My NB Daily Driver - Harbinger

[RotorNutFD3S]

Found a set of headlights that I'd love to get for the car, but probably never will have because of the extreme rarity, made by M-Sky for a Mazda authorized special edition NB1 equipped with KG Works/Yours Sports/S.Saito parts. Some dude on CR.net snatched them up quickly.





Guess I will continue on the hunt for a set of NB2 or MSM assemblies.

[wildfire0310]

well I don't know NB headlights that while, but could you not fake those lights, by taken apart some NB1 lights and painting the insides??

[RotorNutFD3S]

Well yeah, you could do that, probably wouldn't look as good though. I wonder if the factory housings have the provisions for the city lights (did you notice that neat little thing?) or not...

[miata5620]

Those are NICE headlights. How much did they sell for?

As for painting the insides of them i have rarely seen that done on any car that looked good or hold up and not chip/peel over time.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Those are NICE headlights. How much did they sell for?

$325 shipped from Japan (TetsuyaGarage).

As for painting the insides of them i have rarely seen that done on any car that looked good or hold up and not chip/peel over time.

I've seen a few that stayed looking good, but it's all in the prep and method used to paint it. Personally I prefer the OEM tinted plastic.

[miata5620]

Well thanks to you now i found another part that i have to have for my car and its a rare part. Thanks a lot man. LOL

[wildfire0310]

Well yeah, you could do that, probably wouldn't look as good though. I wonder if the factory housings have the provisions for the city lights (did you notice that neat little thing?) or not...

Well based on not knowing the NB1 lights that while, I knew by your one photo that it had an added blub. But unless I saw a side by side photo I wouldn't be able to put my finger on what was different.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Well thanks to you now i found another part that i have to have for my car and its a rare part. Thanks a lot man. LOL

Yeah me too. But it's moreso thanks to the guy that posted them up bragging about them. Apparently that price was a steal too, they typically sell for a lot more.

Well based on not knowing the NB1 lights that while, I knew by your one photo that it had an added blub. But unless I saw a side by side photo I wouldn't be able to put my finger on what was different.

Right. Well most manufacturers leave the provision in the housing, but don't open up the port for the bulb. Guess I'll have to take a look. Might do something temporary with the NB1 lights until I find something else, just to be different. Trying to avoid modifying the bumper for NB2 sets for a while because that will require more paint work.

[miata5620]

Yeah me too. But it's moreso thanks to the guy that posted them up bragging about them. Apparently that price was a steal too, they typically sell for a lot more.

Don't go placing blame on someone else i am not on CR.net so if it wasn't for you i wouldnt have ever seen them. Your fault that now i have to not only spend money on a part but find a rare part. I am kind of surprised you dont see more aftermarket headlights for our cars. Seems like when i had a mustang there were 10 plus different style aftermarket headlights.

[oldgrayfrog]

Oh god I forgot how awesome that vette motor looks in there..

[4sevens.com]

Oh god I forgot how awesome that vette motor looks in there..

Whats more awesome is that the stock hood shuts and you'd never know whats in there until you fire it up

[RotorNutFD3S]

Don't go placing blame on someone else i am not on CR.net so if it wasn't for you i wouldnt have ever seen them. Your fault that now i have to not only spend money on a part but find a rare part. I am kind of surprised you dont see more aftermarket headlights for our cars. Seems like when i had a mustang there were 10 plus different style aftermarket headlights.

Good luck with the search!

I think that most companies believe there's not a market for it. Most people would love 99-00 headlights with projectors, but even the most cost effective conversion would probably cost as much as a used NB2 set, so then the product would only sell to people who don't want to modify things for the NB2 pieces or prefer the looks of the NB1 pieces.

Whats more awesome is that the stock hood shuts and you'd never know whats in there until you fire it up

[RotorNutFD3S]

So the LED lights are fail at the moment. For whatever reason when I turn the lights on the tail light fuse blows and if I press the brakes the brake fuse under the hood blows. The contacts on the LEDs are the same as the contacts on the OEM bulbs, so no issues there. The only thing I can think of is that there is not enough resistance in the system and it's being over-powered/loaded. I contacted V-LEDs to see if they have any documented issues like this, so we'll see if there's a fix.

[Dr.Drew]

Sorry to hear that dude. Write them a scathing note and get them replaced hopefully they just sent you a crap pair with a short in them.

[4sevens.com]

So the LED lights are fail at the moment. For whatever reason when I turn the lights on the tail light fuse blows and if I press the brakes the brake fuse under the hood blows. The contacts on the LEDs are the same as the contacts on the OEM bulbs, so no issues there. The only thing I can think of is that there is not enough resistance in the system and it's being over-powered/loaded. I contacted V-LEDs to see if they have any documented issues like this, so we'll see if there's a fix.

It's not the LED's. they draw a fraction of the power. theres a short in one of the bulb.

[RotorNutFD3S]

It's not the LED's. they draw a fraction of the power. theres a short in one of the bulb.

I wasn't saying the LEDs were overloaded, I'm saying the lighting circuits do not have enough load resistance (that the filament bulbs provide) because of the LED bulb being installed. Basically, if resistance is reduced in a circuit the current increases. When the current increases there is more heat in the wiring (friction). If the current is too high, there's too much heat, and because fuses are designed to melt before the wires, they melt and break the circuit. I'm almost 100% sure adding the correct load resistance back into the line will fix the issue, and I believe the 6 ohm 50 watt resistors they use as a fix for their turn signal LEDs will work, but I'm double checking with them since it's their product. Alternately I could try installing a bigger fuse, but then the circuit could be at risk and I may melt/destroy the wiring.

There is not a short unless both LED bulbs are bad, I tried them individually by only installing one at a time.

I will say the 2-LED dome light I got is awesome though, much more light in the cabin!

[4sevens.com]

Speaking as an electrical engineer.... the resistance in the led is LESS so it should draw less power. no fuse would blow from an led light. one of your led bulbs has a short. thats the only way a fuse would blow.

[miata5620]

Good luck with the search!

I think that most companies believe there's not a market for it. Most people would love 99-00 headlights with projectors, but even the most cost effective conversion would probably cost as much as a used NB2 set, so then the product would only sell to people who don't want to modify things for the NB2 pieces or prefer the looks of the NB1 pieces.

thanks and i agree. In a perfect world if i had the money for it i would put the whole MSM front end on my car headlights, bumper, lip. I looked into it already its just too much money for me at least. I would still like MSM headlights but i dont feel like modifying my stock bumper to get the gaps right.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Speaking as an electrical engineer.... the resistance in the led is LESS so it should draw less power. no fuse would blow from an led light. one of your led bulbs has a short. thats the only way a fuse would blow.

I'm MECP certified, and if the company I worked for had not had cutbacks I'd be one of the 137 Master Certified Techs in the entire US. All we do is mobile electronics. Qualifications aside, I never said the LED bulb requires more power or has more resistance (we know they don't) and what you're saying (less resistance, less power) would be true if current were constant, but it's not in a car. Voltage (V) to vehicle components is constant, so if resistance (R) is decreased, current (I) increases (Ohm's Law: V = IR). Because Power = VI, when the resistance is decreased, power increases as voltage is constant and current increases. So when resistance is reduced, both current and power increase (even though the LED bulb doesn't require that power) and what I'm saying is a very possible cause for the fuse blowing.

A short is the same condition (resistance reduced, current increased, circuit overheats, fuse melts/"blows"), except a power line is grounding out and there is no resistance at all in the line. I'm not saying a short isn't a possibility, but having a short in both bulbs is unlikely. Again, I installed only one LED bulb at a time, so unless they are both defective, it's not a short. The company I bought these from has sold thousands of these bulbs, so I think the chances are slim.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Success! I actually received emails from V-LEDs (who expects customer service on a weekend?) and after some conversation, here's what was discovered. The necessary resistors are pre-installed in the bases of the bulbs (turn signals need extra resistor packs for certain cars equipped with thermal flasher units that measure resistance to work properly) and keep the circuits protected. So one theory down. He checked and no one else has complained about these bulbs shorting, so second theory down. He did tell me that some cars have a CK socket type, which is just a non-standard type socket. Basically instead of the normal socket working like this:

Gnd High+
---|-----|-
-|-----|---
Gnd Low+

a CK socket works like this:

Low+ High+
---|-----|-
-|---------
Gnd

If you look in an 01-05 taillight socket, it appears to be normal socket, but if you look at the wiring, you'll notice there's a green and white wire on one side of the socket and only one black wire on the opposite side. This is when it clicked, it's a CK socket. So instead of sending these bulbs back and waiting for the CK bulbs to come, I figured out which contact was the High + and which was the Low + and I moved the wires around like so:

Low+ High+
-----\---|-
-|/----\---
Gndx2

Basically took the Ground from the High side and moved it over to the Low side and moved the Low + over to the High + side, putting it in the correct location to make contact in the socket.

It works and no more blown fuses! So if you're considering LED tail lights for your 01-05 Miata, get the CK socket type bulbs they have. It may be applicable to the 99-00 tails too, but I'm not sure.

Photos (overcast lighting conditions):

LED Bulb:


Running Lights (LED on left, OEM on right):


Brake Lights (LED on left, OEM on right):


The brake lights almost look the same until you notice that you can see the gridlines in the housing on the right light, and not so much on the left light. And they're really red, not orange. lol