HELP: Are these symptoms of a dead HID ballast? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

***Yazovets*** · 02-25-2008, 08:04 PM

Today my left low-beam would no longer fire up. I performed the XenonDepot XtremeHID 4300 kit installation about 9-10 months ago (complete with squirrel spotter mod).

Anyway, over the last week, I had noticed that when I fire up my car, the left headlight ignites with a delay of 1 second as compared to the right one. Also from time to time, the left would not fire up at all. The only solution was to turn the headlights on and off between 1 and 3 times.

Today my left headlight wouldn't turn on for good. I did some simple troubleshooting. I tested the left bulb with the right ballast and it works properly. I tested my right bulb with the left dead ballast and it doesn't work.

Then I put back my right bulb and it works still. I also double checked all connections which were untouched.

So is this basically 99% a dead left ballast since the left bulb works perfectly when paired with the right ballast?

Thanks!

skyxliner · 02-25-2008, 08:08 PM

if the bulbs working fine, then it's most likely the ballast. did you install the relay harness or are you connecting to the oem harness. my best guess is perhaps if you can connect halogen lightbulb back to the oem harness and that works. your choices are narrowed down to the ballast.

otherwise if halogen doesn't even work, then maybe the oem harness is bad?

***Yazovets*** · 02-25-2008, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyxliner

if the bulbs working fine, then it's most likely the ballast. did you install the relay harness or are you connecting to the oem harness. my best guess is perhaps if you can connect halogen lightbulb back to the oem harness and that works. your choices are narrowed down to the ballast.

otherwise if halogen doesn't even work, then maybe the oem harness is bad?

I use a separate relay harness with fuse for each side. So for sure it's not the OEM harness gone bad. I couldn't try to plug in a standard H11 bulb because I didn't have any with me.

Tomorrow I'm visiting my mechanic to re-balance one of the tires so I'll try then.

cosism · 02-25-2008, 08:37 PM

I have a set of lvq-212s fs if you need a replacement.

LE05 · 02-25-2008, 09:17 PM

sounds like the ballast is going... delayed firing or intermittent firing is usually a sign that its the ballast. could possibly be the relay too, but the bulb test is fairly accurate. who knows, try replacing the relay on the driver side, couldn't hurt.

***Yazovets*** · 02-25-2008, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LE05

sounds like the ballast is going... delayed firing or intermittent firing is usually a sign that its the ballast. could possibly be the relay too, but the bulb test is fairly accurate. who knows, try replacing the relay on the driver side, couldn't hurt.

I don't have additional relay harnesses to replace it with. What would make a ballast go bad? I thought bulbs were the number 1 weak spot? Aren't ballasts supposed to work a longer time?

white3ch0c0late · 02-25-2008, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yazovets

I don't have additional relay harnesses to replace it with. What would make a ballast go bad? I thought bulbs were the number 1 weak spot? Aren't ballasts supposed to work a longer time?

Not necessarily.

Ballasts can go bad from poor workmanship, poor installation, improper wiring harnesses, water penetration, etc.

diycamry · 02-26-2008, 01:19 AM

Does the extra hid bulb heat cause any problems in the 07 projectors?

white3ch0c0late · 02-26-2008, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diycamry

Does the extra hid bulb heat cause any problems in the 07 projectors?

HIDs actually create less heat than halogen.

LE05 · 02-26-2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yazovets

I don't have additional relay harnesses to replace it with. What would make a ballast go bad? I thought bulbs were the number 1 weak spot? Aren't ballasts supposed to work a longer time?

i didn't mean for you to replace the whole harness, just the relay on the harness. sometimes the relay contacts corrode or stick, so replacing the relay may fix the problem.

DiLan · 02-26-2008, 09:44 PM

One thing to check is if the plug between the stock harness(h11 bulb socket) and the female adaptor on the relay harness are tight together

When I first installed my kit I found that there is some play in between those two, havent got around to it but I'm gonna zip tie them together.

***Yazovets*** · 02-26-2008, 10:05 PM

Alright I was troubleshooting this with my mechanic today. We re-did all connections. We tested bulbs left and right. He also tested for power using some sort of meter thing.

Anyway, out conclusion is that the left ballast is really dead. I've ordered a new one today online and I hope to have this resolved on Friday or something.

I had to go to my mechanic anyway to re-balance my front-left tire. I was getting vibration at highway speeds. The tire has been re-balanced and the vibration went away instantly!

gus738 · 08-21-2009, 03:20 PM

Why didnt you try to xenondepot for warranty? did they give you the run around or do they step up to their warranty?

i've seen members in the 8th gen civic had problems with xenondepot kit which is why im asking you.

ps i tracked your thread and im aware its old.

Pawel062 · 08-21-2009, 08:54 PM

yea it was probably the ballast but make sure when you install new one that moisture can't get to the ballasts because even aftermarkets usually last longer. good luck.