Burnt out headlight / and or ballast
 

Hi Guys, Say, I've searched on line and in here...wanted to get your expertise. I've got a left headlight HID out..not sure if it's the light or the ballast.

Dealer, 450 for the bulb replacement...1300 for the whole assembly if it's the ballast. I've found an aftermarket place that says I can put in a bulb and one of their ballasts with an adapter for about 200 bucks. The adapter though fits on the back of the bulb and will need to have a hole drilled in the back of the light assembly for the wire to come out. Said it's pretty much plug and play.

I've seen people say that you CAN"T do an aftermarket, you need to buy the whole assembly etc.

Wanted to hear what your experience has been and if it's a DIY type thing...

Thanks in advance!

well if it is your bulb, i bought my 8000k D2S low beam bulbs on ebay for like 15 bucks with free shipping. search ebay for d2s bulb and whatever temperature you like, and try that first, it will be the cheapest if the bulb is what your problem is. 450 dollars for 15 dollar bulbs sounds like they are trying to rip you off.

Swap the bulb that does not illuminate to the known working side. If it works you know it's the ballast, if it still fails to illuminate, you know it's the bulb.

^what he said! also DO NOT SPEND 450 DOLLARS ON BULBS. I cannot stress that enough

Do you have to remove the bumper cover to replace just the bulb? I cant locate where it connects to the ballast. Scratch that. Found it.

My headlight on the driver side went out a couple of days ago, and i just replaced it today. I replaced both lights and still, the drivers side did not work. I know this is a ballast problem. My question is...where is the ballast located at? Sorry, i search and could not find it...thanks!

Come on man, I have a thread detailing how to replace it and guess what word is in the title? But it's not easy to do, especially for a noob.

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/MAZDA-RX-8-04...+d!~~60_57.JPG


I found it! It's on the headlight itself...thanks!

Anyway, is it easy to replace?

Nope, the headlight has to be baked apart or you have to do it like I did in my thread.

What do you mean "baked apart"? Do you have to take the whole headlight housing out to change the ballast?

Yes, out and then apart. The ballast is installed prior to the headlight being assembled and glued together.

Thanks a lot!

I have to remove the front bumper to do it... :(

Um. yeah. And that is the least of your worries. Baking the head light apart and then putting it back together without fucking it up is what takes skill.

I'm not going to do it. I know a shop that will...

You are better off saving yourself the hassle and money and just get a used replacement headlight.

A shop i know already ordered it. It will be a brand new oem ballast plus install for $250... :)

P.S. I just installed a 10,000K hid bulb.

Yeah I paid $350.00 for two brand new OEM Koito halogen assemblies with xpel film on them and converted them to use HID (5k). After they get to a certain point the lenses are done and after 9 years mine could not be polished anymore so rather than pay $1300.00 for HID assemblies I went this route and could not be happier. It doesn't surprise me you went with 10k bulbs. Ricer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9krpmrx8/8163356291/

Mine was extremely easy, I didnt have to bake apart anything. I have an '04 Rx8. I bought JDM Yellow Xenon Kits for the fogs and Headlights. Ill make a "How to" thread in the next week with pics and details. PM me if anyone needs a step by step before then. I'll post a link to my thread here when I finish it.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the ideas. .. this forum rocks! Found an aftermarket solution for $175, bulb and ballast. Put it in, had to take the bumper of to get to it (thanks to you tube and DIY!) got her in and the ballast wouldn't fit in the old box. Didn't want to hard mount in on the fender well, so just used some longer screws and tightened it down, sealed it up with some tape (the ballast looks waterproof anyway) and she's been working great!

I call it the $179 solution to the $1200 problem ;) Lemme know if you want to know where I got the part, I can dig it up.

Thanks again!

hey CMG did you ever post that how to thread on it. I need serious help over here

Jennifer

The passenger side headlight was letting in water and it had destroyed the Xenon electronics. I removed the bumber as shown in
and removed the front glass using a heatgun as seen in:
http://u1312.hizliresim.com/1j/2/v3hyb.jpg
I didn't try baking the headlight in an oven. I installed a 2nd hand Xenon electronics of a Toyota which I bought for $50 and it worked perfectly. I sealed the headlight's back into the front glass with Henkel Sista which is sold and advertised in my country as "the black glass silicon" and it worked perfectly.