I remember reading something about this, why some hids will turn off on you after a few seconds of being on.I dont remember what cased it though. Well some of you know I retro fitted projectors into the fogs. I forgot to tuck back in all the wires one day after I was doing some final adjustment and I guess the wheel caught it and tore it off as I was driving. Until I get a replacement harness for that side, I bought 2 hid bulbs for the fogs and when I turn them on, only the passenger light turns off after about 3-5 seconds.The driver side fog stays on. Then when I turn the fogs off and on again, the passenger side turn on and stays on. I searched, HID threads wouldn't really show up. I even put only the word "HID'' and searched by title and nothing came up.
HIDs turn off by themselves
- Thread starter Alax7
- Start date
Mireau's LS
LVC Member
Sounds as though they are not getting enough power. enough to ignite or flicker but not enough to keep the ballast powered. Did you run relay's/harnes's for your power?
Mireau's LS
LVC Member
a bad ballast could be it too. or a crappy ground as well.
i do have some pics but nothing real good, i've been meaning to take some but its still ice and snow up here. i also need to do a welcome the new guy intruduction but was waiting for better pics. lol.
i do have some pics but nothing real good, i've been meaning to take some but its still ice and snow up here. i also need to do a welcome the new guy intruduction but was waiting for better pics. lol.
It's a plug and play kit. The bulb connects to the ballast and the bulb connects to the fog light harness. No grounding or other power source besides the fog harness. You need relays for plug and play kits?
Silver_LS
Dedicated LVC Member
I think someone said recently the Stock HID headlights have relays, so maybe it is required? I would check the voltage going to the lights with a voltmeter first though, then try switching the left and right balast to see if that makes a difference. Its possible you just got a bad balast or a weak one? if thats possible.
Mireau's LS
LVC Member
the thing with hids, be it plug and play or stock, is that the initial power draw to start up the ballast is far greater then a normal stock fog light. people have had issues in any car or truck with burnt stock wires due to this large draw. your normal 12awg wire normally isn't enough to withstand that much power draw over long periods of time. The best way is to build a relay harness to power your hid's. the harness will use your stock power to trigger the relay, then the power will come from your battery using a thicker guage wire.
wheels are stockers painted, didn't do a clear on them. this spring i will be taking them off again, respraying and clearing. I also tinted the tails but they faded a little so i will respray those as well.
wheels are stockers painted, didn't do a clear on them. this spring i will be taking them off again, respraying and clearing. I also tinted the tails but they faded a little so i will respray those as well.
You're not running the replacement bulbs through the ballast, are you? Since the projectors need less power, that power may not be enough to energize the regular bulbs.
Got it. I will look for relays just to call it safe then.
I purchased a set of digital slim ballast after the projector retro to match the colors of the bulbs. Now I'm using those slim digital ballast with HID bulbs. The projectors need to be connected to a power source that I got that from the fuse box.
Mireau's LS
LVC Member
here is a real good pic of how to wire your relays. I would use 12awg or better but thats just me.
What do the numbers mean? The ones in the relay. So even if it is a plug N ply kit, it needs a relay that goes to the battery? The projectors have a realy which I did connect to a power source when they were on.
Mireau's LS
LVC Member
when you build your harness you will have to get two relays, two fuse holders, and all the normal wireing extras(heat shrink, male/female ends, ect)
the number that you see in the boxes on the chart would be as if you were looking on the relay itself. its pretty self explanitory if you follow the wires away from the harness to what the number mean. for instance, 86 will be the pin that you would connect the stock power wire to. 85 would be the stock ground, 30 is your power wire from your power source (battery, fuse box, whatever) and 87 would be the outgoing power to your ballast.
the AWG signifies what thickness or guage your wire is.
the number that you see in the boxes on the chart would be as if you were looking on the relay itself. its pretty self explanitory if you follow the wires away from the harness to what the number mean. for instance, 86 will be the pin that you would connect the stock power wire to. 85 would be the stock ground, 30 is your power wire from your power source (battery, fuse box, whatever) and 87 would be the outgoing power to your ballast.
the AWG signifies what thickness or guage your wire is.
starfox86
Well-Known LVC Member
Or you could use a better ballast. I have used the xlr ballast and ls ballast with no issues. When I switch to the cheap ballast they NEED to have relays hooked up. I honestly believe it's the ballast quality creating this issue.