looks like one of my lowbeams went out. is there any safety feature that turns on the highbeams but not full strength? they kinda look like day time running lights, then when you turn the highbeams on the go full brightness.

just trying to figure this out i looked through the manual and i can't find any thing about this feature.


any one have this happen whats up?

im kinda pissed cause i just picked the car up from the dealer and now this happens.

 

an american TL doesnt have DRL, maybe a relay is bad
What happened with the headlight lo beam- one side is out? or both suddenly?
WHY was the car at the dealer- its possible something was not hooked back up correctly, or that some wierdness chose now to happen- like the headlight switch assembly wearing out.
Need more input from you at this point

 

it was in for an oil change and had to get an axle seal replaced since it was leaking.

i highly doubt that they had to go through and disconnect it some where.

i thought maybe it was a safety type thing that if one low beam bulb burned out that the half powered highbeams keep at 2 lights lit in the housings.

tomorrow when i have some time im gonna see what i can find with fuses, and switching bulbs and what not.

 

Is the high beam actually on (the inner light) or is the outer low beam on but just dim. There is nothing on the car or in the system that would do what you claim.

 

nope it def the highbeams, its weird i know i have never heard of this before so thats why i am dumb founded.

acura just called and said that they did nothing to screw it up so they want me to take it back on monday.

i will take some pics when i get off work.

 

you said half power high beams; are you driving in the metric system too? Is this a Canadian TL, or American.

If american, it sounds as though somebody installed aftermarket DRL relays. If this is the case, they may work off current load and since both HLs aren't running they think you don't have your lights on and therefore are remaining illuminated.

 

The dealer will be happy to look at it for $125 an hour!
You dont even want to know what they charge for bulbs~
testing at home:
First thing is to pull up close but not touching a wall and turn on the headlights-
does 1 or both low beams come on bright white- or is one pinkish or flickers?
Do they stay the same after a few minutes?
try the hi beams - the lows should stay on at all times- the highs are just a small addittion of light on demand
the high beam bulbs are traditional headlight bulbs and have a small precentage of the HID low beams output- they would look like on partway in comparison!!
Is the headlight-turn signal arm loose or funky in any way- those are just parts and fail too

 

i just swapped my oem hid bulbs back in and same deal.

its def an american car i have owned the car for almost 5 years and this is the first time any thing has ever happened like this


the highbeams def come on with the regular low beams, yes it is the highbeams and not the lowbeams but dim.

posting pictures in a minute.

i still have bumper to bumper warentee till july so its gonna go back on monday.

 

low beams:






high beams:






i know its hard to see the hid lowbeam lights but the driver side is the one that is acting burnt out.

when it gets darker out i will take better pics.
you guys probably think im crazy but this is what im seeing and its bugging the hell out of me not knowing what happened, if a ballast went there is no reason it should be linked to the highbeams. there should be no connection between the 2.

tomorrow i am gonna take off my hid fogs and make sure it is not affecting the system but i highly doubt that.

 

ok= lets get the full truth out here now-
WHAT bulbs did you install in the low beams?
Were rubber gloves worn?
WHAT is the story of the hi beam bulbs- stock or???
Did you install a kit on your own and NOW there are problems?

We cant help with half the info

 

the highbeams are oem i never touched them.

the other hid bulbs i had were 6k bulbs, been installed for 4 years zero problems

i had a hid fog light kit installed for more than 4 years with zero problems.

like i said all this stuff was installed long time ago and was working perfectly.

then the other day driving home from the dealer i noticed my headlight out while at a stop light (reflection in the car infront of me) and my highbeams were on. fog lights won't work now either but that is because of the highbeams being on.

 

Check your grounds

 

well it was the fuse under the hood.

but swapping in a new fuse it worked for a second then shut off and the highbeams went back on.

i disconnected the lead on the headlight where the ballast connects and it still blew a fuse so its not the bulbs or the headlight shorting so it has to be either the ballast or the wires going toward the ballast. i doubt the ballast is shot cause it lit up the bulb nice and bright for a second before blowing the fuse.

any ideas?

didn't see your post where would the grounds be for the ballast?

 

help?

any more input where i should be checking?

 

just start looking anywhere the dealer was to start! anything they could have touched
Next look at any metal surface for a wire going to it- with a slightly loose connector, or the wire loose inside the connector. Battery terminals and wires look good?
The fuse blows again because a wire has a short-
Might even be an actual engine to frame ground loose
Hows the moisture in the headlight housing? Any of that?
If so- that moisture leaks down and gets onto the ballast.

 

I put money on the switch. Explains it all.

Need a new turn signal light selector switch (that is my own name).

 

# 10 is what you need. lighting assy. Combination switch. $30

http://www.acuraoemparts.com/delray/...All&vinsrch=no

 

Just to be sure, that is an affirmative on the NO DRL modules on highbeams, right?

 

correct its a us model car never had DLR.

but why would the switch only blow one sides fuse and not the other???

it goes back on tuesday so we will see what they come up with. they replaced an axle seal so i don't think any of the headlight wires run that low so i couldn't imagine that they hit something or had to disconnect any thing to do tat work.

 

Don't know man, good ? may be that the HIDs need a dedicated power line where the highs can use one.? I will look at a diagram. You haven't done any wiring that would affect this in some way? no little sneaky mods to flash your lights w/alarm, nothing like that? What fuses did you check? did you check the under hood fuses?

Other ?s that point to the switch are how in the WORLD would your high beams get involved? Why did it work fine until it blew the fuse again, and then highs came back.

There is a chance that you have a short in two wires (high beam to low) due to chafing but not usual unless you have messed with the wiring. The harness are usually pretty tight.

 

the axle seal was replaced!!!!!!!
wanna bet there is a ground wire down, maybe got taken off to be cleaned of oil?
then not reattached?
I have run across this sort of thing before- a tech will forget the put a ground wire back on the trans bolt or something like that. Acura has got to have a wierd ground system~
Got ramps? get under it and look

 

i will see i havn't touched the wiring in this car one bit.


i will try to see where they would have worked for a disconnected ground or something.

 

One ballast is bad and blows the fuse. Due to the nature of the wiring the opposing side drops voltage and becomes dim. I have seen this 100 times. The side that has the blown fuse is your culprit.

 

would a bad ballast light the bulb up nice and bright for a second then blow the fuse?

cause i tried a few times with extra fuses and it would light up for a second then blow the fuse.


also the other hid beam does not change in intensity, the highbeams change in intensity and they shouldn't be on when the lowbeams are on.

 

Yes. THe ballast can blow fuses for any number of reasons. Usually its moisture contaminated. Once the fuse blows it backfeeds through the opposite side making the other headlight act funny. You can see this in action by turning your headligts on and then pulling one of the fuses. Watch the other side. Which side are you having the issue with? And is it only the low beams or both high and low?

 

Yes. THe ballast can blow fuses for any number of reasons. Usually its moisture contaminated. Once the fuse blows it backfeeds through the opposite side making the other headlight act funny. You can see this in action by turning your headligts on and then pulling one of the fuses. Watch the other side. Which side are you having the issue with? And is it only the low beams or both high and low?

 

Well, possibly, but while I have been using the right side wiring to modify some projectors, I have simply unplugged one ballast (left) to not waste my batt more than necessary, and as is stated above by OP, it is NOT the headlights acting funny, but the high beams. When I unplug one, there is definitely not any high beams energizing.

Demo, to take the troubleshooting further before haphazardly throwing parts at it, swap the ballasts out Lt to Rt. If the problem follows the ballast there you have it. If not, well then . . .

 

Well im not messing with the ballast right now i will let acura see what the problem is. Its going back to them tomorrow so we will see whats up.

 

They will find the ground that they unplugged/disconnected, like Tom said lol and not charge you!

 

well i switched the ballast and same deal.

no idea where the grounds are and it just started raining so i am not dealing with it any more.

will have answers tomorrow afternoon.

 

Shops (techs) do weird things sometimes. Maybe you'll get lucky. I still have the combo switch lingering in my mind, though.

 

sweet... acura is done with the car.

since i have an aftermarket head unit they are saying its my fault.

looks like i have some wire tracking to do. also i didn't know that the interior lights and visor lights do not work either.

awesome

 

you havnt touched any wiring-- but you have an aftermarket head unit?
who did that? they left some important things undone!!!

 

the headunit has been installed for a few years. it was plug and play. nothing was touched on the harness or any thing.

 

well acura was pain in the ass.

took them 2 hours to get no where.


my father and i looked at it for about an hour or so and got every thing to work except the dash lights and the vanity lights. all fingers are pointing to the headlight switch. with out the fuse for the vanity lights (small light fuse in the dash 15amp) every thing else works fine, headlights are fine highbeams are fine.

im betting money on the headlight switch. thanks for the help toay was the first time i actually had the weather and time to look at it.

 

If they sell just the headlight part of it- your lucky
On other cars I had to replace the entire switch assembly with all the arms on it

bibledriver is a good diagnoser- he said the switch how long ago??

 

yea tell me about it. well its not over with yet. still doesn't explain why the lights acted the way they did a few days ago.


the switch would have to be really screwed up and be finicky.

i hope its the switch

 

me too, lol.

 

I had a nissan switch go out, $100, and 1 year +1 day later, the 1 day putting it past warranty, it went out again!!!
and they wouldnt even cut me a deal on another replacement!!!
sorry- out of warranty!

Makes me appreciate acuras generous nature on the trans!

 

Another forum member had the same problem.

One of his low beams died on him and the half-powered high beams came on. We checked it out thoroughly. No DRL relay was installed and when the high beams were on, they were on full power. But when we turned the high beams off, the high beam bulbs were still on, albeit half-power.

We could only conclude that it was a safety feature. However, mine didn't do that when the driver side ballast went out. And our cars are both '03 models. It's weird. The only difference is that mine is a Type-S and his is a Premium.