anyone good with wires?

i remember sometime in the spring, with OEM bugeye headlights, the passenger side went out once. i turned off my lights and turned them on again and everything was ok. This happened once or twice.

In early August, I picked up a pair of jdm sti projectors, and haven't had problems until maybe one or two months ago. they've gone out twice. both times I just turn off my lights, and turn em on again. everything's fine.

tonight, driving back from BJ's/in-n-out in laguna hills or wherever, i noticed the same problematic headlight was not out this time, but now it was a dim purplish color...sort of like the color when HIDs are warming up.

drove home to riverside, pushed together as tight as I could everything that looked like it connected to something on the passenger side headlight, and it started to shine white again once I turned them on. now the passenger side headlight is shining white again, but still not equally as bright as my driver side.

the next day, we tried to mess with it some more, and now BOTH headlight low beams won't work. high beams, parking lights, turn signals are all ok.

any input? or if you could let me come over, or we meet somewhere to fix this...I'll buy you lunch or something. hopefully this can be resolved before saturday.

TIA.

-Ian

 

Are these HIDs? It sounds like it from your description.
Some general items to check are the factory headlight wiring and connectors for poor connections or damage from overheating or corrosion, also any aftermarket wiring or relays related to HIDs.
There is a fuse for the common headlight power on each side, but it doesn't sound like that is your problem. Can't hurt to check though. There is a relay for the power on each side as well, in the under hood fuse box.
If you do have HIDs it is possible they are not running on the factory power but are wired to the battery either directly or through a relay.
Did you install the lights yourself or did you have someone do it?

 

i bought them used and had a diagram drawn of how he wired them, and I basically used his wiring.

I checked the bulbs, the fuses in the fuse box (pointless because like you said, each headlight has it's own fuse and isn't running off factory power)

each headlight had it's own fuse. I blew one in the process of checking somehow, but I replaced it =).

headlight ----> fuse ----> relay-----ground + battery

the headlights are running off battery power, not factory power.
my next step is to buy new relays and check those. If not, then I guess im taking it to a friend of a friend's wiring guy who has experience wiring aftermarket HIDs to the JDM HID STi projectors which I have.

 

Is there one relay for both HIDs, or does each one have its own relay?
If the relay(s) were not properly protected when they were installed (i.e. wrapped up with electrical tape) it is possible that moisture and dirt has gotten inside and corroded the contacts and internal parts.

 

each HID has its own relay. good point with the electrical tape. I might try that. It's been dry around where I live, but lately it has been really cold, foggy, etc. that could explain why it happened just now. Once I wake up later (if i can get to sleep...) I'll pick up new relays and make sure they are taped up. If that doesn't fix it, all I can think of is that the ballasts have gone bad

 

Well if you can get one side working you can swap HID components between sides to narrow down any bad parts. I doubt that both ballasts would have failed at once, although maybe one was on the way for a while and then the second one went also. The bulbs don't last forever either, but they do have a long rated life (around 2500 hours for OEM HID bulbs but maybe less for aftermarket ones).
You may be able to pop open the relays (the cover should come off with a small screwdriver) to take a look inside, if they're all nasty replace them.

 

hm switched out both relays. no help. looks like it's ballasts. Since I can't figure out what kind of ballasts they are (they're just red), and the previous owner has no idea... I guess I'm just gonna get a full new kit, with better condition wires, and etc.

 

Probably a good idea. But, you can test the ballasts by connecting them directly to the battery temporarily to see if they power up. Might want to have a fuse in line, just in case.

 

thnx for the help. i think it was the ballasts. so i got a new kit..this time a ballast with a brand on it...lol. also installed my braille racing battery.

lights are running great again. sucks though, the little "brake" light that's inside the factory gauge cluster is dimly light now when my headlights are on and my e-brake is off. when the ebrake is up, the the light shines normal and bright. bah. problems problems problems.

 

bump from the past.

im so glad for search...searched this old thread and figured out what I needed...again...5 years ago i had the same problem, fixed it, now im having the same problem again haha! and I never did fix my ebrake light mentioned in the above post