Groundwork of the situation is my parents own an 03 TL type S with about 130k miles. It's an automatic that got a new transmission around the 100k mile mark. It currently has an issue with the "ballasts" or whatever keeping both headlights from coming on. Since the dealer wants to charge us 1200 to fix it, we've just decided to never drive it at night. Another issue he's recently had was the plastic covering under the motor area has broken off partly


That being said on the way home from work today, the car dies in the middle of a huge downpour with Tornado warnings all over the place leaving him stranded. He managed to get it started again only to have it die about a half mile down the road. I get there 20 minutes later and we manage to crank it back up after it was totally dead. He gets home fine. The question is, what happened? My dad's not completely incompetent with cars and knows for a fact it's not the battery, but he's worried the broken off part underneath allowed water in and somehow screwed things up. Could it also be a coincidence with the water and underbody, and it just be the electrical from the headlights creeping deeper into the internals and causing issues beyond just the headlights? The OBD indicator is on.


I'm totally useless when it comes to anything in this area and figured someone here has either had a similar issue or knows someone who has. We've been meaning to get rid of the car as it's been one issue after another since we've gotten it and this might just put us over the top with it

 

Sorry to hear about your problems I am not mechanically sound enough to comment on your engine dying but I can offer a suggestion for your headlight issue... check out ddm tunings website for cheap HID replacements that from my experiences have worked great the three different times I've used them on previous cars. Good luck with the other issues though

 

Thank you sir for the tip. I posted the issue in another thread around a year ago and got great responses, but money ran a little tight and even the savings weren't enough. The lights will definitely be fixed soon and we'll look into that for sure. Thanks again.

 

So you have a code reader? If not it would help a ton if you could pull the codes @Autozone so we can start with the diagnose..

 

The OEM "hid" low beam headlamps are a common wear issue with our TL's. The best and most economical solution is to replace the original ballast set-up with the newer and improved aftermarket versions available. Check the "DIY" sticky for installation tips. Any automotive electronics shop should be able to replace the aged factory HID set-up for less than $300 completely installed with new units.

With the motor dying during the storm.....has it done it since in dry conditions ? If so, have the electrical system load tested. Could be a wiring connector or sensor ? Any auto parts store will check this along with read the CEL code for free. Do this and let us know what the verdict is !!!

 

Its only done it this one time, and like I said it happened after that protective under carriage part was damaged. Pretty sure one of them hit a speed bump or something and drug it home hitting the pavement so that protective layer is no how it should be. Could just be a coincidence though. And again thanks for the tips on the headlights guys. Way better than $1200 lol