wtf8269

Like the title says, I have a bad ballast and rather than spending the money on a new OEM ballast I'm considering retrofitting some Morimoto ballasts. My question is, am I able to do this and still retain of the bi-xenon shutter? IIRC doesn't the wiring for this high beam actuator/motor run directly from OEM ballast?

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

Yes you just need to splice the right wiring, and split the grounds.

wtf8269

Do the OEM ballasts need to be left in place in order to do this?

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

Does your OEM headlight have a hole for the ballast? show me a picture and I can tell you want to do. I retrofit all the time.

lsimmons

^The ballast actually have nothing to do with the shutter for the high beams. Yes you can take out the old ballast and just replace with the Morimotos. The wiring input on the Morimotos is a little different than stock. You can either just splice or buy some pig tails online. I got mine from the retrofitsource. Once you get everything apart you will see it is not too hard. Also you could consider going with a 55w ballast and bulb if you want the brightest possible light. Our projector bowls are big enough to dissipate any extra heat created by 55w bulbs.

wtf8269

I have some Morimoto Five5's and 5000K D2S bulbs laying around from a retrofit I had in my previous car. Mind pointing me in the direction of the pig tails you're talking about?

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

First of all are you certain it's a ballast issue and not an igniter issue? Igniters are cheap to replace and you get o keep your OEM. Not to mention it would be plug and play. Most people who think their ballasts are gone end up finding out it was just their ignitor (which is part of the ballast but sold separately).

wtf8269

Igniters are $169, that's $14 more than a new ballast. I am not sure if it's the ballast or the igniter though. [rant]I'm trying to take my bumper cover off as few times as possible because the screws and clips seem to be getting weaker and weaker. I've had it off 3-4 times already since getting the car last February. It's such a pain to work on the headlights on this car. My last car all I had to do was pull two clips and a couple plugs and I could have the headlight out in maybe 30 seconds.[/rant]

I need to make my mind up what I want to do fast though because I start 19 credit hours (4th year BSME) next week. :/

csmeance

Take the bumper off one last time and swap the parts from side to side to figure out what the problem is! Your a mechanical engineer! Granted it's an EE's job since it has current running through it but you should be able to figure it out

While you have the bumper off take the initiative and buy new clips/pins for the bumper so it'll be held on properly. If need be, drive without your front bumper for a few days!

19 credits as a BSME? Trying to squeeze in all of the last courses before graduation? Well either way, good luck with your courses and good luck on your senior design project

ArthurL

iTrader: (4)

Yeah it might be the ignitor? Try swapping ignitors and see if that's your issue. The 3rd Gen TL's share the same ignitors/ballasts as the Mazda 3 and S2000 (I believe but only certain years though) so try those forums.

You can also try PM'ing vendors that work on headlights (AckTL05? JnC?) and see if they have any ballasts or ignitors laying around.

Good luck.

lsimmons

^I would check igniters first.... But here is the link to contact Theretrofitsource, the guys name is Andrew. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/contact_us.php
They were $5 for a pair. They are pig tails to make the morimoto ballast plug and play with the stock harness.

wtf8269

Thanks for the replies, guys, but I've decided to continue with retrofitting the 5Five's. After poking around in the engine bay tonight I realized how easy it would be. Also I couldn't find any information about our OE ballasts being potted, and I'm thinking moisture could have killed it. The headlight that is out had been fogging up if I took it through car washes. I had been meaning to seal it back up but never got around to it. Needless to say I will be fixing that leak even though the 5Five's have far superior weather resistance.

Like I said I was using the 5Five's in a TSX retrofit already and never had a problem with heat so I trust things will be fine here too. I had been missing the brightness that the 5Five's had in my old car so I'm looking forward to getting that back.

Also looked in to what clips and fasteners I need to replace and they all seem like parts the dealership should have. So I'll be picking that stuff up and swapping ballasts in the next few days.

Not quite, I missed a 2 credit class over the summer due to a schedule conflict so I decided to squeeze it in here. No senior design project yet. It's a five year program at my university. I'll be finishing up my second (of three) co-op semesters tomorrow. Thanks though!