HIDs no longer work

[Robatron]

I was at an Ace Cafe meet last monday night and when I left I popped my lights on, drove out of the Ace and sat at some traffic lights behind a white van. Suddenly the once illuminated van became dull and I know instantly that the lights had packed up.

I put the full beams on briefly and the lights burst back into life which was nice...until today!

This time they definatly won't come back on and I have tried wiggling the wires around but it makes no difference what so ever. I have also checked to make sure everything is earthed correctly and everything seems ok. What is the more likely cause...a faulty switch/stalk or ******ed lights?

[s2_bo]

Sounds like faulty wiring, earth or stalks if you managed to get them to comeback on once after they had gone out.

Have you checked that the connector at the back of the stalk is still as it should? I had the cable come out of mine once and that made the lights stay off until sorted.

Good luck

[dest]

One of mine packed up recently too, it turned out to be a loose earth on the body from the HID wiring

[Jamo]

Check the fuses for the lights, I had this happen to me and it was as simple as that.

[Robatron]

Ok guys, I shall have a look.

As always, thanks for the advice!

[newsh]

Got to be a fuse, switch or a wire for both lights to go out at once, the lamps have separate power supplies.

[Robatron]

Thanks guys. I haven't had the chance to check today as work has kept me on my toes until pretty late.

One thing I failed to mention was that the sidelights still function perfectly, as does the full beam.

[monstereddie]

Oooutch!

[S2central.net]

I'd say its an earth or stalk/switch problem...

1 - the headlights are separately fused
2 - once a fuse blows it can't fix by itself

[Robatron]

Right I've finally had a chance to have a fiddle with the car today.

For starters I took the steering column surround off and there is no sign of any loose wires or any wires hanging out so I pretty much ruled that out straight away. Next I decided to check the earth which seems to be just fine.

I popped the lid off the red control box to be greeted with what looked like 3 relays. Anyway I went back and tried the headlight switch and the relays can clearly be heard clicking in and out (also another sign that the wires should be ok?) but still no dipped beam lights.

Where is the fuse situated for the HID lights? Is it inside the ballast? All the wiring seems to be ok and there are no loose connections so I'm guessing it could be a fuse but as Paul has stated fuses would not fix themselves so perhaps it is a faulty ballast?


Would anybody be able to offer some helpful insight?

[dest]

I think it would be too much of a coincidence for both HID bulbs to blow, or both ballasts, so that suggests its something in the circuit before it splits to each light.
Can you put in the original normal bulbs?
If they work you know its something HID related, and will also rule out fuses, wiring and the stalk

[s2_bo]

Can you measure the voltage on the lights loom with a multimeter before they connect to the ballast packs?

If your getting power there then that rules out fuses, stalks and cables to that point anyway.

[Robatron]

This has now been sorted by an electrician very close to where I work.

Basically a connector had corroded quite badly so it was all cleaned up and one of the wires had to be cut back slightly in order to make a clean connection.

So the good news is that it is fixed and the bad news is that if it goes again it will need re-wring as there is not much length left in the wire and it's all abit tight.

[Fat Audi 80]

This has now been sorted by an electrician very close to where I work.

Basically a connector had corroded quite badly so it was all cleaned up and one of the wires had to be cut back slightly in order to make a clean connection.

So the good news is that it is fixed and the bad news is that if it goes again it will need re-wring as there is not much length left in the wire and it's all abit tight.

Is that an OEM cable in the loom or one of your retro fitted HID cables?

Glad to hear you have it sorted Rob.

[Robatron]

Well last time I was under the bonnet there was alot of spare wire for the HID lights so I would assume it is the OEM loom for the lights. I shall have a look when I get a chance under the bonnet but I am fairly sure this is the case.

Slightly off topic I know, but how is business Steve?