patrickstar

so my hid's have been flickering and shutting off lately while driving. i have checked to see if the ballasts bulbs and harnesses are working and they are. when i move one of the harnesses that connect to the ballast around, my lights shut off. i have to find that "sweet spot" to position the harness so it wont move around and cut off.

im guessing i have a bad ballast. my question is, can i find another ballasts and just replace it without it being the same brand?

prelude1897

do you have the ballast grounded good? If the ground isn't touching metal, you're not getting a good ground.

trehouse

You likely have a connector which isn't seated properly. It's on the wire which when you move it turns on or off the light. Try not to do this as you could decrease the bulb life as you it should be allowed to fully heat up before shutting down.

Oftentimes the connector isn't fully pressed in. Be carefull that the pins inside aren't bending and not going into the holes fully.

patrickstar

hmm i checked if they were seated properly and they are. i dont kno where the ground is. this is a plug and play kit just to let u guys kno

patrickstar

this is exactly what i have

trehouse

If you are moving a connection and the bulb shuts off then the connection isn't solid. It's either that the connector isn't great or the other side in the ballast isn't great. Take the connectors apart there and look inside at them. Something isn't right. You may be able to spread the male side of the connectors very slightly that they don't wiggle inside. It can also be the wire connection to the connector. If this is the case you may need a new wire. If it's within the ballast then yes, you would need a new ballast.It sounds like you have identified which connection is faulty, the trick is to identify what's the exact issue. If it's the connection from the original low voltage cable into the ballast and the issue is with this wire then replacing the kit (ballast and wires) then you will be replacing everything but the problem part.

patrickstar

hmm i forgot if it was the high voltage or low voltage wire that i wiggled to turn it on or off. i will check this out later when i have time. i think its the low voltage. i've switched the ballasts and tried them on the other set of wires and same thing. both headlights have this problem.
i've hooked up my halogen headlights and it works fine, so i'm pretty sure its not my cars electrical system.
and can i unhook the high voltage wire from the ballast or is this not safe? it doesnt seem like i can pull it out anyways. thanks for the help trehouse

patrickstar

hmm im stumped. everythings seated correctly. i might just end up buying another kit :[

trehouse

Its definitely a connection issue however at this point you would need to identify by wiggling which connection it is. It could certainly be within one of the connectors. They may just be poorly constructed or not making good contact. You can replace with another brand (I use ddm) or ask for warranty replacement if you can. When you identify which connector(s) is bad you should be able to bend the pins a little to make a better connection.