Different Headlights?

X

xDanielSenpai

Member
:
Mazda, Protege5
So I recently purchased a dual beam headlight assembly, just one, because I've come to find out that I have a socket for high beam that is not being used by the current headlight assembly. Which is a single beam headlight, and everytime I tried to turn on highbeams it never worked, then I found out I have separate socket for the high beam. Went to put on the new dual beam assembly and the 9003 low beam doesn't fit the assembly hole, only h7 does. Bought one and turns out the socket is bigger than the small prongs the h7 light bulb comes with. So I'm so confused on what do to or maybe I bought an assembly that is a diff variant for our type of cars.

So I'm here to ask what should I do, and whether I bought that wrong headlight. Any help will be appreciated :)
I'll try to provide pics.
d76b5f3fd521f49f5cb8c00bac482cde.jpg
 
P5's should have the dual beam headlight, it would seem that someone has fitted sedan lights to your's, not factory.
 
JDM323J48 said:
P5's should have the dual beam headlight, it would seem that someone has fitted sedan lights to your's, not factory.
Click to expand...

mine has separate high beam and low beam bulbs. Don't think it was ever changed out but if the sedan one fits maybe i should. Maybe then i'd stop burning out the damn low beam bulbs every 6 months lol
 
All P5's came with two bulb headlight housings and the sedan single bulb housing fits right on to the P5.

pb4ugotobed said:
Don't think it was ever changed out but if the sedan one fits maybe i should. Maybe then i'd stop burning out the damn low beam bulbs every 6 months lol
Click to expand...

It might work ??? The single bulb design might last longer ??
You'd have to wire in a new three terminal connector (high beam+, low beam+ and a common ground.)

Replacing your connector for your existing low beams may help with bulbs burning out... They tend to get all burnt and crispy and may lead to premature bulb burnout ??



The three terminal connector is listed under "Protg"... The two terminal connectors are under "Protg 5"

 
pcb said:
All P5's came with two bulb headlight housings and the sedan single bulb housing fits right on to the P5.



It might work ??? The single bulb design might last longer ??
You'd have to wire in a new three terminal connector (high beam+, low beam+ and a common ground.)

Replacing your connector for your existing low beams may help with bulbs burning out... They tend to get all burnt and crispy and may lead to premature bulb burnout ??



The three terminal connector is listed under "Protg"... The two terminal connectors are under "Protg 5"
Click to expand...

I'm wondering. I've never had a car go through as many headlight bulbs as this one. I actually just ordered a 10 pack of ebay bulbs for $10.99 because i'm tired of paying $10 each for the Sylvania ones at walmart lol. I've gone through 2 headlight bulbs on the driver's side in the last 2 or 3 months. I can also confirm the socket/connector is fine, no issue. Wiring the headlights would be no problem, that's the easy part. if they physically bolt in the same i may have to give it a try. I'm about due to replace them anyway because they're so sandblasted/weathered

Does anyone know if the sedan protege's eat headlight bulbs as frequently as the p5?

I've never had a car go through as many headlight bulbs as this thing does. I bought my Sequoia back in early 2010 and now that i think about it, I don't think i've ever replaced the bulbs in it...
 
Last edited:
There's been a bunch of threads about how our car loves to eat headlight bulbs.

Oddly enough, I've had my car 9 years and I've only replaced my bulbs twice,... And our low beams are always on with our daytime running lights.
I dunno ??
 
xDanielSenpai said:
... And thank you man, I've never would've known they have an adapter for it! :D
Click to expand...

That adaptor isn't shown or mentioned in either the owners manual or the service manual. And it looks like part of the bulb... I wonder how many people threw it out with the bulb then had to dig it out of the garbage when the new bulb wouldn't plug in ??

It's as if the whole headlight system for our car was an afterthought and they just used some spare parts they found in some warehouse.
 
I had the same problem with mine, until I put in HID's for the low beams. Since 2006, I've only had to replace one ballast, and today the HID kits are much better (and cheaper) than the one I bought in 2006 as part of a group buy. If you can swing it, I highly suggest it. It's one of my favorite mods.
 
Sylvania's have a 1 yr warranty. You should be getting free ones for replacement.
 
I don't know why they show two of them?

The high beams are are a different bulb and socket.

I'm pretty sure that there is no adapter on the high beam, but I'm not positive.

The sedan uses a single bulb for both high and low beam.
Perhaps that's part of the confusion?

Perhaps the adapter works as a heat sink?

Use dielectric grease, it helps prevent burning of the connections.

Screenshot_20210401-230009_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm almost positive that those two adapters are exactly the same.

The high beam on the P5 is completely different.


20210402_124606.jpg



There is no place to put that adapter on the high beam bulb.

But, if you had a sedan headlight housing, you could use the adapter in some way.

Perhaps if you had HID low beams and regular high beam lighting, you could use the adapter and a bulb intended for the sedan.
 
That adapter is used because the prongs on an h7 bulb are more narrow than the 9003/h4. Which is the spacing on the wiring plug for the p5. Its like mazda just used same plug for both cars but wired them different? I guess it could also act as a heat sink too. Or be the reason p5 s use so many bulbs. The hi beam is a 9005 i believe and the plug goes right onto the bulb no adapter needed.
I would agree that a retrofit to hids - if time and money permit - are far superior to regular bulbs in terms of output and life expectancy. Assuming you use quality parts. Mine lasted 10 years with alot of night driving.
 
sleeprp5 said:
... Its like mazda just used same plug for both cars but wired them different? ...
Click to expand...

That's what I think.
My parts car, which is a P5 with P5 headlight housings, had the sedan, dual filament bulb, plugged into the low beam part of the headlight housing.

It's the wrong bulb, which didn't secure into the headlight housing properly, but the electrical connector plugged directly on to the bulb without an adapter.


Mazda was just taking shortcuts and used the same damn plug for both the sedan and the P5.

What a PITA.

I still haven't got my damn headlight installed.

My car is dripping with oil spray/undercoating and I can't seem to get the damn bulb into the housing without getting oil on it.

Your not even supposed to touch the bulb because the oil on your skin will contaminate the bulb and shorten its life.

This is a good example of where Mazda should have introduced an SST to help us install the damn bulb.
I can't reach in there while holding the fricken bulb.


Has anyone ever played this game ??

I keep setting off the buzzer and glowing up his nose....


Screenshot_20210404-052832_Gallery.jpg
20210404_053430.jpg
 
Last edited:
sleeprp5 said:
That adapter is used because the prongs on an h7 bulb are more narrow than the 9003/h4. Which is the spacing on the wiring plug for the p5. Its like mazda just used same plug for both cars but wired them different? I guess it could also act as a heat sink too. Or be the reason p5 s use so many bulbs. The hi beam is a 9005 i believe and the plug goes right onto the bulb no adapter needed.
I would agree that a retrofit to hids - if time and money permit - are far superior to regular bulbs in terms of output and life expectancy. Assuming you use quality parts. Mine lasted 10 years with alot of night driving.
Click to expand...
As mentioned previously, dielectric grease on the prongs of both the bulb and adapter is the answer to their burning out. My factory bulbs lasted six or so years before dying and after replacing them with name brand bulbs, they'd burn out every year - eventually scorching the white plug of the wiring harness. After years of dealing with that, I read here about dielectric grease and voila, problem solved.

I looked at installing HIDs but was afraid I'd blind other motorists as our reflectors (or whatever they're called behind the bulb) aren't designed for HIDs. I imagine yours were awesome while you had them. My neighbor loved her Civic coupe's aftermarket HID setup, but one ballast had become damaged in a fender bender and that was all the reason I needed to yank them out and put her back to stock.

If one's headlights are foggy and polishing them will allow more light to pass through, that might help. Consumer Reports back in '02 said the Protege5 had the best headlights of any car made that model year, so they're not all bad. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: pcb
Retrofitting projectors into the housings are night and day difference. I agree that hids should not be put into halogen housings tho as it throws light everywhere and turning them down defeats the purpose. I retrofitted mine because of the bulbs burning out quite often even when I used dielectric grease. Sometime after that I learned the silverstars while brighter have a shortened lifespan.

On another note I found a kit on amazon called cerakote for polishing and sealing headlights. It's fairly inexpensive and supposedly protects for as long as you own the car. All I know is 1 year in and no foggy look or need to re-clean. I do wax them when i do the car and they still look brand new. For $25 I took the gamble and am happy so far.
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
  • Question
Protege5 Headlight change question
Replies
14
Views
4K
nomadicsoul
N
MuffinMan06
Guide LED Floodlights instead of dim stock fogs (Protege5)
Replies
6
Views
859
MuffinMan06
MuffinMan06
Y
Wow headlights are good in the 2024 CX-5 Signature
Replies
5
Views
1K
acidbug
acidbug

Latest posts

Back