thekevinwright

Hey guys, so I bought a 2010 Maxima SV in December. Looking at a couple upgrades. First up, headlights and tail lights. I was wondering what would need to be taken into consideration when replacing them with an aftermarket assembly. I saw a couple posts and youtube videos about removing the bumper. I'm not too confident in doing that, but I need to reach that bottom clip on the headlights. Do I absolutely need to remove the bumper, or could I just go to a Nissan dealer .


Obviously, dealer plate isn't on them anymore. But this is my beauty!

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on your car. Yes you have to remove the bumper because there will be bolts that are only accessible after bumper removal. It's not hard are you think.

thekevinwright

Thank you for this. I guess that dropping the bumper is just a new concept to me (24 year old), since I owned older cars that I didn't have to drop the bumper for. Do you have a video of HID's as well? Do you also have a recommendation on LED's for turn signals, or just stay with the bulbs? I'm REALLY curious about doing this.

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

The HID video will just be a bulb replacement thats all really, just don't touch the bulb itself the oils from your finger can reduce the life of the bulb. About the LED bulbs that is something that is up to you honestly. The only reason I didn't goto with LED bulbs is because I didn't want to take the time to remove the bumper just to put in fancy bulbs.
It's ridiculous that the bumper have to be removed for this now. I think its something the manufactures are doing to force you into their dealerships to change a simple item.
I had to remove my bumper on my 07' a couple of weeks ago unbolt it from the car just to replace the bulbs. I remember when this use to take 5 mins.. ugh.

So don't be nervous, it's a step close to really KNOWING your car and when something goes wrong you can save yourself a lot of time and money going to a dealer or an Indy (Independent mech).
But if you are going to change your turning light bulbs look into switchbacks.. They are signal bulbs that are white in color but when when the singles and hazards are activated they blink orange. So do know, some if not all states require parking(signal) lights to be orange at all times.

thekevinwright

thanks. I was just planning on changing the turn signal into LED's to save life and whatnot. Do I need some kind of HID ballast? or is that Xenon bulb instead?

I agree with you there. I would like to avoid going to the dealer as much as possible. But when it comes to things like brakes, I'll definitely take that **** to them lol.

EDIT: That things about the switchbacks just registered in my head lol. What're switchback lights?

DOUBLE EDIT: Sorry, I'm tired tonight. Okay, I understand. What're the bulb sizes?

Les7311

Darnittt!!

My 2011 maxima driver side HID went out (don't know how long now since I been running both with the fogs).

Will the 2005 HID bulb work same as the 2011? I have a spare one somewhere around

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

As long the are H11's HID bulbs it will work. Now it will depend if it is the same color..4500k 5k 6500 whatever.. If you don't know that you may end up with two different colors. I would make sure they are the same because you don't want to remove that bumper for no reason.


H11 XB35

thekevinwright

so you'd want fog lights that are a little softer on the k's?

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Well it depends what you are going for. If you are looking for functionality then you want 3k (Yellow), or an Yellow overlay tint. It's started that yellow fogs provides better visibility.
Anything after that is just for looks so it's your pick. A lot of people tend to go for H.I.D's for what reasons I don't know. If it's not a projector style foglight I feel that HID's in Fogs are pointless. People are always chasing the brighter the better idea. But that's just IMO.

thekevinwright

Im not into the modding game yet, but I do agree with you. Fogs for me would have to have functionality, especially now that thick fog is rolling through LA.

For headlights, anything over 8k (possibly 10) is basically useless right? For the headlights?

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

I think 8k's are purple and that is for looks IMO...

Here is the lightbulb list i took from another thread. For the hell of me i couldn't get my bulbs right.

thekevinwright

Dunno how to quote the quote within the quote yet, but i read the sizes. Going with these sizes, I wont blow a fuse or anything? I read about how someone replaced all their interiors with LEDs and blew a couple fuses

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

No clue, i honestly don't mess with my lights much at all. Since i've stop rebuilding motors and turboing SE-R Sentras hence my "SR20Power" name, I don't mod much. I tend to just do up-keep.
That said my 07' max which I got from my father he did some chit to the Fogs and it's a cluster Fuc now, and i have to find a warm day here in GA to take the time to remove the bumper find my multimeter and the lighting diagram and fix it. BTW, he had a HID system in there again, no clue why outside "I want REALLLY REALLY bright lights in the front of my car"

The fuse blowing could be do to a resistance thing. If the resistance in all the bulbs change to a lower Ohm then POP!! goes the fuse. That's just a guess at best.

thekevinwright

Regardless, you've helped me immensely, SR. I am feeling a tad bit more confident about working on my car from dropping the bumper to looking at my lights. That's funny though, what your father said.

Speaking of upkeep, my oil change maintenance thing came up today. Is there some oil you recommend? How about an oil filter? Will a regular one be okay? I was looking at oil (just some morning reading while eating my breakfast), and maybe it'd be better to go with a little higher performance (not 5.1, but maybe 4 if it's a good recommendation)

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Well, my parents live in NYC and if anyone on here reading this is from or living in NYC they know people LOVE lights on their cars, you will see a lot of those stupid windshield sprayer lights, purple headlights you name it.

As for oil I have NO clue, I always take it to my local Nissan dealer because they always have deals and I get records of my service since my car is under CPO.
But recently in the Offtopic section i posted Syn oil rebate deals you can try to get on, it was like $12 for 5 quarts of Full Syn oil. I was yelled at for posting it in multiple places
To add, I even take my 07' Maxima because it typically cost is around $20 for an oil change, I can't go into many parts stores and pay that little for oil and filter and I have to do it myself to boot.

But to tell you what I use to do I was using conventional oil. Synthetic oil is nothing but an additive they add to "regular" oil to give it that "performance". Yes, I used a lot of quotes on that one. I'm not saying Syn don't have it place but for A LOT of people it gives them a peace of mind.
I've NEVER read anywhere that Syn oils give better life or performance. Only regular oil changed can do that. Way back in the days conventional oil changes used to be from 5k to 10k miles...What happened that maked it every 3k?? Did the technology get worse?????? Nope, they more they make you change oil the more money they make. I ranted sorry!!...
As long as oil changes are a great price at my local Nissan dealership I will keep taking it there. I would suggest you look what it would cost for conventional oil and filter at your local parts store and time for you to do it, if the cost of the oil and filter by itself cost more than the dealer then there you go IMO.

Granted, I have NO clue what quality oil is going into your motor when they change it, I always assume it's a grade above cooking oil

thekevinwright

So I don't actually have to change it every 3k? Damn, that's nice.

Yeah, I'm going to follow suit with you; taking my car to a Nissan Dealership. Since my car is one of the newer models, I don't feel comfortable taking it to an Indy. Not yet, anyway.

Is your under hood clean? The previous owner didn't clean it, so it's not clean. Do you know how I could clean it? Maybe hit it with the degreaser, then some water?

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

thekevinwright

Thanks for the response, SR. You're the man. I took a look under the hood today after work and realized that it was pretty clean from a superficial standpoint. But I'll take a look at all the nooks and crannies later. It's not at 100k miles yet, so I guess it'd still be relatively clean.

But I do want to thank you though, because I took a look at the bumper today while inspecting under the hood and figured out that it is, in fact, quite simple to remove the bumper. Going off the video, I was able to find the engine cover (that piece of plastic in the front), with the two screws with the black pieces. I didn't look for the other two screws near the wheel well, but I'll do that in the future.

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on taking that step forward. I've never had to remove the bumper from my 11' I only did it in my 07'. It's not hard at all just a lot of screws and easier if you can jack up the car. I have an Ingersoll rand 3/8 electric impact gun that makes the job extremely quick.

BlackMaximus04

I wouldn't go over 8k. Anything over that you won't be able to see anything. 8k gives you a darker blueish than the 6k's. I have 8k's on mine & I can see completely fine with no issues. It really depends on what you like. Most folks go with the standard 6k that comes on cars now which is more white than blue.

BlackMaximus04

You can change the headlight bulbs & turn signals very easy without removing your bumper. You can either turn your wheels inward or remove the wheel (which I suggest for more moving space) & just remove the 3 screws under the bumper & remove the pins from the splash guard. Once you pull it back you can see the sockets.

As far as the HID kits you'll need a HID capacitor. You can find them on ebay for about 5-10 dollars. The capacitors connect directly into the OEM socket & you plug it right into the HID kit. The capacitor keeps the HID's from flicking & it also keeps the HID's from pulling power from your battery. Once you install them you should have no issues.

As far as the LED turn signals it's a great route. The main thing is you have to make sure the front bulbs are 3157CK if not the bulbs won't light up properly. Our front turn signals have a special connector inside the socket & if the bulb doesn't match up with the socket properly it won't light up correct. So that's the main importance. The rear turn signals you should have no issues with the 7440A bulbs. Now when using the LED's or switchbacks you'll need to add resistors to it so that they won't hyper flash (meaning blink extremely fast) unless that's your preference.

Here's a video of my LED switchbacks.
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...2FIMG_1567.mp4

SR20Power

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for chiming you obviously done this before.. does that switch back problem goes for the 07' as well?

BlackMaximus04

Yes it does. Any LED turn signals you add whether switchbacks or not you'll need resistors to stop hyper flashing.

thekevinwright

How about removing the tail lights? I don't actually see any videos about that. Do I just pull the lining back for that?

BlackMaximus04

Yes with those they are very tricky & you have to be very careful removing them cause the wrong pull on them you can easily crack or break the end of the tail light since its very thin.

Just pull back the lining inside the truck. You should see 2 screws with washers holding it in place & a big tab. You'll need a 10mm socket I believe to remove the screws. Once you remove the screws take a rubber mallet & lightly tap the tab a couple of times to loosen the light from the car. Once its loose slowly remove it from the car. As I stated be careful when removing cause the tip of the tail can break easily since it slides inside a slot on the car. Once you have it removed its just plug & play & placing the light back on.

I'll try to get pics for you today to show you what I'm referring to.

thekevinwright

Cool. Thanks for that. California regulation States that the turn signals must be amber at all times. Would I be able to get LEDs that aren't switchbacks?

BlackMaximus04

I'd double check on that if I were you, I have a friend who lives in Cali & he has switchbacks as well as the LED strips that you see on the Audi's etc. I'm almost sure the turn signal has to be white or amber & its the side markers that have to amber at all times meaning you can't have clear lenses at all. He's had his switchbacks for years with no problems.

But to answer your question you can definitely find LED turn signals that are amber only.