passenger headlight just went out... anybody have any suggestions besides the dealer? anybody have 5000k? think that is what i'm lookin for anybody know best place to get 5000k bulb for best price? gimme ur feedback fellas yall always point me in the right direction which is why i love this site

 

Question: Are you SURE it's the bulbs and not the ballast?

easy way to test.. switch the bulbs

 

ehh, well it was flickering on and off for a while but only at random times would it do that and only if my lights were left on when the car was parked and i pressed the "lock" button on the keyless entry... are there any other threads on HID headlights, i've been searchin for a lil while now... ALSO... should i just run by the dealer tomorrow and have them check it out to see whether its headlight or ballast...

 

u can check urself really easily, juss switch the bulbs, dealer will prob charge u a diagnostic fee ...

 

if it did the pink color on startup for a while- its dead
Dealer would charge same amount to test the bulbs, as to install new ones- its the same job! See the DIY- easy to remove back cover- remove bulbs- if in doubt- swap to other side of car- always replace both- do not touch bulbs with bare hands- use rubber/latex gloves

Kaixen makes an excellent bulb and has 5000k
our vendor Excelerate carries them- PM or call him for current stock and price, they were about 150 for a pair a year ago, when I got 6000ks from him, 6k is not as much briteness light on the road, has more blue, but is great for those with poor night vision who ned help seeing the edge lines and road signs.
Phillips on the bay are good `if` they are brand new bulbs
If you like the stock headlight color- get 5000k

 

gen2 cars are at an age where the headlight bulbs wear out.
HID lights gets dimmer over time too- you wont notice it till new bulbs are in--then its WOW
iirc its 2500-3000 hours of use and these bulbs are due for replacement.
Color change or flikker at startup are warning signs

IF you have moisture in the headlight housing- THATS a different story!!!
Ballast at severe risk of failure- due to moisture dripping into it~

 

thats funny the same thing is going on with mine too. buuuut that was just after i had work done. i know that they removed that headlight to check for cracks.

at first my turning signal wouldnt work.... so i turned my flashers on and tapped my headlight out of frustration and it began to work again. welll later that night i noticed my headlight flickered out before the other, and thats only when the car is off and they time out.

i also noticed moisture in the head light that night....

could it be the bulb or the ballast or both for that matter, or just something as simple as a grounding problem?

how much are the ballasts?

 

Ballasts are damn pricey from the dealer..I was quoted 360 CAD for one side (will be about the same in US dollars I believe)...
Ebay it's about 200 bucks before shipping which is usually 20-30 bucks. I have the damn condensation problem and still need
to check to see if it's my bulbs, I hope to god it is. I don't want to replace the damn ballasts...
I'm getting my mechanic to reseal my headlight, hopefully he does a good job, and then I'll replace whatever is fucked...like I said, hope it's the bulb.

 

oem bulbs on ebay.

 

I ordered the OEM bulbs on Ebay. Think it was 88bucks for 2 of em. Unfortunately it took about 10 days to get them. I was a one eye Acura TL driver for about a week at night. The new bulbs are up to about 100 hours of use now and wow=nice and bright again. My drivers side bulb went a beautiful PINK color before finally failing. Wasn't hard to change them. Just do a search and find the instructions here. Save yourself a ton of $$$$ by doing it yourself.

 

need somebody else to back me up on this but try it out. when youre headlights are on, pop the hood, and go over to the one thats working. lean close and you should hear a steady hum, which isprbly the energy moving through. theres a ton of volts going thru it haha. anyway, then go on the light thats not working and see if you can hear anything. when my ballast went, i couldnt hear the hum. so im assuming if your ballast is bad you wont hear a hum....

 

I'm worried that my ballast might be fried because I had no signs of wear with my bulb...and I have the condensation problem majorly...of course when I bought the car at the beginning of may it was dry out here, so I didn't know there was a problem...nor did the acura dealership I got it inspected at...so annoying having only 1 light working on a luxury sedan...oh well. It shall be fixed soon enough.

 

My headlight bulb went out too..and it looked like the bulb was out..but when i switched to new ones..it still didn't work. I think its the balast :sigh: