Hopefully one of you guys can answer this. I recently had an issue with my ballast on the drivers side. I resolved the issue but in the interim I had purchased a used ballast on eBay which did not work when plugged in. The part numbers were different but the mounting/fit and plugs are all identical. Does the part number matter? I still can't explain why it didn't work, although I was able to get the old one dried out and put back in. (i'll post a DIY soon).

Thanks. - Bob

 

Nevermind, I installed the ballast last night to double check and it worked just fine. I have no explanation as to why it didn't work in the first place. Unless these ballasts dislike sitting on a shelf and discharging for extended periods of time. Oh well.

 

Personally, I would have just opted for a new Matsushita ballast from The Retrofit Source rather than chancing it with a used one on Ebay.

 

Well the seller was highly rated so I wasn't overly concerned, plus I needed it the next day. Either way the problem isn't with the ballast apparently. I still can't explain why it didn't work when first installed though. Oh well.

 

Hopefully not a problem. But I've had (aftermarket) ballasts that after a while fired up 95% of the time. I know used ballasts are a lot cheaper but you never know how many hours are on them. To me, taking off the bumper and removing the headlamp is a huge pain in the butt and if a new ballast can save me some time and aggravation, the added cost is well worth it. Yours is working now though, so that's all that matters.

 

well the ballast comes out in about 10-15 minutes without removing the bumper or headlamp so it wasn't a big deal to me. I've had to remove the original ballast a second time to dry it again but this time i caulked it.