Hey all-

Had a unique problem come up in a 2001 HID system. Had one of my guys bring one in where the headlights would go off under hard braking, then come back on, and then only sometimes. No pinkish color change to the bulbs. Headlights would go off randomly and come back on with a restart. Swapped out the ballasts and ignitors for new OEM ones. Then swapped them out again for another set of OEM. Problem would randomly come up, and then only a day later, or a week later. I figured it was a wire shorting it out, or a grounding issue.

Checked fuses and relays, ran the lines for a short and... nothing. Bulbs would go out. Tried the bulbs on a bench system and they ignite fine. Finally decided to just put in a new set of bulbs, and bingo. Stabilized the system.

I have probably sold or handled a thousand HID parts in my life. I've never seen an HID system with a bulb failure without the classic normal signs... i.e. brightness, color shift. Just consider this as an option, even though the bulb is not going thru its normal death cycle. Hopefully it'll save someone else some time.

 

most of gen2 is ready for bulbs,,2500 hours use is acuras estimate of life

I suggest them as main source of most light problems
UNLESS
you have mositure inside the headlight lens--then you have a multiple problem