New Guy's headlight out
 

Hey All,

Not sure if I am doing this right but this is my first post....

I bought my 2005 Mazda 3 GT in November, 2010 and one month previous to buying it the Passanger side headlight (HID) was replaced because of flickering. A month ago it started flickering and then two weeks later died completely.

Today I tore it all apart and replaced it with the one that was flickering perviously. I got nothing. Wouldn't turn on. My car was in the mec. shop this weekend for some body work and they took a look at it and couldn't figure it out because it was an "aftermarket light".

What do you think my best action would be in this case? Buy a whole new HID kit (the driver side is flickering as well)?

Thanks!

You must be in Canada as in the US the GT trim wasn't available until '06. If you are then you must have an aftermarket kit as HIDs weren't offered in Canada until I think '07. Also earlier Canadian models used the low beams as the DRL, which tends to do bad things to HIDs. DRL's run the lights at a decreased amount of power to produce a dimmer light. The HID ballasts don't operate well with their power decreased and can lead to flickering and shortened lamp/ballast life.

Now assuming all that's true then there are a couple of things to check. One try swapping the ballast from the working side onto the non-working side, and/or swapping the "non-working" bulbs to the headlight/ballast which does work. This will let you rule out whether the problem is in the bulb itself or in the ballast. It's more likely the ballast. Assuming it is then you really only need to replace the non-working ballast..... that said it might be cheaper and easier to just buy a new HID kit which will have all new parts and will come with a warranty.

Beyond that assuming you do have low beam DRL's then you need to do a DRL bypass (should be a harness you can get from the seller along with a kit) to eliminate the decreased power problems.

Once HIDs were finally offered in Canada Mazda moved the DRL to the high beam to avoid the DRL issues.

Both facts are true but I was told that there are some type of bypass so that there is a constant amount of power when the car runs the DRLs. I don't know much about it though because I didn't install it though.

I'll switch out the ballast in the next couple days to try and find out the problem as well as take a voltage meter to the wires to check if it is an electrical problem. I have already checked the fuze and it is fine.

Thanks a lot for the help! I really appreciate it!

I'll update what ends up happening soon!

Well if you don't have the DRL bypass then you should certainly get one. I know some places like xenon expert will include a DRL bypass DIY guide along with some of their kits. Something to look into.

Interested to see how the ballast swap turns out.

It was indeed the Ballast. I am also having a flicker problem with the one light I do have working.

Now I have looked up many Xenon Light replacements. This is the best one I have found with a 5 year warranty.

http://www.xenonsupply.com/H7-Kits/P...ypage.tpl.html

Is there anyone that has experience with this company or do you have any other suggestions on where I should purchase a new kit. (I am not sure where the previous owner bought this kit so I am just going to replace the whole thing, might as well)