Hi all,

2003 Acura CL-S 6spd

The last few days I've been noticing the following:
-Left light may flicker on and off and back on when you first turn the headlights on
-Left light may not come on for a few minutes

Are these signs that the bulb needs to be replaced or is there some electrical problem going on? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Sounds like there's something wrong with the HID ballast. you should take it in to the dealership and have them fix it under warranty.

 

Have you changed your intake? Some people forget to reattach the ground for the headlight causing it to flicker on and off. If when the light dosn't turn on and by turning the light on and off several times it lights up, then its probably a bad inverter.

 

mine did this for about a week, and then the battery totally crapped out on me. after replacing the battery the headlight was completely fine. maybe your vehicle isnt getting enough juice off your battery, or your alternator might be giving you some probs.

GL

 

I had that happen twice just like you described, it was the ballast/inverter both times.

 

I had the same thing happen to me. One headlight refused to fire for me one night. Got home, went to sleep, next morning... Dead battery... Changed battery, no more probs. Worth looking into, especially if it's been a while since u replaced the battery (if ever).

 

^ yea mine was the OEM battery that did this.

 

I hadn't done anything with the intake. I just called the dealership and have an appointment on Wed. The guy said that with HID lights the bulb itself may have this problem as opposed to it simply working or not working. But I guess we'll see what happens.

I have the extended warranty (currently at 90,000miles) so hopefully the problem will be covered assuming its not the bulb itself. Also, the guy quoted me $200 for a bulb replacement just in case that's the problem. Sounds a little insane to me, what do you guys think?

Any recommendations on an after market HID light compatible for our 2003 CL's?

 

I actually had the same problem and it cost ~$40 to have them tell me it was a bad bulb. (Yeah.. I couldn't get to it myself to test it..)

They wanted $145 PER BULB at my dealership for replacements.

Looking on ebay, it seems that replacement bulbs (D2Cs will fit 2001 HID mounts -- probably yours as well. (D2C should fit D2S and D2R mounts) are much cheaper as are most parts away from the dealer.

Also, you can swap out your 4800K lights for another color if you want. I'm about to order 6000Ks. They're still a bright white but not too bluish.

 

Well I took the car to the dealer yesterday and it turned out to be a bad inverter. They replaced it under my extended warranty with Acura Care. It would have cost about $550!!

thanks for all the help everyone!