Hi there, looking for a bit of advice.

I have a 2001 with 140,000 miles. No problems experienced since i bought at at 28,000 mi.

Yesterday I noticed in the reflections off the back of a truck at traffic lights, that my passenger side HID headlight (not main beam) was out. It turned back on when I turned the lights off and on. Now it flickers with a faint blue light and sometimes doesn't work at all. I'd had the bulb replaced about 18 months ago. Surely it wouldn't fail so soon? The other side bulb is the original and going strong.

Does that sound like the bulb? I heard there's something called the ballast but no idea what that is. Could it be that? I also understand it's a pain, and a bit dangerous to work on these issues.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Disconnect negative, not dangerous anymore
Sounds like the bulb to me, I honestly havent heard of the ballast going out on these cars. The ballast is what amplifies the power and controls the electricity. Did you use an aftermarket bulb? If you used a cheapy then its probably going out. Check all of the connections too. I would like to say the bulb, but usually when hids go out they just go out. Could be a ballast issue aswell..

Check the connections before anything, make sure nothing is cooked or loose. Verify its not the bulb first because its probably cheapest. If that doesnt work then more than likely its your ballast, but that would blow a fuse if that was bad im assuming..

Surely there is a way to verify it with a volt meter, but couldnt tell you how.

 

anyone else, im having the same issue

 

The ballast for one of the headlights on my s2k was replaced just before I bought the car. The previous owner tried replacing the bulb first to no avail and took it to the dealership where they determined the ballast was bad.

ETA: I found the receipt in the paperwork that the previous owner gave me. The tech notes indicated that the HID socket had corroded connections and the ballast was bad so they replaced the socket and ballast. It was $209.47 for the "control unit", $223.23 for the "HID igniter" and $105 for labor, plus tax which made it just under $600.

 

I'm hoping it's the bulb then, I just ordered a new Phillips. $50 on Amazon.

 

It wasn't a cheapie bulb I don't think but the shop ordered from their regular supplier so who knows what brand it was. I'm ordering one myself so I know what's fitted the next time. Still I think it's weird it would fail so soon And based on the information in a earlier post I'm hoping it is the bulb.

 

i just had this happen to me, turns out it was the ballast, ordered some aftermarket ballasts and will be installing those this week, hopefully this all works out haha

 

Instead of ordering a new bulbs to test out to see if it your bulbs or ballast. Just swap it with the other good side therefore you know if its the bulb or the ballast issue.

 

Very pleased to say that this was the bulb. The previous one failed after little more than a year so I got a new one from Amazon for $50 and my service guy fitted if to free!

 

I've had a couple of recent and bad experiences with the high end sylvannia(probably didn't spell that right) bulbs. Not in my S but in my girls Toyota. One went out after 6 months and the other only lasted about three. I guess this could point to a wiring problem, but usually the fuse would blow if it's grounded. I guess my point is, new, bad bulbs are totally possible, but if it were me I would've just switched the working side to the non working side
Before ordering bulbs.
A multi meter could easily test the ballast.