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Headlight problem - won't stay on

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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 12:54 PM
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Unhappy Headlight problem - won't stay on

Hi guys, last year I sent my IS350 headlights to AAC (Advanced Automotive Concepts) for them to black out the inside and install the Halos and also ordered their replacement 6k HID bulbs.

Now after some time, when I turn on the headlights, the right bulb flickers on for a second and then always turns right back off. The left headlight stays on just fine. Any ideas what might be causing this? The bulb is probably not busted because it does turn on every time for a second. I'm really not sure what to do and I can't take it to the dealership because the warranty is void as far as they are concerned and I don't want to get fleeced by them.

Any advice is very much appreciated, thanks.
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 01:00 PM
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It might be bulb, or the installation. Double check everything. By the way do you have pictures of your car with them on? Curious to see how the halos and black housing looks

Thanks
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 01:02 PM
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yea switch the bulbs and see if it'll turn on. if its not the bulb call AAC? dont they have a warranty for their work for atleast one year
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 01:04 PM
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It's the bulb. Mine did the same thing. Turned on initially for a second then went out. Replaced it and it's fine.
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 01:36 PM
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Originally Posted by JoshIS408
It might be bulb, or the installation. Double check everything. By the way do you have pictures of your car with them on? Curious to see how the halos and black housing looks

Thanks
The pictures never seem to come out good with my crappy digital camera. The Halos are really hard to see. I don't think the whole thing looks good to be honest unfortunately.. I keep the halos off all the time and they look really ugly in the daytime since the white CFL rings are VERY visible in the daylight against the black headlight housing. They sold me "matching" 6k halos and HID bulbs but they're not even close and look stupid so I keep them off.

If I could do it all over again, I'd get the housing blacked out only, that looks really good.

Originally Posted by edgeucated
yea switch the bulbs and see if it'll turn on. if its not the bulb call AAC? dont they have a warranty for their work for atleast one year
I'll try to switch out the bulb, AAC is useless based on my past dealings with them and I don't even want to call them. Dealing with them has been nothing but painful and everything I've ever bought from them has broken - I had to get my halos and ballasts replaced a while ago and now the HID bulb is out it looks like.

Originally Posted by jackblack7
It's the bulb. Mine did the same thing. Turned on initially for a second then went out. Replaced it and it's fine.
Wow really? That seems really strange since it always turns on initially.. I'll take your word for it though and try to replace it. At least it's something relatively simple hopefully.


Thanks for your help guys. Now to figure out how to replace the bulb... hopefully it's in the manual.
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 01:57 PM
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If you want to test - swap the driver and passenger side bulbs.

And I agree with you on AAC.
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 02:21 PM
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let us know if it was really the bulb, and good luck hopefully that'll solve the problem
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by meefer
If you want to test - swap the driver and passenger side bulbs.

And I agree with you on AAC.
Good idea, I'll try that first. Yeah the AAC situation is unfortunate, but live and learn I suppose.

Originally Posted by trixxx519
let us know if it was really the bulb, and good luck hopefully that'll solve the problem
Absolutely, will do.

Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced my manual since I moved.. can anyone point me in the right direction for how to change the HID bulbs?

PS - I haven't been around CL in quite a while, completely forgot how ridiculously helpful everyone is around here, thanks everyone
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 02:51 PM
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Originally Posted by jackblack7
It's the bulb. Mine did the same thing. Turned on initially for a second then went out. Replaced it and it's fine.
This. xxxxxxxxx
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 02:57 PM
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mayb this will help you
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...hid-bulbs.html
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 02:59 PM
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Originally Posted by trixxx519
AWESOME! Thank you!! Going to attempt this mid-week hopefully, will keep you guys posted.
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 07:40 PM
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I think the link trixxx posted is what I used. Replacing HIDs isn't in the manual anyway.
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Old Feb 14, 2010 | 11:09 PM
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it's the bulb, mine did that too. got it replaced promptly under warranty.


i've heard of a lot of people having problems with AAC(on myis forum)
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 12:14 AM
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Good to hear all the confirmations about the bulb, i'll be swapping it out soon. Since I bought these 6000k HIDs from AAC, I think I may have to call them after all for a replacement because I don't want to buy a 2nd one from somewhere else and have it mismatch. They really are quite rude and terrible at customer service, not to mention the crappy products they sell. But hey, maybe they'll surprise this time
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Old Feb 22, 2010 | 11:38 PM
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Update: Bulbs replaced with stock 4300K bulbs, it was definitely a bad bulb that I had. I used the DIY mentioned above to swap them out, it was a pain for someone with as little skill as me in this dept but I got it done nonetheless. Thank you all for your replies and help!

Now to go look for a new 5000K set of bulbs possibly, I hate how yellow the stock ones are
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