Hi,

I know there is a bunch of discussions going from Halogen to Xenon, but I need to do the opposite. I'm planning to bring my baby to Europe, and there is a headlight washer requirement over there. Talking to my dealer he expected to have to replace the whole headlight insert and guessed at $900 for the whole thing.

Anybody have any ideas/experience? Preferrably I'd like to be able to reverse the operation and put the HIDs back in after getting the car approved

/Elak

 

You want to swap you Xenon (HID) headlights for halogen, to avoid adding the headlight washers (required in europe on all HID cars).

I would think youll run into the same problem as people who want to do a swap from halogen to xenon using OEM parts, there are a lot of sensors, for the level feature.

I would say the cheap/easy solution would be to put in halogen bulbs and wire around the ballast/ignitor, just give it the 12v going into the ballast, disconect it and wire it up to the new halogen bulb.....later you can pull out all that extra crap.

 

wouldn't it be cheaper getting the washer system rigged? Get the assembly from a canada spec RX8 (wrecked perhaps) then get the wiring done. You could have it actuated via an additional switch vs. factory wiring. I know that 310 Motors put headlight wipers on that Burberry Navigator in "Johnson's Family Vacation"

 

When i bought my JDM the used car dealer wired it up with normal bulbs just to get it throught the SVA, then (apparently) forgt to put the HIDs back in. Today i finally managed to get him to give me a pair of HID's (as the lights were useless the way he rigged them up) and they dont work. (Bulbs work fine as he took them out of another car that worked)

I'm guessing they un plugged something when they rigged it with normal bulbs. Any idea what i need to do to get them working again?

 

I'd guess the ballast was disconnected and/or bypassed. The ballast provides an initial blast of high voltage to strike the arc inside the HID; something like 25,000 volts. If I were you I'd get the workshop manual and know what you're about before messing with it. Or better yet, the dealer should be dealing with it since they did the initial rigging.

 

I'd think the cheapest/easiest solution would be to install the headlight washers.

On the other hand, the HID is nowhere near as wonderful as everyone seems to think. They have some glaring weaknesses in terms of *seeing*. If cost/time/hassle weren't an issue I'd definitely go with a good set of halogen lights.

 

Maybe this will help you out... there was a thread that had a link to the service manual https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-aftermarket-performance-modifications-23/rx8-service-manual-71793/ it is actually the Euro/Canadian spec and has info about the headlight washers, lots of little pieces needed to make it work and not sure if our cars are equipped to accept it. Personally I would want to figure out a way to add the washers and keep the Xenon, they are much better than Halogen and having done a little driving in the UK, it gets dark out in the country and I would much rather have the brighter better Xenon lighting my way. Up to you, but there must be a way to either add it, or get around the requirement, as the car was not originally sold and will be imported into the region. Whatever you decide good luck, I can only imagine how much fun it will be to go flying around those roundabouts in an 8!

 

Based on the service manual, I looked at what it would take to add in the head lamp washers..

I came to the conclusion:

1) New bumper (may be able to adapt US bumper, not sure)
2) washer assemblies
3) hose
4) washer pump
5) relay
6) a bit of wire..

AFAIK, if you don't care about the dash display and just want it to work like stock, the relay and pump are all attached to the existing washer pump.

All in all, if you had access to the parts it doesn't look very difficult. I'd love to hear of someone trying to do this. (I havn't pursued it because I'm not sure if I like the look of the RX-8 w/ the headlamp washers!)

 

I think the dealer is on the right track, but wants to use Mazda OEM parts - I would buy the halogens used, from Mazmart maybe.

Use them to pass, then slide your originals back in.

Little bit of wiring/fuse, done.

S

 

I like the way the 8 looks with the headlight washers--its a pretty pointless feature where I am--but like I was saying before, 310 Motoring added headlight washers/wipers to a Navigator. I think the job could be done via a do it your self project.

 

From what I can see, the holes for the washers are just drilled into the bumper. From the state of the hole in mine, it's definitely not pre-moulded with the hole.

I've just had my headlight washers removed on my UK '8 'cause I've had the MS bumper fitted. Would you be interested in buying them? They're in perfect condition - only 3 months old.

 

slight hijack, what are used RX-8 xenon headlights going for?