tnobori1

Well, I had just posted a thread last week about replacement HID bulbs because I wanted to order some off of Ebay. Thanks to a lot of you I felt confident in my decision, so thank you for the help on my choice.

The shitty thing is that even after swapping the bulbs, my front left (driver side) headlight isn't working still. I tried swapping 3 different bulbs in there, but it made no difference. I took it to a local shop and the relays were checked... also no problems. They ran out of time, but think that it may be a "power module" (or something) that's located in the bumper. Do any of you pros have any ideas on what it might be? Also, if it is the module does anyone have a ballpark cost on it?

I swear... nothing has been a normal repair with my CL so far!!!

disgruntlednut

Ballast?

Allout

Yup - Ballast/Inverter. Around $330 online.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

I agree. This should have been the 1st thing you checked. It's common. A simple bulb change to the side that's not working from the side that is would have told you.

tnobori1

Didn't know it was common. I'm not a mechanical guy and didn't have a torx t25 bit (or whatever it is), so I took the bulb I bought on ebay and brought it to Big O to have them swap it out. I suggested the bulb swap to the guys after they told me what happened, but hindsight is 20/20.

So, I'm basically going to drop $500 on parts and labor for this little problem now?

nspec_ya4

iTrader: (38)

i'm pretty sure u can get it on ebay for more cheaper.

and if ur gonna spend that much money on the factory ballast alone, might as well switch to an aftermarket HID kit. u'll get to chose the color u want too. most shops now a days do complete kits for 175-200 installed.

artbran

iTrader: (2)

You can do what I did and rig it to hell LOL

I was not about to spend $150+ on a real acura ballast.. I'm sorry, but Thats just not my cut of tea. So instead, I bought BMW ballast with the D2R/D2S connector and made the ballast sit between the body and the cruise control module (on top of the bracket that holds it on). (here is where people dont like what I did) Ran the wire (that goes from the ballast to the bulb) through a newly made hole in the cover. I cut the original connector that went to the bulb off due to space limitations and the power wiring after the connector that goes from the cars harness to the ballast so that it can be returned to "stock" with just the purchase and install of a new/used real Acura Ballast. Then just connected it all.

Now the thing is that many people think that the headlight will fog up since its not sealed any longer. Not the case. I have driven with it in the rain, shower, pouring rain, mist, and even left it outside for the fall/spring where dew settles on the car and so on. There is no fog at all in that headlight. The funny thing is that before I did this, the headlight was foggy 1/4 of the time depending on the day/weather/humidity.

So this "fixed" the fogging issue along with the dead ballast issue.

BTW, I got 2 ballasts, 2 bulbs, and the needed wiring for $60 shipped from ebay... And they are the Hella BMW ballast and not some no name brand..

swoleCL

while we're on the topic, you know when your car has been off for a few hours and you fire up the lights (at night) and it flashes (ignites) whatever, well my pass side comes on but it takes a good 10secs to warm up whereas the driver side is 100% after 1/2 a second... is that a sign of the ballast? or bulb.. i could swap the bulbs and test but i'd rather ask you guys first before i go screwing around... ive never taken apart HID systems before...

btw ...

Artbran are you mcguyver?

tnobori1

Actually, I just noticed a similar thing... besides my driver side light being out I also noticed that my passenger light came on immediately and shut off 4 seconds later. I had to switch my lights off and then on again twice before the light came back on.

So here's a stupid question... are there two ballasts or just one?

Also any other recommendations for aftermarket ballasts?

Thanks for not blasting me!

krazykrnboi

2 ballast. one under each headlight assembly.

artbran

iTrader: (2)

LOL that sounds like the bulb is going. A better way of "testing" it is to see what color the light output is. If you have stock bulbs, and the light looks redish/pinkish, that means that the bulb is going. On my 10000k bulbs, the one bulb was still blue while the other was turning green..

I would say swap the bulbs and see what happens..

Swap bulbs and see what happens.

YeuEmMaiMai

get a ballast from a JY man there has to lots of 01+TL and CL in there by now

tnobori1

Will do... will non Type-S ballasts fit as well?

Never Summer

If you'd rather just give me your CL-S6 instead of having to worry about fixing the ballasts let me know, I'm always open to that...

YeuEmMaiMai

should be same part for 01-03 TL/CL including type S

tnobori1

LOL! Nice try!

Thanks!

BTW, If anyone needs a ballast in the future...www.usedpartslive.com just came through BIG TIME! I got 2 replacement ballasts for $58.51 each, free shipping and no tax!! I'll follow up with a post after I get them put on the car! Thanks for the help folks!

tnobori1

Update: Usedpartslive.com had me waiting for a part that wasn't coming for about a week. I ended up ordering 2 ballasts from xenoneyes.com for $80 shipped. I will repost after installation.

Allout

CL inverter and TL inverters are different as far as I know. You may be able to get a TL one to work but it's not plug and play.