Car: 1993 del sol s
engine bone stock. no extra gauges or aftermarket wiring aside from HID kit.

I purchased and installed a single beam HID kit (no high beams) and replacement headlights. Kit came with a single plug that plugged into the stock headlight plug. Installation went smoothly, both lights worked. After 1-2 minutes the passenger side kicked off.


I swapped ballasts thinking i had a bad one, but the passenger side kicked off again after 1-2 minutes of use. I unplugged the passenger side one and the drivers side stayed on indefinitely. did the reverse (drivers side unplugged, pass. plugged in) and it kicked off after 1-2 minutes. It seems to be that the ballast kicks off when the bulb gets close to reaching specified temperatures.


im not quite sure what my next troubleshooting procedure would be... if one side keeps turning off as the ballast uses more and more amps, that would lead me to believe either my alternator isn't "quite" up to par, or i need to wire the ballasts directly to the battery.


EDIT:
ballast with turn off regardless if car is running or not, or hooked up to a battery charger.

 

bump!

i swapped the bulbs and both seemed to stay on. i think i need to wire in a relay though since both are flickering.

 

You should get your alternator tested...or get a multi-meter and knock it out yourself.

 

My hids on my passenger side goes out like that. I allways figured they were warming up. :/ If anything it might be the ballasts.

 

You need to get a real set of HID's, that is what happens when you buy EGAY HIDs, they use cheap ballast that are cut out. Just go with Retrosolution, then you can get a 55w instead of a 35w kit, and they use a digital ballast that is smaller than a deck of cards. And the best part is they have a lifetime warranty.

 

bump! i need ideas!

wired in a 40Amp relay to the passenger side. hot side wired directly to battery, switch going to pass side headlight harness. grounded correctly. it still cut off after about a minute.


measured voltage at each ballast with the car running:

drivers - 13.6V
pass - 14.2V


made a jumper harness and ran the relay switch wire off the drivers side (the side that stays on). both measured ~13.6V, the passenger side still cut off after a minute.


all this testing leads me to believe its a bad ballast, but i've swapped them and its just the passenger side that cuts off. does anyone have any insight? anyone have this happen to them before?

 

would a capacitor help? several forums mentioned the possible need for one if the headlights cut off.

radioshack part #: 272-1030
470 microfarad, 35V