hid flicker

[coupe_nasty]

So here's my issue. Just bought some 8000k hid's from retro-solutions and installed them a week ago. They both worked fine the first night or two. I noticed that when turning them on though, the passenger side would take a little longer to turn on. Then one night the passenger side didnt come on so i shut them off and turned them back on and everything was fine. Now it wont come on again, even after multiple attempts. The passenger side flickers for a second or two then stops. Thats it. Any ideas on the issue?

 

[DearestNameless]

I had the same issue with one of mine. Junk ballast. I ordered a new one and it worked fine. A good idea would be to swap ballast side to side and see if that fixes it or moves the problem.

 

[NeWyoRksPLaYaZ]

yea this happens alot, I always keep a couple of extra ballasts around because those fail more than the bulbs (at least in my cars ) which reminds me to buy some more

 

[Mike02rt]

First question: Do you have a relay harness installed?
When an HID flickers, its usually:
-Low battery voltage (happens more than you think)
-Bad ballast
-Ballast case grounding with something metal in engine bay (rare)
-Bad ground for that ballast.
-Loose connection somewhere along the relay harness or from bulb to ballast.
-Bad bulb (rare in flicker cases though)

As stated before, switching known good ballast for bad ballast to troubleshoot works quickly. For other issues a multimeter is always good for electrical issues.

 

[manifestmessiah]

Make sure to check all your connections first. My buddy had a problem with his HIDs and was just a loose connection to the ballast itself.

 

[street_flight]

Do you have a relay in your wiring setup? I had that problem when I first installed mine and my solution was installing a relay. Now they have been working perfectly for 2 and a half years

 

[Doubleot]

I just removed my Hid kit because I was having so many issues with the relay and harness shorting out and not turning on. Went threw 2 harness' and just got sick of them. Called the company and they are sending me out new ones but I'm not sure I'll put them in.

 

[FirstCarIsA GSX]

I had the same problem with my HID's, check all your connections first before thinking its the ballast. try troubleshooting it by swapping the ballast from the driver's side to the passenger's side, if you are still having a problem its not your ballast its your wiring or connections on that side. If after swapping them the passenger's side works and the driver's side doesnt then you know its the ballast and not just the wiring. Its simple to do and will establish a base line from which to work off of. Mine ended up just being the connectors themselves, i just went to autozone and replaced the beat up old stock connectors from the headlight and replaced them with some little $1 weatherpack connectors and they work fine now. Goodluck with fixing your problem! PM me if you want some more details on the troubleshooting process.

 

[coupe_nasty]

So after checking some things, i feel that the problem must be a bad ballast. i removed the (working) bulb from drivers side and hooked it up on passenger side. Found out neither bulb worked on passenger side. Then i swiched the ballasts and put the (working) ballast on the passenger side. I tested BOTH bulbs and they both worked perfect. Dont know what else it could be?

 

[Duece McCracken]

So after checking some things, i feel that the problem must be a bad ballast. i removed the (working) bulb from drivers side and hooked it up on passenger side. Found out neither bulb worked on passenger side. Then i swiched the ballasts and put the (working) ballast on the passenger side. I tested BOTH bulbs and they both worked perfect. Dont know what else it could be?

There yah go, bad ballast. Doesn't get any more clear that that. Good job with the troubleshooting!