Trouble with your HID's

[fuel miser]

Having trouble with your HID's?

Well I just my car back from Toyota after two weeks of having the passenger HID go out for no obvious reason.

Here is the senario. Start the car turn the lights on drive to work. Somewhere after leaving home and getting to work the lamp would go out.

Solution: Turn low beam off and then back on. Lamp now works for an indeterminate time. Repeat at every failure.

It started a few days before it was booked in for a service, nothing found when checked at the service.

Two days after the service lamp started going out again. Turn off, turn on - all good.

Booked it in today and was informed there is a service bulletin for this exact fault.

Probable causes: faulty wiring, bad connection, microscopic crack/s in lamp.

The first two yielded no success so they replaced the lamp ($541.00) under warranty. Saved me a pretty penny.

Now the wait to see if it happens again.

[JIN]

Having trouble with your HID's?

Well I just my car back from Toyota after two weeks of having the passenger HID go out for no obvious reason.

Here is the senario. Start the car turn the lights on drive to work. Somewhere after leaving home and getting to work the lamp would go out.

Solution: Turn low beam off and then back on. Lamp now works for an indeterminate time. Repeat at every failure.

It started a few days before it was booked in for a service, nothing found when checked at the service.

Two days after the service lamp started going out again. Turn off, turn on - all good.

Booked it in today and was informed there is a service bulletin for this exact fault.

Probable causes: faulty wiring, bad connection, microscopic crack/s in lamp.

The first two yielded no success so they replaced the lamp ($541.00) under warranty. Saved me a pretty penny.

Now the wait to see if it happens again.

This sounds pretty similar with my HID system.

Yours seems like factory HID but mine was not and it was aftermarket HID with ballasts.

It worked perfectly without any problems at all but sometimes later one side of the headlights started blinking and went off.

Once it happened, turning off the lights and turning back on solved that problem temporalily and it came back again.

At the last, the lamp was permanantly gone. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

I changed both ballasts and lamps but it didn't make any difference.

Finally, I installed relay harness for my HID kit and the problem was gone.

It's not blinking anymore nor the lamp turns off by itself.

I am not sure the factory HID setting has got the relay harness with HID system.

If it doesn't, try to install relay harness and see how it works.

It's not expensive(only about $20max from ebay?), but it could help on that problem.

Note: If you install the relay harness, the light doesn't go off automatically when the car is off because the lights draw not only from the altornator but also from battery as well. You have to turn your lights off manually if you install the basic relay harness. There might be a controller for the automatic turn off relay harness but not sure about the price.

[fuel miser]

The presara has HID's as standard for low beam straight from the factory.

I think the fact that it is the original wiring (car almost 3 years old now), they would not spend excessive time chasing wiring issues.

It work not take long to check the connections either.

Now when it comes to the microscopic cracks (since this is covered in the service bulletin) and the local dealership will be covered for the cost by Toyota this is quite simple also.

With no disrespect to the guys who service the cars at dealerships I don't think the local Toyota service guy would be able to see microscopic cracks in the lamp.

Nor anyone else very easily.

The topic was raised to alert those with genuine factory installed HID's having this problem, but may also offer some potential issues resolutions that may affect those with after market HID's installed.

[stedyedy]

Hey guys, instead of starting a new thread thought it would be more appropriate to post up here,

I bought an aftermarket HID kit about 2 months ago from eBay and its really good, but there always was a slight flicker which i thought was due to it not having a relay, but i now have installed the relay and the flicker is still there.

Any Ideas?

Cheers

[DJKOR]

Any Ideas?

Made in China. More so... for a very cheap production cost.

Unfortunately, these kits have a tendency to do that. It's just the overall quality of the lamps and ballasts.

[VF-X]

Hey guys, instead of starting a new thread thought it would be more appropriate to post up here,

I bought an aftermarket HID kit about 2 months ago from eBay and its really good, but there always was a slight flicker which i thought was due to it not having a relay, but i now have installed the relay and the flicker is still there.

Any Ideas?

Cheers

Hahah.. Can't help that.. It's the ballast.. I had that, but then decided to change the whole thing after 2 years. Now, so far so good. Let's hope nothin happens till forever *fingers crossed*..

[VF-X]

While in the topic of HID... Was wondering...

What would happen if the ballast says 35w and we put in a 55w bulb? And Vice versa?

[stedyedy]

Any Ideas?

Made in China. More so... for a very cheap production cost.

Unfortunately, these kits have a tendency to do that. It's just the overall quality of the lamps and ballasts.

Makes sense,

its fine for now maybe later on i will invest in a decent HID kit,

In that case is there really any need to keep the relay?

thanks for the help!

Edited May 26, 2010 by stedyedy

[DJKOR]

In that case is there really any need to keep the relay?

If it's going to do nothing if you were to remove it, then just keep it plugged in. It won't do any harm.

[stanley19870425]

i got the similar problem.

situation: turn off the engine with parker lights and low beams on

take out key, all the lights go off as normal.

start the car (with parker lights and low beams still on)

after the engine started, both parker lights on, one of the low beams still off ( randomly happens)

turn off both low beams, turn on again, sometimes problem sloved sometimes will lead the previous off one on, and the previous on one off.

not paying attention to this, cuz i thought it was the battery problem. not have enough power to support both HIDs. my battery is 80k kms old.

is this any problems about wiring or HID qulity?

[DJKOR]

...

start the car (with parker lights and low beams still on)

after the engine started, both parker lights on, one of the low beams still off ( randomly happens)

...

Just a note here, you should not start your engine with your HID's on. You should only turn your HID's on AFTER the engine has started. This is why I don't use the Auto headlights.

This is one surefire way to kill your HID's much quicker than normal (moreso the aftermarket kits). Ever wonder why your radio cuts out when you start your engine? This is because the starter motor pulls a large amount of current, and any accessory device is going to suffer from this. So when you start your engine, you are 'pulling' power away from the HID ballasts and they are trying to regulate the voltage to the lamps, but can't do so properly. It puts stress on the ballasts and lamps.

[Foss]

Given the woeful new search function and to save starting a new thread, I'm gonna hijack this one further.

I'm ordering my HIDs today. I have been thinking 6000k, but now I'm not so sure. After comparing photos of 5000k and 6000k, I notice that 5000k is very pure white, but 6000k has a slight tinge of blue. Is this accurate in real life? How much blue do 6000k really have, or moreso, is it noticably blue when driving towards you?

[-DAvo]

Given the woeful new search function and to save starting a new thread, I'm gonna hijack this one further.

I'm ordering my HIDs today. I have been thinking 6000k, but now I'm not so sure. After comparing photos of 5000k and 6000k, I notice that 5000k is very pure white, but 6000k has a slight tinge of blue. Is this accurate in real life? How much blue do 6000k really have, or moreso, is it noticably blue when driving towards you?

ive got 6000k in mine, i find that its only "blueish" during the intital fire up, (mine goes from a tinge of green to blue then to white)

once it fired up its pretty much a white light, with a very slight blue tinge which i can sometimes see on the top of my cut off.

[VF-X]

I honestly can't see the difference between 5000k and 6000k. For me, both of them is white.. Starting from 8000k, you'll see the difference with the blue-ish colour. If I were you, I'd go 6000k like how I am now.

[fuel miser]

Having trouble with your HID's?

Well I just my car back from Toyota after two weeks of having the passenger HID go out for no obvious reason.

Here is the senario. Start the car turn the lights on drive to work. Somewhere after leaving home and getting to work the lamp would go out.

Solution: Turn low beam off and then back on. Lamp now works for an indeterminate time. Repeat at every failure.

It started a few days before it was booked in for a service, nothing found when checked at the service.

Two days after the service lamp started going out again. Turn off, turn on - all good.

Booked it in today and was informed there is a service bulletin for this exact fault.

Probable causes: faulty wiring, bad connection, microscopic crack/s in lamp.

The first two yielded no success so they replaced the lamp ($541.00) under warranty. Saved me a pretty penny.

Now the wait to see if it happens again.

Here is an update on my HID's

Tonight the drivers side hid went out, exactly the same scenario as the initial post.

Only difference is I cant report it till Monday and the 3 year warranty runs out the same day.

As usual I have taken some pictures and a video showing what happen and logged a call with Toyota link who now have a record to back this up.

I will be on the phone 8.00am Monday morning to the local Toyota dealer to get it replaced under warranty (so it is recorded for when I can get it to them). I will be referring again to the service bulletin as I don't want to pay the $500+ dollars for the new globe.

The same issues have plagued the Prius with HID upgrades in the states.

[fuel miser]

Having trouble with your HID's?

Well I just my car back from Toyota after two weeks of having the passenger HID go out for no obvious reason.

Here is the senario. Start the car turn the lights on drive to work. Somewhere after leaving home and getting to work the lamp would go out.

Solution: Turn low beam off and then back on. Lamp now works for an indeterminate time. Repeat at every failure.

It started a few days before it was booked in for a service, nothing found when checked at the service.

Two days after the service lamp started going out again. Turn off, turn on - all good.

Booked it in today and was informed there is a service bulletin for this exact fault.

Probable causes: faulty wiring, bad connection, microscopic crack/s in lamp.

The first two yielded no success so they replaced the lamp ($541.00) under warranty. Saved me a pretty penny.

Now the wait to see if it happens again.

Here is an update on my HID's

Tonight the drivers side hid went out, exactly the same scenario as the initial post.

Only difference is I cant report it till Monday and the 3 year warranty runs out the same day.

As usual I have taken some pictures and a video showing what happen and logged a call with Toyota link who now have a record to back this up.

I will be on the phone 8.00am Monday morning to the local Toyota dealer to get it replaced under warranty (so it is recorded for when I can get it to them). I will be referring again to the service bulletin as I don't want to pay the $500+ dollars for the new globe.

The same issues have plagued the Prius with HID upgrades in the states.

Well I rang the local dealer at 8:00am and reported the latest issue and was informed if I could get it to them today before the warranty ran out it would be replaced for free under the service bulletin.

True to their word I dropped the car in at 3:00pm and drove out with a brand new globe fitted.

Cost $0.00, cost not under warranty for both replaced globes $1000+.

Thanks to the local guys who have always looked after me during the warranty period.