xenon/hid light flickering? bad bulb?

[optimusp517]

My right side of my hid kit has been going out and my low beam service light comes on when that happens. I turn the lights off and power them on and they come right back on in about a few min the light goes off again. I do notice when I do turn them on they flicker slightly.

I haven't checked the wiring, but it should be pretty sturdy and in tact, but could this mean that the life of my bulb is ready to die?

Anyone ran into this before?

[asubimmer]

a lot of xenon's flicker when they turn on. They shouldn't go out though. What fuse are you using?

[blueapplesoda]

loose wiring. Mine does it too, just make sure everything is in good, solid contact.

[optimusp517]

I've checked the wiring and what not, everything looks fine. But here's my step by step testing...

1. switch bulbs from the other side and see if it's the bulb that does it
2. if that's not it switch the ballast and see what that does
3. if that doesn't then I'm stomped...

[blueapplesoda]

i dont really know what i am talking about but i will hearsay that sometimes the HID kits are prone to doing funny things because they have to be made to use a large varying range of operating voltages for different cars, which iduces a large failure rate.

Did that make any sense?

[MrK]

Operating voltages don't really vary that much between cars. I'd say you may have a faulty ballast or a loose connection somewhere. Bulbs are like switches, if they're out they're out. Your bulb still works, so it's not the bulb.

[Nick325is]

Interesting that you bring this up. I reinstalled an HID kit in a friend's crossfire the other week. His complaint was that one of the bulbs would flicker and then turn out especially over bumps. I redid all of the wiring and connections and everything worked fine for alittle bit. A few days later he says he is having the same problems again.


I guess its just the bulb?

-Nick

[MrK]

Do what optimus suggested earlier. Switch bulbs, then switch ballasts. That should narrow it down for you.

[optimusp517]

well the bulb is permanently and I switched the working one over and I can finalize that it was the bulb alone. Now does anyone know of a great place to purchase bulbs for a great deal? :)

[Heysüß]

back from the dead I know but mine is doing the same exact thing, no use in starting a new thread right?

the ballast seems to be super glued to the car, how do I get these damn things off?

i tried unclipping and reclipping, this makes the light tease me by flickering and right when i think it's gonna come one i click the plug into place and nothing.

I also used to be able to fix this by turning the car on and off, yesterday the light was very dim and today it wont come on at all, only flicker. previous owner says they are 5k HID ellipsoids

[Schnitzer318is]

HID bulbs will start to flicker when they are going out. It can also be wiring or ballasts... but the bulbs themselves will flicker when they are dying.

[E30Nova]

Swap the ballasts from one side to the other. If you bought the car with HID's, it's possible the previous owner actually did super glue them to the car. That would be stupid, but I've seen a lot of stupid things.

Anyway, I had this same problem and it ended up being a dying ballast. I swapped the ballast from the passenger side to the driver side and the problem switched sides. Sent the ballast back to the company, got a replacement, and haven't had a problem since.

Matt

[Heysüß]

yeah they do feel like they're superglued. hopefully today I'll be able to get under the car and know for sure. thanks again guys

[Heysüß]

hey same problem as the original poster. now the same question as him...

You guys recommend any good places to buy bulbs?

(the ballast itself was working fine, I switched bulbs and the problem switched sides as well)