Hey everyone,

Searched, found results, but not satisfied with the results as they all spoke about getting kits, and I'm not interested in conversion kits to be honest.

So I have an 08 Acura TL Base, and recently my passenger HID has been flickering on and off. It would light up fine when I turn the car on for about 10 minutes and then start flickering until it finally shuts off.

Also, whenever I hit a heavy bump, pothole, or something, it flickers off too.

I brought the car to my mechanic, and he said that it could be the ballast, and if it was the bulb, the bulb wouldn't bother lighting. However, when I was looking around the forums, I saw that some people said it could be the ignitor.

(and both parts are pretty $$$ so I don't want to kill my wallet by spending money to fix a perfectly good part)

I just wanted you guys' take on this -- could it be the ballast or ignitor?

Oh, also, back in early January or so, I had slid into a pole which completely wrecked my passenger headlight, so it's a brand new OEM headlight assembly, but my body shop said it's the old ballast and bulb. Just thought you would need to know that!

Thanks everyone in advance, and sorry if this was repetitive, I just hate driving with a flickering light at night, and drivers think I'm being annoying.

 

Most likely it's the ballast or ignitor.

Could probably head to local junkyard and I bet you'll see a TL there. Just pull the headlight housing from it

Another way to tell is if you switch the bulbs to make sure. However switching the bulbs can be a pain too

 

Switch the parts one by one (bulb, ignitor, and then ballast) from the driver's side to the passengers to test then. If it's bulbs, buy a pair and replace both. I recommend XB35 from The Retrofit Source Inc if you don't want to shell out for something more expensive like OEM Osram's. acurazine for 15% off!

 

Did you ever find out what it is?? we just bought a Acura and its doing the same thing. and our mechanic thinks its the voltage regulator. Ugh i wish i had looked into this stuff before agreeing to buying it.

 

Read thoiboi message just above yours. Without any troubleshooting from your part nobody can outright guess with certainty.


Also no offense, but if a flickering headlight seems like a repair that's too expensive for you, it might be worthy to rethink your decision to buy an entry-level luxury sedan.

 

Or a car in general


Also, you bought a used car without doing a Pre-purchase Inspection?!

 

I ended up buying a ballast for the light.

Honestly, this is just a small repair, and many cars go through this same one. I have to say my TL is insanely reliable, and I have very little complaints about it! Maintenance just comes with owning the car, and the TL, just like any other car is susceptible to repairs, however, the TL is a very reliable car in general!

But all in all, my mechanic said to get a new ballast, he was "sure" it was that since the bulb is still firing up.

 

Thanks, yea i talked to my mechanic myself and he as well said ballast.

 

Actually, My Husband Bought the car without doing a Pre-Purchase inspection. cant trust a man to do a woman's job can you?

 

did i say it seemed to expensive? I fork money over for our jeep all the time money is not an issue.

But maybe we should tell that to the previous owner that couldnt even figure out how to put the fog light back in right so they attached it with Duck Tape.

 

I wrongly assumed your "Ugh, we should have looked into this" was like most people finding it expensive to run a entry-level luxury car (hey, the previous owner duct tape proves my point). My bad.

 

No worries.