Headlight Issues. Help!

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Old 10-29-2015, 10:46 PM
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Headlight Issues. Help!

Hello, I'm new here. I've just recently purchased a 2008 Acura TL. I noticed the right headlight was out. And they driver side headlight is on but very dim. If I turn off the fog lights, you can barely tell that the driver headlight is even on. How do I go about checking the igniter, I've done research. Is the igniter and ballast separate. The used car dealer said they will replace the entire light assembly. Do you all think that would fix it?! Any info is useful. Thank you.
Old 10-29-2015, 10:56 PM
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The light assemblies wouldn't include ballasts.

I'd read up in removing your front bumper, you'll be going down that road soon.
Old 10-29-2015, 11:16 PM
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if it turn on then the igniter is good, however the ballast is more like a main cause for this problem. You have to remove the front bumper then took the headlight out, OEM ballast locate under the headlight assembly.
Old 10-29-2015, 11:18 PM
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Do the high-beams work fine? The bulbs are dual HID / bi-xenon. If high beams work, I'd rule out the ballast and replace the bulbs.

Read up, enjoy, you're welcome.

From a 2004-2006 service manual, similar, but not identical.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf
Front Bumper & Headlights.pdf (1.14 MB, 180 views)
Old 10-30-2015, 06:39 AM
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Originally Posted by truonghthe
if it turn on then the igniter is good, however the ballast is more like a main cause for this problem. You have to remove the front bumper then took the headlight out, OEM ballast locate under the headlight assembly.
Ok I'll let you all know how it goes
Old 10-30-2015, 06:43 AM
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Originally Posted by MonkeyTrucker
Do the high-beams work fine? The bulbs are dual HID / bi-xenon. If high beams work, I'd rule out the ballast and replace the bulbs.

Read up, enjoy, you're welcome.

From a 2004-2006 service manual, similar, but not identical.
No the high beams do not work on either side. The driver side light that's dim just does one flick on high beam but it's no brighter. The right side is still nothing. No light on bright or low beam.
Old 10-30-2015, 08:31 AM
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Originally Posted by MonkeyTrucker
Do the high-beams work fine? The bulbs are dual HID / bi-xenon. If high beams work, I'd rule out the ballast and replace the bulbs.
What? No, that's not good troubleshooting.
The headlights on the Acura TL use the same D2S bulb for low and high beam. When you activate high beams, you only move a shield out of the way of the bulb using a solenoid in the headlight. The bulb is a single filament, which you can clearly see upon inspection of the bulb itself.

D2S



H4 (dual filament)
Old 10-30-2015, 09:02 AM
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Are the ballasts located inside the headlights? In that case there's no problem if you replace the entire assembly. If the ballasts are outside headlights then you can test by switching out ballasts / igniter from either side and see if the problem follows the ballasts, igniter or headlights.
Old 10-30-2015, 09:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Comfy
Are the ballasts located inside the headlights? In that case there's no problem if you replace the entire assembly. If the ballasts are outside headlights then you can test by switching out ballasts / igniter from either side and see if the problem follows the ballasts, igniter or headlights.
Ok good that makes sense
Old 10-30-2015, 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Comfy
Are the ballasts located inside the headlights? In that case there's no problem if you replace the entire assembly. If the ballasts are outside headlights then you can test by switching out ballasts / igniter from either side and see if the problem follows the ballasts, igniter or headlights.
The ballasts are located under the headlights. As MonkeyTrucker said, I'd read up on how to remove your bumper.
Old 10-30-2015, 07:53 PM
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it will be a great help if you can snap a night with headlight on pic and upload it to here. one low and one on high beam so we can see what are we dealing with here.
Old 10-30-2015, 10:16 PM
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Low beam

Originally Posted by truonghthe
it will be a great help if you can snap a night with headlight on pic and upload it to here. one low and one on high beam so we can see what are we dealing with here.





This is a picture of the lights on the low beam setting.
Old 10-30-2015, 10:30 PM
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High beams

Originally Posted by polobunny
The ballasts are located under the headlights. As MonkeyTrucker said, I'd read up on how to remove your bumper.

Old 10-31-2015, 10:03 AM
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your parking light bulb is out, you'll want to replace that too.

as stated, most likely a bad ballast.
remove the front bumper to get to it.
Old 10-31-2015, 10:39 AM
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OP

Tell the dealer to replace the igniter and the ballast instead of the HL assy.

Then use the new parts to diagnose the rt side hid.
Old 10-31-2015, 01:19 PM
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its the ballast, but to be safe get a new igniter too. Reason why you said driver beam is dim because normally the car design to run on both beam create a wide beam pattern and bright in the middle. Your driver side is fine, but on the passenger you will need to replace the ballast and ignitor. BTW who's cost is this gona fall under? if dealer will cover the cost get new parts. If you are paying then DIY with used part for cheaper.
Old 10-31-2015, 01:33 PM
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Headlight repair cost

Originally Posted by truonghthe
its the ballast, but to be safe get a new igniter too. Reason why you said driver beam is dim because normally the car design to run on both beam create a wide beam pattern and bright in the middle. Your driver side is fine, but on the passenger you will need to replace the ballast and ignitor. BTW who's cost is this gona fall under? if dealer will cover the cost get new parts. If you are paying then DIY with used part for cheaper.
Hey thanks for your response. And the dealer agreed to cover all cost for headlight repairs. I had them put it in writing, on a paper with the dealer heading.
Old 11-01-2015, 02:27 PM
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good, now let they replace the entire headlight unit as they insisted.
Old 11-06-2015, 07:02 AM
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Update

Sup guys well the dealer finally replace the headlights and park light bulbs. I just want to thank everyone for their
Old 11-06-2015, 07:04 AM
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[QUOTE=SouljaTL;15604065]Sup guys well the dealer finally replace the headlights and park light bulbs. I just want to thank everyone for their replies.





Fixed. Right side still looks dim.
Old 11-06-2015, 07:19 AM
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You know you have 04-06 TL headlights?
Old 11-06-2015, 07:47 AM
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^Good eye Thanh!
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Old 11-06-2015, 04:20 PM
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yeah saw that too.
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