heavyduty10

Hi i have a pass side low beam HL that is out, i think it would be easier if i put it in bullet form

-About a year ago i got in an accident, my fault rear ended someone and trashed my front end pretty bad

-When I got my car back fixed a couple days later the pass low bean went out

-I took it back and they replaced the ballast and bulb and everything was working

-About 3 months later it went out again and i was furious, looked under the hood and noticed the cover with the screw wasnt even there! Then I noticed the plug that plugs into the bulb just fell off, I plugged it back in taped over it and all was fine(i know not replacing the back cover was pathetic of me)

-Jumping to this week the light went out again. I took out the bulb to have a look, and noticed the bulb shorted and the back off the bulb was a little melted along with the plug that plugs into the light!

-My question now is pretty much what the problem is? Bad bulb? Bad Ballast? Both? And how much would a dealership charge for the fix (i know its gonna be a ton of$$$)

thanks sorry for the bad format.

PACman

It could of been the connection between the 2 wasn't secure causing it to melt. There are 2 small plastic protrusions at the base of the bulb. These protrusions are to be held onto the ignitor once screwed on. Check to see if those plastic protrusions are still there. If not, then you have your answer why the plastics melted.

At the very least you'll need to replace the bulb and ignitor. The cheapest OEM bulb replacement I know of is $37 - Philips D2S 4300K - online. The ignitor runs about $220 at the dealer, $167 online.

heavyduty10

thank you. I plan on getting a new bulb and I am going to try to get the back cover too. Sorry but what exactly is the ignitor? Is it the ballast? Also would some condensation in the headlight be a problem and cause a bulb to fail?

Thank you in advance!

PACman

Definitely get a back cover. There's about 25K Watts running through there when on! The ignitor is the connection between the bulb and control unit assay. Bulb connected to ignitor connected to control unit assay connected to headlight electrical harness.
Condensation may play a role.

heavyduty10

So I replaced the bulb and it worked............for two days then it rained and it went out. So then I went to replace the bulb again with the other new bulb that came in the pair and it wouldn't work either. Im am thinking now that the ballast(which is only 9 months old) is broke again or the ignitor.

I am so fed up with this problem i cant take it anymore. I cant afford to take it in to get fixed, which I assume will be at least 2k. I think at this point I am going to try and MacGyver it and try to move the highbeam over into the headlight spot and see if that is sufficient for the time being.

I know this is ridiculous but I cant take it anymore. What do you guys think?

thanks

heavyduty10

Anyone?

sj993

I do believe most body shops honor their work for the lifetime of the vehicle. You may want to check on this in your case, but I would suggest you take the vehicle back to the body shop and make them fix it as it seems like it never was repaired properly in the first place.

heavyduty10

So I took it in and they replaced the ignitor and ballast(this is the second time) and put on the back cover and seal. picked it up yesterday, this morning i noticed condensation again , it didnt rain, but the light still works.

My question is, is the bulb eventually going to die again, along with the ballast failing again. and what has to be done to finally fix it. A whole new headlight?

thanks

LuvMyTSX

Question: Did you ever have the headlight TSB done? It involved placing clips on the headlights to keep condensation from forming inside the assembly.

heavyduty10

Not that I know of, i bought the car in 07. Ill have to check later. Are they just little metal clips on the top of the headlight? Are they successful at minimizing the condensation? Can I order them online?

thanks

SoCaliTrojan

The TSB is located at http://photos.imageevent.com/astrobo...sb/B07-016.pdf . You can see a diagram of it, as well as its part number. There are two procedures in it. The first shows how to replace the headlight, and the second shows how to add the clips.

I think I have heard of a couple of instances where people eventually get moisture again after having the clips added. Maybe the clips eventually loosen or something?

heavyduty10

thanks. The headlight does have the metal clips, so I assume the TSB was done before I bought the car(although I cant find the engine compartment vin to see if theres a hole punch).

I am just going to remove the headlight and thoroughly seal it. After that my only option is to get a new one.

LuvMyTSX

You can also register on myacura.com to see what recalls your car has had performed.

Sounds like the best solution, though, is to just get a new headlight. Too many issues going on there and it seems like you are just putting bandaids on them.