TS_eXpeed

I thought I might find some insight from those of you who have had your headlights go out.


About 3-4 weeks ago, I noticed that the drivers side headlight flickered for 5-10 seconds when I first turned the lights on. It stayed on afterwards, but about 2 weeks ago when I was having my car serviced, I went ahead asked them to check to make sure the light and connections were seated right or didn't become loose. They said it was fine.


It had been fine until this morning after I finished washing my car.
After washing my car, and I pulled my car in the garage and got out, I noticed the light flat out wasn't on. I turned the lights off for a few seconds, then turned it back on, and it turned on with some hesitation (flickering).


Is this characteristic of a light that is going out, or does this sound more like something is quirky with the housing, connection, etc?

LuvMyTSX

I think the bulbs usually turn pinkish when they are going to burn out. I'd say it's probably something else, but I'm not positive.

TS_eXpeed

Hmmm....
Mkay. Thanks Luv!
The light is still the same color temp as the other, so if that's true, maybe it's just a connection.


I'm weeding through some past threads and other websites hoping maybe I'll find an answer.

frank1123

try checking the connections to your ballast

TS_eXpeed

Looked at it again about 20 minutes ago.
It is starting to change (color temp) towards a pinkish color. Looks like I need to get it in there.

TS_eXpeed

Got an appointment set for Monday morning.

Anybody know off the top of their head if they are warranty items, or something that I could squeeze out of them?

I can't imagine our headlights being cheap.

acura_ak

It looks like you have an '06 or newer TSX. How could it go bad so quickly? I thought that xenon lights are supposed to last longer than their halogen counterparts. Do you do a lot of night driving?

TS_eXpeed

Eh somewhat.
I've had my fair share of looooong highway drives at night. Definitely more than I would like.
FWIW, the car has 56,000 miles on it, but I would've thought they would have lasted longer than that.

And yes, it's an '06.

LuvMyTSX

I've read that HID's lifespans are determined by the number of times they are turned on, not how long they are on. I'm not sure if this is correct.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

^I believe you are correct.

FWIW, I have an '04 with 103k on the odometer and my headlights are fine.

LuvMyTSX

Yep. My 04 has 55k and the headlights are fine also.

TS_eXpeed

nj2pa2nc

No problems with my 06 tsx headlights after 81,000+miles.

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

If your not the first owner you the owner before you probably abused the headlights by turning them off and on.

Sometimes it could be a ballast issue that probably blown the bulb.

See if you can get another ds2 bulb and pop it in ask a friend or another tsx.

TS_eXpeed

The car was "used" when I bought it, but it had never been titled. It was a dealer car that they used to pick up people from the airport, etc. Had almost 7000 miles on it when I bought it.

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

switch out the bulbs from side to side and if the same bulb you swapped is pink, then its your bulb. dont buy a bulb from the dealer, they will hose you on it. buy them from our vendor excelerate. he has kaixen replacement bulbs for 100 shipped

SoCaliTrojan

The lifetime of HID lights aren't determined by how long they are turned on, but by how many times they have been turned on.

Inside a HID bulb is a mixture of several salts (xenon, mercury, and metal halides). When you turn the light on, the ballast sends a high voltage arc across the bulb to overcome the initial high resistance (you'll see this as the flash when your lights first turn on).

The high voltage vaporizes the xenon salts (e.g., it goes from solid to gas). This produces yellowish light.

The xenon salts then cause the mercury salts to ignite/vaporize (yellow/white light).

Lastly, the metal halide salts are vaporized, producing the blue/white light.

Going from a solid phase to a vaporized phase affects the salt (you probably noticed your lights were bluer when they were brand new, and eventually settled to the color temp that you see now). When the salts can't vaporize properly, you'll see this as pinkish light.

In your case, either the ballast isn't producing a high enough arc voltage to begin the ignition of the salts, or the salts aren't vaporizing properly. In the first case, it'll be ballast issue. In the second case, it'll be a bulb issue.

A common diagnostic technique is to swap the bulbs from the driver's side to the passenger's side. If the problem switches side, it's a bulb issue. If it stays on the same side, it's a ballast issue.

When replacing the bulbs, you should do so in pairs. That way, the color temp of both bulbs will match. Also, if one bulb is dying, the other bulb should follow it closely (since they are both turned on and off the same number of times and frequency).

TS_eXpeed

Sittin here at the dealership.
They just got back to me about the problem.

Apparently, it's not the actual bulb, it's the ignitor inverter. I'm glad my car is still under warranty cause he said it cost about $900.

Now just gotta sit and wait another 1-1.5 hours while they do their thing.

TS_eXpeed

Sittin here at the dealership.
They just got back to me about the problem.

Apparently, it's not the actual bulb, it's the ignitor inverter. I'm glad my car is still under warranty cause he said it cost about $900.

Now just gotta sit and wait another 1-1.5 hours while they do their thing.

I just found it weird though, that the color temperature started to slightly change. I thought that was signs of the bulb going out, but I guess the inverter could've caused it too.

LuvMyTSX

Yikes. Warranty is always a good thing.

TS_eXpeed

Just got back from the dealership.
First off, I apparently mis-understood him. I think he may have said $500 (not $900), cause the total of the parts to replace the ignition inverter and control unit was about $550 which was covered by the warranty.



He came back to me after I posted that though, and it turns out the bulb was shot too though.
So I had to shell out ~$250.
Not only that, that headlight is noticeably warmer, in regards to color temperature than the passenger side. It's definitely more yellow, it now I'm .

Anyone think it might 'cool' after some use.
Stuff like that bothers me so much. I have strong OCD tendencies, so yes, it bothers me. ha
And I have a feeling that it is something not worth pursuing at the dealership and saying "The new light isn't the same color....."

Or is it?

LuvMyTSX

That's annoying, but that's why they say to replace both at the same time, so they are both the same color. Usually when one bulb goes, the other is not too far behind. Sorry to give you more bad news.

TS_eXpeed

Lol.
I would've replaced both if they were just halogens. Another 200+ dollars though? No thank you.

I'm just hoping it will "cool off", color wise, after some use.

PACman

$250 for one bulb? Damn. You could get them online from acuraoemparts.com for

33116-SL0-003 BULB, HEADLIGHT (D2S) (HID) $144.05 each

Excelerate has OEM HID replacement bulbs in pairs for $100.

TS_eXpeed

It wasn't just the bulb.
It was the labor too. You know labor is out the nose.
Didn't know about Excelerate though.

Who knows.....it may be worth it (to me) to buy the ones from excelerate and then have them installed, and then keep the one that was just installed someone safe at my place. We'll see.

TS_eXpeed

You sure it was excelerate?
I just looked and couldn't find them.


NVM: Found 'em. Thanks PACman.

PACman

Yea, dealer labor rates are Premium. Although I haven't done it myself yet, I've read that changing out the bulb isn't too difficult. You do need a Torx security driver since the rear plastic cover is locked into place with one.

sortudo7

That price is really high for the bulb. The replacement of the bulb itself is super easy. They only charge you a premium because they can get away with that lol. Next time IF you buy the bulb from them just DIY. Takes like 30 seconds to do, idk how they can justify such a steep price for the bulb and labor change.

I didn't need any tool to remove my headlights and everything. The screw they used was a basic phillips head screw and I have an 08 I got straight from the dealer. I have heard of some ppl needing the special tool but also heard you could get away with using a regular screwdriver to take out that screw.

bc811

So I have a 08, is the low beam OEM bulb is KAIXEN 5000k?
coz i wanna match it with a HID fog...

TS_eXpeed

I thought I remember reading somewhere that our OEM headlights were 4300K, but I'm not positive.

As far as the fogs, it would look kind of cool, but the functionality of your fogs will go to squat.

bc811

Thanks, coz i just wanna know what brand and color is the OEM bulb....u know by any chance from the dealership?

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

the oem bulbs are philips i believe, at least thats what my TL had. i have 6000k kaixens from our vendor excelerate. they are great high quality bulbs, everyone on the TL side has them. 100 bucks shipped

TS_eXpeed

Yea.
If I end(ed) up buying those Kaixens, I would probably get the 5000K. I like just a little bit of that blue tint, and you don't sacrifice any light output. The 6000K look good too though.

sortudo7

Our OEM ones are Phillips 4300K, I'm pretty sure it's Phillips but is def 4300K. 5000K is about the best for light output and from what I've seen they don't really have a bluish tint to it, still pretty white. 6000K has the bluish tint and that is the blueist I would go without sacrificing a lot of light output. 8000K is too blue and bad output for visibility.

Matching the fogs and headlight HIDs looks nice but really is pointless in terms of functionality. Then again having fogs with our HIDs isn't the biggest in terms of improvement. I have 3000K HID fogs and it looks great but as far as functionality it's better for looks than use.

racecarbox616

$250 for one bulb???? I replaced both of my low beam DS2 bulbs with 5000K HID bulbs from DDM tuning for $35 total. Replacing the bulb is VERY simple. sorry bro..Sounds like you got ripped big time...

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

You should have told them that your not paying for that bulb and get else where.