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Driver side H.I.D. keeps going out! Help!

29114 Views 23 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  DINSPIRED1, 
DINSPIRED1
I need all your help on this one as I am completly out of ideas and troubleshooting this ongoing problem. Basically 3 months ago my driver side H.I.D failed upon start up I thought no big deal must because its getting colder outside so I turn the light switch off and on and still the driver side will not light up....So I open the hood and check connections everything ok then drive over to shop were I had them installed because I wanted a warranty if anything went wrong in a case like this that they would fix it and I would not have to buy new parts like ballast or bulbs if it were to fail. Anyway, the shop said it was a bad ballast and replaced it and got it working again for 2 days then the driver side went out again so I drive back to the shop as soon as it happened and they turned the light off and on and then the light magically turns on...So I drove home then got in my car to check 2 hours later in the driveway and once again upon startup driver side does not turn on so I flicked the switch about 10 times and nothing. So I opened the hood again checked connections and by that time the shop was closed so the next day after work I went back to the shop and told them the light keeps going out and they said they replaced the bad ballast and decided to put on another ballast and it worked. Everything went fine for a week then I turn the car on and the driver side H.I.D. is out again! So I decided to just leave it sit for the weekend and when I turned it on 2 days later it magically starts working again...another couple days goes by and the lights are out again so I flick the switch on and off and nothing so after work I go back to the shop and they said they cannot figure it out so I suggested using a relay so they put one on along with another new ballast (3rd ballast by the way) and that worked for 2.5 hours then I get into the car to start it up that same night with new ballast and relay and still Fail driver side out!!!! At this point I call the owner of the shop and he is out of ideas and says must be a problem with the cars harness and or recharching system. The owner took me into the shop and showed me in person that the ballast was getting the correct voltage and the ground was connected to stock ground. At this point I am livid and demand a whole new set 2 new ballast 2 new bulbs new wiring because (I'm really thinking this is cheap ass H.I.D. kit) so new kit goes on a month goes by no problems then AGAIN the driver side H.I.D. fails to light!!!!!!! :mad: If anyone can help because I had many H.I.D. kits in the past and never had this many problems put in myself or shop and only with this car am I coming across these problems and I'm sick of it.:mad::confused::mad:
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Rainyraven
maybe there is a short inside one of the wires on the stock kia side
Don't you have to splice the stock wires to the hids I'd look for a short in the factory wire side.

Or maybe there is a place wear stock wires are grounding out someplace like metal to metal.
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K
Are you starting the car with the lights on?

Also, maybe you should try to put regular bulbs back in and see if they stay properly lit? If not, it's a problem with your vehicle.
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DINSPIRED1
@kjinxx2
Are you starting the car with the lights on?

Also, maybe you should try to put regular bulbs back in and see if they stay properly lit? If not, it's a problem with your vehicle.

(Yes I always leave my lights in auto mode when I turn on and off the car...Would that cause havok on the ballast?)


@Rainyravenmaybe there is a short inside one of the wires on the stock kia side
Don't you have to splice the stock wires to the hids I'd look for a short in the factory wire side.

Or maybe there is a place wear stock wires are grounding out someplace like metal to metal.

(Yeah I hope its not the factory wiring but will def add to the list of possiblilties and troubleshooting steps till I figure it out.)
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K
DINSPIRED1 said:
Yes I always leave my lights in auto mode when I turn on and off the car...Would that cause havok on the ballast?
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I have read that when you start the vehicle, the flow of electricity is very inconsistent. I know that it's caused a few people's LED's to go out, not sure about a ballast though. I'd liken it, however, to the act of flashing your HID's, which is known to blow out ballasts. The thing that is puzzling, if that's the issue, is what causes only the driver's side to blow out?
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ForteSXFan21
how did the shop install the connectors to the stock harness, check their connections and make sure they are not loose. Check the relay that there is no corrosion on the connectors. As rainy said check to see if there are any cuts or nicks in the wire that my be shorting out.
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DINSPIRED1
*Update*

I turn my car on this morning without having the auto light in position and the driver side again does not light up flick on and off a couple time then 10min for my commute to work I decide to turn it on after the car warmed up a little bit and they came back on??? I have noticed the problem is more consitant with colder weather...they were fine for 6 months or so in warm weather and as soon as November came the problem started.....
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WandersX
One thing I had done, whilst experiencing the same problem, is turn the key so your electric comes on but not the enough to start the actual car. Doing this with the lights on, for me, had the lights come on perfectly everytime and once they are bright and ready I just turn the car on and be on my way. This usually take me less than 30seconds so if you want to try it feel free. Also! One thing to mention and not sure if it's related.. after replacing my turn signals with the switchback LEDs I replaced my Flash Relay... and after doing that I noticed my HID problem has gone away... Not sure if they are correlated but figure I would mention to you.

Maybe I just got lucky...
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DINSPIRED1
WandersX said:
One thing I had done, whilst experiencing the same problem, is turn the key so your electric comes on but not the enough to start the actual car. Doing this with the lights on, for me, had the lights come on perfectly everytime and once they are bright and ready I just turn the car on and be on my way. This usually take me less than 30seconds so if you want to try it feel free. Also! One thing to mention and not sure if it's related.. after replacing my turn signals with the switchback LEDs I replaced my Flash Relay... and after doing that I noticed my HID problem has gone away... Not sure if they are correlated but figure I would mention to you.

Maybe I just got lucky...
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I will def try that for the next couple of days to see if it works. Thank you so much for the tip!...Also I am def going to get to the bottom of the issue eventually as I feel I should be able to have HID's without worrying my lights are on or not...and it bothers me I can't figure out the cause...its just the driver side......so I am going to check over the wires, connections and punch my self in the nuts a couple more times :eek:...haha jk....but really any more suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated. thanks
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Y&RFORTE
the same shit happened to me one day after work i went to start up my car and it didnt want to start once i restarted my car i noticed the driver side hid light went out so i went back to the shop where i got them installed and they put a brand new lightbulb and ballast and its working fine now.......4 now????
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DINSPIRED1
Y&RFORTE said:
the same shit happened to me one day after work i went to start up my car and it didnt want to start once i restarted my car i noticed the driver side hid light went out so i went back to the shop where i got them installed and they put a brand new lightbulb and ballast and its working fine now.......4 now????
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Yea hopefully your first and last ballast replacement as I went thru 5 so far within 2 months:mad: It's been freezing rain and snowing here and last night was really cold with freezing rain but yet the driver side worked this morning with the auto lights on and all:confused: It's very random times it happens with no paticular pattern....but always that damn driver side:mad:.
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S
If you are having a several ballasts needing replacement where did you get yours from? If I get the HID lights I might want to avoid that brand.
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DINSPIRED1
spicyredkoup said:
If you are having a several ballasts needing replacement where did you get yours from? If I get the HID lights I might want to avoid that brand.
Click to expand...

Not sure the kit is the problem since its 2 different brands and only the driver side keeps going out.... But yeah DDM and some other brand I forget the name that they had at shop
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S
Has DDM offered any assistance on troubleshooting? DDM seems to be well regarded here.
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DINSPIRED1
spicyredkoup said:
Has DDM offered any assistance on troubleshooting? DDM seems to be well regarded here.
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Yeah the normal send the ballast and bulb back we will ship you a new one response....the shop put four of their brand ballasts on and most recent the ddm kit had the shop put in my kit (ddm) because I was trying to prove that it was possibly their kit but evidently this brand new kit failed on the driver side also...I cant understand it....
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K
I still say revert to the original halogen bulbs and see if the driver's side blows out, at least then the dealer will take a look at it, with the HID's in you're out of luck
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crock89
I have the original 35w ddm ballast before the slim and ive had them for a year already and no problems yet
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koupchick
I jus had my switchbacks put in yesterday by a friend and when I went to go home last nite and turn on my headlights the drivers side didn't go on! I have 8000k hids from diode
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Rainyraven
^^^^
Another one with the same issue :(

Things that make you go hmmmm
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ForteSXFan21
Well I had a similar issue where neither driver or passenger wouldn't turn on. Call DDM customer support and they gave me a few options to try and if didn't work they could replace the bulbs and ballast. Turn out to be the relay in the harness was bad. Learned that flicking the lights on and off is bad for the ballast.
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