my passenger side low beam suddenly died 2 weeks ago so I bought a new pair and installed them. A week later the headlight had condensation so I popped the hood and adjusted the cap behind the hid bulb (it was loose and not exactly flush) and afterwards the bulb wouldn't light up. I saw that this bulb had died but I figured it was due to the condensation. I bought another pair and now the new bulb isn't lighting up at all. Before I go out and buy a new ballast should I be checking anything like a fuse or bad wire. All looks fine but the bulb just won't light up. I don't wanna get pulled over so I wanna fix this asap. Any help is appreciated.

 

Where did you buy new headlights for an 04 and how much? How do you adjust them also?

 

I didn't buy headlights. Just the replacement hid bulbs. I got em from neweggmall.com. They're phillips 5000k. I previously used kaixen 6000k and wanted less of a blueish appearance this time around. They were $110 and look great. Just like stock, they put out white light (no hint of blue) but the bulbs still look blueish at the headlight. I highly recommend them. My mechanic told me my issue was due to condensation but we'll know for sure tomorrow.

 

If you think the problem is condensation in the housing, you can take it out and bake it at a low setting to get the moisture out. It doesn't sound like that's your problem though. Try switching the bulbs to the other side and see the bulbs are the problem, or something else. Then go from there to troubleshoot.

 

it's definitely not the bulb. I tried it on the driver side and it lit up. I'm thinking it's the ballast.

 

Did you ever have the TSB done for headlight condensation on the 04s? If not, do a search and threads will come up. The dealer basically applies clips to the headlights to fix it, or new headlights if warranted.

 

I'm having the same condensation issue but with the drivers side lowbeam. Actually, both low beams were out, but driver side seems to be due to ballast. Passenger side was fixed by installing a new bulb. Both lights went out within a few days of each other. See below for my reasoning on that.

The dealer completed the TSB back in May. However, the condensation still gathered in the driver side headlight assembly. Fortunately, the Atlanta regional Acura rep agreed to replace the assembly to alleviate the condensation issue, but he did not agree to do a total repair so that I would have a working headlight. A technician also noted on my $0.00 invoice that he thought the ballast (aka headlight control unit or inverter depending on who you talk to) needed replacing. Blendable, you may want to talk to your dealership and see if the Acura rep will do the same on the assembly for you, but my advice is to try to con them out of a ballast as well.

I brought the new D2S bulbs home and replaced both driver and passenger lowbeam bulbs myself today, and the driver side bulb didn't light up. The driver side low beam fuse blows as soon as you turn on the lights. As a result, I am guessing that the ballast is bad. The best price I can find on the ballast is $173 or so online. Thats a lot of dollars when I just dropped 200 bucks on 2 new bulbs. At least my sweat and tears brought me a working passenger side lowbeam.

I thought it strange that both lights went out within a few days of each other for what seem to be two separate types of electrical failures. Then I remembered that I am missing the front portion of the undercarriage splash guard. In the great Atlanta Flood of late September '09, I had to drive through some swift moving water about 1 foot deep. The force of the water ripped the front grommets of the plastic guard away so that the plastic was dragging on the road. I removed the section of plastic that was dragging and didn't think too much about it. Now, I am thinking that by removing the splash guard, I allowed a lot more moisture than the HID system could stand in the engine compartment. The moisture in turn caused the driver side ballast to fail and the passenger side lowbeam bulb to fail.

This is merely a theory right now, but I feel that I had better replace that splash guard plastic before I have to drop another $400 or so on high end headlight parts.

Anyone have an opinion on the splash guard theory? Shouldn't the bulbs be insulated inside of the plastic assembly from moisture? Aren't the ballasts sealed as well?

 

Sorry for lengthy post. It's my first.

- Unemployed Attorney

 

Ballasts should be sealed, but if they were submerged that could be an issue. Fuse blowing immediately sounds like a bad ballast. Check the Private Sales area. People put stock ballasts up there from time to time. May be cheaper.

As for the bulb, you're probably right there. Excess water from flooding could have gotten into the housing. Given the high temperature of the bulbs it could have caused temp shock and blown the bulb.

 

the problem wound up being the ballast. The condensation was a minor issue and is now gone. The dealership quoted me $975 for a $200 problem. I had the headlight serviced 2 years ago under the TSB. Since i'm outside the warranty by 12,000 miles they were unwilling to work with me. Instead they wanted me to pay for everything to be replaced (new ballast, headlight, and 2 gaskets) for $975. I knew all of that crap wasn't necessary but they don't listen. My mechanic works for honda as a mechanic and know my car inside and out. He's always right, always fair, and always realistic. My next car won't be an acura due to service and nothing else. I love my car and have no regrets. I'd rather get a bmw for free maintenance and better service (every issue my parents have had with their beamers were resolved with no expense regardless of the warranty). Part of owning a lux car is the lux service experience. I was made to feel like an atm at the acura dealership. What a waste of time.

 

This was an issue with '04 TSXs. I had this same issue when I had an '04. I'm unsure how the dealership addressed this but I believe they replaced the entire housing.

 

I know. I had the tsb done on the headlight and all was well. In my initial post I explained how the cap behind the bulb was loose and not flush. This is how the moisture probably got in. I got all the condensation out of the headlight and it's fine. My problem now is that the ballast is bugging out. It blew 2 fuses and i'm currently searching for a replacement.

 

which fuses are for the low beam lights? I have tired 4 and 6 and it has a 15 in white. Because my right light had a flickering problem before and now it just stopped. i took it to a shop and they said the power inverter cost $400. They also said it is common thing and that the life of the power inverter is usually 4 years....

 

I bought a converter online for around $150 and it worked fine after that. Sadly, my car was totaled 6 months later. I have a 328i coupe now.

 

Passenger side low beam on my 04 tsx is out. I thought I saw it come on though once or twice, but I'm not sure if it was my imagination or not. I checked the fuses for both the left and right, and they both seem fine. Should I just replace the bulb?