preludeshfan

Well i just got back from the dealer because i had taken my car in a few weeks back for an oil change. while i was there i told them i had noticed that the passenger side head light (low beam) was a different color than the other one. it is more like a green/yellow color when compared to the good one (blue)
well anyway they replaced the bulb and it was still the same. so they decided to order the headlight, ballast, starter unit. today they installed the parts and it was exactly the same! dammit! then they tried another light bulb and same problem. they told me were going to call the tech line and ask if anyone had seen this problem before and what the fix was. then i asked them if they could try to swap the ballast from the left to right and see if the problem moved to the other side. they agreed and while the tech was doing that the svs manager called the tech line and found out that they have been having a problem with bad bulbs and they are working on a fix for it. anyway i have noticed that the TL's don't seem to have as blue of a color as other HID equipped cars and i am hoping that when they get the bulbs figured out. the new bulbs will retain a better blue color when warmed up.

I just wanted to share this with everyone and see if anyone else may have this problem and if you are you know that Acura is working on it. its pretty easy to tell but you have to be in a garage where you can see the lights clearly. turn on your lights and allow then to warm up for at least 1 or 2 minutes. and look at both lights and compare them. the catch is if you have 2 bad bulbs you probly wont be able to tell. and a new bulb wont help you either because all 4 bulbs my dealer had in stock were bad and they were instructed to send any bad units back to Acura until they can fix the problem. i looked at a customers car in the shop they were working on and it had the same problem as mine. 1 bad bulb and 1 good bulb. it is very easy to see when this is the case but most people dont notice it. i could tell on mine at first because i could see a different color at night when my lights shined on a white garage door. I watched as they did the work and i noticed that all the bulbs they tried had a slight yellow colored area inside the bulb where the arc is created.(very interesting looking bulb i must say!) I dident see the good bulb removed from the headlight so i dont know if this was the cause but you might be able to remove and inspect your lights just to make sure. just be care full to handel the bulbs with a paper towel and avoid touching the glass as the oils from your hands can cause the bulb to shatter when in use. (if you do happen to tough the glass then clean it with isopropyl Alcohol.
the dealer is supposed to call when they get new parts from Acura and i told them i would check back with them now and then to see if there is any new news since i dont trust Acura to tell everyone when they have the new part. (low priority)
if anyone needs instructions on how to remove the bulbs leave your questions here. this post is getting long and if you need help just ask. you shouldent need any tools but there are a few things i saw them remove in order to get to the bulbs.

I hope this helps someone!

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formerly 98 prelude type SH

Currently 2001 Acura 3.2 TL With Navigation Black/Ebony

mr tl

pretty good info

the tls hids dont look like those on other cars, but i can always tell when i see a tl on the road. mine seem normal, but it would be great if they stayed that bright blue all the time

AC

Yeah, good info. I noticed that the German HID's have a brighter blue tint to theirs.

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2000 TL Taffeta White
Factory Body Kit and Spoiler
18' DAZZ MATIZ
Tenzo 700X Fogs
Custom Mesh Grille
Custom Mesh Bumper Center
Comptech Headers
Comptech Springs
Comptech Sway Bars
AEM CAI
Greddy CatBack Exhaust
Inspire Tails
Inspire Steering Wheel
Burlwood Knob
Apexi V-AFC

tshields2

I'm guessing that if you got one of each car companies that offer HID lights and lined them up that they would all be a slightly different color. The German cars have a similiar color, except for the Porsche's because they aren't Xenons they are Litronics. What the difference is I don't know, but they charge twice as much.

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99 Silver TL, Navi, Foglights, Gutter Guard Grill,
Looking for 18s, Scratch that
I'm getting a TL-S

NOVAwhiteTypeS

I think the TL'z hid's are much bluer than the cl's the cl's produce a much white color. any wayz back to the subject. i remember reading somewhere the updates for the new tl-s and it mentioned something about the hid's being fixed or something.

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CL-S
White/Ebony/Navi/Spoiler/Visor/Full Bra/Mud Guards/Cargo Net/Acura Car Cover/Tint 20%,35%, Rockford 250a2 Amp w/JL10w6 / K&N Drop in Filter. Comptech Springs. Swayz next... Finally Polarg m-6.

socal28

That's the difference! They charge twice as much!!! J/K, I don't know the diff.

Gotta check my HIDs tonight!




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1999 Dark Emerald Pearl TL w/ nav
Factory underbody kit and rear spoiler.
Comptech springs, sways, headers and exhaust.
RS Akimoto Funnel Ram III Intake.
18x7.5 +48 5Zigen Heidfeld wheels with 225/40ZR18 Nitto NT-555 tires.
Inspire Tail-lights with Polarg M-23 P8711R signal bulbs.
DEI Viper 550ESP Alarm
http://home.socal.rr.com/tada/socal28TL.htm

Shoofin

My HID's are fine..
Ed

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Acura-TL.com - Forum Moderator

'99 TL Satin Silver/Ebony, Non/Nav, Comptech lowered, Comptech Air Filter Element, Inspire Tails, AEM Brake Pads all around, Comptech Axle Back Exhaust, "Guy Smiley" doll on the dash as my Co-driver...

Pics of my TL
Pics of my Miata! Wadya think?

StreetEffectz

I have had this problem too. But only SLIGHTLY on the driverside light...has a kind of yellowish spot in it. Dealer told me to bring it in and they will change the bulb. So you are saying I need to have BOTH bulbs changed?

preludeshfan

Street yes quite possibly both could be affected. to add to the info above i actually looked at the 2000 TL shuttle vechicle that is used by the dealer. both lights on that car were a little more to the yellow side but at least they looked the same. the 2 cars were not parked side by side for comparason but between walking back and forth between my car and theirs it looked like my 1 good light was more blue than both lights on their car. i suppose i could remove both bulbs from my car and inspect them to see if the yellow color is present on both bulbs or not. at this point i cant say for sure as stated in the first post if the color i saw on the bulb itself is the culpret or not but it does seem logical.

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formerly 98 prelude type SH

Currently 2001 Acura 3.2 TL With Navigation Black/Ebony

bobatimez

so what's the verdict? what do we do to "fix" our bulbs and what will the end result be? will they look like the lexus' HIDs?

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Some Say "TL Type S," Navi, Spoiler, Side Cuts, Tint All Around, Interior Footwell Lighting, Eibach ProKit, PIAA 1700x Fogs custom cut into side holes, Inspire Tails, 17" Type-S Rims with 215/45/17 Bridgestone Potenza RE730's, Visor, Wood Shifter, Comptech Sways making me ride on rails...

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/Album...026&Auth=false

Pawel

My appear to be ok... for now. How to remove the light?

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2000 TL Pearl White w\o nav
1991 Volvo 940 Turbo Traded

"Just Shut Up and Enjoy the Ride"

TLinBama

Theirs is bluer, I want mine to be bluer. Whatever people!! The color difference is due to the burning temperature of the lamp. If you went out and bought three fluorescent lamps from different manufacturers that will fit into the fixture over your little cubicles, you would more than likely see a difference in color. The progression of color to increasing burning temperature is red, orange, yellow, white, blue. The color can also be affected by applying a phosphor coating which would convert the ultraviolet light produced by HID sources into visible light. If you think that their HIDs are better, you are not correct. If you think that blue looks cooler, fine. I'm not denying that there may be a problem with our headlights, but being less blue than other cars is not a source for true concern.

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John

2000 TL WDP Nav

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by TLinBama on January 16, 2001 @ ]</font>

preludeshfan

agreed and i think your correct about the color and temp. but acura says the bulbs are defective and that is what makes them yellow. personally the more blue the better. i like everyone to know when they see me comming that i have the real HID's not the fake ones. and when they go yellow it makes them look like the rice boy want to be's personally i think changing the color of tails and side markers is stupid but as far as HID's go if they are supposed to be blue than i want them to look that way. kids who put the stupid halogen blue tinted fakes in their lights are just jelous because they wish they had the real thing. so its not that i like the blue but HID's are supposed to be blue not yellow.

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formerly 98 prelude type SH

Currently 2001 Acura 3.2 TL With Navigation Black/Ebony

AKRY

Ok, so how "yellow-ish" does it has to be?? Any one has pic that shows a defect bulb??

Anyways, as for difference of "normal" HID and Litronic.... Litronic has shorter electro ARC than HID.... Porsche uses Litronic.... hope that answer some of your Q

Andy Kuo

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'92 Mercedes-Benz 400SE
Pearl Grey/Black

'02 Acura TL-S
Satin Silver/Ebony, w/out NAV

SL1200MK4

I am getting one of my headlight replaced due to a recent accident. I will see if there's any difference between the new & old. I think mine is okay at this point..

F=ma

Archive this bad boy

TommyBoiSxty9

One of the brightest HID's and most whitish/bluish/purplish cast is on the newer Jimmys (not the latest Envoy redesign) but they put HID's in them i think like 01's they have like and oval shape where the low beam comes out those MO fos are BRIGHT

Gomez

You guys are just silly. Why not just get Aqua Capsules?

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'01 White Diamond Pearl 3.2TL
-Wing, tint, wood and Whistler

SL1200MK4

Actually I think our TL headlights are way too bright sometimes, same goes to some Bimmers. Yes, maybe we can see better with the HID, but what about other people in front of you or coming from the opposite direction? Just a thought...

cat66fish

Trying to find out how to get to my low beam on the passengers side. I have a 2001 TL. I need to replace it.

Can you advise?

NYZGREATST

did u have to pay for all those parts?! might as well just sum phillips 6000K for a more bluer light

@cUr@-TL

you cant really compare german car's HIDs with ours... cuz most of them have projector-type lights... opposed to our reflector system. If they also had reflector headlights they color would probably be the same...

Bxscig

Not to mention 3 years old but the manual should explain it. If not, then you need to get a t-20 torx security bit to take the screw off of the cap hiding the bulb. There is a little clip that holds the bulb in that you push down and out a little to release.

JMAL

dammit, i just noticed that my pass one is less blue then my driver side :angryfire

RelentlessOne

Just recently I noticed the same problem on mine (2000 TL). It's sort of a pinkish color, which from what I've read, means it's going. Plan to upgrade to Phillips 6000k.

cat66fish

I can't even get to the back of the bulb. What do I have to take off to get to it?

Luke7

my 99 TL's are fine also, original bulbs 7 yrs. and 3 months old

xanctus

My passenger side is turning into pink...:@
TL has 9006 D2R type of bulb right??

aaronnn

wow old thraed.

the TL uses reflector type headlights so its just D2R's.

i retrofitted projectors on mine and definitly gives a wide variety of different colors. the cutoff beam shows a rainbow effect when car bounces around on road so it looks alot nicer than a reflector would. a reflector shows one solid color.

even my OEM HID bulb has a nice effect when lit up behind projectors. but now im running 6000K's behind them so it has a purple-blue-white effect when looked in different angles

aaronnn

ohyeah, on my avatar, it has a white-ish purple hue. its becaus ei have projectors instead of ugly huge diffusers 99-01 TL's came with

kuzdu

I got 8500k in mine.....there blue as hell

but my original bulbs did look yellowish a little

03CoupeV6

Hey this thread is almost that old.

Actually it's nearly 5 years old, but same difference.

CJITTY

Same thing for me. As I pulled up to park, I noticed one side was not as "blue" looking. I got about 3 years on these bulbs, so I am going with Phillips 6000K bulbs or something similar that is reliable.

zpedrick

As far as the color of the lights goes, it doesn't matter if you have reflector or projector type headlamp housings (unless your projector lens is tinted). It all depends on the color temp (kelvins) of the bulb. The lower the k rating, the more lumens. So while 3500k is yellow, it actually has the brightest light. The next up color temp would be around 5000k and that's pure white. 6000k has a slight blue tint but is still more on the white side. 8000k is what you're talking about when you refer to the Lexus H.I.D.'s, they're more blue. After that you have 10000k which very deep blue, and 12000k which is purple. Anything above 8000k and you're noticibly losing lighting power. They might LOOK brighter, but it's just the color of the light playing tricks on your eyes. I have seen bulbs which claim to have a k rating of 30000k. They look awesome, very deep purple, but I can't imagine actually driving with them for too long.

fla-tls

Please - just let this 5 year old thread die!