I have a 2007 Infiniti M35 sport. A couple of weeks ago the passenger side head lamp quit working. It does have the HID bulbs and the AFS system. I bought a new bulb and replaced - still didn't work. Took the new bulb and installed it in the driver side and it worked fine. Took the old bulb from the driver side and installed it in the passenger side and it didn't work.
After doing a little research on-line, I've seen that there is also a headlight ballast that could be bad. How do I determine this? Is there something else I should be looking for? What fuse feeds the passenger side head lamp? I could not find a label in either fuse box that was identified as a left headlamp fuse.
Head lamp out?
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EniGmA1987
- Posts: 2258
- Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:13 am
- Car: '06 Infiniti M35 Sport
Re: Head lamp out?
The Ballasts are much more likely to go bad than the bulb. THis is a VERY expensive fix from the dealer, better off doing an aftermarket upgrade to your lighting. Just plan out a whole day or two if you do this yourself, it is a TON of work to use new ballasts and bulbs when you already have HIDs. Took me 16 hours of work to do it well enough not to lead to problems later on.
Re: Head lamp out?
How much is VERY expensive? Where would I find out more about this aftermarket conversion? And how much did that cost you?
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EniGmA1987
- Posts: 2258
- Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:13 am
- Car: '06 Infiniti M35 Sport
Re: Head lamp out?
Dealer quoted me $600 per light
Aftermarket through DDM-tuning (average quality) for both ballasts and bulbs: $75 and 8 hours of work
Cant remember the name of the higher quality brand, but those ones cost something like $300 for both. Probably the same work
I went with 55w ballasts from DDM tuning and 6000K bulbs (must use D2S bulbs for cars that already have HIDs) The color is nice and very very slightly blue. Most would not consider them blue at all. I went this way because I knew the lights would be brighter than stock, and I dont need blindingly bright. And for the cost I can replace them 4 times for the price of 1 with the more expensive brand. I am very happy with my results, but was really pissed off with myself while doing them. So much work...
Are you good with electrical and mechanical things? You will need a power drill and a careful hand to do it yourself, with a perfectly sized bit. Also you will need to cut some wires from both systems and do some splicing, and a lot of patience. Also your AFS probably wont work afterward since there will be a lot less room for the light to move. It would be a lot easier if you are comfortable completely disassembling your headlight assembly, which means breaking the seal and removing the plastic outer lens. I wasnt comfortable doing that and baking my lights, so I opted for the power drill and a watertight hole. Be advised a headlight assembly can cost you up to $1200 so if you break yours beyond repair with disassembly then you are screwed.
To replace your own ballasts and bulbs here is what you need to do (the easy way):
Jack up the car and remove both front wheels. Remove the wheel liner to get access to the back of your lights.
Remove the cover for the low beam bulb area and disconnect the socket that is connected to the bulb. Either cut this off if you can or tuck is as out of the way as possible. Good luck cutting the old connector socket as it has a steel mesh over the wires. You cannot remove the old connector unless you completely open your headlight assembly.
Unplug the OEM ballast which is mounted underneath your headlight assembly. You should be able to tell what/where it is once you have your new ballasts as they look similar. It should have an oval shaped plug on one side and wires covered in a steel mesh coming out the other.
Cut off the OEM connector that plugs into the ballast
Now cut off the connector that your own ballast has and splice the wires from the OEM system into your new ballast
Drill a hole in the low beam cover cap 1 size smaller than the diameter of the new wire.
Take the connector/wire that plugs into your lights (the new one) and cut it so that you have enough wire on the bulb side to connect and be pushed through the cover.
Install the new bulb and connect the new power socket from your aftermarket system (this is difficult and requires small finger + a lot of patience)
push the wire hanging out through the cover cap and install the cover. Splice the wire back together than you cut for the bulb socket.
Plug the wire into the new ballast
Turn on your new lights.
If you chose to disassemble your whole headlight, then take out the OEM ballast and wiring and mount your new stuff in its place. Run the wires through the headlight interior just like OEM and then re-seal your headlight. That sounds way easier, but to me was more risky. The only cutting your will have to do is cut off your old OEM connection to the ballast and splice the wires into the new wiring from your new ballast. The connectors dont plug into each other.
If you have slow startup on the lights or flickering, you need to install a power harness into your system. DDM tuning sells this too and it basically takes the OEM wire and goes to a relay, on the other side of the relay a wire goes directly from your battery through the relay and then to the new ballast. Thus when your lights turn on it triggers the coil in the relay and the battery directly powers your new lights. This gives more power and will solve your flickering or slow turn on of the lights.
Aftermarket through DDM-tuning (average quality) for both ballasts and bulbs: $75 and 8 hours of work
Cant remember the name of the higher quality brand, but those ones cost something like $300 for both. Probably the same work
I went with 55w ballasts from DDM tuning and 6000K bulbs (must use D2S bulbs for cars that already have HIDs) The color is nice and very very slightly blue. Most would not consider them blue at all. I went this way because I knew the lights would be brighter than stock, and I dont need blindingly bright. And for the cost I can replace them 4 times for the price of 1 with the more expensive brand. I am very happy with my results, but was really pissed off with myself while doing them. So much work...
Are you good with electrical and mechanical things? You will need a power drill and a careful hand to do it yourself, with a perfectly sized bit. Also you will need to cut some wires from both systems and do some splicing, and a lot of patience. Also your AFS probably wont work afterward since there will be a lot less room for the light to move. It would be a lot easier if you are comfortable completely disassembling your headlight assembly, which means breaking the seal and removing the plastic outer lens. I wasnt comfortable doing that and baking my lights, so I opted for the power drill and a watertight hole. Be advised a headlight assembly can cost you up to $1200 so if you break yours beyond repair with disassembly then you are screwed.
To replace your own ballasts and bulbs here is what you need to do (the easy way):
Jack up the car and remove both front wheels. Remove the wheel liner to get access to the back of your lights.
Remove the cover for the low beam bulb area and disconnect the socket that is connected to the bulb. Either cut this off if you can or tuck is as out of the way as possible. Good luck cutting the old connector socket as it has a steel mesh over the wires. You cannot remove the old connector unless you completely open your headlight assembly.
Unplug the OEM ballast which is mounted underneath your headlight assembly. You should be able to tell what/where it is once you have your new ballasts as they look similar. It should have an oval shaped plug on one side and wires covered in a steel mesh coming out the other.
Cut off the OEM connector that plugs into the ballast
Now cut off the connector that your own ballast has and splice the wires from the OEM system into your new ballast
Drill a hole in the low beam cover cap 1 size smaller than the diameter of the new wire.
Take the connector/wire that plugs into your lights (the new one) and cut it so that you have enough wire on the bulb side to connect and be pushed through the cover.
Install the new bulb and connect the new power socket from your aftermarket system (this is difficult and requires small finger + a lot of patience)
push the wire hanging out through the cover cap and install the cover. Splice the wire back together than you cut for the bulb socket.
Plug the wire into the new ballast
Turn on your new lights.
If you chose to disassemble your whole headlight, then take out the OEM ballast and wiring and mount your new stuff in its place. Run the wires through the headlight interior just like OEM and then re-seal your headlight. That sounds way easier, but to me was more risky. The only cutting your will have to do is cut off your old OEM connection to the ballast and splice the wires into the new wiring from your new ballast. The connectors dont plug into each other.
If you have slow startup on the lights or flickering, you need to install a power harness into your system. DDM tuning sells this too and it basically takes the OEM wire and goes to a relay, on the other side of the relay a wire goes directly from your battery through the relay and then to the new ballast. Thus when your lights turn on it triggers the coil in the relay and the battery directly powers your new lights. This gives more power and will solve your flickering or slow turn on of the lights.
Re: Head lamp out?
That sounds a little more involved than I was hoping for.
Dealer quoted me $550 + tax for part and about $200 labor. That's ridiculous.
Anyone know of an aftermarket direct replacement for the OEM ballast. I think I found one on Amazon (from Speed Shop) for $80. Claims to "Fit like original." Any experience with this from anyone?
http://www.amazon.com/Nissan-Infiniti-R ... ric&sr=1-7
Dealer quoted me $550 + tax for part and about $200 labor. That's ridiculous.
Anyone know of an aftermarket direct replacement for the OEM ballast. I think I found one on Amazon (from Speed Shop) for $80. Claims to "Fit like original." Any experience with this from anyone?
http://www.amazon.com/Nissan-Infiniti-R ... ric&sr=1-7
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EniGmA1987
- Posts: 2258
- Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:13 am
- Car: '06 Infiniti M35 Sport
Re: Head lamp out?
No experience with it, but DDM also says plug and play yet the connectors arent even close. And you will not be able to do a direct replacement no matter what. You either have to do the drilling or open up the whole headlight. The OEM ballasts do not have a plug on them going to the light, the ballast is directly wired to the socket that plugs into the bulb and the wiring is enclosed within the headlight itself and wrapped in steel mesh making it near impossible to cut. There is no "fit like original" on this car.
The easiest thing to do that I can think of would be to buy another ballast or an OEM ballast, get something to cut through the steel mesh and then clip the wires. Replace the ballast and splice your new wires into the old ones left inside the headlight. However to do this you must remove the headlight from the car, which is even harder than the way I said earlier with the drilling. Those plugs on the headlight are so freakin hard to get out and back in place, especially without breaking the clip. It will take you 20-30 minutes to get the headlight out, or 5-10 minutes to do the drilling.
Also, that Amazon product looks almost like an exact match to the DDM tuning kit. They are probably from the same Chinese source.
The easiest thing to do that I can think of would be to buy another ballast or an OEM ballast, get something to cut through the steel mesh and then clip the wires. Replace the ballast and splice your new wires into the old ones left inside the headlight. However to do this you must remove the headlight from the car, which is even harder than the way I said earlier with the drilling. Those plugs on the headlight are so freakin hard to get out and back in place, especially without breaking the clip. It will take you 20-30 minutes to get the headlight out, or 5-10 minutes to do the drilling.
Also, that Amazon product looks almost like an exact match to the DDM tuning kit. They are probably from the same Chinese source.