Headlight Problem-Someone please help!
 

I have an 04 TL. After getting in a wreck and damaging my front left side they had to replace my left headlight (obviously). To make a long story short once I got my car back I immediately noticed not only was the left light 2X as bright as the the right but it also appeared whiter compared to my right which appeared blue. So I took it back to the repair company and he said apparently who ever owned the car before me had aftermarket bulbs in so he replaced the right side with the same bulb he used for the new headlight. This is my second TL and they both had blue tinted lights to begin with so I'm not sure if he was pulling my leg or what. Then he tells me to fix my brightness problem I would have to buy an ignitor (sp) for the right side. Anyways, after talking to my insurance company then to an actual Acura dealership I keep getting different suggestions on what to do. Of course, I'm sure they are all telling me what would be best for their business purposes but I hope someone on here can give me an honest opinion. While driving around at night I've experienced everything from people flagging me down telling me something is wrong with my headlights to police telling me "one" of my brights is on. I'm going to the dealership in the morning to have the power steering recall and the windshield motor recall done and I would like to be able to act like I know what the problem is. Someone please help me! :whyme:

Something else that may help is I noticed while looking at my headlights the old one (right side) says Honda on it with some other numbers and the left one does not say Honda on it but has the same numbers.

it sounds like you have two different bulbs, but it also sounds like you already knew that. I would ask the dealership to replace both bulbs with new oem bulbs that way you know they are the same.

Another suggestion, maybe one of your headlights is not angled right. Have you tried pulling up to a wall to see if they line up?

these threads may help you
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...eadlight+bulbs
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...eadlight+bulbs
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...eadlight+bulbs

Thanks. When I go to the dealership in the morning I will have them replace both and see if that helps. Maybe the repair company lied and really only replaced one. It wouldn't surprise me.

Yeah, I tried the angling suggestion and they seem to both hit the same spot.

Thanks for the advice!

no prob, if they seem to line up and you do not want to replace them yourself I'd say get the dealer to do it. Before you leave make sure you check them. Oh and btw, DO NOT let them wash your car! imo they do not do the best job...

sorry, I forgot to welcome you to Azine. WELCOME!

LoL. Okay. I'll make sure they don't wash it.

Thanks for the welcome =] My boyfriend has a Mercury Marauder and he's foreverrr on their site and can found out just about everything he needs to know and quick at that! So... I figured I would find me an Acura site and do the same =]

well you came to the right site! :thumbsup:

If it was an ignitor or ballast issue, it wouldn't generally have to do with brightness. I've never seen one fail and only supply partial voltage. They are generally on or off or they flicker with a bad connection, but if they fail, you'll notice no light.

First of all welcome to AZ :thumbsup: Good to see another Jax member in here. Seems I've read somewhere in here that over time the bulbs change color. Perhaps your just comparing the blueish color of the older bulb with the brightness (whiter) of the new bulb. If you going to Acura of OP, they have treated me right and have had some good mechanics working my old TSX and my new TL-S. Good luck with it. Hope to see ya around :thumbsup:

Well, you've found the best Acura site in the world. Some very knowledgable people in here. :thumbsup:

welcome to azine :thumbsup: we have tons of info, and if you don't see it feel free to ask :thumbsup:

regarding the bulbs, HID bulbs colorshift after about 100 hours of use. They turn bluer and the light output diminishes a little bit. A new bulb will not have colorshifted and will be brighter, but yellower. HID's are ALWAYS recommenced to be replaced in pairs. Also the balast or ignitor have nothing to do with the brightness of the light really, all they do is help start it up.

Thank you all for your advice as well as welcoming me to the site =]
While I was at the dealership (Duval Acura @ Regency) Saturday I had them look at it and they said it appeared that the housing around the bulb is just getting old and since it’s four years old compared to my year old headlight it’s going to look different. The only way to fix it would be to replace the whole headlight. So I guess I may be out of luck.