if one of your headlights went out..how would you know if it was the ballast or the bulb?

 

A swap from side to side.

 

any other way?

 

The bulb swap is the easiest way to find out.

 

Do you have a crystal ball?

 

if that seems too complicated for you, I would suggest you bring it down to your local Honda dealer.

 

i noticed a color change with my left HID when it was starting to fail. The road in front of me on the left side had an orange tint while it was bright white on the right side. Then the bulb went out completely in only a few miles. A new bulb was tried (as suggested by the Honda Service Manual) and no joy. Next step was a new ballast and everything was back working. I put the original bulb back in and it worked - now have a spare since Honda won't take back any "used" electrical parts.

I would suggest 1st to check the HID fuses by swapping their positions and then swap the suspect bulb to the working side 1st to see if it works with that HID. This method should give you a good idea if your problem is simple (fuse) , the bulb or the ballast .

Hope this saves you from buying needless parts.