HID Conversion Kit Troubleshooting

There are many reasons why your HID conversion kit may not be working correctly. We provide some steps to identify what’s wrong with your kit. The reality is all HID conversion kits have a possibility to fail, mostly due to the high number of components. A bad HID bulb could be caused by a defective gas chamber, a problem with the wiring, or a broken electrode. A bad HID ballast could be caused by defective wiring or any components inside.

Just because it acts like a bulb, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bulb…Just because your HID kit is flickering, or you have to turn it on and off 10 times before it will start doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad bulb, or a bad ballast, or bad wiring… The reality is that pretty much all HID system issues have the same or similar symptoms. It’s important to do the below troubleshooting to rule out where the ACTUAL issue lies.

IF your HID bulb(s) doesn't' turn on: 

1. Check connections! Tug on EACH AND EVERY wire, behind the connector to see if they are loose. Also, visually inspect for corrosion or damage. This is an often overlooked yet crucial part of your troubleshooting because you might misdiagnose a loose connector as being a bad bulb.
2. Swap Ballasts Left – to – Right. The HID ballast is usually the easiest part of your HID kit to get access to, so unplug them and swap them around from side to side. If the problem you’re having “follows” the ballast, then it’s a bad ballast.
3. Swap Bulbs Left – to – Right. If swapping your ballasts around doesn’t fix anything, next try swapping the bulbs. Swap them around side to side and see if the problem follows the bulb.
4. If you can’t identify which component is giving you issues by swapping parts, then take out the HID system and try installing the original halogen bulbs. Your problem very well may be something on the vehicle side like the factory wiring or the fuses. If you plug in the original bulb and THAT doesn’t work either, then it’s time to investigate your fuses that control that headlight or inspect the wiring more closely for problems.

Brown Bulbs:
If you’ve ever taken out your HID bulbs to visually inspect them to see if they are broken or defective you might have noticed some discoloration in one or both. The little glass ball inside the bulb tube holds a mixture of gasses and metal halide salts specifically xenon gas, mercury, fluoride, chloride and more. Sometimes a bad bulb can look dark or brown inside that little ball. Sometimes a bad bulb can look perfectly clear! Don’t let the look of your bulb give off any false positives in your diagnosis. Perform process of elimination testing with known good components to test if your bulbs are bad.

If your HID bulbs are flickering:

The HID system operates at 9v-16v. The HID bulb flickers when it suffers from a low voltage condition that will send the HID ballast into a power protect mode or cause the ballast to flash between spikes of available current. If you see the HID lights flickering it is an indicator that you are damaging the HID system. There are two cases of low voltage: 

1. Many vehicles have “automatic headlights” that will turn the headlights on during the cranking process when starting. When cranking the vehicle the current draw of the starter motor causes the whole electrical system to suffer from a low voltage condition.
2. Many vehicles use their headlight as Daytime Running Lights (DRL). The DRL are normally running are reduced voltage to achieve a dimming effect. 

Solution:

1. Turn the Auto Headlight OFF. Turn your headlight ON when you are driving. 
2. Use the HID DRL harness to power the HID system from battery.