I think that my headlight ballast on the drivers side is bad. I have an 06 G35X and my drivers side was flickering on occasion but staying on. Its now flickering and never starting. I tried to remove the ballast as per a DYI here on the site. The screws are all so rusted they will need drilled out.

Short of removing the headlight and drilling the screws, could an aftermarket HID conversion kit be used instead? What adapter type would I be looking for to integrate or would I have to splice it in?

 

Don't replace quality parts with cheap crap from any of those cheap aftermarket HID kits. You can find a replacement Matsush*ta Gen 3 ballast for around $80 if you do a quick search on Google.

 

Any idea what the difference between these two part numbers is?

NZMNS111LANA / D2R D2S
NZMNS111LANA / D2R D2S 2000Hr.

The second one is stated for G35 the first says Nissan Maxima. There is a $20 difference between the first and the second. I do see the G35 says long igniter but I plan to use the existing cable. Both are on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Nissan-Maxima...ywords=ballast

https://www.amazon.com/Infiniti-Fx35...ywords=ballast

 

Disregard... I found one that is just the ballast and the proper part number.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ABLF1Z3ZYWG0N

 

Don't replace the ballast until you confirm it's the ballast. Swap ballasts and then test.

 

I'd have to remove both headlights and drill the screws out of both at that point. Is there a way to test the ballast short of removing it?

 

Simply - no. You have to remove both ballasts anyway to replace them if they are bad.

 

What about replacing both ballasts if one is bad??? Since when was this ever a thing?

To clear the air on these:
While they are connected to one system, the ballasts are as independently functioning as a bulb, so if one is broken, you only need to replace that one.

And, no you do not swap ballasts to see if one is bad or not - instead, swap the bulbs from left to right and right to left to see if the same side is out. If the same side is out, then it is for sure the ballast that needs to be replaced. If the other side is out after you swapped the bulbs, then its just a bulb that needs to be replaced.

 

Bulb/ballast swap is like tomato/tomato. They both work, just ballast is obvs gonna be easier.

You can just replace a bad ballast with a used ballast. eBay is a good option. The retrofit source often has sushi ballasts too for sale in their closeout section.

 

How is that? The ballasts are attached to the bottom of the headlights with three screws, and the only way to access that is to take out the headlights by taking off the front bumper as where accessing the bulbs is as simple as reaching behind the headlight through the engine compartment and opening a cover.

So unless they already have both headlights out on a table somewhere, switching out the bulbs is easier. And just assuming that is the case is just ignorant.

 

You can pull the plastic covers by the wheels and access either just as quick. Touching the bulbs in the wrong place ruins them quickly. Ballasts are tougher.

 

dofu, he's right about access to the ballasts. If the wheel well covers are removed it's easy to get to the ballasts under the lights w/o ever having to touch the bumper. Now I will agree with you that it's easier to just unscrew the bulb cover and replace the bulb than it is to lay under the car and remove the ballast screws to replace the ballast.

So in the end I hereby declare this debate a draw fellas

 

Yeeeaaaahhh... I have nothing to say about reaching in through the wheel wells, I never considered that an option. Reaching in that little space to do anything just doesn't work well for my giant hands.

 

"My special hands!"

 

Guys I wasn't specific in my posts. I was talking about accessing the lights with the front end jacked up and the wheels off. For those debating bulb vs. ballast change with the wheels on it's bulbs hands down, no pun intended.