HID bollocks

Snailblazin'

Original poster
Member
Dec 9, 2011
164
What is up former trailvoy brethren? I wondered why BLCKSHDW was shameless pimping this site, then I joined and read the welcome message and it all clicked. I've been having the gayest time with my hid's the last little while and am pretty sure I don't know what to do now so I'm turning it over to more capable people than myself. My set up consists of VVME 8000k bulbs and regular ballasts, VVME relay harness and capacitor mod. My problem is this: DRL's work perfectly, no flicker, no issue with one or the other not turning on...nothing. Auto headlights come on and 60 percent of the time my passenger light will flicker and go out prompting me to flick the brights on(which are regular halogens) and off turning the hid's back on and continue on my merry way. Recently however the passenger side developed a flicker that would continue regardless of operating time. Even more recently my passenger side's flicker has diminished and my driver's side is now doing it, except it's more of a seizure inducing strobe effect that doesn't go away. It even looks less blue/white and now appears more white/yellow.

I'll snap some pics tonight and post them...can I still use photobucket to upload them here? or better yet would be some video but I don't know how to upload vids.

Any help to keep me from either buying new ballasts or going back to silverstars would be greatly appreciated!

Snailblazin' a.k.a. 02 T-Blaze
 

fishsticks

Member
Nov 21, 2011
433
One of my Xantec's has a high frequency flicker to it as well.

My money is on oxidation of the leads in the stock harness plug. I need to take mine apart and verify.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
:crackup: Well looks like my changes did have some good then after all!! :thumbsup:

My recommendation, do some side to side swapping. Either your bulbs or your ballasts, and see if the problem switches. Since you're using a relay harness, there's also the possibility that there's an issue with one of the leads plugging into the ballast (if the problem stays on the same side after switching both the ballast and the bulbs) :twocents:
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
I'm not having a gay time but I have the OEM Hid's that only came on the 9-7 and am having the exact same symptoms. I need to take the headlights out and clean the connections, then replace the bulbs (already ordered) and then if all else fails, replace the insanely expensive oem ballasts. Problem is it is below 0 F here and don't have access to a warm location. Things tend to break easily when it is that cold. Both sides are equally faulty and so can't really switch anything out for comparison.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Cleaning the connections to my plugs and rebending a tab in one plug has mine working well after similar issue.
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
HARDTRAILZ said:
Cleaning the connections to my plugs and rebending a tab in one plug has mine working well after similar issue.

What is tipping me off is that they will flicker after hitting a bump sometimes but of course they will shut off just sitting as well. I like the look of the HID's but wasn't expecting the hassel.
 

ScarabEpic22

Member
Nov 20, 2011
728
Jkust said:
I'm not having a gay time but I have the OEM Hid's that only came on the 9-7 and am having the exact same symptoms. I need to take the headlights out and clean the connections, then replace the bulbs (already ordered) and then if all else fails, replace the insanely expensive oem ballasts. Problem is it is below 0 F here and don't have access to a warm location. Things tend to break easily when it is that cold. Both sides are equally faulty and so can't really switch anything out for comparison.

Good luck, if it comes to the ballasts just buy aftermarket ones for like $30 off eBay. I changed the ballasts and bulbs on my dad's 03 Audi A6 for ~$50 with all aftermarket stuff. Dealer stuff would be over $1000 Im sure.
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
ScarabEpic22 said:
Good luck, if it comes to the ballasts just buy aftermarket ones for like $30 off eBay. I changed the ballasts and bulbs on my dad's 03 Audi A6 for ~$50 with all aftermarket stuff. Dealer stuff would be over $1000 Im sure.

They aftermarket ballasts are all over ebay for dirt cheap but say they don't work with the oem system. I wonder if I can simply swap out the ballasts and plug and play. I can't understand why there are no aftermarket ballasts for the oem system.
 

ScarabEpic22

Member
Nov 20, 2011
728
Jkust said:
They aftermarket ballasts are all over ebay for dirt cheap but say they don't work with the oem system. I wonder if I can simply swap out the ballasts and plug and play. I can't understand why there are no aftermarket ballasts for the oem system.

What bulbs are your factory HIDs? Can you take a pic of the connectors they use? I had to buy these wiring adapters for $10 off eBay so I could hook the aftermarket ballasts to the factory-replacement bulbs.

Like these (first listing off eBay):
D2S cable for aftermarket ballast
 

Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
If the bulb has changed color, that could mean the bulb is worn out. How long have you had them?

My Xentec HIDs didn't used to flicker or anything on my old car, but when I hooked them up on my TB for a test fit on my projectors (which I have been "working" on for a year now, I really need to finish them), they both started flickering after a minute or so. If I find out why I'll try to remember to come back and let you know the root cause.

Oh, do you use a relay harness?
 

Snailblazin'

Original poster
Member
Dec 9, 2011
164
yep, i have a relay from vvme hooked up in there. i've had them since august, but this issue has just started since it's been cold and dark early. what do you clean the connections with? Also noticed that when i start the truck and the lights come on they don't start flickering until they get warm...after 15-30 seconds. WTF. i switched the ballasts from side to side with no difference. also, there's snow falling on my screen and it's producing a distinctly warm and, oddly enough, fuzzy feeling in my heart area. :smile:
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
ScarabEpic22 said:
What bulbs are your factory HIDs? Can you take a pic of the connectors they use? I had to buy these wiring adapters for $10 off eBay so I could hook the aftermarket ballasts to the factory-replacement bulbs.

Like these (first listing off eBay):
D2S cable for aftermarket ballast

Ok finally got some pics. Here are the Ballast plugs and the plugs on the back of the headlight unit and the back of the OEM bulb. Now I am thinking that the hid bulb has been replaced because the back of the bulb has one of those hash tags that you see on everything. I'm pretty certain they didn't have those in 2007, the model year of the 9-7x.

I thought that last weeks disassembly and reassembly got them working again and that isn't the case. They still go out constantly.

9-7xoemhid.jpg


9-7xOEMHIDBallastPlug3.jpg


9-7xOEMHIDBallastPlug2.jpg


9-7xoemHIDBallastplug.jpg
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
Keeping this thread going. I got my new 6000k OEM HID replacement bulbs. That seems to have fixed all the issues I had. No more headlights flickering or going out. I got the $40 ones off of ebay as opposed to the oem ones that cost $165 a piece. I'm breathing easy now that I don't have to buy new ballasts.
I can say though that the OEM HID's must have been 4500k as there is a noticable difference in the amount of blue light.
Whats weird to me is that they don't seem that crazy bright when you are driving but when you squat down 20 feet from the car and look into the headlights they are overwhelmingly bright compared to for instance our Rainier that wasn't offered with HID's.
 

El1t3tb

Member
Dec 16, 2011
52
i have the same problem with my drivers side. sometimes it turns on, sometimes not. i think its my ballast considering i just bought brand new bulbs from ddm tuning. think i might just buy new ballasts. any suggestions besides switching?(i cant do it right now, but ill try it next week sometime)
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
El1t3tb said:
i have the same problem with my drivers side. sometimes it turns on, sometimes not. i think its my ballast considering i just bought brand new bulbs from ddm tuning. think i might just buy new ballasts. any suggestions besides switching?(i cant do it right now, but ill try it next week sometime)

Your profile isn't filled out. Do you have a 9-7x with factory HID's? I was really crossing my fingers that it was just the HID bulbs and got lucky.
 

El1t3tb

Member
Dec 16, 2011
52
Jkust said:
Your profile isn't filled out. Do you have a 9-7x with factory HID's? I was really crossing my fingers that it was just the HID bulbs and got lucky.

sorry thought i did that already...
i have a 03 ext tb. drl killer, relay, DDM tuning bulbs and HIDgeeks ballasts (i think thats the problem) but i actually just switched them so ill wait a couple of days and see if that's the problem. ill keep ya posted!
 

El1t3tb

Member
Dec 16, 2011
52
El1t3tb said:
sorry thought i did that already...
i have a 03 ext tb. drl killer, relay, DDM tuning bulbs and HIDgeeks ballasts (i think thats the problem) but i actually just switched them so ill wait a couple of days and see if that's the problem. ill keep ya posted!

so i switched out the ballasts and since then my HID's have been working flawlessly. the side that always went out flickers alot but know i just think that the bulb might be fucked :frown:

anyways hope this helps others!
 

Boricua SS

Member
Nov 20, 2011
3,080
Ohio
El1t3tb said:
so i switched out the ballasts and since then my HID's have been working flawlessly. the side that always went out flickers alot but know i just think that the bulb might be fucked :frown:

anyways hope this helps others!

yea sounds like your bulb.. 95% of the time.. thats the case... especially since you switched ballasts and the problem stayed.. sounds like its time to cash in on your warranty (if you have one that is :biggrin:)
 

El1t3tb

Member
Dec 16, 2011
52
Boricua SS said:
yea sounds like your bulb.. 95% of the time.. thats the case... especially since you switched ballasts and the problem stayed.. sounds like its time to cash in on your warranty (if you have one that is :biggrin:)

I switched the ballasts and the problem did NOT stay :wink:
Thank god I got it, time to call up ddm!
 

Boricua SS

Member
Nov 20, 2011
3,080
Ohio
El1t3tb said:
I switched the ballasts and the problem did NOT stay :wink:
Thank god I got it, time to call up ddm!

Opps.. i must of misread your post wrong then.. at least you got it figured out... thank goodness for warranties :thumbsup:
 

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