Appearance & Detailing Interior & Exterior Appearance Modifications

HID Problem

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Old May 5, 2011 | 10:31 AM
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Default HID Problem

Hey everyone,

Was wondering if anyone has experienced my problem, and what the problem may be. 2 days ago I was driving my car, and the headlights went out. I left the headlight switch on, and then I saw smoke coming from the switch. I switched off the headlights, to just the parking lights on, and I also turned on my fogs. After a few minutes, I tried turning on the headlights again and they in fact turned on. But to be safe I still turned them off in order to not start an electrical fire. While the headlights were off, with the headlight switch in the on position, and a little before the smoking, the battery gauge kept going from normal to the very top of the red. Just bouncing around. Once the switch for the headlights was off, it stopped.

Previously, the lights had been working, but certain bumps would make them flicker, and even make them brighter. It's affecting both sides. One of the mistakes may be I'm not running a relay harness. This is the first time it's happened in 2 years.

I'm thinking and hoping, it might be dual burned out ballasts. Although I don't know how common it is for them to burn out at the same time. Or, maybe it's just one bad one but the electrical disturbance is effecting the other one. Also, I'm hoping a relay harness will help with my next 2 ballasts.

Thanks for the help.
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Old May 5, 2011 | 02:21 PM
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Replace the headlight switch.
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Old May 5, 2011 | 02:24 PM
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So it's the headlight switch that has gone bad? Or I should just replace it because I saw smoke from that direction?
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Old May 5, 2011 | 06:16 PM
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Both reasons. I had a similar issue, where the headlights just went out. They would come and go with bumps in the road, and I found that tapping the headlight switch would fix the problem. Then they went out permanently. I replaced the switch, and problem fixed. It's pretty cheap from Autozone.
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Old May 6, 2011 | 04:39 PM
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I'm thinking you are right.

Yesterday as I was driving, the headlight switch was in the complete off position. The fogs were in the on position, but as you know, unless you at least activate the parking lights, the fogs won't go on. I kept driving and didn't notice, but my battery gauge was in the red at like 10.5 volts. I didn't know what exactly was happening. Then I clicked the fog light off and the battery gauge came up, and eventually it was finally able to hold charge.

I will still install relay kits for both the HID headlights and HID fogs. But I will also replace the headlight switch. Are you sure they sell that item at AutoZone?
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