spartan Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 I have had my 6000k HID kit that I bought from a vendor on this site about a year ago. Last night when leaving work, I went to turn on the lights and they did not fire. I turned the switch off and back on, and they lighted up fine. About 10 minutes later I am now traveling on the highway, and the lights cut off and will not come back on, so I am driving 70 mph with no headlights! I slowed down and tried to turn them off and on with no luck. What should I investigate to be the culprit? I have already sent an email to the vendor, but would like to solve the issue tonight if possible, I do still have the stock bulbs, so if I can't figure out the issue I will just put them back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOMSWGN Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Try switching bulbs/ballasts with the other side to find the culprit. That is why I go with OEM HIDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 If you're using a wiring harness, check it, including the relay. The other part of the troubleshooting you're thinking about already - does your factory incandescents still work? <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzen Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Well....was it a cheap kit?? that could be your culprit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
km580 Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 I had a similar problem, it turned out to be a bad fuse link. Fat people are hard to kidnap!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan Posted April 14, 2010 Author Share Posted April 14, 2010 The vendor thinks it is the relay unit, they are sending a new one in the mail today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 Well....was it a cheap kit?? that could be your culprit? ^ These days, price is almost irrelevant. Not saying this to be a jerk - please note smiley, which I genuinely mean. Then again, there's definitely the case to be made for spending more for true OEM take-offs. <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzen Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 For sure OEM is the best route! but cheap 89 buck HID kits like the DDM have about a 50% fail rate. Lots of people including myslef had perfect function for about 1 year and then problems begin. If one can diagnose the faulty parts and dont mind the hassle of replacing them then cheap kits are a good value. I changed to the Extreme HID kit which is still just a KIT but advertised as one of the best kits. Hopefully for 200 bucks my reliability go's farther...well at least twice as far as the 89 dollar kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzen Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 of course not to imply that the kit in question is DDM, just cheap kits in general:rolleyes: Sucks when you spend all that time on a clean install and shit go's wrong after such a short time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted April 14, 2010 Share Posted April 14, 2010 ^ Exactly - it's just "cheap" in general. The problem is that as consumers, it's nearly impossible for us to figure out the source/supply side of the equation. Unless you go with OEM take-offs, there's simply no way to know, for certain. The DDMs are no longer $90 - they're now in the $30 range. As for failure rates, what we have to remember is that we're an enthusiast community. As-such, any type of community "statistics" is biased to start off with, to say nothing of the fact that people specifically come to such communities to voice their displeasure and/or to obtain technical know-how outside the realm of Vendors, resellers, retailers, and even manufacturers. <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryandigi Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 how good are the volts??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan Posted April 21, 2010 Author Share Posted April 21, 2010 Just wanted to update this thread to say that it was the relay that was bad, had a new one in my hand in 3 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted April 21, 2010 Share Posted April 21, 2010 wait a tic.. you can get HIDs for $30!? I might finally do HIDs My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 ^ Use Google to search for "DDM Tuning" - once you're there, look at the "Raptor" kit. An extra ten bucks (to $40) bumps you to the "slim" ballast variant, which makes tucking away the ballast a nearly mindless task. ---- Just wanted to update this thread to say that it was the relay that was bad, had a new one in my hand in 3 days. ^ spartan, I'd want to investigate what caused the relay to fail - and first and foremost, I'd look at placement: is it by a moisture-prone/possible location? how about heat? I'd also start carrying a spare relay, just-in-case. <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 Yes, I did notice that there was moisture collecting in some of the housings that surrounded the wires. I made sure that this time it was above all the wires to eliminate any water from collecting in it. I will also get an extra relay just in case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 What some of you don't realize is most of these kits are not built by the brands they are sold under, but rather built and sold en-masse by roughly the same cheap Chinese manufacturers. Just sayin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSiWRX Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 ^ Exactly - there's no way to tell just exactly where the parts come from. And heck, even if they come from the same X-country source, where/how that particular manufacturer chooses its components could itself vary over time. As consumers, we simply don't know, period. Which is why I'm just fond of going with the lowest cost. <-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges '16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.