getakey

2005 RL, 125K miles
Had my Driver Headlight replaced (for free) several years ago due to the flicker issue.
Now passenger side is going out off/on - much more than a flicker, i.e., it goes out for many minutes. Will come back on when starting car, but will go out after driving for a while. Wondering if this is more of an igniter issue than bulb. Is there any diagnostics they can run on the igniter?

My dealer experience was not good in the first replacement. He said there were no tests they could run on the bulb and wanted to observe the flicker before replacing bulb. Since the flicker was very random and often very long in between, I asked him if he was going to have a Tech "observe" my headlight for several hours to diagnose. That led to a very good exchange of words!

In any case, given life of bulb, I will probably replace that as well if it is the igniter.

Chas2

They actually do have a tester now, according to the Acura ServiceNews, but my guess is that it is the bulb at this point. Let us know what the deal is. I recall that several had used Amazon as a source to get Sylvania D2S bulbs, something like 3 or 4 times less than what the dealer charges.

There are threads on how to change the bulb, passenger side is apparently easier than driver side IIRC.

BTW, what is the issue with the igniter? Does it have a limited service life as well?

tnobori1

Here's the link with great info from.... Chas! LOL!
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rl-audio-bluetooth-electronics-navigation-90/05-rl-headlight-flicker-695557/

I think I may be in the same boat. I gunned the accelerator the other day and my passenger side light flickered pretty noticeably. As for the ballast/igniter, I don't know how reliable they are on the RL, but the CLs all had major problems with them because they were not sealed properly. I was always having issues with my headlights on that car. I don't know if it applies to the RL...

getakey

Not sure if they have improved the "Tester", but during my heated debate with the Service Mgr, he showed me the socalled tester at the time. It as an HID with a longer wire/plug so that they could unplug bulb in question and plug in the test HID supposedly to see if flicker was eliminated. Problem was the flicker was so random, not sure how they could ever be ready to swap bulbs when flicker occurred. My beef was that the Service Mgr would not believe me that the bulb flickered and that he wanted to "see" for himself. It was total BS and I said that it was a safety issue. Finally they replaced under good will as they said it was not covered by warranty.

Rich08RL

I am having the same problem with my passenger headlight. I brought it to the deal and supposedly had the ballast and headlight assembly replaced. It still flickers so I’m not sure that they actually did anything. They are required to fix the problem since I have just purchased the car and have been complaing about it since the day I bought it. If you find anythign out please let me know and I will do the same!

getakey

Are you sure they actually replaced the bulb?
From past experience, I suspect most flicker issues are the bulb (and there were lots of threads on the issue). However, in my recent case, with light going completely out for several minutes, do not know if that could be bulb or ballast/igniter.
Will update once I talk to Dealer.

white05rl

I'll bet it's the bulb - even if Dealer says otherwise.

getakey

I have not taken it in to Dealer yet, but talked to SA on phone. I told him the problem was intermittent, but when it does go out it goes out for a long time. Fortunately or unfortunately it worked fine last night for almost an hour of driving.
He said they have no good way to test whether it is bulb, igniter, or control unit when bulb is working.
Dealer "discounted" costs:
Bulb = $199
Igniter = $217
Control unit = $201

thephantom

You may be able to replicate the flickering when your car goes over a bump. At least that's what I told my Acura Service Manager (Jim Brown at Herb Connolly Acura in Framingham, MA), and he replaced my driver-side headlight on my 07 RL.

getakey

it does not appear bump related. It may flicker a few times, but then when it goes out, it is out for rest of the drive.

white05rl

http://www.amazon.com/Sylvania-39659...4513734&sr=8-1

If you haven't already been told, you can find the bulb for less than $50 on Amazon.

037

I'm using 2 ebay brand bulbs for the last 2 years at cost of less than $20 for both shipped. Not sure brand name bulbs will do much better. I am getting some flickering and random turns off now so I'm gonna see if it's the bulbs by replacing with oem. Never knows...

ZE_RL

I've got the same problem with the driver side light. it flickers whenever the car is turning left (probably because the bulb turns with the car). not sure if its the bulb or something else, but the dealer "could not duplicate problem", and hence didn't do anything about it. Local auto shops run the light at $150. Are
amazon sold bulbs OEM or aftermarket ones?
thanks

037

the oem bulb I got are xenox brand or something. Technically there is no such thing as oem, it's whatever bulb they pick at the time. If you think it's the bulb, pay $20 on ebay and swap em out your self, if that fixes the issue, you're done. If it doesn't...you saved over $100 per light which would be made in germany and make absolutely no difference.

csmeance

OEM Bulbs are OSRAM bulbs and pretty decent ones. HID's are not all the same and the ebay ones can be quite bad! The best thing to do is buy a pair of bulbs (HID's should be replaced in sets). The best HID Bulb's on the market right now are the Philips 85122+ and the OSRAM CBI bulbs. The retrofitsource sells both with the philips bulbs being a bit cheaper.

037

been using ebay brand in fogs, low beams, high beams, and reverse, no problems.

I see no reason to fork over that much money for something chinese do nicely.

white05rl

i should have kept the old/original bulbs so i could photograph and post. i'm quite certain they were sylvania bulbs. at the very least, ALL the numbers/print on the original bulbs matched EXACTLY the replacement sylvania bulbs i purchased on amazon for $53ea

Chas2

You could both be correct.

Osram Sylvania Inc. is the North American operation of lighting manufacturer Osram GmbH, which is owned by Siemens AG. It was established in January 1993, with the acquisition of GTE’s Sylvania lighting division by Osram GmbH