Need HID help

[Arr MiHardies]

Both of the HID headlights in my 2011 Spyder RT stopped working recently. I don't know if they went out at exactly the same time or if one died first and I simply didn't notice. As far as I can tell, my fuses and relaysare good (in the frunk. Not sure if there are others). I know there is power going INTO the ballasts. But ballasts do all their special crap, so I don't really know how to go about testing them on the outbound side. I pulled out one of the headlights to look at the bulb. There is a slight puffy look to the glass near the top of the central chamber, and a very slight darkening to the bottom of it. Is this fairly normal, or are these indications the bulb is bad? These bulbs are about 1.5 years old with about 30,000 miles always on run time. Since these came from a kit at Xenon Depot, the connection is proprietary, so its not as simple as just grabbing another bulb to test with.Can anyone tell if this bulb is bad? I'd hate to order replacement bulbs to find out it's the ballasts or something else.

IMG_20140627_230021%u0025253Anopm%u0025253A.jpg

[bruiser]

I didn't know the connection was proprietary. I thought they were standard 9005 HID bulbs. I can't tell if the bulb is bad. Good luck. Keep us posted.

This might help you.

[Arr MiHardies]

I didn't know the connection was proprietary. I thought they were standard 9005 HID bulbs. I can't tell if the bulb is bad. Good luck. Keep us posted.

This might help you.

9005 bulbs connect to an L shape base with the connector immediately attached. This has wires that go out from the base and through the rubber seal that fills the holes you make in the back of the headlight cap. Also passing through this seal are other wires that... do... something... The entire assembly would need to be replaced to replace the bulb.

[PMK]

The bulb with connectors to mate to the ballast should be available from xenon depot. Probably includes the 1 inch grommet also.

You are correct about the 9005 connector, that is on the oem harness, mates to the conversion wiring, but the ballast to bulb is not a 9005 connector.

No good answer. Probably should try another bulb first and troubleshoot the system. Might be able to use a meter to test the ballast output to the bulb, or even try any form of HID bulb with small jumper cables, assuming you have an HID buld kicking about to try.

PK

[Arr MiHardies]

The bulb with connectors to mate to the ballast should be available from xenon depot. Probably includes the 1 inch grommet also.

You are correct about the 9005 connector, that is on the oem harness, mates to the conversion wiring, but the ballast to bulb is not a 9005 connector.

No good answer. Probably should try another bulb first and troubleshoot the system. Might be able to use a meter to test the ballast output to the bulb, or even try any form of HID bulb with small jumper cables, assuming you have an HID buld kicking about to try.

PK

I tried a multimeter on the ballast outputs with no result. Might have been doing it wrong though, and it's entirely possible my meter is no good. Of course, if I was doing it right, it means both the ballasts are bad.

[PMK]

I tried a multimeter on the ballast outputs with no result. Might have been doing it wrong though, and it's entirely possible my meter is no good. Of course, if I was doing it right, it means both the ballasts are bad.

Not sure what settings you were on with the meter. Not absolutely certain but I thought HID systems ran voltage in the 400 plus range. Just checked and boy was I wrong, 25000 volts to start and 80 to 90 for operation.

Check this article and you might do better to call and ask about troubleshooting.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/hid_headlamps.htm

PK