Not sure what is going on with our other car but it seems to have an appetite for tail light bulbs. Within the last couple months it has gone through 2 or 3 sets of bulbs. My drivers side brake light is fine, but the center and passenger side keep burning out. We have changed them at least 2 times, one by me and one when we got the oil changed, and within a week someone tells me my brakes lights are out. What could be wrong?:-?

I also was getting sick of it so i did this http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23801

I am happy with it. the pictures do not do it justice nor do my camera skills

You don't touch the replacement bulbs when installing them, do you? Or if you do, do you then wipe off the bulbs with rubbing alcohol or acetone? The oils in your hand can seriously degrade the life of a bulb.

Also, what bulbs are you using for replacements?

Umm I try not to touch the bulbs and I would assume that the mechanic who installed them didn't either. The bulbs that we used as replacements were just generic ones from the autoparts store that were supposed to be the correct ones for a 93 accord.

Is it possible that I have a short somewhere in the electrical system and it just keeps blowing bulbs out? I mean, the bulbs only last a couple days, its not like I am being picky cause they burn out too fast or something, I have a feeling that there is a problem and I have been just letting it go for a while but I figure that is a safety hazard to only have 1 brakelight functioning.

Not sure what is going on with our other car but it seems to have an appetite for tail light bulbs. What could be wrong?:-?

As long as they come out the tailpipe you are ok.

I can't see how it would be the car's fault if you only have the same bad bulbs. If you were having general electrical problems, yes, it might be a bad regulator or alternator, but if those were bad, it would affect more systems.

If it was a short, the fuse would blow.

If it was a bad circuit, it wouldn't work altogether.

Try a different brand of bulbs from a different auto parts store. It could be a bad batch.

Wear some latex gloves when replacing the next bulbs to keep skin oils off of them.

Not sure what is going on with our other car but it seems to have an appetite for tail light bulbs. Within the last couple months it has gone through 2 or 3 sets of bulbs. My drivers side brake light is fine, but the center and passenger side keep burning out. We have changed them at least 2 times, one by me and one when we got the oil changed, and within a week someone tells me my brakes lights are out. What could be wrong?:-?

Is it a European car, known for electrcal demons. I had a vw that went through a few various bulbs in less than 2 years. My E is now 3 years old with 94k on it and not a single bulb problem yet.

Nope, its a 93 accord and there were no bulb issues until this winter.

Corrosion could increase resistance, raising operating temperature, and so shorten the life of a bulb. Check for good, clean contacts, and use dielectric grease to keep them that way.

JPH, how do the bulbs fail? Does the glass crack? If so, is there water in the light assembly that could be sloshing around and hitting the bulb when it's hot? Honda made a bunch of tail light assemblies in the late 80's that filled up with water. I had to seal the ones on my CRX with RTV.

Are you sure the bulbs are failing, or could it be that the wiring or the sockets are bad? That would explain why you keep having the problem in the same two locations. Have you checked the "bad" bulbs when you take them out? The best test is to install them into another socket on your car and see if they work.

Let's say your bulbs aren't cracking, but the filaments are failing open. I can think of two reasons why a bulb would have a short life. One is overvoltage. You can check this at the battery with a digital voltmeter. It should be no more than 14.5 volts. Incandescent bulbs don't like overvoltage at all. Second reason is excessive number of on-off cycles. What if you have a bad brake light switch that closes and opens five times instead of one when you push the brake pedal? The filament in the light bulb will heat up and cool down five times. This will seriously reduce bulb life. If you have a bad socket or wire, your light could be going on and off a lot. In the case of high-intensity lamps, like halide and some halogen, the bulb runs extremely hot, and you have to keep it clean, as outpost4 pointed out. If they are plain old incandescents, you don't have to worry about clean. If your lamps aren't cracking, this is not the problem.

Given what we know, I would bet a burger that it's a wiring or socket problem, and not a lamp problem.

the bulbs you need to be careful not to get your skin oils on are the headlight bulbs.
Take care with other bulbs but not that critical. Often when a bulb burns out it can damage other bulbs because of the sudden surge that is given to the others. It is not uncommon to have a car have 2 headlights go out or one not far behind the other this way.
Use a good quality bulb, with the exact specs for your vehicle. May not be such a bad idea to drop the couple extra pennies and purchase them from honda, though some dealers will buy 3rd party bulbs too...and I like to replace them in pairs or groups when they start to go.