Anybody here know the best way to diagnose headlights? I just noticed coming home that my driver side HID is out.

I replaced the bulb with a known good one and still no go.

Which leads me to think it's the ballast. But before trying to find a new one, i want to be sure.

On that note, is eBay the best place to find a used ballast?

Thanks guys!

p.s. A ballast is a ballast for these cars, right? That is, it won't matter if the car is AFS-equipped or not?

 

Swap the passenger side ballast over and see if it works.

 

I believe it is a ballast. I guess you could try swapping the ballast with the other to see if that is the problem. Other than that I don't know.

 

sniped.

 

Lol

 

lol! you guys are fast. Swapping them l/r is a good idea. I'll give that a shot.

Could it be a fuse, too? I haven't checked that one (not sure where it is). But if it's the fuse, the entire headlight wouldn't power on, right? The clearance, fog and turn signals all work.

Thanks guys

 

It could be the fuse or the ballast given that the replacement bulb you tried was good (it would be best to make sure the bulb is working by trying on the other side). i havent ever looked into the HID fuses so not sure but id guess that it would be in the fuse box in the battery compartment. I would check all the fuses first before spending time and money on checking/replacing the ballast.

If you confirm that it is a bad ballast then you can get used OEM pair of ballasts from the Marketplace here for only $70 shipped which isnt a bad price going by what iv seen in the past even on ebay but do check there first. Also the ballast should be exactly the same for afs and non-afs. If you only end up using one you can sell the other one for around $35-40 easy imo

Also looking at THIS pic it seems like the ballast is screwed to the bottom of the light so it wont be the most pleasant diy if you have to remove the bumper unless if you can reach it from underneath the car or through the fender liner, since iv never tried to reach the ballast i cant say for sure

let us know how it goes. G/L!

 

https://g35driver.com/forums/2nd-gen...-ballasts.html

If it is the ballast this might come in handy

 

If you don't want to buy used, you can buy them new here for $170 a pair.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=147

Our cars use a Generation 3 Matsushita Ballast. This website is selling a Generation 5 Matsushita Ballast. I can confirm this website is very highly regarded.

 

Guys, thanks for all the help and links!

I've contacted that gent selling the used ballast, what good timing! I may also look into TRS's ballast if that fails -- bought stuff from them before.

Weiboy on MyG also mentioned checking the fuses and possibly drying out the ballast as it happend to his friends ballast, too. It's been raining quite a lot here lately so hopefully the fix is cheap either way.

Now to find a local store that sells those Micro/Mini/low-profile fuses.

 

Yeah, it's the fuse box beside the battery --- so got some dismantling to do to reach it

Should i disconnect the battery while tinkering with the fuses? Common sense says yes, but just want to be sure (and not have to unnecessarily reset all settings.)

IIRC, i should be able to reach underneath to remove the ballast with just the splash shield and bottom tray removed. I remember having a lot of space back when i took the headlights out. Although that screw towards the front of the car will be quite a reach. *HOPEFULLY* it's just a fuse and can fix it easily.

As a sidenote, driving in the dark with one headlight and foglights on isn't as bad as i thought. Granted, my foglights are aimed rather highier than spec -- never bothered to fix it as it's hardly being used.

 

Even though you should disconnect the battery when working with cars electrical 'stuff', quite honestly i dont ever disconnect the battery when working with a grounded fuse box and have not had any issues or problems ever. But at the end of the day its your decision as to what makes you feel more comfortable while working.

 

I can't imagine that you could remove the ballast without taking out the entire assembly. Then again I wasn't paying close attention to that when I did my headlights. That mod was at the peak of my abilities. LOATHE ENITRELY!!!! lol

 

^ thats what i thought but given mike's eagerness and proficiency with any DIY projects im sure he'll get it done one way or another and follow it up with a nice detailed DIY on gshack for us to cheat off of!

 

^

Well, the fuses all look good so i went ahead and removed the ballast, which was accessibly by taking the wheel well cover off.

Lo and behold! The ballast was holding water, it literally spilled. I opened it up and the inside seems to be covered in some type of gel, and was damp. I'm starting to dry it out now and *HOPE* that it works afterwards. Wish me luck, guys.