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Headlight Issue - FIXED

Posted: 17 Feb 2015 22:17
by Russ Kellermann
Hizit Lads,

Went up the mountain track behind my house yesterday, patrol ran like a beauty in Low range with no worries whatsoever, however, upon arrival back at my house, i noticed my DRIVERS SIDE HEADLAMP and adjacent PARK LAMP (small lamp below the indicator) were not working.

I popped the bonnet and wiggled the Headlamp connector on the back and when i pushed it in a little more it came back on. The park lamp remained off, ..... possibly a fuse or bulb i suspect.

BUT!..... whilst the light was working, i opened it up this afternoon to get to the root of the issues. I put the HEADLAMP on and all seemed fine. However, i could smell plastic burning..

Below are the photos of the connector , which consists of 3 flat pins,.. One of which was ripped off the back of the headlight whilst trying to disconnect the connector... now what?!

Questions.

What do i do to fix this issue?
Do i need an entire new headlamp?
Can i replace this item, but then how does one remedy the 3rd pin etc etc....

Electrics is my weak point,... so annoyed and confused now...

Any advice appreciated.

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 06:10
by AndriesS
Those are standard connection for H4 headlights and a decent auto electrical place should stock replacements, some might give you the connector block and loose brass thingies to solder / crimp or some might give one with short wires that you need to wire in/solder in.

however you still need to find the cause. what wattage lights are fitted , are extra spots wired in and is the circuit properly fused?

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 06:39
by Peter Connan
It could just be due to a bad connection. If it's arcing, it heats up a lot more than normal.

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 07:15
by Tinus lotz
That is what we call a hot connection in electric terms...the connector on the globe went in between the casing and the push in lug causing lost of contact melting the connection. .....just get a new connector and solder it in ....all connections must be air tight . If you get air between the metal starts oxidation and that makes hot connections . No biggy just replace the plug .

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 08:13
by Herrie
I believe that the connector does not do proper contact - I have the same problem with my remote box and had to replace the 4 connectors because it also melted the plastic.

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 08:58
by Russ Kellermann
Thanks for the replies guys. Great information, really appreciate that.

Gonna have to get a new globe as well as the current one is now damaged. No biggie tho i guess.

It also looks like poor connection due to dust... any advice of a electrical connection spray/grease i could use in future?

Where should i be looking for the globe ? suburban spares/autozone etc?... or is this a Nissan thing.
Where should i be looking for the connector? Auto electricians spot? or a per above?

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 09:01
by rvanrooyen
Had the same problem a while back, replaced it with connectors sourced from Midas. (It was just orange in colour) It was a bit difficult to connect the wires, having big hands. Will probably be easier if one can remove the head light first...My left back light connector is giving problems at the moment, removed it last night. Will have to find a place selling this connector, may have to go to Nissan and see what it cost?

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 10:15
by ricster
Russ... Mine did exactly the same thing. It melted almost identically. I replaced the whole conector ( My new one is yellow in colour ). I monitored the temp of the plug after fitting it to see if it was a bad connection between globe contact plate and wiring contact, or if there was a bigger problem. With the new connector remaining perfectly cool, I was satisfied that the excessive heat and subsequent melting was caused by the connection itself over time becoming "corroded" and now every 2nd or 3rd service I simply unplug and re-plug the connector to ensure there is good metal to metal contact. Since then all is well under the Iron Maidens bonnet and nothing is getting hot :redface: :redface: ....... :rolling: :rolling: :rolling:

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 11:57
by Russ Kellermann
Awesome guys , Thanks.

Ricster thanks for giving an account of your similar issue,... seems to be exactly what happend.

Gonna go sort this over the next 2 days....

Patrol forum Rules! :salute:

Re: Headlight Issue - Risk of fire...... Please help.

Posted: 18 Feb 2015 12:06
by AndriesS
You can get the bulb at autozone , midas etc, I like to replace in pairs .

As for the connector, I think Sparxx has been metioned as auto electric supplier down in CT and they shoudl have bulbs as well. You are looking for H4 tyoically 55/60W.