The headlights in my 03 TL have gone out, but I still have ambers, turn signals, brake, reverse and tail lights. I have replaced the ballasts, ignition wire, bulbs, headlight switch and checked all the fuses and relay(unless I'm missing some) and still no lights.

 

some back story please- was there failure of one side- flicking switch restored light for a while?
Or did the bulbs die a natural age death? there would have been pink or purple tint from lights at startup if age death was the root cause

did you ck the headlight fuses in box under hood? and swap the relays for low beams? same color relay may be used for testing

did you install a new HID kit- of new parts, or bought some used OE garbage online from another failed car?

you bought HID, D2 (followed by a letter) bulbs correct?

 

they started out hesitating to turn on (10-15 min) and yes flicking the switch helped for a little while, after a while the drivers side died of old age. The passenger side continued to work for a while as did my brights and fog lights until they just quit coming on.

Fuses are good. If the relay is labeled lighting 1/2 and in the same box as the fuses, yes. If not, then idk where it's located and have not checked it.

New aftermarket HID kit and the bulb is either a D2S or D2R

 

OK so the ORIGINAL problem is ballast/ignitor related, hence the flicking issue
THEN you experienced an actual bulb wearout
BUT the main problem persist- you need the `power supplying parts`
you bought a kit- install it!!!

Those are the correct bulb designation. What color rating are they? 5000K 6000k?

 

without looking at my car- the low beams fuse and relays are clearly marked as LOW Beam L and R on the box cover

look at every plastic box under the hood

 

I installed the kit last week (new bulb 6000K, new ballasts, new igniter). I tested the drivers side as I was installing to see if it worked; came on but once I installed the passenger side i lost low beam, high beam and ambers. But the ambers came back a day later.
These are the only fuse boxes I have found that have relays.

 

The only thing labeled as headlights, were the fuses inside the big box

 

where did you get the kit? call them for tech support
All the connections you made were good? was cutting and splicing required?

 

Have you checked for power in the Low Beam wires yet?

 

It did require clipping and splicing, but the connections were good. This is the site I ordered the kit from. Low Beam: D2R Xenon Hid Conversion Kit with Slim Ballast For Acura TL 2003 I got the 55w ballasts. Ive emailed them, but I'm not sure how well they understood English...

No I haven't checked for power yet as I don't have the proper tool

 

Side question while I'm thinking about it; when I took the bumper off to do the lights I found a black box right in front of the tire on the driver side. What is that because there was a chunk broken off? As far as I could tell, there wasn't anything inside.

 

Sounds like the intake resonator it's there to muffle the "shooshhh" sound from the intake.

 

That would make sense. I've been noticing a quiet whine from time to time and the chunk broke over a dividing wall so there was a small hole and a larger one. I'll get a pick tomorrow

 

oooooooooooooh you put 55 watts in a 35 watt system!!!
Now armed with the Truth and Facts:
I am not surprised if you need to install a separate higher rated relay- the setup they sell on their site for people converting to HID

We normally don't use the relay kit (stock one on car is fine) - but we also don't normally put in 55s!
the poor quality and pattern of the reflector in our housing causes a lot of blinding to oncoming traffic with the higher power, alignment of lights is critical too

So your options are: diy construct or order a battery direct relay and power wires- bypassing the TL relay system
or
call them and ask to swap for the correct ballast~~

 

as for that black box, give it a home in the recycle bin
remove the long bolt holding in on- then remove the Y shaped plastic thing stuck in the 2 holes on bottom of main air filter box
Optional: enlarge the 2 inlet holes on bottom of airbox
this is not a water hazard to the engine like a low front mounted cai can be~

replacement of air filter with a K&N can improve airflow (other hi flow brands are avail these days-ck online)
This is often the first mod done to a ziner TL!
the improved airflow and `available stored air on demand` will impress you when vtec rpm kicks in- varooom

 

I actually took it up to pep boys today, they diagnosed it as the drivers multiplex control unit. Said they got the headlights to work by sending power to the relay

 

ck out local auto dismantlers for that control unit
Did they mean the one in driver door handle/armrest or the control stick on the steering wheel?
were you shown what they did or just told?

 

Red with fuse goes to the battery, red no fuse goes to my lighting relays, which do turn on the head lights. 10 amp fuse and the black button burned out after about 5 minutes. Pressed the button and all I got was a poof of smoke. Did I just get a cheap switch or did I hook something up wrong/get wrong amperage?

 

First of all... Why are you doing that? Second... Why?

 

That has to be one of the ugliest wiring jobs I have ever seen.... WTF did you do?!?

Were you not happy with the OEM switch?
Are 35 watt HIDs not enough?

 

Temporary solution until I get a more permanent fix

Well it's meant to be functional and easily removed, not pretty. The OEM switch doesn't turn on my headlights right now. Also, first time I've done anything to my headlights other than change a bulb; I assumed brighter=better.

 

I can answer why that switch just died.. See how your +12 Wire comes in a big 14AWG ish wire then converts into 12AWG and then PUM converts into what it seems to be 24AWG? That switch its obviously not meant for the +13Amps the HID combined Ballast Pull, Those tiny wires look like 2-3 Amps Max!


In any case you should see why your headlights doesn't work.. As far as I know there are 2 Relays only for the Headlights. In the Odd case the Multiplex was F*** there would be a lot of shit not working.. Like Windows, Locks and more noticeably the Turn Signals/Parking Lights.

 

I cant imagine anyone reading thru these threads and thinking 55watt was a suggested or desirable upgrade

every thread I post in says- buy the 35 watt ballast and suggest 5000k color bulbs

BUT
we did learn from another's experience that: for sure, going to 55 watt headlights will cause you other problems!
OR
was it coincidence to have a multiplex failure with headlight install?

 

^ I don't even understand why 55w HID exists... Normal 35w HID are bright enough even for extreme off road.

 

I have 55W, and I love them (and for anyone thinking that they can't be done properly, anything can be done properly with the right knowledge and application). What we have here is someone who has no idea how to perform anything 12V on their car, trying to do some open heart surgery. If you know how your cars 12V system operates, you will be able to do almost anything with a few Bosch DPDT relays. What you have instead looks more like a clusterf**k. What I would recommend you do, is either research what you really desire to have, either through this website or on YouTube, or pay someone to do it for you. Doing it yourself is OK if you know what you are doing, which apparently you DO NOT. At the least you are just wasting your time and money, at the most you may be the recipient of a Car-B-Que in the next few weeks/months. Do the research, pay attention, and do it right...


edit...BTW, running your wires through your door like that is a huge mistake. I will just leave this there. There are a MULTITUDE of links showing how to run your wires the right way. You will end up having a wire pinched and shorting out your battery to ground...I have seen car s burned to the ground doing this, it is lazy and amateur...(as an example, that 10A fuse was meant to go nearest your 12V+ terminal, not in your cabin, it is to protect the line from shorting out and overcurrent...please stop trying to do this yourself without someone else's help...)

 

^ Why you needed the 55w over 35w? Talking seriously could you have lived with the 35w system but upgraded to 55w just because?

 

I am an older person (at least by most people on this forum, I am 45YO), and find that during night driving, the brighter my lights, the better I navigate the dark. I have worn corrective lenses since I was only one year old. My sister, who is only one year older than me, cannot drive at night no matter how bright I make her headlights. I keep my beams focused low, never blinding oncoming drivers, I just prefer the brighter light over dimmer light. I also have 55W HID Fogs for when no-one is on-coming. I just want to be as safe as I can be...

 

I am now officially older than dirt- seeing at night is an important issue

This is where the COLOR of the bulb comes into play
4300 the stock bulb color on Kelvin color scale is a compromise for all condition use.

the 5000 that many of us use as replacement works well in most conditions and puts a good amount of white light on the road to see and avoid objects, with more blue than stock

6000 is way more blue than 5s, and a lot less white- it has certain advantages in lighting up lane edge lines (helpful in fog and rain to spot edge of road) and reflective markings on semi trailers and freeway signs = jump out from a mile away.

next issue is quality of the bulb- what its real Lumens output (measure of light intensity) is, and how well it holds its color
They make some high dollar bulbs and low, what's the difference--quality!

finally- on the TL with unmodded housings- the reflector doesn't do a very good job- with 55watts it doesn't put out the best pattern
Better to stay 35 there and add a set of mini driving lights under the bumper- hidden in the grill~- for those without factory fogs

LED lights are the new thing for max lighting and minimal draw or blinding to others

 

@Skirmich tried again with a switch rated for 30A, went out even quicker. Scrapping all of that til I can get to the dealership. Also driver window started stuttering shortly after the lights went out, which was going to be my next project.

@Groovemaster Thank you for your positive, constructive criticism that is helping me learn right from wrong!

For those that are actually helping me, sincerely, thank you.

 

matias676 They are all trying to help you, even though it doesn't seem so. I think your initial poor description of what you had purchased and installed, caused a lot of unnecessary posting and questions. You have also caused a good deal of concern over the techniques you are using in a high amperage circuit. I've found that I spend a lot more time researching than I do buying stuff and putting it in on this site. There is a ton of quality information here, and some of the best people you could have are trying to help you.
Take your time, read until you really understand the issues, ask questions FIRST, then go get your stuff. We all want you to have a good experience and get the job done right, with parts that suit your needs.