Is anyone successfully using an after market ballast with the oem ignitor?

 

The OEM ignitor is not compatible with any after market HID kits. When I had one of my headlights running on an after market ballast I had it tapped into the power source for the OEM ballast and that's it. An after market unit has its own ignitor.

 

that was my other concern how did you tap into the power source?

 

I cut off the stock plug with a few inches of wire and connected the AM ballast power wires to the stock wire by use of a coupler. I stuck the plugs from the AM ballast's power wires into one end of the coupler and the stock wires into the other end. I can't remember if I'm using the right term but it's just one of those little plastic wire connectors.

 

Thats not true they sell aftermarket ballast on ebay that will work for dr2 bulbs there about 50 bucks...but you have to cut a few wires...i was thinking about getting one since my light is on its way out lol

 

i nver got your guages man. what happened?

 

What about my instructions on how to connect the AM ballast to our headlight power source is false? I've already gone through this I know how it works. I went back to OEM after six months. They sell AM HID kits that work with D2R bulb setups but ARE NOT made specifically to connect directly to the plug of our cars. I looked. Unless you can find me one that has a plug from the ballast that would fit in the stock headlight power plug on our cars you're the one that's wrong.

 

apparently UPS lost it. they are trying to find it. once they reimburse me ill just buy another set

 

UPS has been losing a lot of things lately, they lost my 6MT ECU that i sold to marucci

 

ok well if you go on ebay and type in acura ballast there will be a bunch of cheesy aftermarket ballast. If you keep looking you find ONE company that makes an aftermarket replacement to fit oem spec.

 

D2S/D2R Replacement Ballast for OEM HID





Replacement D2 Ballast for D2R/D2S HID systems - The low cost alternative of OEM ballasts! For Replacement of Hella or Philips Ballast - CE Certified. Ballast is matched with Hella's ballast, and OEM D2S/D2R bulbs can be used on this ballast without any cutting. 35W Highest quality Longer life Easy to installation CE Approved

Attention Customer:
Re-wiring maybe required to power the ballast. Required on cars which do not have this type of connector shown on the left. Yes this means cutting the factory connector. This means the power plug to our ballast is different than your factory ballast. An easy modification. Save yourself $ by just cutting or splicing into two wires.
Package contents: One D2S/D2R Ballast + all wiring
Warranty: 12 Months High quality replacement part at fraction of cost of dealers. "May require re-wiring to ballast" Fits most european cars with D2S/D2R Ballast. Please compare your ballast in your vehicle with this item. If the input connection looks the same, these will work without any wiring. Otherwise, you will need to cut your factory connector leading to your ballast- Connect the Positive and Negative to the Red/Black wires of the input wire of this ballast. Save $$ over OEM ballasts sold at

 

I wouldn't cut up the factory ignitor. It'd be better off to just buy a whole new aftermarket D2R HID kit for $60 or so.

 

Your not, didnt you read it? It comes with a new ignitor that plugs right in to the stock headlight!!!

 

That looks exactly like the shit I bought. It's all the same, it's all universal. They show that plug, but the power wires to the ballast don't have a plug that fits into the stock power source. Also, why would this be included in the ad if it was plug and play:

"Re-wiring maybe required to power the ballast. Required on cars which do not have this type of connector shown on the left. Yes this means cutting the factory connector. This means the power plug to our ballast is different than your factory ballast. An easy modification. Save yourself $ by just cutting or splicing into two wires."

 

You cannot plug that universal two connector on the aftermarket ignitor into our factory ballasts. Only way is what megalodon says, which is to cut stuff up.

 

i just bought a whole new aftermarket kit for like 80 bucks with 5k bulbs d2r/d2s, drilled a hole in the headlight unit and fed the wire in with the new igniter. then zip tied the new water proof ballast to the headlight, sealed up the hole with silicon. cut the old wiring harness off and hard wired the new ballast into the +12 volts that used to control the old ballast. works, for like a year now. iv been meaning to write up a diy with pics.

 

itd be lovely if you could show how you wired it to the harness.

the reason i ask about the ignitor is have an aftermaket ballst and an extra oem ignitor sitting around. if i could some how make it work id be all set.

 

I'm using this kit off ebay, and has worked perfectly. Stock ignitor(sp?) worked perfectly. light output is a lot more (compared to the oem on other headlight)

 

im almost 100% sure you wont be able to get the oem igniter to work with any old aftermarket ballast, they are just not compatible electrically, unless they are built to be compatible. most aftermarket kits have the ballast and igniter as one whole unit, in that you cant detach the igniter without cutting wires. and i think if you tried to hook it up the aftermarket ballast it might damage or not even work with the ignitor due to digital compatibly issues. The ballast and igniter must communicate with each other to properly ignite the bulb and warm it up.

i was thinking the same thing you are when my ballast died, cus i just bought brand new bulbs and i wanted to be able to still use them with my aftermaret kit and the only way to do that is with the oem igniter, but there was no way that was going to work with the kit i bought, i sold the bulbs and used the money to pay for new kit with bulbs.

 

i figured thats what youd say. btw if you guys want good quality HID sets check out ddmtuning.com

 

you dont plug the ignitor into the factory ballast. Didnt you see it comes with a ballast? you plug there ignitor into THERE ballast...

 

Everyone understands this already, what we're trying to say is that the ENTIRE after market setup can only be hardwired to the stock power source.

Also it's their, not there when referring to a person's item. Just for future reference

 

Ok this kit that i posted is not like ALL the other kits that you have seen on ebay. The aftermarket HID kits on ebay DO NOT WORK on the TL. This the a replacment ballast which olny come with ONE ballast. Yeah there is cutting and splice two wires thats it...but the other kits wont work at all unless major mod is done

 

FYI I know my grammar I just write most of this stuff from my cell phone.

 

Okay this is my final post in this thread cause after I say this there is nothing more that I feel needs to be said on my behalf.

ANY aftermarket D2C/D2R HID kit will work with the TL. It's all universal and works with any car. That is why it's cheaply made and cheap to buy. They usually do the trick but time to warm up and output are not as great as OEM I found.

I had many options when purchasing an AM HID kit for my car, it doesn't matter who you buy it from it's all the same. Best bet is to find those slim "digital" ballasts that at least save some space and look a little more well put together.

Also, from what I understood from your initial posts you claimed that this one particular kit was direct plug and play without ANY modifications necessary, which it isn't. That was my point this whole time. No one makes an AM HID kit that's specifically for the TL that allows the ballast's power wires to plug DIRECTLY into the stock plug (similar to how the OEM ballast plugs right into the stock power source).

 

good luck to all of you aftermarket ballast users. i just couldnt get my self to cut the stock harness. i just bought an OEM ballast

 

yea your right any aftermarker ballast will mean some cutting but just the two wires. Its better than paying a few hundred bucks imo...sorry didnt mean to sound like a jackass

 

It's cool man, I know you weren't trying to sound like a jackass and I'm sorry if I did as well. I simply wanted to make sure that everyone reading this is clear on how it all works. When I went back to OEM (200 bucks off ebay, new), I simply reatached the stock plug (with about 2-3 inches of wire) back to the stock power source wires. Easy to do and no problems whatsoever.

 

agreed, go aftermarket if you dont mind cutting wires. you will save a lot of money.

and the others are correct, there is no aftermarket ballast that just plugs and plays.

a lot of these newer aftermarket kits are 100% water proof, water is what kills the oem ballast. so no worries there if you go aftermarket.

 

http://www.carhidkits.com/myfiles/D2...astinstall.pdf




this link is for the people who may be intrested in using an aftermarket ballast to replace the oem...

 

I've read through this a few times but since I am not too savvy I am still not fully understanding the conflict here. I don't say any other threads regarding HID kits referencing the need for modification of wires or the headlight assembly. Is this just understood and part of the instructions or are you guys discussing something that is exclusive to replacing bulbs without using a kit? Thanks

 

aftermarket bulbs on stock setup - plug and play no sweat

HID ballast kits: most require cutting the OE power wires at/near the socket
and splicing in the new ballast power leads, easy DIY

the controller/capacitor/connector wire from ballast to bulb is needed with aftermarket kit, and includes the needed one.

the new power wire to bulb is slightly larger diameter and requires minor mod/enlargment of the current wiring hole in housing --to allow fitment

does that help you?
also ck more current light threads on the main list or problems and fixes section for lots more info
the headlight lens moisture= ballast death prob has been happening more in the last year so more of us using kits to solve the prob

 

Isn't it just one of those things that becomes clear when you jump in and just do it? Hard to describe w/ words but not that difficult to accomplish when it's in front of you.

 

totally
monkey look , monkey do!

I suggest long zip tie/zip tie train, to secure ballast to frame rail, and attach a ground wire from ballast body to frame (comes in kit)
push the extra wiring length under the housing as you slide it back in place on the car

 

Whats the purpose of grounding the ballasts? I am using the relay and I have grounded the relays to the chassis and my ballast is against the metal frame of the car. Is it still necessary?

 

Thanks, it does help. I'm still a little confused but simply because I'm so unfamiliar with this process. Before I had this TL all I had worked on/seen worked on were Ford vehicles. I've changed my spark plugs and done other minor engine work on my TL but this whole HID thing is brand new to me. I've looked at some of the DIYs but since I'm a little clueless, seeing pictures and reading technical terms sometimes just confuses me more.

So if I want to go the simpler route and just change the bulbs themselves, I could still buy a pair of after-market D2Rs and that would be it? I'm not a very handy person anyway so splicing wires and modifying the housing would still be a challenge to me.

My driver-side low beam went out but as far as I know my ballasts and everything else is fine. I don't even really know what a canceller, inverter, igniter, etc. is

 

An inverter/ballast is what gives immediate power surge to your HID light bulbs. (HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE). Its what makes HIDs different from halogen bulbs. And the ignitor is the harness connecting the Bulb to the ballast/inverter.

Luckily I had a spare set of D2R bulbs. When my left headlight went out I popped in the spare bulb and still no light . Had to replace the driver side ballast as it had water damage. Instead of buying an OEM ballasts, which range in price from ($100-400) depending on where you get it from and if its new or used, I purchased aftermarket kit (includes ballast, wiring from stock harness to ballast, 2 new inverters and 2 new light bulbs, and I purchased the addition relay harness) because the WHOLE kit cost me $80 roughly. If you do discover that your ballast is indeed the culprit, I still have my other working OEM ballast for sale.

Honestly splicing wires is not even needed. I used T tap connectors to tap into the + and - on the stock wiring close to the harness. Then simply connected the t tap male connectors to insulated female connectors which are connected to the NEW ballasts included in my kit.

Are you SURE your ballast/inverter is functioning properly? To test, simply put the left bulb into the right housing and put the right bulb in the left housing and see if the problem persists. BUT IF your ballasts are good, just as 04TL said, simply buy D2R bulbs (NOT D2S) and pop them in. Will take 5 minutes at the very most. Just as regular halogens, remember not to touch the glass surface with your bare hands.

 

I just completed my projector retrofit last week so hopefully I can be of some help with the few pictures I took.



This picture shows my original ballast that is located on the bottom of the headlight. Not to be confused with the ignitor which is located inside the rear housing cap behind the D2R bulb. The Matsushita OEM ballast I have is rated at 2000 hours but has actually seen over 5000 hours, probably more but thats a different subject. Talk about OEM quallity.



This is the view from the rear of the headlight. The blue circle is the connection piece between hardwired power from the factory harness into the connector of the OEM ballast. The red circle shows where the routing is from the OEM ballast to the ignitor which is located in the rear cap housing behind the bulb.



Since I decided to go with an aftermarket brand (Morimoto) I knew I either had to cut or splice wires from the hardwired power to the aftermarket ballast. Upon further inspection I figured out how to unclip the original connection piece off the OEM ballast. The purpose of this picture is to know wiring polarity for when I bolt on a new metal clip to the aftermarket power wires. (metal clip as in when I strip the wires for the + and - and crimp on a new connection piece of the aftermarket ballast)



There is a rubber piece that lines the sides that you can pick out and this is what you are left with.



Carefully pull the white plastic clip and you'll have access to the metal clip/pins that can be popped out by the tabs holding them in place.
Insert your new clips/pins off of the aftermarket ballast and double check for your polarity and also make sure you have similar pins that will click in. In reverse order, plug the plastic clip back in and then the rubber liner.
Mount the new ballast to the OEM location and you're done but you'll still have to figure out how to mount the D2R/D2S plug to the bulb and keep it weatherproof. There are ways to use the existing routing hole from the OEM ballast to the OEM ignitor but thats a different thread all together.

Sorry for the long post but I didnt intend on writing a DIY and therefore im missing some quality pictures of how I wired everything. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks to both of you! I am pretty sure it's the bulb as it did the whole fading to pink thing before flickering a few times and going out completely. I suppose I should do the bulb swap to be certain before ordering new bulbs but I was avoiding that since I don't (think) I) have all the parts to take the bumper off but I guess I should get familiar with that process anyway. Thanks a lot, again. I'll probably do the swap and check tonight or tomorrow.

 

i dont kno if its just my luck or what my ballast blows out like eveyr week