Dipped Beam Headlight Not Turning On

[BenRichardsFife]

tried searching on the forum but it didn't bring any relevant threads up

 

 

basically, my passenger side dipped beam headlight wouldn't turn on so i assumed the bulb was at fault (i have a hid kit so i ordered 2 new hid bulbs)

 

i installed the new bulb (being careful not to touch or knock the bulb) wired everything up, and the light didn't turn on... :[

 

 

so i tested the same bulb in the drivers side (where the old hid bulb was still working) and the bulb didn't work in that side either... wtf :[

 

then i put the original working hid bulb back into its original working side and now that bulb isn't working... what the hellll

 

i was careful not to touch any of the bulbs, so i haven't damaged the bulb, i checked the fuses and none of them look broken - but im not 100% sure which one im ment to be looking at to be honest,

 

if its the ballasts then why did both of them break, surely they wouldnt break at the same time?

 

someone want to enLIGHTen me? - im hilarious, i know ;p

[Nic]

HID ballasts need a certain voltage to fire up the bulbs, if the voltage is too low they will either flicker on not light at all. Try connecting the ballasts and bulbs directly to the battery - swapping around the ballasts and bulbs to make sure each are working. If they work connected directly to the battery then it's a low voltage problem which is usually down to old wiring loom/poor earth/corroded connectors.

 

If it is a problem with low voltage the easiest fix is to buy an HID relay kit, these are usually plug and play and connect the HID ballasts direct to the battery through a relay.

 

Something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HID-Xenon-Relay-Wiring-Harness-H8-H7-H9-H11-5202-9006-/271037628097?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f1b19fec1#ht_3361wt_1189

Edited September 15, 2012 by Nic (see edit history)

[BenRichardsFife]

ok i found the problem minutes after posting this thread lol

 

the ballast has 2 little notches on the socket on it, one is a little wedge (triangle shape) and the other is a big bulky rectangle shape.

 

the instructions told me to have the clip on the connector locking onto the triangle shaped notch, but infact mines worked on the rectangle shape side, obviously before i was mixing up the positive and negative sides

 

 

hope this helps anyone else out there