Any of you here on the board experiencing problems with your headlights flickering or randomly going out????


I was having issues with my right headlight about 8 weeks ago. Eventually, the headlight went out. Took it up to the dealer and the tech says, "The headlight igniter has failed and needs to be replaced." So two days later, I get the car back...everything is fine. Well six weeks later, I began experiencing the same thing with the left headlight. Took it back to the dealer and....low and behold, the left one had the igniter failing too....

Oh yeah if you are experiencing a problem, get it fixed before the warranty is out. These bad boys are running $570 a piece, not including labor.

 

No problems with mine.

 

Take a look at the August Service News for flickering headlights as applies to 05--8 RLs only. Think that has anything to do with it?

 

The reason the light goes out and flickers, then comes back on later may be because of the science behind the HID. The lamps can be started at a relatively low voltage but as they heat up during operation, the internal gas pressure within the arc tube rises and more and more voltage is required to maintain the arc discharge. As a lamp gets older, the maintaining voltage for the arc eventually rises to exceed the voltage provided by the electrical ballast. As the lamp heats to this point, the arc fails and the lamp goes out. Eventually, with the arc extinguished, the lamp cools down again, the gas pressure in the arc tube is reduced, and the ballast can once again cause the arc to strike. The effect of this is that the lamp glows for a while and then goes out, repeatedly.

Hope this helps in some fashion? Or maybe gives piece of mind in knowing a possible cause? Is this similar at all to what the Service News says?

 

look here..see page 2

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SN/B070800.PDF

 

WOW! Heck yeah! That was a great explanation (better than the service advisor and the tech).

 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.... My brain isn't working on all eight cylinders right now (have Strep).

 

Although a nice explanation, it is wrong.

HID lamps require THE MOST voltage when starting up. HID headlights require a ballast with igniter because they cannot be run on a low-voltage DC. The ballast is what controls the current to the bulb and when you turn on your lights, it requires SEVERAL THOUSAND volts to initiate the arc. Once the arc is initiated and warmed up, the current level drops significantly to about 35-38 watts. For comparison, a halogen bulb requires between 40-70 watts of power once it is on. An HID bulb also has a life expectancy 3-5 times greater than a halogen.

Since the igniter failed, maybe the bulbs itself were fine. Turning an HID bulb on repeatedly causes a significant drop in life expectancy of the whole system. The whole system takes a lot of abuse from that. If the owner of the RL leaves his headlights on AUTO, I can see why the igniter failed (although it could easily have been the bulb). If you park in a garage and have your lights on auto, just having them turn on for a few seconds and then back off when you back out into the daylight everyday can cause a shorter life. I usually have my lights on OFF during the day and just switch them to AUTO as it starts to get dark outside. Before I start the car the next day in the garage, I switch it back to OFF so they don't turn on unnecessarily. Just a little something to keep the lights from failing prematurely because knowing my luck, something would go out right after my warranty ends.

 

Get Rx for Amoxicillin 500 mg 3 times a day for 10 days

 

hahaha....knew there had to be an MD somewhere.... As for you prescription, it would be quite fatal.