skillman

Problem in short: How does one thread/snake a replacement OEM igniter and ballast (control unit) through the low beam hole? There isn't much space to squeeze the igniter.

The full monty: I have a broken passenger side headlight and a low beam that does not light up because water entered the ballast through the gaping hole these past few weeks. The dealer offered to fix it for a million bucks (at any rate, an amount I cannot afford at this time of my career/life) and collision people were marginally cheaper on the money front only. I thought I'll do it myself. I bought a used headlight assembly in good condition. Removed the bumper and old headlight without problems. Then I realized there's a lot of water in the ballast and that's why the low beam stopped lighting up a few rains after the headlight broke. I ordered a new ballast and igniter. Is it ok to open up the ballast (despite the warning not to) and thread the cable through the HID/D2S slot? Is the warning just a safety (potential high voltage) warning? Any pointers would be appreciated. I hope I'm posting this in the right place. If not, my apologies. [It's kinda intimidating - all the rules of who where when one can post].

The most common solutions offered on the Internet are replacement after-market packages (ballast+iginiter+D2S lights of higher/better intensity). However, I've chosen to stick to the dumber, older, OEM crap - for whatever reason. So, I hope you'll be able to respect that and factor that into your advice. Thank you!

skillman

Here's my old headlight assembly with the two suspects laid on top. When installed, the Ballast ("Control Unit", as Acura calls it) is on one side and the Igniter on the other where the low beam bulb/socket goes. How does one put the igniter through without unscrewing the ballast? (The 3rd picture -- the opened ballast -- shows the plug that can be pulled. This seems to be the only way one could squeeze the cable through the tight porthole.

csmeance

The service manual states to open up the control unit to remove the ignitor harness. It also states to check that gasket for damage and replace it if it is damaged.