Headlight bulb replacement question...
01-06-2010, 02:16 PM
#1
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Headlight bulb replacement question...
ok, so I changed the passenger fog light bulb today in our 06 Maxima that had gone out. But when I finished and turned the lights on to check everything, the (non-HID) drivers side bulb now won't turn on. Just my luck.
Anyways, this is my wife's car.....it is a daily driver, not a toy. I need functionality. Of course I can't just buy a 9012 bulb, b/c no where around sells them. So I need some advice about what to do. I have thought about going to HID's, but I need to make sure we still have the high beams. Would I have to buy a bi-xenon kit? If I end up going with silverstars or whatever, and get 9005's, will I lose the high beam then? Another problem is that she leaves the lights on Auto, so every day they turn on when she goes in parking decks or whatever, and I know it can't be good for them to turn on and off repeatedly like that.
You guys all have a lot more experience with these cars and their headlights than I do....what do you all think?
Anyways, this is my wife's car.....it is a daily driver, not a toy. I need functionality. Of course I can't just buy a 9012 bulb, b/c no where around sells them. So I need some advice about what to do. I have thought about going to HID's, but I need to make sure we still have the high beams. Would I have to buy a bi-xenon kit? If I end up going with silverstars or whatever, and get 9005's, will I lose the high beam then? Another problem is that she leaves the lights on Auto, so every day they turn on when she goes in parking decks or whatever, and I know it can't be good for them to turn on and off repeatedly like that.
You guys all have a lot more experience with these cars and their headlights than I do....what do you all think?
Last edited by Johnnybravo382; 01-06-2010 at 02:43 PM.
01-06-2010, 03:27 PM
#4
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You can order them here:
http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html
9012 is stock replacement. 9011 is a brighter bulb that can be modified to go in.
9005 and 9006 are far too dim (only half as much light output as 9012). If you've got a pair laying around, yea, throw them in the car while you wait for the 9012s to ship, but they are not suitable long-term replacements.
A 9006 HID kit (not bixenon or any of that crap) will work, and will retain highbeam functionality, but it will not be street legal.
http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html
9012 is stock replacement. 9011 is a brighter bulb that can be modified to go in.
9005 and 9006 are far too dim (only half as much light output as 9012). If you've got a pair laying around, yea, throw them in the car while you wait for the 9012s to ship, but they are not suitable long-term replacements.
A 9006 HID kit (not bixenon or any of that crap) will work, and will retain highbeam functionality, but it will not be street legal.
01-06-2010, 08:54 PM
#5
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thanks...I actually found my old 9006 Silverstar ultra's that I used to have in another car. I think I'm going to put them in for now, but I think she wants the HID's....she always has. So as long as I can buy a single beam 9006 kit and still have high beam, I think that's the way we will be going soon.
01-06-2010, 11:01 PM
#6
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hello guys i have a nissan maxima 2004 se,i have 2 fused headlamps bulbs however iam confused and iam not sure how to put accross the specific word for them,both driver and passenger side bulbs are fused,the one's in the inner side bottom of headlight,iam sorry however any helpfull input will be appreciated,thanks
01-06-2010, 11:12 PM
#7
hello guys i have a nissan maxima 2004 se,i have 2 fused headlamps bulbs however iam confused and iam not sure how to put accross the specific word for them,both driver and passenger side bulbs are fused,the one's in the inner side bottom of headlight,iam sorry however any helpfull input will be appreciated,thanks
01-07-2010, 08:51 AM
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thanks...I actually found my old 9006 Silverstar ultra's that I used to have in another car. I think I'm going to put them in for now, but I think she wants the HID's....she always has. So as long as I can buy a single beam 9006 kit and still have high beam, I think that's the way we will be going soon.
The only cars that have a proper highbeam with a xenon bulb are bi-xenon projectors and bi-halogen projectors. This is because of a movable shield within the projector that changes the beam pattern for low beam vs. high beam. These only use a single bulb for both. For a 6th gen with bi-xenon projectors, it would take a single D2S, and for a 6th gen with bi-halogen projectors, it would take a single 9012/9006.
The only reason for a "bi-xenon" kit (which is a complete misnomer) is in a dual-beam halogen housing (H4, 9004, 9007, etc) where you're replacing a dual-filament bulb with a HID capsule. These types of housings are exclusively reflectors, and thus a terrible candidate for HID conversion whatsoever, whether with a normal HID kit or a "bi-xenon" HID kit. The bi-xenon simply retains some high beam functionality, so that you can choose between "extreme glare" and "super extreme glare" modes. Bad idea.
01-08-2010, 01:17 PM
#9
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hello all.all that talk about you need a lamp from nissan is bull ****.get 2 8000k hid kits runs about 200$ for them.the car will look stock from nissan.it's one lamp when you hit the highbeam you hear a low motor sound.its a little door that gos up for highbeam.i know this because nissan almost hit me for 300$ to buy a lamp and put it in.hid's look much better.
01-12-2010, 02:03 AM
#10
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For reference, any "bi-xenon" kit is a sham. More overpriced garbage.
The only cars that have a proper highbeam with a xenon bulb are bi-xenon projectors and bi-halogen projectors. This is because of a movable shield within the projector that changes the beam pattern for low beam vs. high beam. These only use a single bulb for both. For a 6th gen with bi-xenon projectors, it would take a single D2S, and for a 6th gen with bi-halogen projectors, it would take a single 9012/9006.
The only reason for a "bi-xenon" kit (which is a complete misnomer) is in a dual-beam halogen housing (H4, 9004, 9007, etc) where you're replacing a dual-filament bulb with a HID capsule. These types of housings are exclusively reflectors, and thus a terrible candidate for HID conversion whatsoever, whether with a normal HID kit or a "bi-xenon" HID kit. The bi-xenon simply retains some high beam functionality, so that you can choose between "extreme glare" and "super extreme glare" modes. Bad idea.
The only cars that have a proper highbeam with a xenon bulb are bi-xenon projectors and bi-halogen projectors. This is because of a movable shield within the projector that changes the beam pattern for low beam vs. high beam. These only use a single bulb for both. For a 6th gen with bi-xenon projectors, it would take a single D2S, and for a 6th gen with bi-halogen projectors, it would take a single 9012/9006.
The only reason for a "bi-xenon" kit (which is a complete misnomer) is in a dual-beam halogen housing (H4, 9004, 9007, etc) where you're replacing a dual-filament bulb with a HID capsule. These types of housings are exclusively reflectors, and thus a terrible candidate for HID conversion whatsoever, whether with a normal HID kit or a "bi-xenon" HID kit. The bi-xenon simply retains some high beam functionality, so that you can choose between "extreme glare" and "super extreme glare" modes. Bad idea.
01-12-2010, 10:12 AM
#11
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hello all.all that talk about you need a lamp from nissan is bull ****.get 2 8000k hid kits runs about 200$ for them.the car will look stock from nissan.it's one lamp when you hit the highbeam you hear a low motor sound.its a little door that gos up for highbeam.i know this because nissan almost hit me for 300$ to buy a lamp and put it in.hid's look much better.
b) He doesn't need two HID kits. They come in pairs.
c) 8000k. Would you like to see where you're going at night? Would you like to not get pulled over? Would you like to not glare other drivers? Would you like to not give yourself eyestrain? Would you like to not look like a dumbass ricer? If the answer to ANY of these questions is "yes", then don't ever buy a 8000k HID kit.
d) You can buy HID kits for like $50 each. If you paid $200, you got completely ripped off.
01-14-2010, 03:42 PM
#12
I currently have 8000k bulbs on my M and i don't have any problem seeing at night. granted they aren't as bright as the OEM 4300k's, but i can still see fairly decent. the lights have a nice deep blue tint to them. i also have 6000k fogs so that makes me see even better.
i don't consider my lights to have a "ricer" look to them.
your above comment kinda contradicts itself. if you're implying that the 8000k aren't as bright, how can he cause glare to other drivers?
i got my bulbs from here: www.ijdmtoy.com
01-14-2010, 08:00 PM
#13
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Hi all, newbie here, I just bought an 07 Maxima SL a couple months ago and I love it. But would love it more if I could fix this problem.... My driver side headlamp goes out after about 20 min of being on. Then when I turn the car off and turn it back on the headlight comes on again for another 20. Anybody know what could be the culprit? I took a look at it once while cheking out the air filter box and for some reason the headlight assembly was all ductaped on the bottom as if to try to cover a hole that might have been created before.... Any help is greatly appreciated.
Left field question while I'm at it, will oem 2010 370z 19" wheels fit my car, offset wise?
Thanks, I love this forum!!!!!!
Left field question while I'm at it, will oem 2010 370z 19" wheels fit my car, offset wise?
Thanks, I love this forum!!!!!!
01-14-2010, 08:01 PM
#14
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I'll post an explanation from Daniel Stern, who is generally considered one of the top experts on automotive lighting.
http://danielsternlighting.com/
How can there be more glare if there's less light?
Informal tests by the US Department of Transportation's Office of Crash Avoidance Standards found that a standard-wattage 9004-type blue headlamp bulb reduced the road lighting ability of a standard headlamp by 67%, and increased glare for oncoming and preceeding traffic by 33%. This apparent contradiction arises because of the way the human eye handles light of different colors. The short-wavelength colors (blue, indigo and violet) are very difficult for our eyes to process and focus on.
Compared to uncolored bulbs, Blue headlight bulbs are able to produce more glare with less light because of the difference between the "signal image", which is what an observer sees when looking at an illuminated headlamp, and the "beam pattern", which is the light viewed from behind the headlamp facing forward, as by the driver of a vehicle. In order for headlamp light to be used by the driver, the light must travel forward from the headlamp to an object, bounce off the object and return to the driver's eyes. As light travels through the atmosphere, it spreads and diffuses according to the Inverse Square Law: The intensity drops as 1/(distance)2. That is, a given headlamp will illuminate an object 2 feet away with 1/4 of the intensity found at the front face of the headlamp, an object 3 feet away with 1/9 of the source intensity, an object 10 feet away with 1/100 of the source intensity, and so on — and then this loss is redoubled because the light must travel back to the observer's eyes. Remember that the blue filtration prevents the bulk of the light being produced from reaching the road, so the light "stealing" effect of the Inverse Square law becomes greatly magnified: Less light by which to see.
On the other hand, light travels directly from the headlamp to the eyes of the oncoming observer, so the "back to the driver's eyes" redoubling of the Inverse Square law does not take place:More glare. Therefore, for any given distance between the headlamps and the observer, there'll be considerably more light to cause glare than there'll be to allow the driver to see More glare.
Informal tests by the US Department of Transportation's Office of Crash Avoidance Standards found that a standard-wattage 9004-type blue headlamp bulb reduced the road lighting ability of a standard headlamp by 67%, and increased glare for oncoming and preceeding traffic by 33%. This apparent contradiction arises because of the way the human eye handles light of different colors. The short-wavelength colors (blue, indigo and violet) are very difficult for our eyes to process and focus on.
Compared to uncolored bulbs, Blue headlight bulbs are able to produce more glare with less light because of the difference between the "signal image", which is what an observer sees when looking at an illuminated headlamp, and the "beam pattern", which is the light viewed from behind the headlamp facing forward, as by the driver of a vehicle. In order for headlamp light to be used by the driver, the light must travel forward from the headlamp to an object, bounce off the object and return to the driver's eyes. As light travels through the atmosphere, it spreads and diffuses according to the Inverse Square Law: The intensity drops as 1/(distance)2. That is, a given headlamp will illuminate an object 2 feet away with 1/4 of the intensity found at the front face of the headlamp, an object 3 feet away with 1/9 of the source intensity, an object 10 feet away with 1/100 of the source intensity, and so on — and then this loss is redoubled because the light must travel back to the observer's eyes. Remember that the blue filtration prevents the bulk of the light being produced from reaching the road, so the light "stealing" effect of the Inverse Square law becomes greatly magnified: Less light by which to see.
On the other hand, light travels directly from the headlamp to the eyes of the oncoming observer, so the "back to the driver's eyes" redoubling of the Inverse Square law does not take place:More glare. Therefore, for any given distance between the headlamps and the observer, there'll be considerably more light to cause glare than there'll be to allow the driver to see More glare.
01-15-2010, 09:20 AM
#15
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Hi all, newbie here, I just bought an 07 Maxima SL a couple months ago and I love it. But would love it more if I could fix this problem.... My driver side headlamp goes out after about 20 min of being on. Then when I turn the car off and turn it back on the headlight comes on again for another 20. Anybody know what could be the culprit? I took a look at it once while cheking out the air filter box and for some reason the headlight assembly was all ductaped on the bottom as if to try to cover a hole that might have been created before.... Any help is greatly appreciated.
Left field question while I'm at it, will oem 2010 370z 19" wheels fit my car, offset wise?
Thanks, I love this forum!!!!!!
Left field question while I'm at it, will oem 2010 370z 19" wheels fit my car, offset wise?
Thanks, I love this forum!!!!!!
***bump***
01-15-2010, 09:30 AM
#16
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There is a big round hole at the bottom of the 6th gen headlights where the ballast is supposed to go if your car has factory xenons.
Do you have xenons or halogens? If you have xenons, are they factory or aftermarket? Do both headlights have this hole in the bottom that's just duct taped over?
Factory ballasts are made by Masu****a. They are dark grey, octagonal, and have a braided silver igniter cord coming out of the center of them. If your car is factory xenon, they should be screwed into the bottom of your headlights in a big hole.
Do you have xenons or halogens? If you have xenons, are they factory or aftermarket? Do both headlights have this hole in the bottom that's just duct taped over?
Factory ballasts are made by Masu****a. They are dark grey, octagonal, and have a braided silver igniter cord coming out of the center of them. If your car is factory xenon, they should be screwed into the bottom of your headlights in a big hole.
01-15-2010, 10:52 AM
#17
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There is a big round hole at the bottom of the 6th gen headlights where the ballast is supposed to go if your car has factory xenons.
Do you have xenons or halogens? If you have xenons, are they factory or aftermarket? Do both headlights have this hole in the bottom that's just duct taped over?
Factory ballasts are made by Masu****a. They are dark grey, octagonal, and have a braided silver igniter cord coming out of the center of them. If your car is factory xenon, they should be screwed into the bottom of your headlights in a big hole.
Do you have xenons or halogens? If you have xenons, are they factory or aftermarket? Do both headlights have this hole in the bottom that's just duct taped over?
Factory ballasts are made by Masu****a. They are dark grey, octagonal, and have a braided silver igniter cord coming out of the center of them. If your car is factory xenon, they should be screwed into the bottom of your headlights in a big hole.
That makes sense, the whole does not appear to be an accidental break like I initially thought. Now that you mention that I could see how something could go in there. Sorry, Im pretty ignorant when it come to headlights, I dont really know if I have xenon or not (I think I do) how could I tell for sure....will the light turn on even without the ballasts like it does on mines? I just bought the car recently so not sure if this is factory or aftermarket... the car was involved in an accident to that portion of the car.....Im thinking they cut some corners and went without the ballasts?
01-15-2010, 01:32 PM
#18
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Well, xenon headlights need to have ballasts to work. What they may have done is taken out the original ballasts (which are usually worth like $125/pr) and replaced them with chinese ballasts from ebay (closer to $30/pr)
I mean, without some decent pictures of the area in question, it would be hard to tell. The xenon and halogen headlights look exactly the same from the outside afaik,
You could have any of the following:
OEM HID bulbs and HID ballasts in factory xenon lights
Aftermarket HID bulbs or ballasts in factory xenon lights
Aftermarket HID kit bulbs and ballasts in factory halogen lights
OEM halogen bulbs in factory halogen lights
Someone who is more familiar with the 6th gen headlights might chime in. There could be a way to see if your lights are factory halogen or factory xenon that I don't know about.
I mean, without some decent pictures of the area in question, it would be hard to tell. The xenon and halogen headlights look exactly the same from the outside afaik,
You could have any of the following:
OEM HID bulbs and HID ballasts in factory xenon lights
Aftermarket HID bulbs or ballasts in factory xenon lights
Aftermarket HID kit bulbs and ballasts in factory halogen lights
OEM halogen bulbs in factory halogen lights
Someone who is more familiar with the 6th gen headlights might chime in. There could be a way to see if your lights are factory halogen or factory xenon that I don't know about.
01-15-2010, 03:06 PM
#19
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ummm, my car is an SL model, dont know if those have the xenon standard. Anyways, if the hole is there, unoccupied, does that mean there is no ballast on this headlamp that is malfunctioning. You would think that if its not there, the headlight wont even turn on in the first place right? Mines turns on for like 20 min and goes out. I looked up some ballasts for my year on ebay and they dont look like you describe "hectagonal shape". Dont see how they would fit into that "hole" underneath the headlight assembly, Am I missing something?
01-15-2010, 04:52 PM
#20
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These are OEM ballasts
They mount under the headlights, with the silver wire sticking up.
If there was no ballasts, the lights would not be able to turn on at all.
There is probably a 6th gens sticky about what features were options on some trim levels and standard on others. I am not familiar with the new trim levels after they went away from GXE/SE/GLE. Check to see if a SL has xenons or not.
If you have xenons, and no ballasts, chances are at some point they were swapped for aftermarket ones. Do you see any square boxes zip-tied near the ehadlights? They would generally be about the size of two decks of cards, and have a two-pin connector as well as a thick round black cable coming out.
They mount under the headlights, with the silver wire sticking up.
If there was no ballasts, the lights would not be able to turn on at all.
There is probably a 6th gens sticky about what features were options on some trim levels and standard on others. I am not familiar with the new trim levels after they went away from GXE/SE/GLE. Check to see if a SL has xenons or not.
If you have xenons, and no ballasts, chances are at some point they were swapped for aftermarket ones. Do you see any square boxes zip-tied near the ehadlights? They would generally be about the size of two decks of cards, and have a two-pin connector as well as a thick round black cable coming out.
01-19-2010, 10:27 AM
#21
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First of all, thanks for all your help Nalc
According to Yahoo autos, an 07 maxima SL will come with Xenons standard. So Im pretty sure my car has xenons now. Im gonna take a second look to see if I find what you mentioned above. This is my driver's side headlight so do you know if I can access this ballast by removing the air box instead of having to remove the entire bumber? I saw some factory ballasts on evay for like $50, now its just the installation Im worried about.
I noticed when the light goes out, if I turn them off and on again it will work again for another while, hope its not some bad ground or something. Do you know of any basics (grounding) I should check before diving into the ballasts?
According to Yahoo autos, an 07 maxima SL will come with Xenons standard. So Im pretty sure my car has xenons now. Im gonna take a second look to see if I find what you mentioned above. This is my driver's side headlight so do you know if I can access this ballast by removing the air box instead of having to remove the entire bumber? I saw some factory ballasts on evay for like $50, now its just the installation Im worried about.
I noticed when the light goes out, if I turn them off and on again it will work again for another while, hope its not some bad ground or something. Do you know of any basics (grounding) I should check before diving into the ballasts?
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