Having an issue with HID's

[croll326]

I installed HID headlights and fogs 4 months +/- ago. The fogs work great (so far). The headlights would randomly shut off. Sometimes one, sometimes both. I swapped out the ballasts a couple days ago and I still have the same issue. With the new ballasts I notice slight flickering before the lights turn off. I never use the "AUTO" feature because I do not want the lights firing up in my garage when it is light outside so I manually turn them on when needed.

I am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with HID. Why are my fogs ok? Could 4 ballasts really be bad? Do I need a wiring harness?

This wasnt a huge issue in the summer as I didnt drive at night much. Now it is dark more and I cant have my lights turning off.

I am working with the manufacturer who was been very helpful but I wanted to reach out to the forum for suggestions too. I do not want to go back to halogen bulbs.

Looking for some quick suggestions.

 

[74d34h]

I installed HID headlights and fogs 4 months +/- ago. The fogs work great (so far). The headlights would randomly shut off. Sometimes one, sometimes both. I swapped out the ballasts a couple days ago and I still have the same issue. With the new ballasts I notice slight flickering before the lights turn off. I never use the "AUTO" feature because I do not want the lights firing up in my garage when it is light outside so I manually turn them on when needed.

I am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with HID. Why are my fogs ok? Could 4 ballasts really be bad? Do I need a wiring harness?

This wasnt a huge issue in the summer as I didnt drive at night much. Now it is dark more and I cant have my lights turning off.

I am working with the manufacturer who was been very helpful but I wanted to reach out to the forum for suggestions too. I do not want to go back to halogen bulbs.

Looking for some quick suggestions.

What brand do you have? Bulbs burn out, the cheaper the brand usually more frequently. I always keep spare bulbs on hand because even though they might be warrantied I am not driving around at night with one light out etc. It is also a potential traffic ticket. If you replaced the ballasts, then the only other variable is the bulbs, which is what it sounds like. What wattage ballasts are you running?

 

[croll326]

Coolbubs 35w kits. Started with the ballasts that have the red and black wires and just installed the upgraded ASIC ballasts for the headlights which are having the same issues.

Bulbs fire right up when I turn the power off then on again.

Andrews is being helpful I just thought someone else on the forum might have dealt with a similar issue.

Resolving this will be a lot of trial and error I guess.

 

[R1chard]

Coolbubs 35w kits. Started with the ballasts that have the red and black wires and just installed the upgraded ASIC ballasts for the headlights which are having the same issues.

Bulbs fire right up when I turn the power off then on again.

Andrews is being helpful I just thought someone else on the forum might have dealt with a similar issue.

Resolving this will be a lot of trial and error I guess.

Are you using a direct to battery power relay and quality ballasts???

Pretty sure that's where you problem is.

 

[croll326]

I don't have anything hooked to the battery. The ballasts are ASIC. They are supposed to be good.

?

 

[R1chard]

I cannot say I have ever heard of "ASIC" so can't help you with them specifically. By quality ballasts, you should have probably picked OEM ballasts or even the aftermarket ones such as Morimoto's Example).

Regarding the harness, read this:

A relay harness is designed to deliver steady voltage to your HID ballasts directly from the car battery. Nobody likes a flickering headlight, so why risk it? Factory headlight outputs are really only designed to power a halogen light bub, not an HID ballast.


As one of the most important parts in any HID lighting upgrade; don't skimp out when it comes to your wiring. The long list of features on the Morimoto HD Relay harness is easily worth it's weight relative to other offerings.


HD Relay is Easy to Setup: The layout of the harness makes it easy to setup and cross-compatible with nearly every application that came stock with H8, H9, or H11 bulbs. With just a few simple connections; even your mom could set this thing up! The wiring is spec'd to be long enough for big and small vehicles alike, and the sealed 9006 outputs are compatible with virtually every HID ballast on the market.


HD Relay is Fail-Safe: Unlike most generic harnesses out there that rely on a single low-quality relay to power both headlights, the Morimoto Harness utilizes one relay per side- so if one did fail, you wouldn't be left completely in the dark. Each 40A relay is completely sealed against the elements using ribbed silicone upper and lower seals, and uses flywheel diodes inside for back-EMF protection.

 

[croll326]

Thanks. Any idea why I dont have issues with the fogs?

 

[74d34h]

Thanks. Any idea why I dont have issues with the fogs?

35W typically do not need the relays. The vendors encourage them for the best performance. When flickering occurs I can tell you from experience the bulb is ready to go. Bad bulbs will often go out, turn off the headlights, turn on and the bulb is working again. I had this issue with DDM Tuning DS3 HID 6k bulbs in my 2013 Ford SHO. I didnt like the yellow 4300K bulbs the car came with. I changed the bulbs a few times in the 2 years I had the car. Those were different, the bulbs had a mini ballast built into them.

But I just recently had H7 DDM bulbs in my Yamaha R1 (Motorcycle) this summer start to flicker and sometimes one side wouldnt light up. I replaced the bulbs issue solved.

In your case, I would replace the bulbs. If you keep having the issue, I would just get a better quality kit. Morimoto kits, which I now have in my 2015 XSport have the Canbus option which eliminates the need to run a relay harness.

One other add to this. Our trucks use the hi/lo bulbs you have to have a relay or else use CANBUS? Do you have high beams?

 

[croll326]

Hi beams work fine. Andrew from coolbulbs is send a wiring relays to try.

 

[croll326]

Harness on. Lights worked in garage. Testing tomorrow on way to work.

 

[croll326]

So far so good. Knock on wood.

 

[TMack2300]

HID's swap....this is a must..

Relay harness fixed all my issues... i have 2 harness's one for headlights the other for fogs...
NOT 1 issue since the harness's were installed...

Im using Diode Dynamics HID conversion kits... I highly recommend this brand. QUALITY STUFF

 

[croll326]

Still good here too. Fogs still good with no harness. Hopefully the bulbs will last too. Any idea how coolbulbs bulbs compare to others?

 

[croll326]

Why would some people need a harness and some don't?

 

[R1chard]

Why would some people need a harness and some don't?

It all comes down to quality components (bulbs, ballasts, etc). If you go the aftermarket route, expect to have issues (flickering, erratic on/off, etc).

The term "you get what you pay for" comes to mind.

 

[Sgt1411]

relay harness fixed all my issues... I have 2 harness's one for headlights the other for fogs...
Not 1 issue since the harness's were installed...

Im using diode dynamics hid conversion kits... I highly recommend this brand. Quality stuff

+1

 

[croll326]

Understood. Reading around here Coolbulbs seemed like a forum favorite. Maybe not. After the harness the work in auto mode fine. Fingers crossed.

Who makes a quality plug and play aftermarket HID kit? Regardless of quality, wouldn't any kit need the harness?

 

[amd2800barton]

I'd recommend Diode Dynamics. They include a quality relay harness with every kit.

The reason for the harness is that if you are upgrading a car that has halogen bulbs, then the vehicle's computer will expect an electrical response similar to halogens. HIDs draw a lot of current briefly at startup, and then draw less when running. The high current draw can cause the computer to think that there's a problem (such as a short), and to cut power on that circuit. The relay harness essentially acts as a switch. When the headlights are switched 'on' then the relay sends power directly from the battery to the HIDs, bypassing the rest of the electrical system. The computer never sees the high-current draw, and so it doesn't freak out and cause the flickering (or not starting at all) issues that happens without a relay.

Edit: I'd also add that the Limited models which come with factory HID's don't experience this problem because the computer's programming has been modified to tolerate the high startup current.

 

[peterk9]

Although it likely has nothing to do with the 'flickering' the fuses in the panels for the OEM HID headlamps are 20A and the Halogens are 10A.
I believe the aftermarket kits have the higher amp fuses included?

Peter