Does anyone have any clue how long the OEM ballasts last for?

 

I had an 03 CL-S6 I sold it in 2009 with 160k, original bulbs and ballasts.

 

my 03 TL went out around early 2008 from what i remember.

 

03 TL with 113000 miles. Original bulbs and ballasts.

 

Mine is an 03 TL with 126,000. I just got one new ballast, but the other one is the original. I'm wondering if the output will be different because one is older....

 

i have a 2002 acura tl type s mine went out about october last year 2010

 

12 years now and still the original ballasts and bulbs; 212K miles.
There's no cut and dry life expectancy...

 

My best guess would be seven or eight years depending on how much you drive at night. I do know that turning them on and off right away is not a good thing.

 

Depends on where you live. Here in dry AZ, they're not going to go out any time soon.

Rain a lot? Probably gonna die eventually. Estimate 7 years minimum.

 

on my 2000 acura tlp I have 142.xxx and it still has the original hids and ballast got to love oem

 

you guys with original bulbs are driving around with about 60% of the original output
HID changes color and fades with useage
New bulbs are like getting new glasses!

the ol `moisture inside headlight lens` is the big killer of the ballast-
it drips out and directly onto the ballast--which was never made to be water proof
Eventually it corrodes the internals and pttt goes the ballast

 

the stock bulbs are rated at 3500 hours iirc
and 2500 is their best part of life, after that its downhill

 

1999 with original ballast 180,000 miles. I used other 5k bulbs for about 10k miles but they died so I put my originals bulbs back in and they are still good to go.
light output is just fine but I do need to restore the lenses. they are probably blocking a good bit of light with all the deterioration. I got a 3M restore kit that I will use soon.