HID headlights - Bad Inverter

Old 09-15-2008, 03:12 PM
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Question HID headlights - Bad Inverter

I'm new to this forum and have read several post about the HID headlight systems. My passenger side low beam is operating intermittently. I took it to the Dealer who informed me the inverter was bad and wanted $750 to fix. My question is this.. How hard are they to replace? Due to the high voltage, are there any precautions I need to take or be aware of if I decide to buy the part and attempt to replace myself?

Thanks
Old 09-15-2008, 10:26 PM
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did u try swapping the bulbs to make sure that its not just the bulbs or ignitor/ ballast
Old 09-15-2008, 11:19 PM
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sounds like a bad connection, but just to be safe, you culd try switching out the bulbs. i had the same problem on my 99 tl tho, light went on and off then finally just dies. ended up being a bad ballast/inverter.

search ebay or post a WTB ad in the black market for an inverter for your car and hopefully you'll find a used one for cheap. or new ones, i think they go for like $200+. to switch is real easy tho, search the forum for the DIY on taking off front bumper, and theres also one for switching ballast i think. just use common sense when switching it, dont have any water next to ya, etc.

i believe its best recommended to not have turned on your lights for at least a few hours. so maybe do it one morning like i did. good luck, and use the SEARCH button
Old 09-16-2008, 04:41 AM
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i have two ignitors for sale
Old 09-16-2008, 07:36 AM
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dont buy one from ebay. i just replaced mine this wekeend with one from an acura dealership. go to acuraoemparts.com. i payed lke 178$ for the part and it took me about 15 minutes to do. disconnect the neg on the battery so you dont get zapped. bumper drops down without much problem ( i did however have a tough time lining it back up going in, so give it a good study before you drop it) after that there is a few screws on the headlights to take out, very easy to see. and the ignitor is inside the headlight attached to the top of the ballast. unscrew the ballast and you can just pop off the ignitor. I suggest doing the swap test as suggested. first swap bulbs on both sides and see what you got, then ignitors. If it is not fixed you are left with trying the ballasts.
Old 09-16-2008, 08:00 AM
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Wink

The dealer told me it was the inverter. I have not tried the swapping yet but I will. Is the inverter the same as the ballist, is it the same as the ignitor, or is it a totally separate part. I know some part names are interchangable but since I'm new to HID systems I don't know all the technical terms and parts well enough to know the difference.

Thanks for everyone's patience
Old 09-16-2008, 08:47 AM
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inverter is same as ignitor. it plugs into the ballast with a little phone jack looking plug, righ ton top of ballast.

if you can pull out your bulb , the ignitor/inverter is the black wire that you take off the bulb, thats it. it plugs into the ballast on the underside of the lamp assambly
Old 09-21-2008, 07:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Rajca
i have two ignitors for sale
What price are you looking for them?
Old 09-21-2008, 08:06 PM
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$25 for one or $40 for both +shipping on both
Old 09-22-2008, 09:46 AM
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cl lowbeams

I'm glad that y'all are finding success doing it yourselves. the alternative to get my low beams working on a 2003 CL was close to $1900 for diagnosis of my headlights not working and the the bulbs that were alledgedly shorted by the inverters and the inverters that were $485 (x2) from the dealer and the bulbs were $140 (x2) from auto supply store
Old 09-22-2008, 10:33 AM
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OMG that's terrible
Old 09-22-2008, 11:06 AM
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Originally Posted by Rajca
$25 for one or $40 for both +shipping on both
I will take them for $40.
email me harrydsharma@yahoo.ca. We will work out the paying and shipping details.
I see you have a 2002 ,I take it these igniters are from this car or they will work on this car.
Old 09-28-2008, 01:01 PM
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Unhappy Bad Inverter?

I have a 2001 TL and just got my passenger side inverter replaced because my headlight kept going out. Now I am having issues with my battery draining. I noticed that every time that I start my car, it keeps getting slower and slower to start and 3 days later since my inverter was replaced, my car now won't start.

I got it jumped, went to Auto Zone who did a diagnostic check on it and the alternater and battery are fine so my question to all of you other TL'ers.....would the new inverter slowly drain my battery? Something they did is causing this because I NEVER had this problem before!

HELP!!
Old 09-28-2008, 02:34 PM
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an inverter wont drain the battery. u could have a light bulb that stays on (trunk, dome, something plugged in the cigarette lighter, door light) could be many different things.
Old 09-28-2008, 02:59 PM
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Thanks, Rajca! Could it be a coincidence that sense I got this work done to my car, the battery drains? I've done nothing different to my car. You can see that something is running since it arc's when you tap the battery. Anyone have suggestions?
Old 09-08-2009, 01:39 PM
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Anybody else have an inverter/igniter for a 2002 TL Type-S?

My dealer just told me that mine needs to be replaced. They want to charge me $550 for the part. That's just sick.

Thanks in advance!
Old 09-08-2009, 02:21 PM
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You should just get an aftermarket HID kit ($200-$300 +/-) and call it a day
Old 02-08-2016, 10:24 AM
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Hi,

I noticed that the passenger side low beam headlight is not working on my 2003 3.2 TL.
The dealer did diagnosis and told me to replace the igniter/inverter. He asked me around 800 bucks for this which is completely out of my budget and so couldnt get it done. Today, I noticed that the passenger side light came on all by itself. But when I stopped the car and turned it on it didn't come back. I am not a mechanic but any suggestions on how to get this done fixed would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Shashi
Old 02-08-2016, 10:37 AM
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Www.theretrofitsource.com for an aftermarket kit for 150 bucks. Get the matusuhita female to 9006 male adapter for 20.


Tel the dealer to go eff themselves.
Old 03-03-2016, 11:30 AM
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if you are on a tight budget look at HIDeXtra | HID, LED, Xenon Vehicle Headlight Kits & Bulbs
get the hid `kit`- comes with 2 new ballast, ignitor/invertors and 2 new bulbs, under 70 dollars! with 12 month warranty

You can diy this with the help of several threads we have on here
Because we have HID = it does not need a new relay or wiring harness- we just swap out bad parts for modern ones!!
Get 35 watt ballast, and 5000k color bulbs for close to stock look and function from the bulbs
Higher number is not more power!!
Old 03-08-2016, 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by shashim
Hi,

I noticed that the passenger side low beam headlight is not working on my 2003 3.2 TL.
The dealer did diagnosis and told me to replace the igniter/inverter. He asked me around 800 bucks for this which is completely out of my budget and so couldnt get it done. Today, I noticed that the passenger side light came on all by itself. But when I stopped the car and turned it on it didn't come back. I am not a mechanic but any suggestions on how to get this done fixed would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Shashi
You can get a new ballast and igniter, OEM from Ebay for $130. It takes about an hour to swap them out, less if you have new clips for the bumper cover instead of trying to save the old, brittle ones.

I bought them to replace mine, but it turned out my problem was the connector on the car side that plugs into the ballast was loose. There was nothing wrong with my ballast and ignitor, but it wasn't until I went to fully change them that I noticed the problem in my connector.

(in fact, my used, perfectly good ballast and ignitor are currently up for sale on Ebay)

The Ebay parts were the same as originals.

Once I reseated my connector, cheap HID bulbs worked fine.
Old 03-05-2018, 09:08 AM
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2004 tl flickering

I’m new to the forums sorry about hopping on your post. I’m having the same issues. My driver side headlight flickers when I turn it on and then shuts off. Could that be the ballast ? Another thing is when I have my lights and parking lights on my turn signals don’t work what so ever. The left turn signal light stays on my dash but when I turn my lights off and just keep my parking on I can use my signal and it goes off on my dash any ideas ?
Old 03-05-2018, 09:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Brosky_20
I’m new to the forums sorry about hopping on your post. I’m having the same issues. My driver side headlight flickers when I turn it on and then shuts off. Could that be the ballast ? Another thing is when I have my lights and parking lights on my turn signals don’t work what so ever. The left turn signal light stays on my dash but when I turn my lights off and just keep my parking on I can use my signal and it goes off on my dash any ideas ?
ballast for headlight, bulb for turn signal. replace them.
Old 03-05-2018, 10:27 AM
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Originally Posted by thoiboi
ballast for headlight, bulb for turn signal. replace them.
so replacing the bulb with get it off my dash cause like I said the signal works fine with just my parking lights on. When I turn them both sets of lights on no signals work ?
Old 03-05-2018, 10:30 AM
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