amf25

iTrader: (3)

hey guys, your help is definitely needed and appreciated. yesterday my passenger main headlight died (both high and low beam). I thought crap, gotta shell out for a new pair of bulbs, but I did some investigating.

Switched bulbs from left to right: passenger light still doesn't work, driver side light turns on, so the bulbs are fine. Not the harness because the other bulbs on that side work fine...city light, fog, and signal.

Could it be that the HId unit for the headlight died? I have only 21k miles. Am about to bring it in to Monrovia Infiniti today or tomorrow but will they help me since I have modified painted headlight housings? the lights worked fine after they were painted so it doesn't seem related. is there anything else that it could be?

thanks for input.

2008G-Man

I can't answer your HID specific questions but my guess they will void any warranty with the headlights and it's assembly. It's been modified. I would if I were offering warranty. There is a reason you see stickers on all sorts of products that are basically "If seal is broken all warranties are voided"

I'm assuming you mean there is internal painting in the housing and just not exterior paint.

Are there fuses for passenger and drivers side?

Doggy

iTrader: (12)

You painted them? Post pics, where u get it done? It might be the ballast.

amf25

iTrader: (3)

I hope it's something simple to fix, ballast sounds simple. it would be the grey box mounted on the bottom of the housing. how do I test/repair the ballast? I asked a dealer parts guy and was told components of the headlamp aren't available.

yeah I figured I might be out of luck now for warrantee replacement since I'm modded. MAYBE riverside infiniti could help since they are mod friendly.

ill post pics of my lights tonite when I get back. did them myself at home and pulled the overlays, turned out pretty good. I've done them before on my bikes, had a yamaha R1 I painted and put red CCFL demon eye rings on. basically the same procedure.

Should I just start looking on eBay now for a new light? this kinda sucks

RaulGCustom

iTrader: (50)

Did the person who did your lights put the balast in the oven?

amf25

iTrader: (3)

yeah ballasts went in the oven.. are they real sensitive to temp? they did fine for a long time after painting though, so the time course doesn't correlate.

RaulGCustom

iTrader: (50)

That could be an issue, I personally don't put them in and haven't had a problem (knock on wood). Check the basics first. Make sure the inner connection of the balast was connected, I can see how that may have been missed, along with the grounding screw. Then check the fuse.

If not, take it to the dealer, if they give you a problem, just come by and I'll take a look at it.


Who did the mod?

amf25

iTrader: (3)

fuses and grounding are a good idea. already triple checked the connections... we'll see what the dealer says. hope it's a fuse problem, that would be optimal.

did the mod myself at my place couple weeks ago. I'll keep u posted on what happens, but might end up needing u to help me troubleshooot. thanks bro

ucla bruin

iTrader: (7)

I believe fuse controls both sides, if it's just 1 side, don't think it's fuse. I know someone local that had a bad ballast, so it's not all that unlikely. I don't know if the ballasts are specific to each side but you can try switching them to see if the problem is still on the left side.

Definitely don't bake the ballast. Electronics don't like heat.
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amf25

iTrader: (3)

got up to a suprise today, checked the headlights again and now both sides work. I tried fixing the connections last night but the dead side did not work right after manipulating it. hopefully its not a sign of a weak ballast that will die on me as soon as my warranty is up. I'm not completely convinced it had anything to do with baking, because why would it work fine for 2 weeks and then die? Maybe more to do with jarring due to a pothole or road debris?

As an update, I did bring it in to the dealer and asked if it could be covered under warranty. I was told that as long as all the electronics are bone stock including all the stock bulbs, they could cover it (which I could put back in no problem). They didn't seem concerned about the painted surfaces. Luckily, for some reason it works again today.

I just posted up some headlight pics in another thread, check them out. Thanks for the advice, u guys rock.

----> https://www.myg37.com/forums/picture...k-preview.html

tWistedMissiOn

OMG! Your car is SSEEXXYYY!!

ucla bruin

iTrader: (7)

Keep an eye out for it. My friend's ballast went through the same thing. Sometimes, it's off, sometimes it's on then it eventually went dead. Good luck!
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mishmosh

Ebay has a ton of used ballasts for cheap. It sucks to have to take the headlights out though.

amf25

iTrader: (3)

if this thing is gona poop out at some point soon, i kinda wish it would just do it now so i can do a warrantee replacement but i guess i'll just have to wait and see.

ebay is a good idea...

amf25

iTrader: (3)

is there anything at all loose in the housing, like the wire clip pushing forward? anything slightly rattling might kill the bulb on that side. Do u use the auto headlights or manual on/off, I think frequent on offs will also damage the lights, but seems like that would affect both sides. could try the dealer if u still have the warranty...