Headlight Issue
Headlight Issue
I have a 97 pathfinder and i have a big problem with one of my headlights. I bought some POS xenon bulbs off ebay a while back and had them in for a little while. Then all of a sudden the left headlight wouldnt come on every once in a while, so i had to tap the housing for it to come on. It started to do it more frequently so i unclipped the bulb, looked at it and noticed the inside of the plug (that goes into the back of the bulb) was almost completely melted away. Now it does not come on at all, so I was wondering if that piece of the plug can be replaced or if the whole thing has to be re-wired? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Headlight Issue (pathy1217)
epidemic!!!pathy1217 wrote:I have a 97 pathfinder and i have a big problem with one of my headlights. I bought some POS xenon bulbs off ebay a while back and had them in for a little while. Then all of a sudden the left headlight wouldnt come on every once in a while, so i had to tap the housing for it to come on. It started to do it more frequently so i unclipped the bulb, looked at it and noticed the inside of the plug (that goes into the back of the bulb) was almost completely melted away. Now it does not come on at all, so I was wondering if that piece of the plug can be replaced or if the whole thing has to be re-wired? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I suffered the same thing about two weeks ago. another reason NOT to use those fake xenon bulbs... real xenon bulbs use ballast to ignite a gas (like the hid kit I was using, before a bulb went out and I swapped back to a crappy faux hid-sim, which then melted my socket).
onto the topic at hand... if you're talking about the H4/9003/HB2 socket, yeah, you can replace just the socket. The only thing is, I bought a socket from NAPA auto, it doesn't have the quick release (the part you press to unplug the socket from the bulb in the OEM socket). I don't know if you can go to a dealer to get a stock socket.
UPDATE
So I finally took the time to replace the socket on the passenger side...
the wire that went to the part of the socket that melted is no longer carrying the full power to the bulb... in this case, the low beam looks like a REALLY dim bulb. high beam actually lights up as normal. I swapped left and right bulbs to check if it was the bulbs, but the passenger side was still dim.
I had wanted to use plain halogen bulbs to replace the single HID-sim bulb, but with one dim bulb, it was still too dark for me to drive around. So I decided to install my replacement HID kit.
The HID kit uses a wiring harness to pull power directly from the battery, so it only needs the socket to know if the light is on, and if it is, if it is on high or low. so the "partial" power isn't a problem with the HID kit.
While I was tying down the wiring harness, I decided to FINALLY install the replacement horns too. Bought them a couple of months ago, just too lazy to deal with it, till now. Total time for socket, HID and horn... 3 1/2 hours, started at about 10 pm, finished at 1:30 AM.... yes, AM. I started working on it after work and dinner (work for a restaurant).
Next time I need to see a mechanic, I might ask him to go over the wiring.
On an end note... that HID-sim bulb I was using turned out to be worse than I thought. Even on the driver side (working side), the prong on the bulb oxidized (aka rusted)... making it REALLY hard to pull the socket off the bulb. Had to use needle nose pliers to create a gap and then use a screw driver to lever the prong out of the socket. Ended up pulling the prong from the base of the bulb too... not that I care anymore. I'm going to toss those bulbs the first chance I get. HORRIBLE.
the wire that went to the part of the socket that melted is no longer carrying the full power to the bulb... in this case, the low beam looks like a REALLY dim bulb. high beam actually lights up as normal. I swapped left and right bulbs to check if it was the bulbs, but the passenger side was still dim.
I had wanted to use plain halogen bulbs to replace the single HID-sim bulb, but with one dim bulb, it was still too dark for me to drive around. So I decided to install my replacement HID kit.
The HID kit uses a wiring harness to pull power directly from the battery, so it only needs the socket to know if the light is on, and if it is, if it is on high or low. so the "partial" power isn't a problem with the HID kit.
While I was tying down the wiring harness, I decided to FINALLY install the replacement horns too. Bought them a couple of months ago, just too lazy to deal with it, till now. Total time for socket, HID and horn... 3 1/2 hours, started at about 10 pm, finished at 1:30 AM.... yes, AM. I started working on it after work and dinner (work for a restaurant).
Next time I need to see a mechanic, I might ask him to go over the wiring.
On an end note... that HID-sim bulb I was using turned out to be worse than I thought. Even on the driver side (working side), the prong on the bulb oxidized (aka rusted)... making it REALLY hard to pull the socket off the bulb. Had to use needle nose pliers to create a gap and then use a screw driver to lever the prong out of the socket. Ended up pulling the prong from the base of the bulb too... not that I care anymore. I'm going to toss those bulbs the first chance I get. HORRIBLE.