to see if I am crazy or if others are bothered by this. The car just turned 1 month old has only 900 miles on it and I am considering ways to either get out of the lease or possibly sue Honda or do a class action lawsuit if others are also bothered by this. I consider this a major safety issue. Please let me know if you have ever experienced this or if I am crazy.

Thanks!
David

umkai

David,

Projector style (with convex lens) headlights, regardless HID or Hologen based, are generally considered better than reflector style headlights that you are used to, since they output the light evenly to the ground with distinctive cutoff (where the low beams end) to protect the oncoming traffice from glare. The reflector style headlights, however, have hot spots and leak some light beyond where it should end, giving you the impression they light up the road better. Sometimes you can see higher signs better with reflector style headlights. It is a preference thing I guess.

I found the headlights on my 07 pilot more than adequate for most situations except when going toward the beginning of an uphill or the end of the downhill since the distance of the lighted area is shortened due to the curvature of the road. I suspect that your headlight might not been adjusted well. Please bring your car to the dealer or adjust the headlight by yourself using the guideline in the following link.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/images/Aim.pdf

Hope that helps..

umkai

Further, when in rural area and there is no coming traffic, the high beam is very hepful to let you see further. :shades:

hon

I have an 05 Pilot that the headlights were as you described. I was able to adjust them to where they were good. 2006 and up are different and are not as simple to adjust. When I talked to a dealer I was told the standard answer that I was the only one to mention it. Seems like there are alot of people being told this as you can see in other posts. You can believe that there has been many complaints about this with Honda denying anything is wrong. Unfortunately the newer ones can't be adjusted as well as the 05 and older models. I don't understand why a great honorable company like Honda doesn't address this issue.

3faninwmsbg

David , I could not beleive what you wrote about your Honda Pilot headlights! That' MY letter!! The service person told me it was aginst the law to make them higher.SOOO we changed them ourselves and now I can see whats ahead of me on these dark rural roads. Honda won't even listen to my complaint. Get your screw driver and wrench out and fix your lights...it's a safety problem Honda needs to address.

leninator

I solved the lighting issues on my 2005 by installing 7500K Super White bulbs, 80W low and 100W high beams. I also made sure they were aimed properly. I'm taking delivery of a 2008 Pilot on Tuesday and I'm curious; does the 2008 have HID lamps or are they halogens? I know that they are H11 for lows and 9005 for high beams. Thanks

joeyjoejoe

I think I figured out the reason why Honda has been equipping their Pilot's with somewhat lacking headlights. I believe they are aimed low on the vehicle to make sure you don't blind other drivers in front of you. My wife drives our new Pilot VP and I drive a 2000 Toyota Corolla. For those of you who have driven a smaller car, you know the frustration of having a large SUV drive behind you. Every mirror in your car is flooded with horribly bright headlights....especially with the HID and other aftermarket "super" lights. It makes it very annoying and dangerous for the other driver to see anything in their mirrors. I've had to physically move the mirrors or shield my eyes while driving. Obviously not the safest method of driving. So there you go....quandry solved!

Most people have said they added brighter lights or adjusted their's upward to compensate for the stock lighting problems. All you're doing is undoing any good Honda was trying to achieve when designing the Pilot. Unlike may other auto makers, Honda actually thinks about the other guys out there on the road. Just my $0.02 on the matter. Am I right or am I full of it?

m5yates

I need to align my 2008 Pilots headlights. Where is the right/left adjustment screw? The vertical adjustment screw is almost dead center of the light housing, but I can't find where to do the horizontal adjustment?

leninator

I have a 2008 Pilot and I'm trying to figure ot what the little metal "shield" is on the fog light bulbs. I find that my fog lights are almost useless because they are aimed at the ground about 40' in front of the car. I know fog lights are supposed to be aimed low, but these are only good as cornering lamps.

parviz

I think they are called deflector. The intent of fog lights are for short distances, as you have indicated, If you can see farther than 40 feet in a foggy situation, you probably don't need fog lights for the situation.

leninator

Thanks for your input. I understand the whole fog light theory. 40', travelling at even 30mph is inadequate lighting. I've had fog lights on pretty much every car I've owned and never had a problem with aiming and getting "flashed" by oncoming drivers. I guess my question is, has anyone removed the shields aroung the bulbs to see what effect it has. The lens should do the "cutoff" of the light comming off the reflector in the light. If I remove the shield, will it cause a problem?

sketterer

We purcahsed a 2003 Honda Pilot new and we continue to have one or the other headlights burn out within a 4-6 month time frame
Is this a problem with a 2003 Honda Pilot or is there soemthing I should be looking for ?
I replace them with the Silver Star bulbs @ a price of $ 22.00 +/- each

Thank You

bigdadi118

Buy the PIAA one .... silver star is too hot for long life. Sylvania web site says the avg life (no DRL) is a little over a year.

kc2az

my cargo light wont come on when i open the rear hatch. i took it in to service and they said it wont.. i knew better so i called the sales guy, so he goes out and checked other pilots and they all work. i have an appt Friday ..

12wallflowers

We took our 2005 pilot in for the recall on the low beam switch problems, which we had none, about 3 month ago. Now the high beams just quit working. No high beam when we hit the switch and no high beam indicator light either. I can see one light burning out but both at the same time along with the dashboard indicator light not comming on. Anyone have this happen? My guess is that something happened to the switch they replaced. May be it came unplugged?

odie6l

This sounds like a fuse is blown actually. Look in your manual to see what fuse it is and what else the fuse controls. If those other items are not working, then just go to Autozone (or equivelent) and get the fuse for a couple bucks. Save yourself a bunch of money.

Odie

12wallflowers

OK SO I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER BECAUSE THEY WORKED ON IT LAST. THEY SAID THAT THE SWITCH HAD GONE BAD. THEY ALSO SAID "NO CHARGE" ON THE REPAIR. HERE'S WHAT I THINK, WHEN THEY DID THE RECALL WORK ON THE LOW BEAM SWITCH THEY SCREWED UP THE WORK. THE HONDA DEALER DID NOT SAY ANYTHING EXCEPT THAT IT WORKS NOW DUE TO A BAD SWITCH. EITHER WAY AT LEAST ITS FIXED.