2010 CXL - HIDs Beginning to Flicker

[pindropviolence]

Was wondering if anyone has experienced the same issue - my HIDs work fine most of the time but occasionally, usually when I am at a light and hence able to notice, they flicker every now and then for a few seconds. Any suggestions?

 

[Mad*Max]

Was wondering if anyone has experienced the same issue - my HIDs work fine most of the time but occasionally, usually when I am at a light and hence able to notice, they flicker every now and then for a few seconds. Any suggestions?

I have not experienced but I wonder if your ballast is going...is it both lights?

 

[kevinande]

It is most likely the bulb on it's way out, swap them. If it does the same thing on the other side, change the bulb.

 

[Mad*Max]

where did the OP go?

It is most likely the bulb on it's way out, swap them. If it does the same thing on the other side, change the bulb.

I have not experienced but I wonder if your ballast is going...is it both lights?

 

[pindropviolence]

Thanks. Both sides are flickering in unison. Occasionally, this is accompanied by the "Service AFL Lamp" error on my dash, which goes away on recycling the power to the lights. Just replaced the bulbs, which makes me question whether it is a bulb lifetime issue. It has not gotten to the point where the flickering is common. On some nights, I am able to drive for hours without the issue cropping up... just worried about when this does become an issue.

 

[Mad*Max]

Are you saying that the change of bulbs has or has not remedied the problem? As to the life, can you tell us how many miles your car has? Usually the HID bulbs don't go, from what I hear it is usually the ballast but yours are in unison which to me sounds like some kind of electrical issue like a loose connection.

Thanks. Both sides are flickering in unison. Occasionally, this is accompanied by the "Service AFL Lamp" error on my dash, which goes away on recycling the power to the lights. Just replaced the bulbs, which makes me question whether it is a bulb lifetime issue. It has not gotten to the point where the flickering is common. On some nights, I am able to drive for hours without the issue cropping up... just worried about when this does become an issue.

 

[pindropviolence]

This problem started after I changed the bulbs and the passenger side ballast. Car has 80k miles on it. Strangely though, over the past couple of weeks (i.e., since your last post Mad Max), I have not noticed the problem come up. Will keep you all updated should something happen... fingers crossed that it does not though.

 

[pindropviolence]

So it finally happened, but in a more dramatic fashion than I would have liked. Driver side bulb went out while driving home from the airport. Bad bulb burnt the ballast too. I have replaced both bulbs and one ballast. Cost breakdown was as follows:
- 1 x Ballast = $0 (I had an extra one from a pair I had purchased a while ago to replace the passenger side ballast).
- 2 x Bulbs = $100 (Replaced both; Osram Xenarc OEM replacement HIDs. Amazon had them for half the price that O'Reilly quoted)
- Labor = $250 (2 hours @ $119 plus tax)
- Total = $350

Would have been more expensive if I had purchased a new ballast (~$200). I do not mind paying for the replacement parts, what is frustrating is the laborious process of removing the bumper to address any headlight issues on this model.

Lessons learned:
- Do not cheap out on any of the components. I had used Kensun HIDs to get 6000K blue-white illumination. Turns out that those bulbs might have killed my ballast (corroborated by few Amazon reviews for this product).
- While replacing any headlight components on the HID-version of the CXL, might be wise to opportunistically replace other components to spread out the cost of labor.

Question for members - Is $119/hr for this kind of work standard and is 2 hrs. a fair estimate? Seems like this job should not take more than 1 hr. max.

-PDV

 

[Mad*Max]

http://repairpal.com/estimator/results

So it finally happened, but in a more dramatic fashion than I would have liked. Driver side bulb went out while driving home from the airport. Bad bulb burnt the ballast too. I have replaced both bulbs and one ballast. Cost breakdown was as follows:
- 1 x Ballast = $0 (I had an extra one from a pair I had purchased a while ago to replace the passenger side ballast).
- 2 x Bulbs = $100 (Replaced both; Osram Xenarc OEM replacement HIDs. Amazon had them for half the price that O'Reilly quoted)
- Labor = $250 (2 hours @ $119 plus tax)
- Total = $350

Would have been more expensive if I had purchased a new ballast (~$200). I do not mind paying for the replacement parts, what is frustrating is the laborious process of removing the bumper to address any headlight issues on this model.

Lessons learned:
- Do not cheap out on any of the components. I had used Kensun HIDs to get 6000K blue-white illumination. Turns out that those bulbs might have killed my ballast (corroborated by few Amazon reviews for this product).
- While replacing any headlight components on the HID-version of the CXL, might be wise to opportunistically replace other components to spread out the cost of labor.

Question for members - Is $119/hr for this kind of work standard and is 2 hrs. a fair estimate? Seems like this job should not take more than 1 hr. max.

-PDV

 

[bobby49]

There is a lot of stuff that has to be peeled back in order to replace headlamps like this. As a result, it is best to do both sides in one job.

 

[pindropviolence]

Thanks. Repair Pal is good, but often inaccurate I believe. It is quoting 0.5 hours of labor... which seems a bit light for a mechanic to take down and put back the bumper.