headlight issue. Lamps reversed?

[USMCgetsome]

So i just picked up a used 03 g35. I was on my way home and was on the highway in texas. I went to activate my lo beams and they seem like regular bulbs not hid's. I went to activate the high beams and both did not work. Should my g35 lo beams be hids? Any ideas here fellas before i have to remove the wheel to gain access to check them bulbs. I appreciate it greatly!

I did check the fuses behind the battery box. I hear the relay clicking over for the hibeams so i think the electrical part is good. I really don't want to take off the wheel well. It came with 20's on it. lol.

Ok this is whats going on. The "fog lamps" activate when i put the regular headlamps on. This is the lower bright lamps not the parking light. Parking lights come on as well when activated.

When i activate the hi beams the fog lamps goes out and i supposed the projector housing is supposed to come on.

I just saw a few threads down that the projector is the lo beam. Strange why mine isn't that way.
Modified by USMCgetsome at 1:06 PM 5/4/2009

[USMCgetsome]

this is when lo beam is activated.

[pfarmer]

So i just picked up a used 03 g35. I was on my way home and was on the highway in texas. I went to activate my lo beams and they seem like regular bulbs not hid's. I went to activate the high beams and both did not work. Should my g35 lo beams be hids? Any ideas here fellas before i have to remove the wheel to gain access to check them bulbs. I appreciate it greatly!

I did check the fuses behind the battery box. I hear the relay clicking over for the hibeams so i think the electrical part is good. I really don't want to take off the wheel well. It came with 20's on it. lol.

Ok this is whats going on. The "fog lamps" activate when i put the regular headlamps on. This is the lower bright lamps not the parking light. Parking lights come on as well when activated.

When i activate the hi beams the fog lamps goes out and i supposed the projector housing is supposed to come on.

I just saw a few threads down that the projector is the lo beam. Strange why mine isn't that way.

Modified by USMCgetsome at 1:06 PM 5/4/2009

I believe for this year the lo beam and fog lamp shares the same dual element bulb.

Perry

[Focusedintntions]

Well from what i can see in your picture somebody upgraded your headlight housing. The pre 06's didn't have projector bulb housings for the headlights. Looks like they may not have hooked everything up correctly after they did that.....

[johnparkyourcar]

Hmm... my guess is the previous owner effed up the wiring cuz the lower lihgts are supposed to be the fog/highs. Either that or the low HID bulbs are out...

[pfarmer]

So i just picked up a used 03 g35. I was on my way home and was on the highway in texas. I went to activate my lo beams and they seem like regular bulbs not hid's. I went to activate the high beams and both did not work. Should my g35 lo beams be hids? Any ideas here fellas before i have to remove the wheel to gain access to check them bulbs. I appreciate it greatly!

I did check the fuses behind the battery box. I hear the relay clicking over for the hibeams so i think the electrical part is good. I really don't want to take off the wheel well. It came with 20's on it. lol.

Ok this is whats going on. The "fog lamps" activate when i put the regular headlamps on. This is the lower bright lamps not the parking light. Parking lights come on as well when activated.

When i activate the hi beams the fog lamps goes out and i supposed the projector housing is supposed to come on.

I just saw a few threads down that the projector is the lo beam. Strange why mine isn't that way.

Modified by USMCgetsome at 1:06 PM 5/4/2009

As another user mentioned it looks like possibly an upgraded housing. I believe the original would have both the low and fog as a single bulb.

I don't have the 2003 ESM but I do have a 2005 and a 2007/2008 which is different. In the 2005 if you have HIDs, then you have a single relay that uses a fuse for you left and a fuse for your right high beam which is the same bulb as your fog lamp. If both fuses are good then the relay may not be.

Your low beam is the HID which works off another relay.

If you leave your fog lamps out of the picture for now then what you should be able to do is pull the fuses and using a voltmeter simple check for voltage at the fuse terminals while someone else cycles your headlights. I am not sure what the HID unit will show but if you check the high side of the fuses then it should show you a positive 12 volts if the relay for high beams is functioning.

If you had a 2007 then the fog lamp is all by itself, the low and high beam share a bulb. It appears that if you pull the fuse for the fog lamp that this will also deactivate the relay as well.

When the fog lamp goes out, does the high beam indicated light?

Perry

[USMCgetsome]

correct. the fog lamp deactivates and then the relay click is heard and then it goes out. The instrument panel then shows the hi beam indication but no lighting. My housing does have a projector on top so i assumed that they were hid.

If i order a hid kit are there any that will fit the stock ballast location? this is my main concern due to the lack of available space.

Btw thanks for all the info fellas. I though no one was gonna chime in. I'll update everyone on sunday with pics and voltages.

I plan on removing my wheel and accessing the lights through the wheel well untill i'm ready to install the hids.

[pfarmer]

correct. the fog lamp deactivates and then the relay click is heard and then it goes out. The instrument panel then shows the hi beam indication but no lighting. My housing does have a projector on top so i assumed that they were hid.

If i order a hid kit are there any that will fit the stock ballast location? this is my main concern due to the lack of available space.

Btw thanks for all the info fellas. I though no one was gonna chime in. I'll update everyone on sunday with pics and voltages.

I plan on removing my wheel and accessing the lights through the wheel well untill i'm ready to install the hids.

One thing you may be able to do is if the high and low beam relays are the same you could try reversing them and see if that changes anything. You can also change out one fog lamp light bulb as it appears it is a dual element, one being the high beam. That is when you go to high beam it should not really go out but change in brightness as long as the fog lamp is enabled. The low beam is the HID on an 05 and 06. If you pull the fuses for the low beams and measure from the high side to ground you should get battery voltage from the high side of the fuse to ground.

From what I see you have neither high or low beams. Assuming your high beam relay is working properly then this should be a simple fix for getting back your high beams, the lows will depend on the HID unit as well as the relay circuit. Now this may seem odd but do make sure you have a good ground for the headlights. I think you have a ground since your fogs would depend on it since the relay for the high beams should be open when the fogs are on. Also which relay is actually clicking an is the clicking indication of a relay opening or closing?

Perry

[WESIDE]

I would first check and make sure you have bulbs installed in your projector housing and then make sure they were not blown before I start troubleshooting anything else. Also, Is it just me or do those projectors in the picture look very crooked or pointing inward???? Just my 2 cents... WEs

[pfarmer]

I would first check and make sure you have bulbs installed in your projector housing and then make sure they were not blown before I start troubleshooting anything else. Also, Is it just me or do those projectors in the picture look very crooked or pointing inward???? Just my 2 cents... WEs

One reason to start at the fuses is that they should be very easy to access and remove and you should get a plus battery terminal reading when activated with the fuse removed. If not then it does little good to go any further.

That said from what I see it it looks like a fairly straight forward adaptation since in reality the only thing that appears to really change is the low beam. The high beam and fog lamp should be basically wired the same as the original. We know that the fog lamp, the same bulb as the high beam, appears to function and therefore is in its slot.

Perry

[WESIDE]

It just seems to me that the angle of the projector lens is way off.

[pfarmer]

It just seems to me that the angle of the projector lens is way off.

The problem with that is it looks like the high beams are not lighting either and that doesn't involve (or at least should not) the projector lens.

Perry

[WESIDE]

The picture looks like it is inline with the body. Everything looks good till you look at the projector lens and the angle that it is faceing...

[pfarmer]

The picture looks like it is inline with the body. Everything looks good till you look at the projector lens and the angle that it is faceing...

I can see what you are looking at but I think it may just look that way from the angle and distance the picture is taken at.

In any case the high beam doesn't involve the projector lense and is a possible indication of why the high and lows are not working.

Now assuming there is no interaction from the high beam side of the tracks, simply removing the fuse will have no effect on the fog light. If it does then this needs to be investigated. Both the low and high beams share a common positive side from the battery. However this appears to come after the where the high beam indicator gets its positive. It is possible that there is a break in the positive between the high beam indicator and the high and low beam relays. By swapping relays one should be able to isolate a problem in a relay (assuming they are identical for this year). The poster states he can hear the relay but is he hearing the release of the fog relay (and low beam) and not the energization of the high relay?

By pulling the fuses of the high and low beams, if the relays both are functioning and providing power to the high side of the fuses then the problem transfers to the head light housing (remember how that you have two malfunctioning housings). If you get no power here then if the relays are functioning you need to look at the wiring between the fuses and the relays. If the relays are not functioning and you have power to the high side of the relays, then the problem looks like it may be in the IPDM.

The clue I think here sits in the fact that the high beams are not functioning either

Perry

[infinitidude]

those headlights do not have a high beam,the hid bulb is the low and high beam, the projector has an electromagnetic shutter that shifts over the beam when you turn the high beams on...in turn this makes the low beam shine differently simulating a high beam...

[pfarmer]

those headlights do not have a high beam,the hid bulb is the low and high beam, the projector has an electromagnetic shutter that shifts over the beam when you turn the high beams on...in turn this makes the low beam shine differently simulating a high beam...

You may be correct as it now appears that this may be a 2006 coupe housing.

This would mean that the fog lamp is a separate bulb while the projector has a solenoid for the high beam which replaces the second element of the fog lamp.

Basically the rest of the test procedure should stay the same unless the IPDM of the 03 was replaced as well.

I would still check for power for the low and high beam side coming from the IPDM.

It appears that if you were missing the low beam output to the relay or the low beam fuse was bad that you would lose both.

Perry


Modified by pfarmer at 11:03 PM 5/13/2009

[USMCgetsome]

UPDATE:

So i removed my stock airbox intake pipes and boxes. I started with the left hand side. Pulled off the cap to the HID BULB and found that the connector was not installed properly. Turned then checked the ballast plug for power. 14.8vdc. Turned on the switch and then watched the light work.

I then moved over to the righthand side and tested the ballast plug for power. 0.00vdc. So then i figured it was a relay problem or fuse. Checked both in the ipdm. Both checked good.

So i looked at the ballast plug and saw that it wasn't in the headlight housing connector. I spliced it in to a green and black wire for power and VIOLA! Both hid lamps work in LO BEAM/HI BEAM.

Very easy fix! Love the damn lights. Pics to follow.

[USMCgetsome]

anyone know where i can find a balast plug with 16 gauge wire?

The original ballast plug had a green with a silver and pink with a silver mark on the wire and was about 24-22 gauge. Its doing the job but i noticed that it's not carrying enough current to get the light up to the correct brightness.

The left hand side hid is bright as hell. It has 16gauge wire going to the ballast. Green and black wire from the head light harness 7 pin plug.

[tollboothwilley]

You can use any wire....

Even wire from a stereo shop/home depot/lowes/etc

maybe even an auto parts store

[pfarmer]

anyone know where i can find a balast plug with 16 gauge wire?

The original ballast plug had a green with a silver and pink with a silver mark on the wire and was about 24-22 gauge. Its doing the job but i noticed that it's not carrying enough current to get the light up to the correct brightness.

The left hand side hid is bright as hell. It has 16gauge wire going to the ballast. Green and black wire from the head light harness 7 pin plug.

I am not sure what the ballast plug actually looks like but if it is like other plugs you may be able to get the pins for a molex type of connector from Radio Shack and then remove the ones in your ballast plug and reinstall the new ones with the larger wire. You can get your wire from rshack, often cheaper than an auto parts store. The other option may just be to go to Infiniti and get what was suppose to go with the headlights which I think are 2006.

Perry