HID - Problems, problems, problems

[raphide]

Hi all,Some of you may remember me posting several questions about HIDs. I finally got everything installed and working properly until today. They have been in for less than 2 weeks. Everything was operational (except for having two different bulb color temperatures, which is being replaced by the seller) Besides this though, I get in my Vibe today (2004), turn the lights on and see only one of them is on.This was after some pretty heavy rain/snow fall today. I checked all the connections under the hood and everything seems good. The fuses in my relay still seem to be good too. I contacted the seller who told me to go and swap bulbs (I'm still waiting for the replacements to come) and just see if its the bulb or ballast. Being too cold and too dark to do this and not having the free time until this weekend, I won't be able to do this until Saturday.My question to all of you (who are really great about diagnosing, btw) is what do you think it is? I personally think it's the ballast. Here's exactly what happened: During the rain today, I had them on (I have the DRLs disabled) and as far as I could tell, everything was fine.Tonight, I got back in the Vibe to go out to dinner with my fiance and saw that my left bulb was flickering. After thirty seconds or so, it went out - and thats how its remained. Like I said, all the connections seem to be good. The ballast seems to be a little wet.Any help would be greatly appreciated. Luckily, the seller told me no matter what it is, just take a picture and he'll send me the replacement free of charge. I'm secretly kind of just hoping this will fix itself but I find that increasingly difficult to believe.Thanks so much.If I ever get this all working (matching bulbs and all) I will certainly upload some pictures.Thanks,Ben

[hskater26]

well i dont know as much as keith but im sure hell chime in latermy bulb once flickered and shut off as well and it ended up being a burnt out bulb which i found out by swapping them......once i got my new bulbs i would turn my lights on about 80% of the time only one would come on the other 20% they both came on and that was a bad ground

[keithvibe]

Move your ground connection. It may have become lose or rusted. If it still doesn't light, it sounds as if the ballast or bulb may have blown. Do as the seller has requested swap the bulb from one side to the other and see if it lights if it doesn't it's either the ballast or the grounding wire that is your issue.Check your ground..... and when you check it..... check it again.... 95% of the time the ground is the issue.LOL@PAT lolyour more than welcome to come up to my house... about a 2hr drive one way and we can get ya all sorted out. I have spair ballasts that we can use if it's the ballasts.

[raphide]

Aha!It hadn't even occurred to me that it could be the ground.Keith, I must say - you know your stuff. Every time I post a problem, I get tempted to come out there and have you help me with all my HID problems. When my bulbs come, I will need to take a picture as I'm unsure about those too. They came with this metal casing over them the first time. Covered about 3 quarters of the bulb. I kept them on when I put them in and got all kinds of aiming problems. A mechanic buddy of mine took them off and put them back in, fixing the aiming problems but since then, I noticed they were two different colors.The worst part is I suggested to my neighbor this kit. He too went and bought it for his Suzuki and he has two different colors too. Think it's a coincidence? Or am I just the victim of a bad kit?Thanks!Ben

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by raphide »Aha!It hadn't even occurred to me that it could be the ground.Keith, I must say - you know your stuff. Every time I post a problem, I get tempted to come out there and have you help me with all my HID problems. When my bulbs come, I will need to take a picture as I'm unsure about those too. They came with this metal casing over them the first time. Covered about 3 quarters of the bulb. I kept them on when I put them in and got all kinds of aiming problems. A mechanic buddy of mine took them off and put them back in, fixing the aiming problems but since then, I noticed they were two different colors.The worst part is I suggested to my neighbor this kit. He too went and bought it for his Suzuki and he has two different colors too. Think it's a coincidence? Or am I just the victim of a bad kit?Thanks!BenThose shields are soposed to be there. you shouldn't have taken them off. They help reduce the glare that is produced with plug and play kits. You should put those back on.Sounds like your a victim of a bad seller selling crappy hids.too bad you and your neighbor can't simply swap bulbs so you both have the same color lol

[raphide]

The shields are supposed to stay!? Really?With them on, the beams produced were awful. Without them, they shoot evenly...Edit: It would be lovely to swap with my neighbor, he's proposed that too. Unfortunately, the Vibe uses H4 and his use H7.

[keithvibe]

they are casper shields. They may have been put on the base in the wrong location. You didn't happen to take photos with and with out the shield on?Bummer about the h4/h7 bulbs.see these shields.. they help prevent glare and blinding

[raphide]

Yeah that's pretty much exactly what they looked like.Unfortunately no, I didn't take pictures with them on/off.When my new bulbs arrive (hopefully by Monday) I will be sure to take pictures. Thanks Keith, really appreciate your help.As for now, I guess it's driving with 1 light and 2 fog lights. (Although at some point I'd like to do an HID for my fogs )

[keithvibe]

I got an old set of 9006 hids we can put in your fogs. Come on up LOL small fee

[hskater26]

Quote, originally posted by raphide »Aha!Keith, I must say - you know your stuff. Every time I post a problem, I get tempted to come out there and have you help me with all my HID problems. Benmotm here you come keith!!

[BlueCrush]

Yer Da Man, Keith!