Hey guys, first post.

I have a problem. I bought a used 2010 mazda3 S grand touring about a month ago (great car, obviously) but one of my headlights has gone out. A little backstory is I got it at a honda dealer, but purchased an extended warranty on it so I took it to my local mazda dealer to get the headlight fixed. They told me that due to some condensation in my headlight unit it probably caused the headlight to short out. What they told me is that the unit was put on there aftermarket and isn't the stock unit and the reason it's not covered under the warranty is because it's considered "damage".

Basically they said they have to special order the headlight and replace the unit or I could just have them replace the headlight and hope this one doesn't short out. I wanted to ask a few things. Does anyone know the type of headlight in the 2010 mazda3? It's an HID (I think), but I have no clue as to what kind. Honestly I don't know if they're aftermarket lights or not. And they want to charge me a little over 1,000 to replace the unit and $350 just for the light. Can you tell me if I should be able to get the light without them special ordering it and possibly installing it myself?

Here's some pics for clarification:


Thanks for the help.

 

If its a true GT, it has HID headlamps.
The question is, was the car in an accident before you bought it and were the parts used purchased after market?
I am not aware that any AM company even offers HID headlamps for the 2nd gens, but perhaps they are starting to?

Either way, I would clear the condensation before installing a new bulb, which can run $60-$70 by itself. $350 is ridiculous imo. Yes, they are a PITA, but not $350 worth.

I don't know anyone who has done this yet, but with the 1st gens the lenses can be separated from the body of the by baking it in a preheated oven, on a cookie sheet (to protect it from direct radiant heat) @ 180* F for +/-20mins or until the adhesive becomes piable, prying out any plastic tabs on the lens and pulling the lens off the body of the headlamp.
If this can be done w/yours you could easy clear the moisture away, check it for any cracks and reseal the whole thing. In most cases the original adhesive will still be good to go, so don't worry about needing additional products. Then install your bulb and reinstall it on the car.

Oh and yes, Mazda wants a small fortune for replacement head light assems, especially if they are HID.

 

So are they saying that the headlight housing itself is an aftermarket part or just saying that it isn't the original housing? I'd double check that there aren't Mazda part/no's stamped anywhere on the unit.

Basically if there's condensation in the housing then there's a leak somewhere that's letting moisture in. There are a few ways to dry up the condensation. Like Richard said you can remove the housing from the car and bake the light open. Once open you can clean it up nicely before reassembling. If the leak is in the main rubber seal then heating it up to put the outer lens back on should remelt it and fix that leak. Otherwise the leak is likely from where one of the lamps goes in to it. Another way to dry it up would be to remove all the lamps and blow warm air into it with a hair dryer. This will work, but might leave some drying marks on the inside of the lens.

For the actual HID lamp I would confirm that it's actually the lamp which is fried vs. the ballast. You can test this by swapping the working lamp from the other headlight. If the headlight still doesn't work then the problem isn't the lamp (also move the "non-working" one to the good side). That will at least give you an idea of what needs to be replaced to get it working.

I would absolutely not pay the $300+ for the OEM HID lamps. Go check out HIDplanet and read up on lamps there. You should be able to find a pair of good quality D2S lamps for $70-100. If you have the money for it you can go with the Phillips 81522+ lamps as they're apparently the best on the market.

 

I appreciate the help. Honestly, I'm not really a car guy by any means so taking that off and baking it and then putting it back on is not something I'm comfortable with. I went and bought a new bulb and had it installed, but it still isn't working. The guy said it's not getting power to the headlamp, but there's power getting to the blinker and the other light in there. I have no clue what's wrong. Someone said try calling mazda and see if they can help because he said he found a TSB about my problem, but I'm not sure how reliable the site is. I really don't know what to do other than call mazda or the dealer I got it from and raise hell that this isn't my problem.

FWIW, I too it to mazda the other day and they said it wasn't an original part (not sure why) but the car hasn't been in a wreck or at least the carfax said so. I'll try to go check and see if I can tell what kind it is without having to take it off bc I have no clue how to do that.

 

So the headlight unit doesn't have a mazda tag it has "Koito DS2 VOR" or something like that.