Replacing Gran Turismo Headlight Ballast

Statrue

New Member
Messages
4
Driving through rain storm and got "Adaptive Light Failure". Now I have no drivers side (U.S.) headlights. I checked fuses (all were good), I hear the relay engaging, I changed the bulb. Still no headlight. I am moving to the headlight ballast. Has anyone on the site replaced the ballast? If so, can you post the procedure? Thanks in advance.
 

AaronE

Junior Member
Messages
156
technically trivial, just a lot of tight spots. remove the wheel, the front wheel well splash guard (wheelhouse), there's a connector (or two depending on which side of the car) on the back of the headlight, and three hard to get to bolts, then the headlight slide back through the wheel well.

the actual ballast/ecu is on the bottom, three simple torx screws and it just pulls off.

the problem is, you have water getting into your headlight, and due to the terrible engineering, funnels DIRECTLY into the ballast. there's even a rubber seal to keep it from going anywhere EXCEPT into the ballast.

I even drilled weep holes into mine, but it still filled up the very next rain...
 

Statrue

New Member
Messages
4
Thanks for the reply AaronE. I was hoping it would not require removing the bumper. I took off the wheel well splash guard last night, but not the wheel. I will remove the wheel today to gain better access.
 

Statrue

New Member
Messages
4
Removed Headlight today to get to ballast. AaronE, you were right. I attached a couple of pics to depict the corrosion.
 

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AaronE

Junior Member
Messages
156
but isn't that nice red rubber gasket so good at containing the water INSIDE the ballast?

if it's just the connector that's corroded, you might be able to just clean it. if you've got water in the ballast though, you're going to have to make sure to seal the leak in the light first. mine was completely filled -- poured a couple shots out of it.
 

Thatch

Member
Messages
232
Trying to not **** on your bonfire, (but just a note) I once replaced the ballast with a new one and:
  • the water ingress continued, blowing the ballast again,
  • the new ballasts were not 'coded' to the headlight, so 'adaptive' feature never worked again, and warning light was always on.

Eventually just replaced headlight.

Hope you have better luck/results!
 

Statrue

New Member
Messages
4
Ordered and received new ballast for headlight. Before installing decided to clean all the corrosion from the light fixture, the plugs and the old ballast. Installed old unit and it all worked. Adaptive light failure alarm went away and all appears to function as normal. I will monitor for a few weeks before declaring it resolved. Thanks for all the input..
 

Mancserati

Member
Messages
118
the problem is, you have water getting into your headlight, and due to the terrible engineering, funnels DIRECTLY into the ballast. there's even a rubber seal to keep it from going anywhere EXCEPT into the ballast.
Is this something we all have to look forward to sooner or later, or are there different designs on different models?
 

AaronE

Junior Member
Messages
156
Is this something we all have to look forward to sooner or later, or are there different designs on different models?

they're all the same flaw, even through the many cosmetic changes. it's probably relatively rare that water works its way into the headlight housing, but if it does... it's inevitably going to end up in the ballast.

to the OP -- that's awesome that cleaning it fixed it!!