Facory HID Ballast

[Phoenix]

Anybody here have one go out? I thought I had a bad bulb, got a replacement pair from DDM, installed them and still no light. I have power to the ballast, new bulb, so that leads me to believe that the ballast is bad. I'm past the factory warranty, and my extended warranty told me to take a hike, so I bought a new factory ballast for less than half of what Online Mazda Parts was asking. I'm mainly curious if this is an isolated incident, or pretty common.

P.S. I have always donated, but did not realize that it had expired. Sent my $$$ last night. How long does it take to become green again?

P.P.S Edit...I just turned Green again!

[maz612]

This is happening to me now....I changed the bulbs in my car because the passenger one kept turning on and off. After changing the bulbs, the problem still exists. One I get a few hours free I'm going to take the ballasts from the driver side and see if that solves the problem. Did the new ballast you bought fix the problem?

[Phoenix]

The new to me ballast fixed the problem.

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[maz612]

Okay cool thanks I ordered a ballast off eBay for $70..no way am I paying 441 for a new one.

[802MS3]

happened to my 08, $70 used ballast from ebay working great a year later. I suspect it was due to moisture inside of the headlight from me opening it up to remove the orange plastic reflector. I since scraped most of the old sealant out and resealed the headlight. fingers crossed it says dry inside forever.

[Phoenix]

Well, it has gone out again. I noticed that there is moisture inside the headlamp housing and the light went out after a heavy rain, just like the first time.

Since now I know that moisture is the cause of the failure I can try and seal the headlight better (it's never been taken apart) and see if there is someway I can insulate the ballast from outside rain.

Before I go spending money and time trying to find a used ballast I have a couple of questions:

1. Can a ballast be repaired? Probably not, I tried searching in Google and could not find anything about the subject.

2. Could an aftermarket ballast be used in its place? Is there one that is plug-n-play with the factory HID/Xenon harness? I would hate to butcher the factory one.

[Phoenix]

I just pulled my old ballast apart and I cannot see a way of repairing it with all that black rubber inside. I know there is a name for it, but I can't think of it at the moment. It's almost like a solidified silicone. I do see 1 small phillips screw that is nicely rusted.

[shamie]

Do you have the PN of the balast you got? (and cost)

[Phoenix]

Here is a visual.



And under the cover.



I paid $65 for another one from eBay.

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[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by shamie Do you have the PN of the balast you got? (and cost)

Sorry for the late response, but the Nissan ballasts are the same as ours.

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[Guyverspeed3]

So are the Subaru's (Forrester's etc.) the same as ours.

[byzantines2000]

sorry for the post necromancy here, but i cannot find the part number for the factory hid ballast. and I couldnt find anything useful off the pictures. am i just blind? or is it not there? my driver side ballast shorted and i need a new one

nevermind, i found a nissan part on ebay. it looks the same, and i just ordered it. hopefully it works

[gwk_ms3]

Originally Posted by Phoenix Sorry for the late response, but the Nissan ballasts are the same as ours. Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

Digging up an old thread and I apologize. I just lost my driver side HID bulb and replaced it with a pair of 10000k. The passenger works great. But the driver side will work intermittently, flicker when the lights come on and then remain off. Was wondering if you ever fully figured out about the moisture and the ballast. Thank you sir.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by gwk_ms3 Digging up an old thread and I apologize. I just lost my driver side HID bulb and replaced it with a pair of 10000k. The passenger works great. But the driver side will work intermittently, flicker when the lights come on and then remain off. Was wondering if you ever fully figured out about the moisture and the ballast. Thank you sir.

You probably have a cheap defective bulb. I sealed the headlight with some silicone and have not had anymore issues with ballasts going out. I did have issues with cheap bulbs causing me issues. Put the stock bulbs back in and have not had a problem since.

[tegxsi]

@gwk_ms3; These Matsushita ballasts are very picky with bulbs...
They do not like low quality bulbs. You will have trouble firing them up and if they do come on the will randomly turn off.

btw, 10000k bulbs are a really bad idea

[g00s3y]

Originally Posted by gwk_ms3 Digging up an old thread and I apologize. I just lost my driver side HID bulb and replaced it with a pair of 10000k. The passenger works great. But the driver side will work intermittently, flicker when the lights come on and then remain off. Was wondering if you ever fully figured out about the moisture and the ballast. Thank you sir.

What happens when you put the passenger side light in there? Does it stay on, or turn off? If the light doesn't turn on, the ballast is bad. If the light stays on, the other light is bad.

And, why did you get 10k color bulbs? There's less light, and the extra blue hue in your headlight doesn't make it look any cooler, and just gives cops another reason to pull you over.

[gwk_ms3]

Originally Posted by g00s3y What happens when you put the passenger side light in there? Does it stay on, or turn off? If the light doesn't turn on, the ballast is bad. If the light stays on, the other light is bad. And, why did you get 10k color bulbs? There's less light, and the extra blue hue in your headlight doesn't make it look any cooler, and just gives cops another reason to pull you over.

I think my post was slightly misinterpreted.. So, what had happened was about two weeks ago, the driver side light went out, the passenger light remained lit and on, no issues. I checked connections real quick and I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary or that looked bad. So, I bought a new pair of lights (they just happened to be 10k, no real reason, just bought them to test the driver side with a new bulb. I agree, they are a horrible blue hue, plan to put different ones in once I resolve the issue.)

After putting in the new bulbs on both sides, only the passenger side was lit and remained on. Now, I did observe that the driver side flickers for a split second but remains off. I've read that there could be a grounding issue? or a short some where or even the ballast could be bad. I'm just trying to figure out where to start looking first as there are two good bulbs in now, and only one works.

Hope that helps troubleshoot a bit more.

[bostongeorge]

Check the igniters to. Mine had a burn spot on there causing it to short out and intermittently flicker and then go out. It would come back on using the headlight switch. I wound up replacing the bulbs, igniters and ballasts for both passenger and driver side so that everything was equal. Do yourself a favor and do it all at once so the front end only comes off once and not 50 times chasing problems from side to side like I did. Good luck.

[gwk_ms3]

Originally Posted by bostongeorge Check the igniters to. Mine had a burn spot on there causing it to short out and intermittently flicker and then go out. It would come back on using the headlight switch. I wound up replacing the bulbs, igniters and ballasts for both passenger and driver side so that everything was equal. Do yourself a favor and do it all at once so the front end only comes off once and not 50 times chasing problems from side to side like I did. Good luck.

Not entirely sure where to go from here. I've been looking into it. The driver side light came back on and remained on for about 3 days, then flickered off and is now off. Will flicker on and off. BOTH bulbs are good and new. I read that it could be a bad ground? Does anyone know about that or what I could do to t find the ground? I checked and made sure the visible grounds were good. If it's the ballast, short of paying 300-400 for a new OEM ballast, does anyone know of an alternative? Appreciate the feed back guys.

[bostongeorge]

Originally Posted by gwk_ms3 Not entirely sure where to go from here. I've been looking into it. The driver side light came back on and remained on for about 3 days, then flickered off and is now off. Will flicker on and off. BOTH bulbs are good and new. I read that it could be a bad ground? Does anyone know about that or what I could do to t find the ground? I checked and made sure the visible grounds were good. If it's the ballast, short of paying 300-400 for a new OEM ballast, does anyone know of an alternative? Appreciate the feed back guys.

I paid $54.95 ea from DDM Tuning that also included the igniter. You'll also need the Retrofit Source Mitsubishi Male to a 9006 Female adapter @ $20 for two plus shipping.
DDM Tuning: HID and LED Lighting

Also check the Retrofit Source for ballasts and harness

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by gwk_ms3 Not entirely sure where to go from here. I've been looking into it. The driver side light came back on and remained on for about 3 days, then flickered off and is now off. Will flicker on and off. BOTH bulbs are good and new. I read that it could be a bad ground? Does anyone know about that or what I could do to t find the ground? I checked and made sure the visible grounds were good. If it's the ballast, short of paying 300-400 for a new OEM ballast, does anyone know of an alternative? Appreciate the feed back guys.

The ballast that some Nissan Maximas is a direct replacement for ours. You can find them in ebay pretty cheap.

[gwk_ms3]

Originally Posted by bostongeorge I paid $54.95 ea from DDM Tuning that also included the igniter. You'll also need the Retrofit Source Mitsubishi Male to a 9006 Female adapter @ $20 for two plus shipping. DDM Tuning: HID and LED Lighting Also check the Retrofit Source for ballasts and harness

Originally Posted by Phoenix The ballast that some Nissan Maximas is a direct replacement for ours. You can find them in ebay pretty cheap.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help. Found out today that something else might be at play. Testing the alternator this weekend, reason for that is when I am sitting idle and throttle it, the voltage drops from 14.1 to mid 12's. Read that might..just might have something to do with the bumpy headlight. I'll definitely check out those links and see what I can find. But, i'm doing a lot of fixing this weekend, so we shall see. Thanks again.