My headlight turned pink

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Old 10-29-2012, 09:20 AM
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My headlight turned pink

I was just driving along this morning, and as I backed into a spot, my headlight shined on a white car the next row over and turned it pink!

Anyone else experience this? Should I go ahead and replace, or do you think it may come back to its full white potential? This was the first time it happened, and of course i tried turning them on and off.

It was the coldest it has been in awhile this morning, so maybe that has something to do with it...


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Blooze (11-08-2012)
Old 10-29-2012, 09:30 AM
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I think its your bulb not the ballast. You should replace them at a pair. Ive havent had to do that yet, and the service manual states you have to remove the bumper to replace the bulbs... i hope theres another way..
Old 10-29-2012, 09:37 AM
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Yeah I'd just get a pair of 5000k bulbs and replace both. It is a bitch to install them though
Old 10-29-2012, 09:42 AM
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Originally Posted by djdonte
I think its your bulb not the ballast. You should replace them at a pair. Ive havent had to do that yet, and the service manual states you have to remove the bumper to replace the bulbs... i hope theres another way..
Thats what im thinking. There is a way to go through the fender wall on the front of the tire that i have fooled with once, but it is also a PITA.

Originally Posted by Turbocoop
Yeah I'd just get a pair of 5000k bulbs and replace both. It is a bitch to install them though
Yep. Some nice phillips will probably be on their way soon. Im gonna give it a couple days just to make sure since I dont plan on doing any night driving real soon, and if so, ill just turn on the fogs too.
Old 10-29-2012, 10:08 AM
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Yeah had the same thing on my TL

Ordered OSR-CBI-D2S OSRAM Cool Blue Intense Xenarc D2S 5K from motivemods.com

So easy to replace them from the inner tire fender
I have some pics in my build thread
Old 11-07-2012, 09:28 PM
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Same thing happened to my 07 MDX, two days later it burned out. Sucked installing the new bulbs, basically had the whole front end apart. hope the TL is easier...
Old 11-07-2012, 10:20 PM
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I was just driving along this morning, and as I backed into a spot, my headlight shined on a white car the next row over and turned it pink!
Bulb needs to change. Just change both D2S bulbs at the same time. No need to change ballast
Old 11-08-2012, 01:41 AM
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I think IHC told me a while ago when I had a similar question on these HID bulbs symptoms when they are to go out.

I think it was him or another user. Anyways when they color shift to pink, they are on their way out. So far mine are still white but no longer/barely have the hint of blue hue anymore, so they will probably shift pink eventually.

Just replace them at the same time.
Old 11-08-2012, 09:19 AM
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Anytime HID turns pink, that is a warning sign that it is going to go out soon. I see so many cars here driving around with one pink light....

As others have stated replace them in pairs. Nothing wrong with ballast/ignitor/whatever.

Easiest access is through the fender on the passenger side, driver side you can do it from the top. Hope you have tiny hands! and wear latex/non latex (for those allergic to latex) gloves to avoid oil getting onto the bulbs!
Old 11-08-2012, 09:24 AM
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Are those stock bulbs?
Old 11-08-2012, 10:43 AM
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Most likely. I've seen several 2G TLs with pink lights too. Seems that's just what they do when they get old. Pretty impressive to get 6-7 years use out of them.
Old 11-08-2012, 10:50 AM
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True I see many 2G with pinkish bulb color.
Mine was pink and turned to purple + brightness got lower later on but didn't go off.
I had them like that for 2 weeks too I guess.

Other than my car, I only saw one stock 3G with one pink eye.
Mostly 2G

So don't know if they go off after 2 weeks or not
Old 11-08-2012, 03:10 PM
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I have heard that the "turning pink" was the indicator that you would need to replace the bulbs. I always wondered "How Pink?" ... How noticeable it would be. Thanks for posting the pictures along with your inquiry.
Old 11-08-2012, 04:18 PM
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If the bulbs pink, replace the pair. They will probably continue to work for quite some time afterwards, but the striking voltage continues to rise as they wear until the ignitor is incapable of striking the bulb.

It's usually not a bad idea to replace both the bulbs after a few years before they start really shifting colors. The light output decreases over the life of the bulb. It really depends on how much you use your headlights, but somewhere between every 1-5 years is about right.

I see 2G TL's all the time with pink headlights. The bulbs are likely stock.
Old 11-09-2012, 10:44 PM
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When mine went out it turned a dark pink, almost purple and it did it instantly. If you're having to guess if yours is going out, it's probably not.

No need to replace these bulbs before they go pink. Light output falls off very slightly but they're still bright as hell all the way to the end. I was in a huge hurry, trying to get out of town when mine died. I did the job as quickly as I could, replacing just one. This was when the car was about 5 years old with 100,000 miles on it. I have my headlights on all the time so they have a ton of hours on them. The other OEM bulb is still working fine after 7 years. There's a very slight color difference but you have to really try to see the difference. I meant to go back and replace the other one but I'm too lazy.
Old 04-26-2013, 07:10 PM
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This is why I love this forum! My driver's side lamp just turned pink. So glad it's an easy(ish) to replace lamp and not the whole ballast. The budget is tight so that was a major relief. I'm fairly certain these are original lamps, so almost 10 years is damn impressive! I'll have to ask the previous owner (my brother) if he ever replaced them.
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