KatabaticSaint

So guys last night I'm driving home having issues seeing the road and I come to find my driver side headlight is out. This morning I try it and it's working again. Should I be looking to buy a new bulb? (It's about a year old 6000k from the Retrofit source) or look to buy a new ballast? Thanks.

loulinjai

I had the same issue with my 3Five DSP. I got one of the first DSPs back in January. TRS has a 5 year warranty for 3Five and 3 year warranty for 5Fives.

Most of the time the bulb will fire right as usual but it failed on the first try a couple times. Swapped the ballast around to see which part was defective and indeed it was the ballast. I got a new one via warranty and I don't have any issues now.

I suggest you swap ballasts left/right sides to see if it is the ballast. Also contact TRS, their customer support is awesome.

EDIT: there are some known issues with the SS ballast...which I assume you have if you got them a year ago. Most of the problems on the SS happen under below freezing temperatures, none the less contact customer support.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

did you upgrade ballast when you bought the bulbs?

and since it's kind of hard to determine what the actual cause is over the internet....
you'll have to trouble shoot yourself, by swapping a good bulb over to the trouble side.
if problem follows bulb, you know its bulb.
if problem persist, it may be ballast.

KatabaticSaint

Sorry for being so vague guys, the D2R's I purchased from TRS 1 year ago it's still the stock ballasts running on my TL. So what I'm trying to say is last night when I pulled in my driveway I saw in the reflection on my mother's car that the drivers side headlight was out. I got out to confirm and it indeed was out that was 10:30pm last night I went out at 8am this morning and the headlight began working again. So I'm assuming it's an issue with the ballast because although it was raining last night I did not observe condensation within my headlight, however the fog light below it goes out when it rains because it collects condensation and I'm too lazy to give a shit to fix it because I want to buy something new.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

it might be the bulb or the ballast.
to figure it out, you have to trouble shoot it.

i know the 2nd gen TL's have horrible ballast cases. water gets in and destroys it

01tl4tl

just face facts- you need to replace our aging hid system
aftermarket setup with 2-way better ballast and igniters are cheap
many here use www.hidextra.com you can buy the `kit` with their bulbs or without
for the small price difference I would get the whole kit and have a spare set of bulbs

TRSAndrew

It may be the bulb or ballast. If you swap just the bulbs, does the bulb from the "bad" side also move?

Just let us know what you find out and we can take care of any warranty issues. If you want an OEM ballast and not aftermarket, we can likely even source that for you too.

KatabaticSaint

Thanks for the responses guys, I'll play around with it this weekend and see what needs to be done.

Although I doubt it is a bulb issue, is there a warranty for a year old D2R?

KatabaticSaint

New development boys, starts raining, I run outside to close my sunroof and pull under the car port because I also have a leaking issue. I try the headlight now and this is what occurs. It was worse the first time the headlight started dim almost 10,000k looking and flickering, became gradually brighter and brighter until it just became a strobe light and died. I let the car sit and tried again later and caught a video. Thoughts?

TRSAndrew

Could still be a bulb or ballast approaching failure. Did you swap the bulbs yet?

KatabaticSaint

No I didn't I'll do that tomorrow, I've been too busy. :/ Also I don't have my torx set anymore so I'll have to borrow one.

01tl4tl

that's a #20 torx SECURITY tip or a dremel tool cuts it into a flat screwdriver fitting
we don't need the screw- it secures the back part on to prevent bulb theft
but if someone really wants your lights they prybar the hood out of the way and take the whole assembly

moisture = ballast death
symptoms = ballast death
new kit from hidextra.com 69$ before coupons found online, mention acurazine sent you- call for best service and discount available
suggest 5000k bulbs= the amount of white light you lose from 5 to 6 is huge- I have run both and happier with the 5000 to see obstacles on the road

new headlight housings online for 75$ each or silicone seal/flex seal clear the lens to the housing
the new hid kit is waterproof and you can remote mount ballast away from danger

01tl4tl

there is no reason to use an OE ballast- it has the same design defect and 15 year old technology, plus once you replace it the ignitor turns out damaged too

I don't like pulling nose off the car repeatedly- whats your time worth swapping things aside- when you KNOW its a moisture issue, to install the correct parts and be done.
I don't care where you buy- many like morimoto and other high dollar names
ck our sponsoring vendors for some ideas

KatabaticSaint

Well I'm not sure if it's a moisture issue yet or the ballast I'm about to swap the bulbs now. Hidextra is a good vendor, but I've bought my last three sets of bulbs from TRS so I'll probably buy from them again, probably a morimoto 55watt ballast and 6000k's and I'll get some blacked out DEPO headlights from EBAY.

KatabaticSaint

Okay boys, here's an update, do any of you know the part number of the 'hub' to which I'm referring? Also I did replace my hood struts out of frustration so I guess some good came of this. Also I'm not sure of that's where the water got in I'm just speculating. Any help or opinions would be much appreciated.

KatabaticSaint

I'm an idiot, that's the ignitor..

KatabaticSaint

Well I splurged, bought new headlights, and fogs because the drivers side had a leak anyway and was developing mold, a new igniter on EBAY and new 6000k HIDs from TRS . This next week will be fun. Please get em to me quick Andrew! :P

Skirmich

The same thing happened to me with a cheap bulb.. (It isn't moisture or water because the cap its sealed tight with a rubber thingy).. Its a bad bulb!!!

KatabaticSaint

But that doesn't explain why it was wet (more moist than wet) around the base of the bulb..

Skirmich

In any case when mine died it didn't had any water or moisture... It was a bad bulb... I re-utilized the igniter though had to break it a little cuz it welded like yours.

01tl4tl

you are still trying to get away with reviving ancient technology
the new parts- wherever you get them, are micro sized- like a deck of cards versus a literal brick size and weight of OE ballast with its separate igniter

new ones are sealed inside with an epoxy - water wont get to the parts!
the OE ballast- pop that thing apart and observe growth of corrosion from water dripping onto and getting into ballast body

I cant see how newer technology could lower the cars resale value, as if any buyer would know, and new parts put out better light too, bulb design and manufacturing quality have come a long way!

KatabaticSaint

I'm just trying to nurse the car an extra year until I have enough of a monetary cushion to put a down payment on sometime more exciting/reliable.

KatabaticSaint

I pulled the igniter and the bulb apart after realizing they were both fucked that thing will never work again burnt to shit. I'm surprised it could light the bulb for the 30 seconds it would.

01tl4tl

note: the OE ballast setup is very picky about what bulbs it will run and how fast they burn out. Variances in voltage requirements, resistance or something like that (more an eclectic than electric guru))

Disclosure! I did run the very pricey kaixen 6000k for a year on stock ballast,
Also did testing with 6000 on one side and 5000 on the other- huge difference in color on the road
6k is great with lots of blue, lights up road lane marking line, the red/white reflector tape on semi trucks jumps out at what appears to be a mile away
BUT
the 5000k puts some blue with a lot more WHITE on the road in front of the car: to see- and hopefully avoid obstacles on the surface
to oncoming traffic its similar to the stock slightly blue- non offensive- non blinding- non LE attracting color, it looks like most new cars
Eventually I went with the hidextra kit and their 5k bulbs

01tl4tl

sounds like 69 dollars before 10-15% discount coupon is where you need to go for a reliable light system on a budget www.hidextra.com
they are located just south of San Francisco and ship immediately, call in the morning and its in the mail that day

shishir95

In my opinion, just buy two ballasts from TRS and wire them in. It won't be cheap but at least you're guaranteed a certain degree of quality and performance. Flickering or unreliable headlights are almost always a ballast/igniter problem, but it can be a cheap/faulty bulb as well.

01tl4tl

not to knock anyone else choice of supplier- I can only say hidextra.com is used by many of us, has the same easy to splice in wiring, requires nothing extra but a quick connector if desired, excellent no hassle warranty and the parts-ballast-ignitor and bulbs are made to work together
I took an hidextra ballast apart to inspect- solid construction-epoxy filled and good seal
certainly better than that boat anchor acura used!

KatabaticSaint

Well today was fun, only took about 2 hours.

01tl4tl

good diy ! the tricky part is finding that vertical screw at fender to nose cover

reminder to all installing new lights,
all HID bulbs need about 50 hours to get fully burned in- color will change slightly and become stable- brightness seems to get better too
Drive with your lights on all the time to get max performance for your dollars~

HairyMonkey019

iTrader: (7)

looks good, why did it take u so long tho? that's like a 30 minute swap

01tl4tl

making sure to do everything right, remove old parts, install new ones- find mounting place for ballast, 2 hours is reasonable for first time
just finding all the pin clips takes a while, then figure out the hidden corner screw and how to detach the cover from the side clips etc

All day is fine, if that's what it takes for the owner to be satisfied its done right!
curious-want to help- neighbors add to all diy project times~

KatabaticSaint

It was because my clips broke in some spots and also the fog lights were H4s stock right well the new ones are H8's with adapters for some reason I had no bulbs that were H8 so I just left bumper off hopped in my Moms Pilot and bought some H8's that's the main reason it took so long but now after night driving last night I realize I need to adjust the low beams, I know I should search but it's such a pain in the ass on the phone. Any tips or ideas on how to do this? Or a thread link? Thanks guys.

3.2TLc

^^^ If the headlamp aiming was ok before the work, something may have gotten bumped or misaligned during the process. Anyways....if ya wanna play with the adjuster's here ya go, try this thread :

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ight=headlight =aiming

01tl4tl

find the + - signs on top of housing, insert a + screwdriver down the raised V channel
until contacts the upper gear, use screwdriver tip as a mated gear! turn as needed
slight angle to screwdriver often helps
shocks get weak or new shocks, headlight angle changes - with new lights its a good plan to ck the adjustment
might not notice they are out of adjustment till new lights face the garage door

3.2TLc

Yeah, now ya think the low beams need adjusted, but have they been that way previously before the work ?

KatabaticSaint

Yeah I went on 500 mile roadtrip the day I installed them and they glared in my eyes the whole way. These are brand new Depo headlights I didn't feel like A. Pulling apart the old ones B. The old ones being 13 years old were real fucked up. I adjusted the vertical and attempted to access what I think is the horizontal adjuster but I can't access them as they're behind the tip of the fenders, I think, is their a trick or do I have to take the whole thing apart again?

3.2TLc

Maybe the 6k upgrade to the HID's is giving ya some extra glare ?

KatabaticSaint

Naw, I've had 6k's since 09' these lights just weren't adjusted before they were shipped..

3.2TLc

{Adjuster locations}:
~ The vertical adjuster for U & D, is the one located near the middle of the headlamp assembly.
~ The horizontal adjuster for L & R, is near the top outer corner of the assembly.

Both are accessible once the plastic cover is taken off the rad support. The vertical one is a bit tricky. Sometimes the gear mechanisms get stripped or dry out, try some WD40 and a different phillips (+) screwdriver.

KatabaticSaint

Yeah I got to the vertical quite easily but while the headlights are in the car they aren't accessible but I can see them so I'll just take the bumper off again and go at them from underneath. OKAY last question and then I'll let this thread die, I had some 9006 bulbs before that were Nokya 2500k's and I liked them a lot but the new foglights are h8 bulbs that came with a converter so my old bulbs won't fit and I have an Amazon gift card laying around so I may just buy some more Nokya 2500k's that are H8's but I also noticed these kits on there for the same price as my gift card and I'm wondering A. how shitty these are you think? B. would an HID in my fog light create an issue with heat.

Here's the link: