notstock93

I bought my current car with a HID retrofit installed. Last night while coming home, I noticed my driver side headlight was out. The 20A fuse in line fuse was blown, so I put in a new one. Still nothing

I messed around with it a bit and realized that if I put my brights on (normal halogen brights) then my driver side HID will come on. However, the driver side will NOT come on without the high beams activated.

The passenger side is working fine.

Does this sound like a wiring issue? Im taking a crash course in HID's trying to figure this out, but I need the help of the pro's.

Ballast? I dont think so, since it works fine when my brights are on
Bulb? Obviously, thats fine
Relay is new, changed to a known working unit
Fuse is new, and swapped from passenger to driver to ensure its working

Could it by the diode? or the switching mechanism? Im lost here guys.

NonovUrbizniz

It's probobly a loose connection on the main power to the HID's...

Just confirm this is a Bi-xenon setup and that's what it would almost def. be.

If it's bi-xenon and it comes on with the highs it means the the power is passing through the one way diode from the high beam on the stock assembly and NOT passing through the main power lead from the low beam on the stock assembly.

Actually if it was wired to have the HID on with the highs then it wouldn't matter if it was bi-xenon or not.

notstock93

OK, explain to me what a bi-xenon setup is.

When working perfectly, the HID's are on even when the highbeams are on. The highbeams are seperate from the HID projectors.

Where would I look for a short or incorrect wiring? I really dont want to go back to stock headlights with low output again. I have trouble seeing at night and HID's are allowing me far greater safety.

So you think I need a new diode?

Sleepy_Red_hatch

are all the connections tight at the ballast? are there any layers of tape in the wires? if so it might be a shitty connection, unravel the tape and check

notstock93

There are some layers of tape, yes. I will check to see if they are crap connections, and have them soldered instead of crimped. I plan on having the wiring redone soon, but as for right now I cant drive at night without my brights on. Its a bad situation.

NonovUrbizniz

Bi xenon is a projector with a servo attached to the cutoff plate that allows it to act as a low AND high beam by lifting the cutoff allowing the light to go through more of the projector.

But again it doesn't matter... it sounds to me like yours is wired essentially the same way anyway.

The connection from you stock low beam power is almost definately the problem.

Just use a test light to see where the break in power is.

mike1114

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like someone wired them up so that the HID's will stay on even when the high beams come on. There is a diode and what not that you have to add to make that happen.

I do not have mine set up this way so I don't know much about it but I will bet that is where the problem lies.

I would search for the how-to on making the HID's stay on with high beams, and make sure yours is set up right, and nothing is blown.

notstock93

I do have a diode becuase my HIDs are NOT bi-xenon. The diode acts like a check valve for current, allowing it to flow only one way. Im thinking if it was bad, it would cause the highbeams to not turn on as well. I think I found some frayed wire, and I have an appointment to have it soldered in and everything fixed on monday.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NonovUrbizniz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The connection from you stock low beam power is almost definately the problem.
Just use a test light to see where the break in power is.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Im beginning to beleive this.

NonovUrbizniz

It's wiring not religion...

If EVERYTHING works when it's getting it's power from the high beam lead and NOTHING works when it's getting it power from the lowbeam lead... it's the lowbeam lead.

If the diode didn't work then the halogen high beams would be on all the time regardless if the high beam switch was on or not (provided your lowbeam lead was working) ... because it wouldn't be blocking the current from traveling through it one way.

If it was the bulb or the ballast it would never work.

notstock93

Alright, its in the shop today, but something strange happened last night.

I came home, turned off the car and headlights and went inside. When I came back out about 30 minutes later, my passenger side headlight (HID, not brights) was on. The headlight stalk was all the way in the off position, and I can hear a mechanical *whirring* electical sound coming from the passenger side ballast. The headlight went out when I flicked them on and off again, but the "voltage noise" remained.

I unplugged the ballast to make sure it didnt happen again. So....what the expletive just happened there?

Im guessing the swtiching mechanism wasnt going right and was reading an "on" signal even when the stalk was turned all the way off?

NonovUrbizniz

it's prob. wired with a relay feeding it direct bat. power... the switch got triggered by a constant power somehow.

notstock93

It is in fact wired to a relay with a direct battery power....What could have cuased the constant power? Its at the shop getting rewired and I want to know what to look for and what questions to ask when I pick it up.

NonovUrbizniz

It's as simple as another freyed wire was touching the trigger wire at some point... where that is could be a million different places.

It's decently easy to trace a short so if they tell you it took forever they're either lying or don't know how to trace a short.

HOWEVER keep in mind... these people are now dealing with a non-factory setup... so frankly w/o doing it yourself you're at their mercy because they might not have ANY idea why your car is wired the way it is...

Wiring however DOES take a long time to do properly... if they trace the short into your steering column or somewhere in between it'll be a PITA to get done right...

If it's just a dangling power wire under the hood and the wire from the lowbeam lead to the relay or from the relay to the lowbeam power on the ballast is freyed then it wouldn't take long at all.

notstock93

ah christ, I hope it doesnt cost me a left arm to fix. Im pretty friendly with the shop, so I doubt they will really try to screw me over.

At any rate, I want to thank you for all your help man, you have been a huge asset to me. Its obvious you know your stuff concerning this stuff.