Name is John and I joined to gain some knowledge on an S2000 I've owned new since May 2000. The car has not had even one hiccup since I bought it way back then. It has 78K miles and I just noticed that my left side low beam stopped functioning. I had it diagnosed at a Honda dealer and they told me the ballast and bulb were shot and that they only wanted $1300 to repair it!!!!!! I said you got to be kidding me!!!! Needless to say, I did not have them repair it. Research online lead me to considering an LED conversion of the low beams based on consideration of upgrading and not being held hostage on the right side when it went out. I bought an LED conversion kit from an outfit in California. Just got it and all it contained were two LED bulb units with wire harnesses hermetically attached and some sort of electronic device in a small plastic box built into the harness in the middle. The plug looked very similar to a standard 2 prong, 120V lamp cord plug.
NO instructions whatsoever were included with the kit. An email to them with some questions about installing the kit resulted in a simple response saying it is very simple....just clip and snip 2 wires on each side and splice into the harness. I know that the 2 wires they referred to are the +/- 12V line that feeds into the ballast. I know that I have to get into the housing somehow so I am planning to install a specially made rubber grommet thru the bulb access plate to pass the bulb wire through and then tastefully connect the chassis 12V plug to the clipped wire that goes to the ballast so as not to screw up the 12V plugin and retain it's integrity. I know the ballast has to stay in place to maintain the seal of the ballast to the housing (or remove the ballast and machine a plastic plug to plug the rectangle hole to keep out moisture/dirt). Am I on the right pathway here???? Or is there a simpler way??? Anyone who has done this please chime in....
Thanks John.

 

Please don't do this......The s2000 has one of the best HID projectors in a production car, even now. A simple "LED on a stick" will not give you nearly the same performance.

A replacement ballast can be found used off of eBay for cheap, and not much more work is required over what you're already trying to accomplish to get the ballast swapped out. Quality D2S HID bulbs can be found cheap from reputable sources like Morimoto @ theretrofitsource.com. You could have fixed this yourself with another functioning ballast and bulb for less than what you most likely paid for those LEDs. Don't cut up your factory wiring for an inferior solution. Return what you purchased for a refund and buy a used ballast and cheap hid bulb.

 

Headlights are highly sensitive to the placement of the filament and LEDs can't replicate this in reflectors or projectors designed for HIDs. Seems unlikely both the bulb and ballast are bad. Tried swapping side-to-side? These bulbs do wear out but the ballasts seem to last forever -- heck our newest cars are over 10 years old. I've had decent success with fitting HID low beams and LED high beams to another vehicle with reflector housings.

Check eBay as there are probably used parts available that are just as good as what's on the car now.

My "rule" on headlight bulbs is to replace both if one goes bad. Not priced HID bulbs, though.

-- Chuck

 

Well, Kyle, after reading many posts regarding these headlights, you have succeeded in changing my mind. I like to keep things stock and always have with this car.
Thanks for the good steering. I will look on Ebay for another ballast.

 

Chuck,
thanks for the reply. As you see I've followed Kyle's advise and will seek an OEM used replacement. There's a guy on Ebay with a good rating that has one that I will purchase. I really did not like the idea of changing away from stock.

John

 

I think I saw an ap1 ballast in the for sale listings here. Not sure if you are ap1 or ap2.

 

Thanks, RPG.....I already have one coming from a seller on Ebay who has a good rating.