Headlight shorting out (S2000)
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Headlight shorting out (S2000)
I recently got replacement headlights for my S2000 and when I put the headlights on and fired up, the passenger side lowbeam (OEM HID) didn't fire up. I found the fuse was blown and so I swapped in another fuse just to be sure, and sure enough it blew as soon as the lowbeams turned on (2clicks on headlight switch).
So far I've tested the ballast, bulb, ignitor, harness (just the small HID harness, not the fusebox-to-headlight harness), and loosely visually inspected the ground/wiring for any obvious faults.
Here's how I tested them just in case there's a fault in my troubleshooting procedure:
ballast: I switched the ballast from the pass. side to driver side and it worked perfect.
bulb: tested both bulbs on driver side and they work flawlessly
ignitor: swapped em around as well
harness: inspected for any breaks and swapped it to be sure and it worked
For the fusebox>headlight portion of the harness, I found that there was a wire (color-coded red/white which is for the headlight) that looped itself back into the harness. I followed it upstream to where the AC hose didn't allow me access and i won't have time to go further until tomorrow (also when I get a multimeter and test light).
The ground for the headlight is the ground on the fender apron and has a lot of other grounds grounded to it, it looks fine with no obvious faults.
My question here before I get the test equipment is if there's a troubleshooting procedure I can do without the equipment for now and guess/check with fuses?
The other lights work flawlessly, it is only when the ballast fires that the fuse blows. Thanks in advance and I'd really appreciate any insight. Trying to have both headlights working by nightfall so I can burn the rest of this tank of gas and go for emissions testing tomorrow.
So far I've tested the ballast, bulb, ignitor, harness (just the small HID harness, not the fusebox-to-headlight harness), and loosely visually inspected the ground/wiring for any obvious faults.
Here's how I tested them just in case there's a fault in my troubleshooting procedure:
ballast: I switched the ballast from the pass. side to driver side and it worked perfect.
bulb: tested both bulbs on driver side and they work flawlessly
ignitor: swapped em around as well
harness: inspected for any breaks and swapped it to be sure and it worked
For the fusebox>headlight portion of the harness, I found that there was a wire (color-coded red/white which is for the headlight) that looped itself back into the harness. I followed it upstream to where the AC hose didn't allow me access and i won't have time to go further until tomorrow (also when I get a multimeter and test light).
The ground for the headlight is the ground on the fender apron and has a lot of other grounds grounded to it, it looks fine with no obvious faults.
My question here before I get the test equipment is if there's a troubleshooting procedure I can do without the equipment for now and guess/check with fuses?
The other lights work flawlessly, it is only when the ballast fires that the fuse blows. Thanks in advance and I'd really appreciate any insight. Trying to have both headlights working by nightfall so I can burn the rest of this tank of gas and go for emissions testing tomorrow.
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bz_kurb
Honda Civic (2001 - 2005)
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08-29-2008 06:20 PM