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Last weekend I replaced both headlights on my '02 LX Coupe with a set of Sylvania Silverstar bulbs my brother had lying around from the '97 Si Coupe he wrote off. I was quite happy with the look of them compared to the basic bulbs that were in the car previously.

The bulbs worked for a couple short trips this week but then last night I turned them on and they lit up for a split second and went out. I thought I'd blown a fuse but I checked and the fuses were fine. I replaced one of the bulbs with a spare generic $10 bulb I had and it works fine. I'm assuming both the Silverstars are blown.

Does anyone know what would cause this? I would spend the money to buy another set of upgraded bulbs but it's not worth it if my car is just going to blow them after a few days again.

 
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silverstars rarely last more than a month, they are junk. but not all upgrade bulbs are bad. check philips XP (xtreme power) on www.powerbulbs.com

 
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Drive carefully! Also get ready to be pulled over! Been there multiple times with burned out headlights.

 
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But if they're just poor quality bulbs why would they both burn out at the exact same moment? And after only about 90 minutes of total use at that?

 
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Happens a lot.

 
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So I shouldn't worry about blowing a new set of upgrade bulbs?

 
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if the generic bulbs you put in did not blow, you should be fine. just stay away from alot of the junk bulbs found in auto stores.

 
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Cool. I think I'll try out those Philips XP bulbs from powerbulbs.com you linked. The price is pretty reasonable and free shipping seals the deal.

 
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I've used sylvania silverstars for a couple years now. They blew out after about a year, but they're also higher power.

If they were used in the 97 for a while then they were just old. Don't tell them off just because you used bulbs that were old.

 
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Well, I bought a set of the Phillips XP bulbs that were suggested. I installed them tonight.

I drove about 10min to my gf's for dinner with them on, it was light out but I was checking them out. Then we drove about 15min to the movie theatre with them on. When we left the movie I started the car and turned them on. They both came on for a split second and then both went out. The bulbs are blown. It's exactly the same thing that happened with the Silverstars.

I put the one spare generic bulb I had back in and it works perfectly. There's obviously something going on with my car that's blowing these higher end bulbs. Anyone have any ideas what it might be?

 
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did you check the alternator voltage when the car is running (once engine is warm)? just get a voltmeter and hook it to the battery + and - terminals. should be around 14v. the philips xp has the same rated lifespan as a regular bulb (around 300 hrs), so technically its not any more higher end other than being brighter. the silverstars have a 25 hr lifespan. halogen bulbs really dont require much to work. the only variable that affects them is voltage. higher voltage makes them brighter and reduces the rated lifespan. lower voltage makes them dimmer and increases lifespan. if the voltage is too low, the halogen cycle will not work and the bulb can turn black over time. i think you have either too much voltage due to bad alternator (which is serious because it can cause other electrical devices to fail like the ecu), or maybe a bad regulator that is causing voltage spikes and surges (also due to bad alternator).

 
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I can almost guarantee what the problem is. I have an 01 ex with the same problem. Take your car to your local honda dealership and have them run your vin. On the 01 and 02's there was a recall for the dimmer switches going up. something with a wire burning up and shorting out.

 
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that would cause the lo beams to not work at all. he says the bulbs are actually blowing out inside. and new bulbs are working for a short time. most 02 are not covered by the recall either.

 
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I got a chance to look into this a little more today.

I went out with the multimeter to check my voltage. It's a cheap little multimeter and the scale is 250v so it's difficult to get a really accurate reading. With the car off I got 15v from just the battery. Once the car was running it moved up slightly to what I'd guess is about 17v. I'm not sure if that's a problem or not. Thoughts?

I currently have one generic bulb in the car and one Phillips. I noticed today that the daytime running light from both bulbs are actually working. However when I turn the low beams on the Phillips goes out completely and the generic bulb keeps working. The situation is the same if I try the high beams.

Is there a separate filament for the daytime running lights in these bulbs? If not, maybe the bulb isn't blown but just won't light up due to some as yet unknown issue?

 
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yeah that is a huge problem, im surprised the battery hasnt started leaking from overcharging. i would look into getting a new alternator (and probably a new battery after that) asap. you can have the charging system tested free at most auto stores. a brand new battery should not be higher than 12.6v and with the car running warmed up it should be around 14v. on very cold winter starts, the alt can get up to 15v but only for a short time. the daytime lights run at 1/2 power so its unlikely you will burn them out in that mode. for an 02 civic, it uses the same H4 bulb for lo and hi beam, two filaments in one bulb. have you actually taken the bulb out and inspected both filaments for breakage? also the drl mode uses the hi beam filament at low 1/2 power.