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Suggestions on headlight problem

D

Doggiedog

Lifer
I have had a HID kit installed in my car for over 3 years. One of the bulbs blew and rather than buy a new bulb I installed a new kit. After about 2 months the left side HID went out. The light attempt to light but just turns off. I swapped out the new HID with my old HID but I get the same problem. I went back to my halogen light and it still doesn't turn on.

I've tried swapping fuses and looked at all of the fuses including the ones inside the car. Any suggestions on what could be wrong? To me, it seems like enough current isn't going through the wire but I don't have a voltmeter.

Thanks,

DD
 
First of all, it's not possible to plug a halogen bulb into a HID socket, the bulbs have different bases (well, the legal bulbs have different bases, there are several illegal HID kits on the market that have re-based HID bulbs that are optical disasters, but that's a whole other story). Second of all, the voltage required to initiate the arc in a HID capsule is many thousand volts, far more than a halogen bulb can handle, so even if you plug a halogen bulb into a HID ballast somehow, it shouldn't work.

Remember, however, that non OEM HID kits are not legal in the US for on-road use and that most are cobbled together by companies with dubious at best quality control.

What it sounds like in your case though is that the ballast for that bulb has failed and is no longer able to generate the required voltage to initiate the arc.

ZV
 
What I mean to say is when I took out the HID kit and put back in the original halogen bulb, it still did not work.

I have 2 HID kits and I've tried them both on the left side of the car and they still do not work. I used the right side HID set up which works fine but it didn't work on the left side. I'm at a loss as to what is wrong with the left side of the car. Its not the fuse either. I've tried that.
 
The bulbs are all fine. I'm pretty experienced in installing and handling the kits. I don't know what the voltage is since I don't have a voltimeter. All I know is the HID kits work and the halogen bulbs work as well. It's just on the left side of the car that the wiring harness does not work. The HID attempts to light but stops after a few seconds. The halogen doesn't turn on at all.

 
Did you use an aftermarket wiring harness (with a relay and fuses) with the HID kit or did you use the stock wiring harness.
 
Your going to have a hard time diagnosing without a basic $5 DVM. It sounds like a poor connection at the 12V feed to the lamp circuit. A poor connection will cause a voltage drop as soon as the bulb requires current. If you had a DVM, check the voltage without the bulb connected, then connect the bulb and re-measure. I would assume that the voltage would drop substantially when the bulb is in the circuit, it might even drop to near zero.
 
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