For the last 2 days when i go out to start my car, ( 2003 protege lx ) the passenger headlight was out, but about 8 hours lat'r when i turned on the car again the headlight was on. Yesterday when i went to start the car again it was out. what do i need to do?, is it a problem with the wires or is it just the bulb?

 

check headlight relay under the hood..it could be going bad..swap it with the other one and see if it still does it

 

Good thought shopro5 but 03 Protege only has one headlight relay so if it was sticking then both headlights would be out. They do have separate fuse from right and left side so could be a possibility. Would think that maybe the bulb filament was starting to go first though and try a new headlight bulb.

 

i have this same problem with the right headlight on my 2002. it is a grounding problem. take a piece of scotch brite and scuff all of the parts that the base of the light touches in the fixture and try it again. that helped me out. this is definitely not a light problem because i have changed out mine before and the new ones do the same thing.

 

wsoape281 is right. i also experienced this with my 2003 model.
it would also help after scuffing to spray a bit of 'CRC CONTACTCLEANER' onto contacts.

 

Uh, the headlight bulb is not grounded at the contact point with the fixture. Plastic not a very good conductor of electricity but an excellent insulator.

 

there is a clip that goes over the back of the light that is made of metal, which is a good conductor of electricity.