So this may be a long story but here goes..

My left HID (lo) started flickering on Tuesday. It would go on and off while driving and more obviously when go over any holes on the road. The right was fine.. so next morning, i pop open the hood but didn't noticed anything major. Fuse ok, and I really didn't have the time or space to take off the bumper. It's freakin cold outside so I decide to pay thr 112/hr labor to have it diagnosed, thinking it would either be a loose connection or worse case, a ballast.

I take it to acura, and after a and hr and half, they tell me it is the bulb. This seems odd to me being it didn't become faint and obviously didn't burn out, they tell me because it's an aftermarket bulb (i bought the vehicle used, so I guess possible).. so whatever, they quote me $300 something and I figured 1hr labor, I have no time, just get it done. 1/2 hr later they go back up to me again and say they are reviewing with their manager, probably not the bulb but the ignitor and invertor. I question why and the supervisor goes on about 25V being converted into 25,000V (i have a degree in engineering science and a licensed adjuster/appraiser, I already know).. I inquire why both would have to be replaced, I could understand the ballast but why the ignitor if it does light the bulb.. he goes on about how they recommend both being repaired and there would be a difference in voltage.. I'm getting annoyed, so I put the figures in the my head and tell myself they are still charging me 1hr of labor, I can take this somewhere else, I don't have the time, can't drive around at night.. just get it done.. for about $600 something. They give me a loaner as it was pushing 5pm.

Next day I get a voicemail at 8am, stating that the bulb too will not work. Ok, I am a little pissed off now, because I do not see how all three would not work. I talk again the supervisor and he tells me that the bulb would burn out in a week. So I question how is that possible, changing the ignitor and invertor to the exact same part (both oem) and somehow the bulb will burn out now but hasn't burnt out for 50,000 miles before. Doesn't make sense to me.. he goes on again about 25V to 25,000V and tell him he doesn't understand my point. He goes silent.. then tells me it is recommended to replace all three. At this point I have no time to take off from work and drive around at night without a headlight so I tell to just do it and save all the parts for me so I can test them out myself... $890 later..

I have the parts now and will test them out, but this doesn't make sense to me at all. Anybody with any comments? Sorry for the long post but I needed to vent.

 

They diagnosed it incorrectly, twice from what im reading, and were covering themselves. Flickering hids could be any combination of bulbs, igniters or inverters (ballast). Bulbs are fairly easy to test, provided you have a known good one. ( acura dealers were sent a test HID bulb in an enclosure with a pigtail on it) Inverters and igniters are a little more of a pain, only because if you dont have a known good one to test with, you have to swap them one by one with the working light on the other side.

My bet is that 2 of the 3 components you have in your hand are fine.

 

That is what I figured.. I just think the ballast is bad. Luckily my dad is a technician so he will have them checked out for me. Thanks for the input.. if it turns out only one is bad, there will be a lot of complaining.