Rep Power: 453

Ok after installing a low beam HID kit everything was fine, output is ok not as bright as i wanted but still nice.

anyway here are my 2 issues. after turning on the headlights everything is fine for 3-5 minutes then it happens only once, the right headlight flickers once then the left headlamp flickers once and thats it. it only does it after the lights are turned on. now i do have the relay harness installed so not sure on that one. my guess it its an issue with the ballasts as my friend has the same kit and his does the same thing.

2nd issue, the right bulb is discolored. once the bulbs are heated the left bulb has a light blue output while the right bulb has a light almost light yellow output, its noticable. and if i turn the lights on and off really quick the right headlight quickly flickers then stops.

now it may be that i bought a cheap quality kit, who knows i purchased it from another tech at work.

any opinions?

 
Rep Power: 228

Go to radioshack, buy (2) 30-amp automotive relays. They're ~$6 a piece at RS. Prolly get them cheaper at autozone/pepboys, etc... just make sure they're 12v DC (if they say automotive, its all good).

If you have your factory headlight harness wires switching the relays on and off, you can then hook the ballasts directly to the battery using some ~12 gauge wire (didnt do any math, if this is overkill, well) and hook the ballast ground up to the relay. Then hook the remaining relay terminal to chassis ground, as close as possible.

Repeat for other ballast. I heard in the "HID w/ no projector conversion" or whatever its called thread that you should be switching the ballast to ground, rather than switching the power wire (like I was used to).

This has resolved nearly all of my craptastic $70 hid flicker/failure issues.

Again, while HID bulbs, in general consume less power in steady state operation (~35W vs 55W, etc), I know that my HID ballasts pull 12amps PER ballast on ignition, only for a brief second. The problem is, if I dont start a fire first, the ballasts cant get enough amperage in time (so to speak) and the arc fails to strike, or the arc is struck but fluctuates & looks all crappy, etc.

Ive found that the reason these kits are so cheap is not that they are of poor quality, but the engineering is missing. Because when you pay too much money for something, it better damn work. (Like freaking head units, can they last more than 2 yrs maybe?)

If you dont want to try the relay thing, well I got nothin. Good luck sir.

 
Rep Power: 0

I've had the same problem, but it wasn't a crappy kit. I bought a relay harness, installed it, and hooked up the ballasts to the battery also. I'm sure the relays would have fixed my flickering problem, but I wanted to hook it up to the battery also just in case. That definately fixed it. So try that... like ^^^^^ said... if if you don't want to try the relay thing, I got nothin'... that's the only thing I can think of really... GOOD LUCK!

 
Rep Power: 278

I think it's the relay you need to hook up.. you DID get one that draws power from the battery right? I've been running the PnP HID kit for 2 months now w/ no problems whatsoever.. and its becoming one of my favorite mods

Are you sure the flickering on startup isn't them just warming up? if the light is more of going on and off the HIDs arent getting enough power to them hence the previous point they need to draw power direct from the battery.

 
Rep Power: 453

the problem is they dont flicker on startup, they flicker once after about 3-5 minutes. startup first thing is fine, they heat up and its all good. a few minutes down the road the right one flickers once then the left flickers once. after that never happens again. now if the lights have heated up up and i turn them off then on the right one flickers a few times then is fine.

the relay harness i have connects to the battery (power and ground) that has an in line 20a fuse then the relay. then from the relay, one terminal connecting to the factory harness and the other 2 terminals to the ballast. again i do have the relay harness installed.

so let me see if i am understanding this correctly, i should hook up each ballast to the battery instead of them getting power from the relay harness?

 
Rep Power: 278

Nooo I don't have the harness diagram in front of me, but you connect the ballasts to the relay, which in turn gets power from the battery.. I'm sure the flickering is due to insufficient power. I would even put the old halogen bulbs in for now so you don't destroy the stock wires until you connect the relay harness.

 
Rep Power: 321

the ballasts should be connected to the battery through the relay harness. since your friend has the same kit, and it does the same thing, i'd assume that its a design flaw. contact the manufacturer and see what they say.

 
Rep Power: 812

as for bulbs, they do not undergo any testing or have the strict standards that oem bulbs do. so if you want, buy some h4 to d2s adapters, get some philips d2s bulbs, and a AMP to d2s conversion harness for your ballasts to work with them

 
Rep Power: 453

I have a relay harness installed. the issue is happens even with a relay harness. and yes the ballasts connect directly to the bulb on one connection and the other connection connects to the relay harness.

 
Rep Power: 453

i have been contimplating for awhile now to upgrade to phillips bulbs and ballasts and do the h4 to d2s conversion. out of curiosity what is the amp to d2s conversion

 
Rep Power: 321

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/D2S-D...pagenameZWD10V

 
Rep Power: 321

Ballast > Ballast Wires > AMP Connection > AMP to D2S adapter > D2S Bulb.

 
Rep Power: 812

your kit ballasts have AMP connectors, so you need a cable that converts amp to d2s so you can hook it to the d2s bulb. kit bulbs also use amp connectors. the cable is readily available on ebay.

 
Rep Power: 226

Relax. thats normal ... My Hids do the same one time flicker each side after like 2 minutes when they are completely lit. Thats like an indication that they are fully heated up and ready to work.

About the color differences of the output just replace the bulbs. I have some lying around. Let me know and ill hook u up.

take care

 
Rep Power: 453

now is there a difference if I use a phillips h4 kit with phillips bulbs and ballasts vs using phillips d2s bulbs? just wondering why everyone always recommends d2s bulbs.

 
Rep Power: 291

1. that's just a characteristic of some cheap PNP kits off ebay. my HID fogs do that exact thing. been doing it for a year and still no problem. they flicker once each and that's it. relay harness doesn't matter for this. it's just low quality electronics.

2. sounds good

3. no. you have it right.

 
Rep Power: 291

D2S is the OEM shape/size bulb for HID projectors. it's not a brand. i honestly think that the flickering is from the ballasts, not the bulbs. you're welcome to try different bulbs though. i've just gotten used to it. doesn't bother me anymore.

 
Rep Power: 453

i think i am going to purchase the phillips kit with 5000k bulbs.

 
Rep Power: 0

mines wont even turn on

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...TODAY.m238.lVI

Fixed.

 
Rep Power: 0

kid looks just like this

http://www.automotivelightingusa.com...oducts_id=1338

Pre assembled wires an issue