All HID ballasts failed simultaneously - WTF?

[The Wolf]

So I've been having HID issues for a few weeks now. I've known my low beam ballasts were on their way out because they would randomly flick off when using my turn signals. This would only happen in cold starts before the engine bay warmed the ballasts up. After they were warm, they would work fine.

This past week, within two days, I completely lost both low beams and both fog lights.
I bought halogen bulbs for my low beams and they work fine, which is great. I haven't done the same for my fogs yet though. It should be noted that when my low beams died, they just shut off. When the fogs died, they flickered on and off. When I powered the lights up again, they would work fine, albeit for a shorter and shorter length of time, until they just wouldn't fire at all.

My best guess is that the fog light connections got wet while plowing snow due to my lack of splash shield. If this is the case, I'm hoping that my harness hasn't been fried. Can't figure out why the low beams would completely die at the same time though.

I was running both sets of lights without relays.

Can anyone shed some light on what damage, if any, I'll be looking at? Any reason they would all go at once like that? Do you guys who run HID fogs protect the connectors in any way?

[leecheefoto]

Strange. I had one side of my fogs always die its because I didn't strap the ballast down and had it bounce. It usually doesn't work when it snows and rains as the splash shield let in some. Now I wire them up hanging with connection side down.

double check by running it switched to the battery first and see if the ballast and bulbs are fine. If they work then it should just be a moisture issue. Let it dry and reconnect. Then electrical tape your connections such as ballast to the relay/ light harness.

You should really run a relay though just so you can narrow your problems down to one solution and avoid other problems.

[The Wolf]

I plan on upgrading my lighting to high quality parts and doing a full clean install with relays and all connections protected in the future.

[silverstarmazda]

did you check the fuse? the wet salty snow may have caused a short. i got a relay harness to my hids and got no problem with extreme wet weather. except for the rust....

[cwp_sedan]

+1 on the fuse for the harness. I have melted a couple fuses which caused the lights to work, flicker and then fail. It may not be your problem but it could be and it is an easy fix.

[The Wolf]

Thanks for the tip guys. Got the same advice on another forum but I thought since they worked intermittently that it likely wasn't a fuse. I'll look into it, but for now the low beams are functioning perfectly with halogen bulbs, which says to me that the problem there was simply the ballasts.

[silverstarmazda]

Thanks for the tip guys. Got the same advice on another forum but I thought since they worked intermittently that it likely wasn't a fuse. I'll look into it, but for now the low beams are functioning perfectly with halogen bulbs, which says to me that the problem there was simply the ballasts.

we meant the fuse on the relay harness. but if you want to get a better hid kit. try the ones on the retrofit source. the mirimoto kits are real nice :P you (sometimes) get what you pay for.

[Harbour Rat]

I concur the relay/harness is a good place to start the diagnosis. I've had intermittent problems with the harnesses on both my fogs and low beams for 3 years now. Both fuse holders melted and/or crumbled and the overall quality of materials and manufacturing seems pretty shaky. A couple of weeks ago I had to bypass the low beam harness and plug the HIDs directly into the factory wiring to get the low beams to work at all.

I have also noticed temperature affects HIDs. When it is below about -10 C I sometimes have to switch the headlights on and off a couple of times before both fire up.

[The Wolf]

I'm running no relays due to the same problem Harbour Rat experienced.

I guess the only thing to do is get on my back and look.

[KING1307]

good battery? I know if my battery is low none of the hids will take, you'll get the flicker or nothing at all, but thats probably a silly question cause i doubt that would be your first clue to a dead battery.

[The Wolf]

Hmm, my battery is actually on its way out... Sometimes have to crank it for a few seconds before the engine will actually start

[KING1307]

that very well may be your issue, ive always been told that hid's use majority of their power just to fire up the ballast. your not running 55watt hids or anything are u? im just thinking that that may show signs of a low battery compared to 35watt may.