javaddicted

how easy is it to change my passenger side HID? it just turned pink & i am pretty sure that means it is about to die. can i just change the bulb or will i need to get a whole new ballast too?

anyone have a tutorial on it?

gftgrill

the bulbs are super easy to change.

1. turn the plastic cap and remove it. (the big one with the lightning symbol on it)
2. reach in there, turn the ignitor (silver connector) and pull it off of the bulb.
3. reach in there and push the little metal "spring" towards the front of the car and they should push themselves outwards to release the bulb.
4. remove old bulb
5. put new bulb in
6. push metal "spring" towards front of car and push the ends towards each other until they get caught in the hooks on the projector.
7. line up the holes in the silver ignitor with the tabs on the bulb and push it on.
8. turn the ignitor to lock it in place
9. put safety cover back on
10. profit


before doing this, make sure that the headlights are turned off and that the key is NOT in the ignition. if you wanted to you could remove the negative terminal from the battery, but it's not necessary.

there's enough power from the ballast to seriously hurt you, but as long as it's turned off you'll be fine.

you should be able to complete the process in 5 - 10 minutes. once you've done it a few times it can be completed in under 60 seconds.

you do not have to replace the ballast (unless it's bad).

gftgrill

also forgot to mention, when you put the new bulb in, there's a 2 cut outs on it. align the bigger "square" cut out straight up. this will have it so that the brown shield on the bulb is downwards.

do not touch the glass with your bare hands.

don't force the new bulb in there as you could damage it.

just take your time and don't do anything stupid. the bulb is glass so it can easily be damaged if you're not careful.

odannyboi

step 10 should follow step 1

gftgrill

step 2 should really be "be happy that you don't own a 2g tsx and you don't have to pull the headlights off to replace the bulbs."

miked8887

I was wondering about this too. The manual says that voltage can remain in the tube even after disconnection from the power. So as long as the lights are turned off on the stalk and the key is not in the ignition, it is safe... right?

gftgrill

I've done it at least 4-5 times to test out some extra bulbs. I haven't been shocked. I haven't damaged my original bulbs. And I haven't blown out a ballast.

though when I've done this, the headlights weren't on anytime within several hours before hand.

I guess if you really want to be safe, let the car sit with everything turned off for a couple of hours before doing this.

but I play with xenon bulbs and ballasts all the time and I have yet to damage anything. Even when I test fire a ballast and I forget to connect it to a bulb and the ignitor starts sparking from the short circuit.

litesout

The posibility of an electric shock exists due to the presence of capacitors in the ballast. That's not to say that there is, but the posibility does exist. You can disconnect the negative terminal of the battery to reduce the chance of electric shock, but as long as you're careful (which you should be any time you get anywhere those bulbs, touching them is an expensive mistake) you should be fine.

I heart your mom!

how do you adjust the the light? like my driver side light is aimed low...

LuvMyTSX

It's supposed to be like that to prevent blinding of oncoming traffic.

racecarbox616

The manual says:

Remove the Torx bolt using a tamper proof Torx T20 bit.

Is this a special tool? Or will a screwdriver get the job done?

gftgrill

you're going to need a special tool.

Torx screws are star shaped. Tamper proof Torx have a raised center so that you can't stick a screw driver in there.

you can get something like this or similar: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...0P?vName=Tools

racecarbox616

Just went out to the car to see what size Torx tool I would need...to my surprise, there is no Torx bolt there! The cap twist right off. Should one be there?

sortudo7

My 08 had one screw in the driver's side and that was a basic philips head screw. Nothing special. The passenger side didn't even have a screw there. I swapped out my headlights in general but that is what I saw when I swapped bulbs and what not. It's easy to change out the bulb.

The cap itself is a sealing cap so shouldn't need a screw there as it locks in there tight like a cap on a jar. Just use any screw if you really want to as a piece of mind.

As for the light being aimed low it depends how low. Our cars have projectors which have the cut off to not blind the on coming traffic. You can adjust the bulbs yourself using a phillips head screwdriver in the respective areas of "U D" and "L R" meaning up/down and left/right. I would suggest you get someone who knows what they're doing to do it for you if you don't know how. Also, just do this if your cutoff is extremely low. You can drive up to a wall and turn on the lights to see where it's at. It shouldn't be above the area of where a car's tail lights are. to avoid the blinding of the driver. If it is at that height then leave it alone but if the cutoff is really low you have adjust higher if you choose.

gftgrill

you don't have to remove any screws to access the bulb.

I bet the part you read in the manual had to do with the ballast.

those are normally held in place with torx screws, though they're normally not tamper proof.

TSX Isla

Hows it going guys .New to the forum My xenon is not working and i replace the bulb and still not working Also how can you tell if the bulb is not working.Thank's

TSXGator

Try replacing the good bulb with the one you're testing. If it works on the other side, it's either the ballast OR the igniter. The igniter was my problem. Both of which were close to $200 from Acura (Check with our vendors for prices.), so figure out which one you really need before buying. You'll need to take the front bumper off to get the headlights out to swap the ballasts to test.

TSXGator