Culpable's HID system, Lights wont turn on Options

[6gsillyca]

My headlights won't turn on. The last few weeks they have been sketchy, ie I need to flick the switch on and off a few times before they fire up, or either the left/right light will come on, but not both of them at the same time.

I seem to notice it happening more often when it rains, but somehow I think it is just a coincedince.

I'm guessing its a wiring problem, but I don't know what it could be, as it affects both the left and right lights. It used to work by switching on/off a few times, so all the wires should be hooked up correctly.

[AudioFreak]

Don't flick HID's on and off. It puts a huge load on the ballast and bulbs. It takes the most power to get the hid's to light off. When you first turn them on the arc has to heat the salts inside the tube until they turn into a gas. That's why they start out dim and get brighter after a few seconds.

As culpable said check your wiring and charging system.

[6gsillyca]

I will try and check my alt. Would it be better to use a volt/ohm meter, or to start the car and unhook the battery? How would I check it with a multimeter?

Don't flick HID's on and off. It puts a huge load on the ballast and bulbs. It takes the most power to get the hid's to light off. When you first turn them on the arc has to heat the salts inside the tube until they turn into a gas. That's why they start out dim and get brighter after a few seconds.

As culpable said check your wiring and charging system.

The bulbs are not turning on when I flick the switch on and off, but I do know that they need a few seconds to properly "heat" up. As I said, I used to be able to get them to turn on by flicking the switch on and off a few times, but now the lights won't turn on anymore.

How are they wired currently? You're using a relay, right?

No I am not using a relay. Just the wiring/parts that came in the box. They were working fine a while back, with no problems, and both the bulbs used to fire up first try, so I don't think my problem is because of a relay.

They are wired up to the drivers side headlight connector. The ground is a sanded part on the drivers fender area, on the edge of the engine bay. The rest is wired up as per instructions (not like there is very many other options to wire it up)

every time it rains...especially hard, i don't know why either...i'm also very positive about my wiring and that i did it in the best way...even grounded nicely too...ill figure this out...in the summer fine...but when it gets wet or moist...it's only turning on one or the other or sometimes both but one's weak...i had to flicker on and off to get it to set in right...i think the ballast got wet and caused it to do that...im trying to figure out a way to keep it out of the open in the engine compartment area...

I don't think you should have to worry about your ballasts getting wet. Mine are in the open in my engine bay, and I also have the gt4 hood, so there are open vents that allow rain inside my engine bay. I also regularly clean my engine, and just throw a plastic bag over the ballasts, and have never had a problem with them firing up when wet.



This post has been edited by 6gsillyca: Aug 8, 2007 - 12:08 AM