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In other words the headlamps light up? Keep in mind there is only one bulb for the headlamps, not 2. There is a diverter within the lens that changes the angle of the beam.
Last edited by ILM-NC G37S; Jan 17, 2022 at 04:24 PM.
In other words the headlamps light up? Keep in mind there is only one bulb for the headlamps, not 2. There is a diverter within the lens that changes the angle of the beam.
High beams off High beams on
Forgot to mention that I have aftermarket headlights, the headlight and low beam bulbs are separate. Low beams are 6000k bulbs and when on they come from the projector lenses in the corner. I believe the diverter situation is if you have the package for road following HIDs which I do not have.
Well, damn it man, you should have said this from the beginning....
You are on your own then. Based on the readings from the multimeter, the car-side of the equation is doing exactly what it was designed to do. With regards to that aftermarket stuff, while the operating principles are the same, I/we have no way of knowing how they're setup. Might need to contact the vendor?
For the record, ALL G37's have bi-xenon headlamps whereas one bulb provides the light with a diverter on the lens to direct low or hi beams. AFS refers to a (optional) system where motors moved the lenses left or right according to steering wheel rotation.
Well, damn it man, you should have said this from the beginning....
You are on your own then. Based on the readings from the multimeter, the car-side of the equation is doing exactly what it was designed to do. With regards to that aftermarket stuff, while the operating principles are the same, I/we have no way of knowing how they're setup. Might need to contact the vendor?
Good luck...
Haha yeah I definitely should've brought it up earlier. The aftermarkets are using the OEM ballasts pulled straight from the original headlights, they've been running perfectly for about 2 years up until now. So essentially the way that the low beam bulbs are being powered is identical to how it was with the OEM headlights which is why I believe it to be unrelated to the aftermarket headlights.
Haha yeah I definitely should've brought it up earlier. The aftermarkets are using the OEM ballasts pulled straight from the original headlights, they've been running perfectly for about 2 years up until now. So essentially the way that the low beam bulbs are being powered is identical to how it was with the OEM headlights which is why I believe it to be unrelated to the aftermarket headlights.
I've been using these aftermarkets without issue for 2 years on the OEM ballasts*
Easiest test: run a jumper from the battery to the ballast... If it works, the issue is within the IPDM/er. If it doesn't, then it's either the ballast, ignitor, or bulb.
Being both sides are out, my bet would be a issue upstream (IPDM, switch, etc.).
Last edited by ILM-NC G37S; Jan 17, 2022 at 05:27 PM.
Easiest test: run a jumper from the battery to the ballast... If it works, the issue is within the IPDM/er. If it doesn't, then it's either the ballast, ignitor, or bulb.
Being both sides are out, my bet would be a issue upstream (IPDM, switch, etc.).
I went out and bought some jumper cables, forgive me for inexperience but how would one go about connecting the cables to the ballast? Do I somehow hook them into the plug where the connector usually goes or another part?
I hope you did not go out and buy a pair of battery jumper cables!!! They would be too large for this test. A pair of wires and some alligator clips would be perfect. That said, here is a brief tutorial on "bench testing" the HID ballast / bulb assembly.
You MUST completely remove the vehicle harness connector from the headlamp and move it out of the way (make sure the ballast is plugged in). From there:
you will clip the POSITIVE jumper wire to pin #5, then you will touch the NEGATIVE jumper wire to pin #3. If all is good the bulb should fire right up.
PERFORMING THIS TEST IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO NOT TOUCH ANY OTHER PART OF THE VEHICLE WITH THE JUMPER WIRES!!! I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES. IF YOU ARE UNSURE OR HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT DOING THIS TEST, DON'T!!!!!
Last edited by ILM-NC G37S; Jan 17, 2022 at 09:23 PM.
I hope you did not go out and buy a pair of battery jumper cables!!! They would be too large for this test. A pair of wires and some alligator clips would be perfect. That said, here is a brief tutorial on "bench testing" the HID ballast / bulb assembly.
You MUST completely remove the vehicle harness connector from the headlamp and move it out of the way. From there:
you will clip the POSITIVE jumper wire to pin #5, then you will touch the NEGATIVE jumper wire to pin #3. If all is good the bulb should fire right up.
PERFORMING THIS TEST IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO NOT TOUCH ANY OTHER PART OF THE VEHICLE WITH THE JUMPER WIRES!!! I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES. IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT DOING THIS TEST, DON'T!!!!!
Got the wrong cables haha. Anyways, as I was taking the ballast out of the headlight, just found out that water got into this ballast somehow including the connector for the ignitor so I'm 90% sure the issue is the ballast assembly now.
Well, as we all know: water and electronics do not mix at all...
At least you are narrowing down the issue and should be in good position to repair the problem!
Please update this thread when you get it resolved.
Problem has been solved. I took apart the ballasts and blow dried them to get rid of all water residue and put them back in. Low beams work perfectly now!
Both sides were wet, passenger side more so. I'm honestly surprised they still work. Something interesting to note is before I took apart the ballasts, I unplugged one with the headlights on and checked the connector that goes to the ballast with a multimeter. It was getting 0 power. Seems like the car was intentionally cutting power off from the ballasts. Once I got them all back together without water, they began working.
