HID's Issue

[Zotaga]

This evening, I learned that my HID's have stopped working (both lights)..

Troubleshooting:
1) I turned on the car, switched the lights from AUTO to ON and nothing happened.
2) I checked the fuses for the low beams and both fuses are okay.
3) I checked the fuse in the relay harness and that fuse looks okay.
4) I checked the connections and everything was snug.
5) It's not the bulbs because I just bought those recently; it's the ballasts that aren't firing and I'm not sure why..

I'm having a hard time believing that both ballasts went at the same time so I'm leaning towards the relay harness.. has anyone else experience a relay harness going bad but w/o any signs of it?

[Como]

Easiest and most effective way is to see if you're getting 12+v past the relay harness to your ballasts. A volt meter would make quick work of that. If you've confirmed all fuses are ok then you've can establish it is indeed the relay itself

[Zotaga]

I don't have a volt meter but my brother does; waiting for him to get home so we can test the relay harness and ballasts (if the harness is working ok).

Another reason I know it's not the fuses is because I put the stock halogens back in and those work perfectly fine (but not as bright as HID's; holy hell do you notice a difference between the two).


Easiest and most effective way is to see if you're getting 12+v past the relay harness to your ballasts. A volt meter would make quick work of that. If you've confirmed all fuses are ok then you've can establish it is indeed the relay itself

[Default User]

Bad ground on the relay harness? Or bad / dirty power connection?

[silverstarmazda]

Bad ground on the relay harness? Or bad / dirty power connection?

i second this. my 04 had a LOT of corrosion where the harness connects to the car. even kelvin (sp3gt) had to try a couple times before it made a proper connection. it started getting finicky again lately and i had to clean the connection throughly. havnt given me any problems since

[Zotaga]

There is zero corrosion on the battery terminal or the ground point. I moved the wires around and nothing happened so I ruled that out.

I'm going to try and replace the harness and see if that does the trick.


i second this. my 04 had a LOT of corrosion where the harness connects to the car. even kelvin (sp3gt) had to try a couple times before it made a proper connection. it started getting finicky again lately and i had to clean the connection throughly. havnt given me any problems since

[silverstarmazda]

There is zero corrosion on the battery terminal or the ground point. I moved the wires around and nothing happened so I ruled that out.

I'm going to try and replace the harness and see if that does the trick.

i meant the part where the harness connects to the oem bulb connector. its a very hard part to clean out since its a female connection. the female connection that this thing goes into before the bulb.

http://i.imgur.com/5JyGbk5.jpg

could be one of the points of a bad connection.

[Zotaga]

The connection was clean; I looked at it when I took off the electrical tape (off the connection)


i meant the part where the harness connects to the oem bulb connector. its a very hard part to clean out since its a female connection. the female connection that this thing goes into before the bulb.

http://i.imgur.com/5JyGbk5.jpg

could be one of the points of a bad connection.

[silverstarmazda]

is it possible the harness is grounding somewhere where it shouldn't? like a break in the wire insulator. also, wires sometimes tend to come loose from the connector over time even though the connector is snug. try giving them all a bit of a push.

[Zotaga]

I checked the harness to battery connection (ok), checked the ground (ok), unplugged and re-plugged the wires (ok), checked fuses (ok).. the only thing I haven't done is check the harness with a volt meter because my brother didn't bring it home with him.. I only ruled out the ballasts because the odds of them going at the same time is probably the same a getting hit by lighting on a warm, sunny day.. I'll test the harness tomorrow with the volt meter and see what happens. If it doesn't show anything, then I think that means the harness is shot. Apparently they go after a couple years like the ballasts do.. I've had my HID's for 2 years and I've only replaced the bulbs so far.


is it possible the harness is grounding somewhere where it shouldn't? like a break in the wire insulator. also, wires sometimes tend to come loose from the connector over time even though the connector is snug. try giving them all a bit of a push.

[silverstarmazda]

if you got wires with alligator clips on the end of them, you can directly test the balasts to the battery and see if they work. it seems most likely the relay is done as como stated above. not uncommon for them to go but its the one part that anyone would check last.

[jeffjones]

i meant the part where the harness connects to the oem bulb connector. its a very hard part to clean out since its a female connection. the female connection that this thing goes into before the bulb.

http://i.imgur.com/5JyGbk5.jpg

could be one of the points of a bad connection.

This isn't part of an HID kit.


Really the only way to trouble shoot is a multimeter, Just work backwards until you find your problem, there rest is just going to be speculation.

[silverstarmazda]

This isn't part of an HID kit.


Really the only way to trouble shoot is a multimeter, Just work backwards until you find your problem, there rest is just going to be speculation.

i know, but the hid harness plugs into what this part plugs into. just trying to describe the plug im talking about lol

[Zotaga]

Purchased a new relay harness for my HID's.

On getting home, I noticed a few issues with the new harness:
1) There was no way the plug from the harness to my low beams would fit. It was for a totally different car..

Solution: I removed the wires from the plastic connector, cut the ends off, and spliced them together with the old harnesses plugs and then taped it up with electrical tape.

2) The power cable wasn't long enough; so I improvised.. I spliced half of the old cable with half of the new cable and taped it up with electrical tape. Initially I wanted to use the full cable from the old wire but the ****ing wire slid out of that crimp to.. as I don't have any crimps, I had to improvise with the splicing :|

I'm not a fan of splicing shit as I fear it may cause a fire but for now, it has to do until I can get some solid wires made.

The HID's now work again.


i know, but the hid harness plugs into what this part plugs into. just trying to describe the plug im talking about lol