StephensEngineering

Like many of you, My low beams are dim. The fix was easier than I expected. Upon headlight dissaasembly, it turns out the low beams fail because the heat from the original halogen bulb burns out the projector housing coating.
*IF YOUR LOW BEAMS WORK WELL, REPLACE THEM WITH LEDs ASAP* to prevent the burnout. All caps so the guys scrolling can see it and do it. So you don't have to buy new headlights or do the below in a few years.

Quick rundown of the fix.
1. Remove headlight
2. Bake in over at 260 for 7 minutes to unseat glue, headlight dissasembles.
3. Morimoto Retro-quik for 2016+ civic is an EXACT Drop-in replacement for housing and projector aassembly. (It's HID though, but you might be able to get an LED in there if you dont wanna fumble with HID wiring, i have not done much research on it)
4. reassemble!
5. Do other headlight.
6. Wire

Here is what you need:

Retro-Quik: Honda Civic (2016+)
https://thehidfactory.com/product/re...da-civic-2016/
It will need everything unfortunately, pick bulbs (I chose 5500), Ballast, wire harness (I didnt get this because i already have a headlight relay), housing sealant, High beam splitters (Def reccomend)


I will now go over the steps in greater detail (With pictures! )

1A. Remove front bottom plastic piece under the bumper
1B. Remove bumper cover screws, clips holding the top of it under the hood, bumper pulls off
1C. Headlights are held on with 4 10mm bolts. Remove them.
1D. Remove bottom bracket thing from each headlight held on with 2 10mm bolts
1E. Make sure all bulbs are removed from housing. They are heat proof and you may not have to do this but I did.
1F Remove 6 screws (1 of them is star drive) from headlight

2A. Preheat oven, then insert headlight assembly into hot over for 7 minutes. Be careful not to have pressure on any tabs, they could bend. if they do, heat them up and bend them back.
2B remove headlight, put on some motorcycle gloves, then slowly pull apart starting from the corners, using a screwdriver for leverage if need be. Make sure to unclip tabs that are in the way.
2C Unscrew 4 screws holding projector assembly on.

3A (HID) New projector assembly needs to be assembled. put the plate on and ensure orientation is correct. NOTE: If you want to see more details of the HID assembly stuff, some good soul already typed it all here. We are using the same kit as him. https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads...install.22272/ NOTE 2: I bought mine from The HID Factory. Same stuff but i paid $100 less than TRS!
3B. New Projector assembly screws right in. perfect fit! wow!
3C If you want to install halos like I did, now is the time.

4A Stretch and pull butyl rubber to fill the gap where the headlight cover fit into. I placed mine horizontally and stretched it just enough to cover the width of the channel. I am curious about waterproofness of this... Be careful. Might want to consult a pro and see how much you want. I had a lot left over of the roll.It's like hot glue when its warm and easily fills gaps when you squeeze it back together. Might be beneficial to use a lot.
4B Put light back in oven for 7 minutes, clear part up.
4C put motorcycle gloves on, remove headlight, Squeeze headlight together, you can use pliers to pull the halves together. Keep doing this until it's squeezed back as much as possible. Put the 5 screws back in to help it go back together.

5A This needs to be done for both headlights.

6A quick rundown on wiring: bulb goes in, drill out and run wires through back tan cover if neccesary, use hot glue to seal holes etc. You may or may not use original plug, I did not.
6B Each bulb connects to igniter, igniter to ballast. Ballasts recieve the power and headlights turn on. I used a relay with the + spliced in from my headlight plug as a signal, then power is drawn from my battery for the headlights.
6C Clean it up and make it look nice.

I will type more later. But know you can buy this 400$ kit and get a solution! I took the plunge for you. Phew!

StephensEngineering

Kelsen

Good writeup, good-to-know information. Why would you not replace the HID's with LED's at this point? (I have not needed to do this, I am only curious, given your advice in the first paragraph.).

Thanks for the detailed work!


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
In England “booster shot” is spelled “borchestershire shot.”

Poolman

Great write up Sir. You stated that the projectors you purchased where spot on in size as well as the hole locations. Question , the projectors you purchased, would they accommodate the H11 , LED bulbs? Or would the projectors need to be a different part number?

Thanks for doing the work, looks like I'm going to be doing some cooking the next time the wife is out of town.
Regards

RexChu

Thanks for the write up! I've ordered the new projectors (HID Factory is here in Houston!) and can't wait to fix this.

I already have LED lights with the ballast (bought them 6 months ago), I was hoping to not have to order more light bulbs, but I guess I'll gave extras.

abe.froman

I ordered a set for my wife's 2015 from VisionAutoWorks and they seem pretty much a plug-and-play solution, we shall see.

ManningP

Please let us know how the VisionAutoWorks product turns out. That's a chuck of money, but if it solve the issues without a ton of work, I may order the same. Good Luck

abe.froman

Will do, and yeah that is why I bought them. I am not as skilled as some others here, so it was a simplicity thing for me.

altair47

Curiously, 2 users (ManningP and abe.froman) were created this year, they both answered each other on the same day with an interval of 15 minutes to advertise their product. Interesting marketing technique.

Alex Medeiros

Well then...

ManningP

Have nothing to do with the company, simply looking for an easy solution to fix the daughter's car. I'm an Indiana business owner, but certainly not selling electronics and headlights!

abe.froman

I have enjoyed this forum's recourses for a while now and decide to join and share something for a change and get this........jeez

altair47

Of course!

altair47

Taking the headlights off the car, paying $70-90 for shipping, +$750 for labor and lenses of incomprehensible quality, all this while being without a car is not an easy solution. In an expensive case, I would buy new headlights from TYC for $580 and put high-quality LED lamps like K6C for $110 there, or the cheap way would order a used original from eBay under $400 until I got it with good lenses and put it in the same way high-quality LED lamps type K6C.

Jeff Belozer

It's great to find info on this problem and I'm ready to swap out projectors in our 2013 RDX. To anyone who has done this, have you had any luck with a more affordable aftermarket projector retrofit? I realize you get what you pay for in some cases and the OP's kit is about $350. DDM Tuning has a $70 kit that looks good on a screen. Then I see the typical junk on Amazon and Ebay for $30-40. I don't want a crazy bright aftermarket headlight that's going to blind other drivers, just something that gets these lights back to what they should be so I can se at night. Thanks in advance.

Alex Medeiros

1A Auto has good quality headlight sets. I linked them below.

https://www.1aauto.com/2013-15-acura...29/743403/2013

Jeff Belozer

These have several positive reviews. A lot of money, but piece of mind and safety, in general, is somewhat priceless. Thanks

Alex Medeiros

No problem!

raschkess

I have been battling the slowly degrading dimming headlight issue on my 2014 and my 2015 RDX, both vehicles bought used. I was in a head on collision totaling my 2015. Other posters are correct the issue is the reflective coating that deteriorates because the engineering of the vehicle and headlamp is to have the driving lights be on all the time the car is running so at 80,000+ the amount of heat has completely degraded the reflective coating housing. I had 1% lux reading as measured by an automotive illumination engineer ... yes 1%. I had to replace the headlights or not drive the car at night or illegally drive with my hi-beams on. I paid Acura dealer $2227 to perform the repair and both the dealer and Acura snubbed their nose at me and said they would do nothing to compensate me unless the NHTSA ordered a mandatory recall. Acura had a mandatory NHTSA recall to that era ILX for this same issue and Nissan has just settled a class action lawsuit for the same issue. The headlights were all manufactured by National Automotive Lighting (NAL). We Honda/Acura loyalists need to demand a full recall on the defective headlamps. Law firm Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP is trying to identify impacted Acura RDX owners and investigate/pursue filing a Class Action Lawsuit. They were the law firm successfully in the Nissan class action lawsuit. Impacted owners should file a formal complaint with the NHTSA at https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#vehicle. File a complaint about the danger of your dim headlights and share your personal costs, fear, danger, accident, death, or repairs you had to undertake because of Acura’s failure to engineer a safe vehicle and then its failure to remedy their defect. If we can band together and be successful with either the NHTSA and/or a class action lawsuit, we could be fully compensated for the replacement of the headlamps at Acura’s. These Acura are now being passed down to teenage drivers because they are generally a long mile reliable vehicle. Do you want your 16 year old inexperienced driver to not be able to see the road at night and veer off the road or into oncoming traffic and kill your 80 year old mother? Pass it on.

altair47

Stop spamming this message in all threads!

tom3739

I am just looking at these posts as my 2013 RDX headlights are shot. What solution did you end up using?

tom3739

Has anyone who has used aftermarket replacement headlight assemblies have recommendations on which one is best? There seem to be many choices on ebay.

Alex Medeiros

A1 Auto has great headlights that are OEM spec.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/35333666407...sAAOSwKBdkNXe5

Kelsen

Before you buy anything, be aware that the different trim levels of the 2nd Gen RDX have different lights. Specifically, the Tech version uses "Xenon high-intensity discharge (HID) headlights," while the base RDX uses "projector-beam halogen headlights."



RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
Self-deprecation is an art form that I'm far too ugly to be any good at.

altair47

You are right, the main thing is that after buying these headlights, he should purchase LED in the low beam lenses, otherwise the problem may repeat in a few years

Alex Medeiros

With the reflectors being designed for halogen bulbs, wouldn't the lighting pattern be affected by using LED bulbs?

altair47

The low beam lens has an internal shutter that prevents the black-and-white border from being spoiled. Led is undesirable to instal in a regular reflector.

raschkess

The Projector Beam Halogen: 2013 - 2015 Base Model Are the problem. I have a 2014 base. I had to replace the entire headlamps at a cost of $2300 to be able to see. A law firm is actively working on a class action lawsuit. So if anyone out there has or had a 2013-2015 Acura RDX base, file a complaint with the NHTSA about the issue and notify the law firm. Acura refused to remedy the problem and said until there is a NHSTA recall or lawsuit they won’t do anything to reimburse for it.Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP

One Haverford Centre | 361 West Lancaster Avenue | Haverford, PA 19041

Direct: 610-642-8500

raschkess

There are several different threads on Acurazine regarding the dim headlights issue on the 2nd gen RDX. Had I been able to understand the severity of the dimming issue by following the threads, I would not have bought mine. But I did and driving it home it started raining and I couldn’t see a thing in the dark and rain. I had the headlights replaced and have not had an issue since. I drove mine many more years and I now have mine for sale because I bought a brand new car for my retirement. I have all the original records and the lights were replaced. So if you are considering this very nice luxury SUV for your teen make sure you are buying it from a private seller with all the maintenance records and see the headlights were replaced. Otherwise they will be in serious danger if they drive in the dark.

Steage

This thread inspired me - bought the same kit as OP and installed over the weekend.

Overall, the kit itself is very nice and seems to work well. I was amazed how easy it was to install the projectors, why don't they advertise it as a kit for these cars? Unlike the Civic post that OP references there was no need to trim the brackets for the RDX... funny because it's a Civic kit.

Opening and closing the headlights is a miserable job, though. If you're going to use new sealant I definitely recommend getting your heat gun out and removing as much of the old sealant as possible. You'll never get it all, but if you get the biggest globs of it out it makes resealing go a lot smoother.

I was also shocked at how little is holding the bumper on! A couple of screws and a bunch of clips...

Steage

I don't like that you have to disassemble the front end to remove headlights from cars these days.


Projector in, cleaning up for resealing


Supported by zip ties, test fire

Alex Medeiros

I would think it's because not many people opt in to replacing them. It's easier to just get new headlight assemblies and just pop them back in. If the projectors were easier to gain access to, then I think people would do it more since it's cheaper.