Well Friday I did the whole wash the car routine and went to Towers. Well I stopped by the gym where to my Joy I discovered I was living the song by The Wallflowers "One Headlight" And it was already dark. For some reason things were acting funny and I Ended up driving home that night using parking lights.. I was uncertain if I had TRUE HID or if I had the knock off crap. So I ultimately parked the car and drove the truck for the last 3 days.

Well I was able to get to tearing the car apart today since I spent the weekend working both jobs. (looking for my 2nd PT job as we speak) And this is where my fun began. I would first and foremost like to thank Nissan for the Design of requiring me to remove my ENTIRE FRONT BUMPER. The joy was one in itself. Of course it was overlooked that the front bumper is also bolted to the front fender. I am glad I took the time to peak instead of TUG... After removing the bumper and the 4 pieces of Foam I was able to get to the driver side headlight. Let me tell you that little F***** Plug is a *#&^#&*^# to reach up and realease due to the snap clasp... I have since purchased a PIC set from the autoparts store to help with this trainwreck in the ever near future.

Do not ask me how I FINALLY managed to get the passenger headlight off but after an hour I managed to reach in and release the clasp as well. I did not remove any resivoirs.... The pic set could have probably made 10 minutes of work of this trainwreck. Being overly cautious I stopped by the stealership to ask my buddy if the ballast was factory or the Craptormarket. To my JOY It is the FACTORIES. (In Either case I was DREADING the situation). That is when I learned what the bulb at the stealership would cost me. 180 Bucks for one bulb..... Retail is 245.... FOOOK MEH... So I am parts hunting for the bulb as we speak as well. My previous store manager is now the DM of Advanced auto parts and they want 137. I have been trying to contact him to see what it will cost me... Vatozone wants 130...

So for now I have no front end and am up S*** Creek Anyone got a paddle (bulb or even pair) that they can lead me to?

James

 

What year? And is it a coupe or a sedan?

 

James,

You did a lot of work for almsot no reason to be honest you, can turn the wheel and remove the clips in the wheel well to get to them very easily. Also I would suggest going with a bulb from a vendor on here or my350z. Will be about that price for a set of 2.

 

^+1 jacking up the car and turning the wheel is the easiest way. you can get way cheaper bulbs on here too.

 

Its an 04 coupe... Xenon bulb I guess.. Sadly the hardest part of the entire removal and work was just releasing the little electrical clips that provide power to the lamps. I had the bumper off in about 10 minutes.

Part of my concern for removing the entire assembly (headlamp) was the fact that the one keeps getting water moisture inside of it so it led me to believe that the housing had been seperated and resealed so my intent was to put a clear silicon seal around the entire tab that would prevent water from entering again.

I "thought" that they had been seperated which was the reason for the haze inside the lenses and wanted to well open them back up clean them and reaseal them. But if you are saying I could have gotten to the three bolts on the bottom of each lens without removing any clips or bolts from the front bumper well I guess I need to find new search terms in the general coupe forum.

Lets see what I turn up for bulbs in the next few hours locally.. If I have to wait a few days to recieve (order them online) Ill just reassemble since I have found the way you are rerring to.

 

Would have been better if you mentioned why, besides just replacing a few bulbs, you removed the bumper in the first post...

 

I have my OEM HID bulbs from my 05 350Z. I'm not sure if it will fit. $50 it's yours.

 

I have an 03 coupe and I still have my stock bulbs if you want them I'll sale them to you at a small fee. Lmk

 

let us know what type of bulb, i have some d2r that i will prob never use

i'll sell them for cheap and im in hollywood

 

I just went through the headlight removal process again this weekend, so I feel your pain in that department. I just upgraded to LED city lights and yellow fogs. I removed the whole front bumper as well, and I changed my spark plugs while everything was apart.

I still have my original '03 headlights with all the bulbs and ballasts, so if you need anything let me know .

 

Ok update... Thanks for the offers for bulbs after literally spending 3 hours running around looking for the bulbs. I had a few people tell me that the bulb may not be trashed and to try it in the opposite headlamp to verify if it is not the ballast...

(I would have updated sooner but I have been working)
Now They are both working fine. So I guess I got the ballast wet or something and it just needed time to dry.. BTW are they suppose to make a buzzing sound when they are on and the car is not running....

So I will wait a few days and see what happens... As of now everything is fine and the car is back together.. Only took 30 minutes to reassemble.. Stupid clip releases...