PortlandRL

Took the RL out tonight to get some gas and grab two new hose nozzles for my dad's never ending gardening obsession. As I left the Target parking lot, the left headlight flickered out noticeably but briefly. The lights had been on for about a minute and had been brought up to temperature. Again, as I made a left to head towards the freeway, it did it again. Both times it seemed to be due to minor road impacts.

Is this the sign of a failing ignitor or could it simply be a loose connection?

Thanks.

Rhlieu

I have the same on-going problem with “flickering” headlights. I have a feeling it is the igniter/ ballast and not the HID bulbs (most bulbs either light up, or don’t right?) but either way, since I can’t “duplicate” the problem, the dealer won’t do jack!

This link might help: https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rl-2005-2012-76/install-igniter-controller-hid-diy-730441/

fredren

this has happen to me a couple times,but it seems to only happen when in a turn and afs active

getakey

could be igniter or bulb, but the most common problem that owners have reported is the bulb
I had similar issue and it was the bulb

gbriank

Is the car out of warranty and what model year is it? I had a late '05 model year that required both lights to have the bulbs and igniters replaced. Something to do with a bad batch of igniters.

Rhlieu

^^^

And both replacements was cover under warranty? How where you able to “duplicate” the problem to the dealership? I have a 05, and the dealers won't do a thing until i can show them the problem exist.


Glad your still around here Glenn, thought for sure you would be on ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM.com!

OLD_HATCH

easist test.....swap bulbs


if the flickering changes to the other headlight its your bulb (most likely) if not look for faulty components or loose grounds

stevesrl

Do the search... Inverters are prob. bad. You will see increased flickering when it's cold. Both of mine will flicker. Additionally, they have gone out one right after the other-So no headlights at all on 3 separate ocassions!!! Would not even let the wife drive at night and I drove with hands close to switch and ready to use. Scares the @$tX out of you when it happens and it could cause a horrific situation. I also kept my fog lights on for back up. The headlights would always come back on by flipping the switch. Sure enough when it got into summer, the problem eased. Mine are still going it's just a matter of time.

Make no mistake my occurances were moderate I am fixing this. I just pushed it off because summer arrived and they stopped flickering. But the consequences are too great.

Dealership also confirmed both inverters are going bad. Believe it's approx. $700. Inverters are directly under lamp assembly. Can be changed with lamp assembly extraction (so you can get to the inverter-1 per headlight). You will also have to remove the bumper.

Look at the thread regarding the headlight altercation where they bake off the orange turn indicator internal lamination material on the headlight covers. It has excellent pictures of the parts and explains the removal of the covers.

I will be changing both out by the end of summer myself. Prob. go aftermarket/ebay.

TampaRLX-SH

Duct tape the Acura Tech to your front end and drive around a few days until he acknowledges the issue.

I give him 3 days, unless it is raining, you tailgate and do not have CMBS. Then 2 days...tops.

getakey

Agree with Tampa - I had a huge argument with Dealer when they gave me the could not reproduce issue. Its a random flicker! I told them that if they could not believe me, then I would go elsewhere for all the service.
Technically, the bulb (and I think the igniter as well) is not covered under warranty as its considered normal wear - at least, that's what they insisted. But, I told them its not normal wear for a $200 bulb (and $200 labor to replace) to go out in 3 years. I also showed them the threads on this forum that showed a lot of dealers replacing bulbs for free. Eventually, they replaced for free as "good will".

gbriank

Yup, covered under warranty. On my car, the "winking" got progressively worse. It also helped that I got pulled over the night before by DPD and was given a written warning for a "winking headlight". Eventually, the lamp will overheat and the bulb will go out (reminded me of a fluorescent bulb in elementary school that would periodically go out and come back on...same concept, just more expensive).

gbriank

Actually, I am ZOOM ZOOM'ing too. I'm trying to form a Mazda group here in Dallas (similar to the Acurazine group) and wrote up a help guide to upgrading the horn (darn thing in this car is horrible!! MEEP, MEEP, MEEP...). Been taking all of the Acurazine-esque over to the new board...


Sorry, couldn't help it!!!!

gbriank

LOL!!!!!!!!!!

PortlandRL

Well my mom has noticed it too...it looks like it's getting worse.

Dealer time... Wish me luck and thanks for all your help.

christopher1

i carried a camera in the Rl, when it happen i took pictures. then showed them to acura of avon dealer. my 05 blinked and went out on both sides. but complete fix by this dealer...

Rhlieu

^^^

Great idea with the camera , however how do you document the "flickering"???

TampaRLX-SH

one pic with lights on...

one pic with lights off...

photoshop pic 1 into pic 2.

voila!

Rhlieu

^^^


Though I'm sure Tampa's post was meant merely as a joke (knowing him...maybe not). But oddly enough, this is the best idea yet! I too, have holsted my camera phone in the "quick draw" position waiting for the notorious flicker/blackout to occur with out any luck as well.

I have a feeling all the Acura service department really wants is proof of the problems, so they can submit a claim for reimbursement for the warranty work. I'm sure there is a lil "moral issues" of a photo shop, but is it really a false claim if the problem truly does exist but only intermittently?

TampaRLX-SH

Indeed I was joking about the photoshop.

And I agree, the Acura dealer needs to have evidence in order to get the warranty repair approved. And Honda likes to send defective parts to a quality lab to diagnose and improve the engineering. If they prove not to be defective, they may deny the dealer's warranty claim.

The frustrating part is on the owner to demonstrate the issue for the dealer. Trying to photograph a headlamp flicker is like trying to photograph a lightning bolt. It can be done, but after how many tries?

A video is likely better as the camera can be left on until the flicker flicks.

So maybe duct taping a tech to the front of the car WITH a video camera is a better idea!

SUPER Genius I am.

nyctl

have the same problem AND i had new Kaixen bulbs installed last year.
first the left light would flicker and turn off when i make a left turen then eventually both would go out.
stopped driving at night as much as possible but when i do i have to constantly flip the switch on and off to get the headlights back.
so i know its not the bulbs....at least i know others are having the same problem
gotta get new ignitors i guess