CaMole

Hey guys I have a bit of a problem. My passenger side lowbeam went out and driver's side was also dim so I decided to buy 2 brand new Phillips OEM D2R HID bulbs. I replaced both sides and turned them on to test it out but the passenger side was only at about 10-15% intensity and was flickering/strobing while the driver's side was bright and looked great. I thought it might possibly be the bulb so I switched the bulbs around but same problem occurred only on the passenger side. I checked the fuse and the passenger side was in fact blown. I replaced it with a spare but after 2 nights of driving it blew out. I replaced once again but blew out after another night of driving. During installation I accidentally snapped a part of the HID bulb but didn't think it would affect it because it was igniting and working just as well as the other side. I thought this was the problem but I did another switch of bulbs and the passenger side fuse blew again with a new bulb that wasn't cracked and the driver's side with the cracked piece was just fine. Now I have 2 questions: 1) Why is the passenger side fuse blowing out consistently and 2) Should I replace the bulb with the cracked piece even though it works perfectly fine?

The piece that I snapped is the long thin gray thing on the right side of the bulb. It is still perfectly intact but snapped right in the middle.

Any help would greatly be appreciated....

piggylover1985

You should check for what cause the fuse to blown, you have a short some where in the circuit, the hot wire might shaved the body somewhere.

CaMole

what exactly does that mean? your answer is unclear. I'm guessing it's most likely not the bulbs and it's either the igniter/ballast or the wiring. I'm no electrician so this is just a guess. Anyone else had this problem before that can point me in the right direction?

piggylover1985

My guess is the hot wire is touching the body somewhere, created a short to ground. Check your wire out very closely.

jdjohn84

Ned Beatty is right. Fuses blow for two reasons: 1) surge of amps exceeding fuse rating, or 2) shorts. Probably a short in this case. But since the wires are wrapped in wiring harnesses for the most part, maybe you should check the wiring around the ballast plug first...and hope.

CaMole

I'm a noob at this.... do you mean the wires inside the black thing I had to twist off(it's sealed with an o-ring and has the torx screw)? What exactly do I do. I'm on my 3rd fuse now but this one hasn't blown in 2 nights... so far. Please reiterate and pictures would be nice.

Tyrone503

Sorry to revive a dead thread but this has been happening for a while, and I thought it was the bulbs but this is like my 3rd set of bulbs and I get them from HIDextra. Someone know anything?

01tl4tl

what about the wire thats got to be shorting out? looked for that yet?

Are you still on the OE ballast? there is a good chance moisture in there is causing your problem.....do you get moisture inside the headlight lens?

are you removing the entire housing from the car to change bulbs- or doing it blind with them installed in the car?
the 1 arm clip is critical and must have the bulb flat and locked in place

Are you wearing rubber/latex gloves while installing the bulbs?

Tyrone503

Yeah I'm still on the OEM Ballast, I guess it could be that. Would any HIDextra ballast switch in perfectly and work?

01tl4tl

I didnt know they made more than 1 !
beside regular and slim type

buy the complete `kit` for both sides in 1 package
new ballast- connector wires and new bulbs--you're set!
do 1 side now,, and you will be removing the nose again

fsttyms1

I would have looked into other things after the 2nd set. Id look at the ballasts and wiring now.

TypeS02TL

Sorry for reviving a very old thread. 2 weeks ago my passenger side headlight went out but the bright was very dimly lit instead and on the drivers the HID was dimly let and also the bright was on dimly as well. Thanks to this site I learned about HIDEXTRA.COM. Got the entire new set up with 15% off for less than $60. I installed yesterday and passenger side didn't come on at first. Turns out I had a blown fuse on that side. Put in spare fuse light worked great. Both sides were working. Turned off and mounted the passenger side to frame rail. Didn't do anything but mount. Turned lights back on and passenger side didn't come on. Switched driver side over and works great. We put the old ballast (actually on 3 months old bought it off Amazon) back on with igniter from that side back on and instantly blew the fuse. Changed igniter from drivers side and blew another fuse. HIDEXTRA is sending me a new ballast but what could be the problem. Did I just get a bad ballast?

thoiboi

Could very well be.. Something's shorting the circuit

tartilc

Huh, coincidentally I actually had the exact same issue and fixed it yesterday. Was driving in the rain when suddenly the passenger low and high beam went out (but the high beam would come on real dim). Checked the fuse and it was blown, replacing it only resulted in more blown fuses. Swapped the bulbs around and saw that both bulbs were fine, then left the car in the garage to see if anything that got wet would dry out. After coming back later, the passenger headlight fuse stopped blowing and high beams worked fine again but the low beam didn't turn on at all with either bulbs, checked the wiring and didn't see any shorts so i swapped on a cheap slim ballast I had laying around, wrapped all the wiring tightly withe electrical tape, tucked the amp connectors into the headlight assembly, and presto, worked like new again. I'm assuming the guts of the old ballast got wet and kept shorting out and caused the fuse to blow, the one I put on is sealed/encased in plastic so it should last until I find a more substantial ballast to get everything looking factory again. Hopefully your new ballast works for you too! You could probably swap on the driver side ballast to see if it works on the passenger side while you wait for the HIDExtra one to come.