Well I've had this problem to a lesser extent for a while.

When I turn my headlights on, the left light turns on 2-3 seconds after the right one. Sometimes this happens and sometimes not.


Well today coming home from the gym, the left one didnt even turn on. I tried turning them on and off but no luck. I can hear and see it flicker but the bulb is not powering on.

Im not quite sure how to diagnose what in the system is causing this?

Is it a bad bulb or is there something wrong with the ballast on that side? Anyone else had a similar problem? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Assuming the ballast and bulbs are good - not a rebased bulb with a 'bad connection'/etc, try a heavy duty wire harness. While it's true that HID lamps draw less current then typical halogens, this is only after the HIDs ignite.

When you turn on HIDs, they draw many times more current then some factory harnesses are capable of. This might be your problem if you are indeed using the factor wires to supply the ballasts' juice (as would be the case with many rebased HID bulb kits). This is especially true if the left and right harnesses converge somewhere down line - and therefore having two ballasts come online at the same time being too much for the harness to handle (only one ballast gets enough current at times to ignite).

Instead, you want to use the factory harness to act as a trigger via a relay, with a new set of heavier duty wires providing the actual 'juice'. This is basically what you're looking for, but can probably find similar for less:

http://www.hid-online.com/hidonline/...ts/harness.htm

 

Thanks for the heads up!

After further research on my own end, I came to the same conclusion. Thanks for the link to the harness as well.

My primary concern now is, could I have damaged the ballast using the factory harness?

 

Not sure about damaging it, by my first guess is no. It's likely that it simpy can't get the 'juice' it needs to ignite. Resistance in the electrical system can change if the connectors get dirty, develop oxidation, etc. Resistance also changes with changes in temperature, which might be one reason for your occasional problem. Replied to your PM.