iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Hi, this is going to be a little long, but please bear with me!

As the title of the thread says, my driver's HID is not working anymore, and I'm pretty sure it's due to the condensation and/or water inside the headlight assembly. Basically I did the blackout headlight housing mod by myself and 2 friends of mine, and I guess we didn't seal it up well. I understand the long term solution would be to reseal again, but my friends are quite busy recently and that's not an option for now. So I did a little research on my own and from a Subaru forum, some people say that there could be water inside the ballast itself, and I can shake it to get the water out or something like that. Has anyone tried this or does anyone know if this works or not?

Another method I came across is put silica gels packets inside the headlight housing as these gels can suck out the moisture inside. Again, has anyone tried this? I'm also wondering how do you put these packets inside without taking off the bumper (too lazy...). I heard from the CL forum that you need to take off the "HID Cover," but I have no idea what "cover" is that other person talking about.

Any suggestions as to how to get my driver's side HID to work again would be much appreciated

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

opps, I forgot to ask how do you remove the radiator reserve tank? According to the owner's manual that has to be removed before taking out the halogen bulb. I'm planning to put some silica gels packets through there. What do you guys think?

dreem1er

iTrader: (2)

i didn't read your whole msg because to be honest i'm lazy...but yes there have been a few members that have used gel packs to get out condensation, but that only works for small amounts...the covers are the covers to remove/replace the hid bulb....

..and if the ballast is missed up your out of luck you'll have to buy a new one

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

just take out the headlight. it take a couple of min and another couple of min to reseal it. while ur doing that put the new hid bulb in, when i changed my bulbs i didnt have to remove the coolant reservoir tank, i took out the air box bc its easier to get the the bulb

dreem1er

iTrader: (2)

the reservoir tank just pulls out...no screws, no clips, no nothing...

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

thanks from the input guys. now from what i've read on some subaru forum, some people are saying that they didn't have to replace anything, all they did was get rid of the water inside the ballast and then the HID works again. Do you think may be I should try that method first, before getting a new ballasT? I mean..it's pretty damn expensive right...

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Basically what I'm trying to ask is if this is feasible:

"GotSTI?: i have had the same problem with my lights...i thought i had to buy a new blub or balast. but i fixed it and now they work just as good. i found out that the problem was my balast. it was FULL of water. it was condensation that collected in the lens and dripped down to the balast mounted underneath the headlight. ok well anyways this is what i did.

first check to see whether the problem has to do with the HID bulbs by taking the blub from the non-working headlight to the working headlight. if the bulb from the non working headlight works in the working headlight then your problem is your balast.

if it is the balast then remove the balast from underneath the headlight and you may find that there is water in there. get out as much of that water as you can. if you hold the balast next to your ear you can hear the water sloshing around. dumping it out just wont do. shake it has hard as you can untill you cant hear the water in in anymore. also take a heat gun to it or put it in the oven.

make sure you still take apart the headlight and reseal it or you will just have the same problem again."

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, I didn't know it's that easy...lol..

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

i guess u could try those silica gel packs and see if it works. do u know for sure its the ballast not your bulb?

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

nope, I'm not 100% sure. I will test it tomorrow by putting the driver's side bulb into the passenger side and see if it will work.

Are you suggesting that moisture can mess up the bulb too?

dreem1er

iTrader: (2)

don't think moisture messes up the bulbs, but your light could have just gone out....it has been known to happen

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

what's the typical lifespan for our HID bulbs?

dreem1er

iTrader: (2)

depends on how you use em...flashing em...turning em off right after you've turned em on...turning em back on too early alll shorten the life of the bulb

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Well so today I went to check where the problem is, and apparently the ballast is not working. Both HID bulbs will work on my passenger's side, but not on the driver's side. So then I took out the driver's side headlight assembly and wow..water dripped out...lots of water...there's like a puddle on the ground after I shook it a bit...I used a hairdryer to help dry up the assembly, and put some silica gels in it. I put everything back together and it still doesn't work. I guess there's still plenty of water in the ballast and next time i will actually take the ballast off to shake it and put it in the oven. I will also reseal it with help from friends. One thing for sure though, the silica gels really work, the condensation on the lens is disappearing. Perhaps if I wait a few days the ballast will also be dried? I will let you guys know.

dammitjim

I seem to have a similar problem, but the condensation in my headlight is now gone. I need to take everything apart just like you did, iforyou. Was it hard to test the bulbs? I was going to do it last night, but after hearing the putting the clips back on is a pain, I didn't attempt it.
Is this normal to have water damage like this?

AMGala

iTrader: (4)

Did you just swap bulbs to check if it worked? Or did you try the igniter also? It may be the igniter and/or the ballast.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I just swapped bulbs to test. How do I test the igniter? For now I'm guessing there's still water inside the "bad" ballast - I should've put it in an oven. I will do that eventually and reseal everything.

dammitjim, the condensation will come back if the seal is not good. It wasn't too hard to take the HID bulbs out; you will need a special bit to open the HID covers though. What you need is a T-20 tamper-proof bit. There's a DIY that shows you how to take the bulbs out. Now like you said, putting the clips back on is a pain..I got my friend to help me..I don't know how he did it..I guess all you need is patience and luck.

It's not normal to have water damage like this unless took your headlights apart before; the Honda factory seal is very strong and water shouldn't be able to get in.

HIDStuff

The igniter is the cord w/ connectors that runs between the bulb and the ballast. Test them the same way you tested the bulbs. Swap out the driver side/passenger side igniters and see if it changes the outcome. I would also recommend wiring them back together with silicon sealant when either get new ones or get your existing ones working. Condensation, overspray, rain seepage and all kinds of water kill igniters and ballasts. Silicon is a cheap reliable fix.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, I'm planning to get everything fixed on Tuesday with the help from some friends. I will let you guys know the result. Also, you mentioned about silicone, did you mean to put silicone at the bottom hole of the headlight housing (where the ballast is attached)?

HIDStuff

Headlights are fairly airtight when all the bulbs are in place and so on. It can't hurt to reseal everything after you either add dessicate or heat up the fixture and get the moisture out. If you don't get all the water out, or have dessicate to absorb it, it'll continue to condense on the inside.

I'd hook up the wiring connection to the ballast, and then seal all the way around them in silicon. You want them clean and dry. The goal is to not allow water to come near the wiring or connections at all. The spot where the igniter attaches to the ballast was re-designed in newer models because of seepage. They now have a big rubber gasket. I'd silicon everwhere you have a connection in this system, as these years are pre-rubber gasket. Good Luck with this!

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Yea, I put dessicate in the bad housing (3 packets) but I guess there's too much water in it and these packets are saturated already. Not a problem, as I will take it apart on Tuesday again. Last time I checked, I don't recall seeing any gasket/rubber thing by the ballast area. May be I missed it.

For drying out the ballast, do I have to open up the ballast? Or all I need to do is separate the ballast unit from the headlight housing, and put the ballast itself in the oven?

Thanks for the info so far HIDStuff, I really appreciate it!

dammitjim

iforyou,
Was it pretty hard to take that stuff apart? How long did it take you? I'm about to do it, but with a new baby, 2 other kids and my wife, life just seems too busy. I don't want to take stuff apart to find out it'll take me all night
Good luck, though. I think I have a problem with my ballast and if I can just "fix it" w/o buying a new one, that would be awesome!

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I will do it tomorrow, or I should say, "redo" it. Last time I did it, it took me around..6 hours...by myself. That's including going to the store to buy some useless clamps (they wouldn't grip at all....that's why I need to reseal again tomorrow); taking off the bumper, taking out the headlight housings, taking them apart and resealing them, heating them in the oven, lunch, putting the housings together, and putting everything together. If you have work during the day, I'd suggest doing it during the weekend. I don't know if I simply suck or unlucky...but weird things seem to always happen when I do any DIY projects..lol...so I'd make sure there's plenty of time.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Here is a little update. I'm making some progress now..baking the headlight assembly and the ballast...I tested the igniters and BOTH of them work on the passenger's side (the good side)..so I think it's my driver's side ballast that's not working. I'm getting back to it now.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Problem....so the both ballasts, both HID bulbs, both igniters work. But whatever I put on the driver's side, won't work. It seems like there's some wiring problem and now I hear some "buzzing" noise coming out near the engine. What's causing this? Everything works, it's just that the HID won't work on the driver's side. The same HID bulbs, ballasts, and igniter, when put on the passenger's side, work perfectly fine though.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

Finished and now both of my headlights are working fine! The problem was that the driver's side headlight fuse was blown. Replaced that with a spare one and it's working perfectly now. Thanks for all of your help!

AMGala

iTrader: (4)

I'm glad that you fixed your problem, but I'd still do a bit of troubleshooting because for the most part fuses don't blow for no reason. Hopefully you won't have any problems in the future.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

I think the fuse blew because there was water in the ballast and/or headlight assembly, and perhaps that was enough to short the circuit? I mean the headlight stopped working after I washed my car. I don't think it was a coincidence..lol..