Anyone have intermittent HID problems?

[Rick Lee]

I have intermittent outages in my 993 and my wife's Mini. In my wife's car, it's an occasionally flickering light that just won't go on. Sometimes it flickers before it goes dark and sometimes it comes on just fine. Last Sunday I managed to make both not come on after several tries.

In my 993 one just turns off while driving or sometimes won't come on when I fire the car up, but then comes on 10 min. into the trip. Just about every time it goes out, I can release the whole headlight assembly from its track, push is back in and it comes on again as soon as I clamp that locking lever down. WTF? If it were a shorted wire, why would that work almost every time?

I thought bulbs either work or they don't. So could this be a ballast or igniter issue? HID's were not so cheap when I installed these kits, but are so cheap now, I'm thinking of just replacing both kits and being done with it all.

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I have intermittent outages in my 993 and my wife's Mini. In my wife's car, it's an occasionally flickering light that just won't go on. Sometimes it flickers before it goes dark and sometimes it comes on just fine. Last Sunday I managed to make both not come on after several tries.

In my 993 one just turns off while driving or sometimes won't come on when I fire the car up, but then comes on 10 min. into the trip. Just about every time it goes out, I can release the whole headlight assembly from its track, push is back in and it comes on again as soon as I clamp that locking lever down. WTF? If it were a shorted wire, why would that work almost every time?

I thought bulbs either work or they don't. So could this be a ballast or igniter issue? HID's were not so cheap when I installed these kits, but are so cheap now, I'm thinking of just replacing both kits and being done with it all.

Have you tried the 993 forum?

[Rick Lee]

No because this is not specific to any model of car and is happening in both of mine. Someone here must have had it happen to them in their car, whatever make and model it may be.

[C2Cab95]

How long have you had the HID kits installed? I had an issue with some D2S "cheapy" bulbs I got from the VW GTI forum I'm on as well. They lasted about a couple years, but the passenger side for what ever reason would either not work at all, or come on after a few seconds. I swapped new bulbs in and it was all good, and has been fine ever since. None of the HID system components are really cheap, that includes the bulbs. If your kit set up allows bulb replacement, I'd go that route before anything else.

[Rick Lee]

My 993 has the kit from the group buy ****** did a few years ago. They worked great for about three years and the first outage was about two yrs. ago. Now it's regular. The Mini has a kit from CQ Lights in Canada, but their website is down. I've had that one for about three years and it's always been a little sketchy, but has gotten a lot worse recently. My bike has the kit from DDM and it's been great, but I've only had it for about four mos.

I fear I can't mix and match parts here because some of the sources have dried up. Hell, DDM's kits are $35 and work like a charm. So I'll probably just get new kits and be done with it. It'll end up costing me that much buying one new bulb and one new ballast and with shipping, not to mention all the trial and error.

[C2Cab95]

I'm guessing the bulbs themselves are starting to go... the new kits now aren't that expensive, and install the same way as before. I've never had a kit before but it is something I'd like to do on my 993.

[Rick Lee]

Let's put it this way. The kits were $235 back when I installed in on the 993 and I thought it was the best money I had ever spent on that car. So $35 nowadays for a new kit is a no-brainer. Install is more involved on a 993 than on other cars and bikes I've done, but still easy.

[wildcat077]

I installed a HID kit in my F150 and often times only one light comes on ... Usually if i turn off the lights and turn them back on right away both will stay on,guess that's what you get with a cheap Ebay kit ...
I was told it's most likely a ballast problem and i will be purchasing a better conversion kit when one of the bulbs burn out !

Cheers !
Phil

[wwest]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I have intermittent outages in my 993 and my wife's Mini. In my wife's car, it's an occasionally flickering light that just won't go on. Sometimes it flickers before it goes dark and sometimes it comes on just fine. Last Sunday I managed to make both not come on after several tries.

In my 993 one just turns off while driving or sometimes won't come on when I fire the car up, but then comes on 10 min. into the trip. Just about every time it goes out, I can release the whole headlight assembly from its track, push is back in and it comes on again as soon as I clamp that locking lever down. WTF? If it were a shorted wire, why would that work almost every time?

I thought bulbs either work or they don't. So could this be a ballast or igniter issue? HID's were not so cheap when I installed these kits, but are so cheap now, I'm thinking of just replacing both kits and being done with it all.

Trouble-shooting 101...

Swap the bulbs left to right, if the symptom moves...

Trouble-shooting 102...

Start-up voltage, voltage during initial arc initiation, is VERY critical. Most ballasts will try a "re-fire" numerous times and then just give up until the next voltage application.

[techman1]

Might seem silly, but a lot of weird electrical issues were solved on my '95 by replacing the battery ground cable. Still looked new, but had picked up a lot of resistance. Best $12 I spent at the FLAPS.