Hey all.. I'm new to the z world and just recently purchased an 06 touring. Recently there was a rainstorm here and I had to drive through it, splashing pretty bad on my passenger side, my passenger headlight went out. The bulb itself is fine so I'm guessing it's the ballast. I see one locally for sale from an 05. Will the ballast be okay from the previous model? I tried searching in the forums but I didn't come across any questions like mine. Thanks in advance

 

LiIag, the OEM ballasts have a history of great reliability, but they do have one Achilles heel in that they are not completely waterproof. The design of the plastic inner fender liner typically keeps the ballast dry and happy for the life of the car. If your liner is missing or is broken, the ballast can get soaked and will stop working. If this what has happened in your case, simply bringing the ballast into a nice warm dry place and letting it dry out, will bring it back to life.

According to Courtesy Nissan’s on line parts catalogue the 05 and 06 ballasts are the same part number. However do check this out yourself incase I’ve read the part list wrong.

 

Thanks a lot! I'll give it a shot. Hopefully it'll work and save me some money. Update soon as I get the chance.

 

I drove over 6hrs in rain and headlight cover had fallen off I took ballast off thinking it was trashed took it apart and let it air dry for 2 days and then decided to put it back together and it worked

 

Giving it a shot. I'll let it dry for a day or two. This is what it's coming down to. I checked fuses and bulb so I hope to save $60+ on this!

 

The fender liner is most likely the problem. I had the same thing happen to me everytime it rained, my headlight wouldbt work, I still do not have the liner fixed yet but it hasn't rained much at all in the past mo.th or two so it isn't a problem right now, however you can find the fender liner for right around 20$ New, I found one on carid for 19$.

 

Update: so I took the ballast off and boy when I blew on the opening connection did water splash out. I disconnected and tilted upside down and quite a few drops of water seeped out. Now I gotta let it dry! Could I speed it up with maybe a blow dryer? Sun will only be out for maybe 5hrs or less. Leaving it on my dash since it's pretty hot outside right now.

I have a fender liner but I can see why it's a problem because there are slit openings everywhere -attached photo- are there liners with no openings? Guess I can google that myself lol

 

if you have any of those silica gel packets, put it in a zip lock back with those, they will pull all the moisture out

 

Good idea, unfortunately I don't have any on hand. If only I was still working at this warehouse from last year, it had tons of those. Any other suggestions?

 

non cooked white rice does the same thing

 

Update- it works! Thank goodness.. And thank you my350z, all suggestions and ideas! Now I don't have to drive to PT in the morning worried.

 

Nice. I figured it would fix the problem. I just let mine dry out installed on the car still, of course that was before I knew what the problem was. Now just need to replace the liner lol.

 

I've been running without liners for years no issues with me

 

Do you have halogen or hid though?
Sorry if you have your car posted I'm on mobile so can't see any of that.

 

Hid

 

Where do you live? Maybe you don't see large amounts of rain much? I know mine was fine for a couple of months and then it just kept going out at first thought it was the bulb and it didn't work after I replaced it. Took me awhile to figure out it was cause I didn't have the liner. But since rain season is gone its come back on and I've had 0 problems. I suppose you may just be lucky? Lol

 

Vegas lol but was stationed in sd and it rained more than vegas

 

John I notice you have a long list of performance enhancements on your car. However running without the inner fender liners substantially lowers your car’s aerodynamic efficiency. The air intake in the bumper cover is situated low and to the center (note that the outer portions of the grill are actually blocked by solid black plastic in the back to only harvest the higher pressure air at the center). This provides denser high-pressure air to the engine air intake as well moving air much more efficiently through the radiator. (Without this advantage your rad fans will have to work very hard and will lower aero efficiency.) To make all of this work, the engine compartment must be at a lower pressure than the air coming in the grill. Without the wheel well liners in place, the engine compartment will fill with higher pressure negating all these aero advantages.

The Z has a beautiful slippery shape, however its coefficient of drag numbers are actually poorer than many larger boxy 4-door sedans. The sedans are trying to squeeze out better MPG, the Z is trying to create a zero lift environment by producing some even down force and lowering the undesirable high air pressure that builds under the car at high speeds. Wheel wells are a problem for anybody trying to provide some down-force for their car, as they typically trap high pressure air at speed. The Z’s plastic liners work in conjunction with the other under carriage enhancements to substantially reduce this undesirable pressure.

Since you live in Las Vegas with its dry environment, your ballasts may survive without the fender liners. But think of all the other mayhem you are causing.