Strange headlight problem.

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Old 11-10-2008 | 10:15 PM
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sbuswell's Avatar
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From: Springvale, Maine
Strange headlight problem.

About 2 weeks ago my passenger side headlight started going out intermittenly. When it went ou I'd flick the lights off and then back on and it would immediately come back on and then eventually after a little while would turn off again. Today when driving home from work at 6pm (dark out) both headlights went out. I flicked them off and on twice and they finally came back on. A few minutes later my passenger side light went out again, but the driverside remained on for 25mins or so until I got home. I checked the wiring and everything seems fine. Could this be a ballast or ignitor issue? If so where are they located and what should I look for as a possible culprit?
Old 11-10-2008 | 10:44 PM
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AMGala's Avatar
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Sounds like an igniter to me. My igniter caused my bulb to flash like that.
Old 11-11-2008 | 09:13 PM
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sbuswell's Avatar
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I need 2 more gears
 
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From: Springvale, Maine
how do you diagnose a bad ignitor? Are they repairable or would they be in need of replacement? I assume there are two, one for each headlight?
Old 11-11-2008 | 10:04 PM
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AMGala's Avatar
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swap ignitors and see if it does it to the other side. I don't know about repairable, I just replaced mine. There is one for each light. Its the wire that connects the bulb to the ballast.
Old 11-13-2008 | 12:02 PM
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sbuswell,
Use this DIY: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ight=light+diy
Swap igniters using that DIY and find out if it's that or the bulbs or ballast.
I have an igniter for a 2002-2003 TL for sale in the black market if you need one.
Old 11-13-2008 | 12:21 PM
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nguyen's Avatar
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its the ballast had the same issue bought a new one from ebay problem went away
Old 11-16-2008 | 04:53 PM
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or it could be something up with your wiring, I had to redo my hid to get it fixed, nothing was wrong with the ballasts
Old 11-18-2008 | 03:50 PM
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did you do anything to your fog light switch - foglight mod?

it might be a ground issue somewhere if its not the ignitors
Old 11-18-2008 | 09:42 PM
  #9  
sbuswell's Avatar
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I'll try swapping ignitors this weekend and see if that's the culprit. Thanks for DIY link!
Old 11-23-2008 | 04:45 PM
  #10  
sbuswell's Avatar
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From: Springvale, Maine
Since I lasted I've uncovered another problem. Now my drivers side light is going out intermittenly. I feel it to be a strange coincidence that both my headlights have bad ignitors or ballasts in this short a time frame. Would you guys think this could be a relay, ground or wiring problem? I want to go the cheap wa7y and work my way up if at all possible.
Old 11-23-2008 | 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by ice2fire11
did you do anything to your fog light switch - foglight mod?

it might be a ground issue somewhere if its not the ignitors
X2

If you do not have access to a multi meter or know how to use one. My guess would to sub the power connections if possible
Old 11-23-2008 | 06:37 PM
  #12  
sbuswell's Avatar
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From: Springvale, Maine
I checked the fuses and swapped a relay and that did nothing. The grounds look fine and the wiring looks fine, but not 100% sure. It's hard to tell if wiring is bad unless it's blatantly frayed, which mine is not. Again it's both headlights doing the same thing. Any other suggestions aside from replacing the ignitors or ballasts? Alternator overloading maybe?
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