vito1281

Hey guys,
So I was out of town for New Year's and such, and didn't drive the Max for like 6 days. I came back last night, and the first thing I wanted to do was take the car out for a spin. Lo and behold, I turn on the HIDs (I have a 2003 by the way), and my car was in front of my garage door (pure white color door). I noticed that there was a tint of redness (not obvious, but apparent) at the top of the light beam path (it was like a solid red line going across the top of the beam pattern).

I remember reading somewhere on this org that when HID bulbs are about to burn out, they start emitting red. Is this so? The temperature was pretty low (below freezing) and there was some snow while I was gone (Boston, MA), so could this have caused my lights to go bad? The car is 1month old, so I would hate to have to go and get the lights fixed. Anyone had this happen, or know what to do?

Thanks

TimW

iTrader: (6)

harsh vibration, not cold, will hasten their demise. Not sure about the red color

UMD_MaxSE

iTrader: (1)

Did the red go away eventually?

itdood

I think the enitre light emits red when it goes, not just a specific area. Sounds like it may have been some other fluke.

vito1281

Not sure, I just noticed this yesterday, and won't be able to check until tonight. I did try to turn them off and on a few times last night thinking that maybe they ignited incorrectly or something, but nothing changed.

By the way, I asked my gf to take a look at the light beam, and she also said it was red, so I wasn't seeing things (which I thought I was at first). I know the cold wouldn't do anything to the lights, but perhaps moisture or something. They were fine before I left for the 6 days, so that was my only guess. But I'm pretty sure that I read a post by someone who said that ALL HIDs start emitting red when they're burning out, but I don't see how my lights could be burning out after 1 month.

Anyone have a similar experience?

vito1281

Right, eventually, the entire light will emit red if you don't get them replaced, but the amount of red emitted is gradual. It starts off small (like my case I guess), and then it increases as the bulbs keep burning out.

What other fluke could it be? It's really frustrating to have this red ****. I looked at the lights themselves and it looks blue/white (the regular HID color), but when you look at the garage door, you see a slight tint of red.

kronnman

iTrader: (2)

I just drove mine this morning for the first time in two weeks and I did not notice any red tint when I pulled it out of my garage. But I was not looking for it. I'll check mine again when I get home tonight.

MetaOrbit

iTrader: (19)

One time when I got a loaner I35 from the dealership I brought it home and put it in the garage. I always have my headlights set to AUTO, but apparently the loaners hardly stay out after night and the headlight switch is always set to OFF. I noticed that when I turned on the headlights on the loaner, they too emitted a red light. Later that day, when I restarted the car the headlights came on again, but this time no red light - they lit up normal. I surmised that if the bulbs haven't been turned on in a while then maybe the first time that you do turn them on (after they've been off for a considerable amount of time) they light up red at first - maybe has to do with the state of the salts in the bulb changing due to infrequent use

vito1281

Hey Meta,
I hope you're right, and this redness will go away. I'll check tonight, and post an update. In the meantime, if anyone has anything to chime in, please feel free to do so!

spta97

iTrader: (1)

I haven't drivin my car for about a week and I started it up last night and turned on the HIDs and there was no red (on my white garage door). However they do that "warm up" thing where it starts off a little on the blue side and gets whiter. That is so F'in cool! Oh, and normal according to the manual.

vito1281

Yeh, I get that "warm-up" effect as well, but this red light stayed when the lights were at operating temp. Anyhow, I'll post back tonight when I get to check it again.

Wasim521

iTrader: (4)

off topic, but I have to ask...

wait a minute...they gave you a loaner? Damn Infiniti must be good... every time Nissan takes my car all day the best they can offer me is a ride to the train station to get back home, and I've heard this from two different dealerships! both told me the same thing, that they don't give loaners to people under 25, how did you pull it off?

MetaOrbit

iTrader: (19)

LOL, everytime I take it in for an oil change (and recently this wind noise) they ask me if I need a car, and I say "yes." They never question my age. They only thing they ever asked was with whom I had insurance, and that was it.

vito1281

Well, I checked tonight, and there's still the redness. I don't know what to do, but I'll monitor this for another week or so and see if anything changes, and if it doesn't go away, I guess I'll take it to the dealer. I just hope they'll have a white wall where I'll be able to reproduce this problem.

Later

vito1281

Ok, well here's the update....

I'm still having this patchiness of red in the beam output. It has not gotten worse, but it hasn't improved as well. The output of the light is fine on the road, and looking at the lights doesn't show any redness--only when looking at the garage door do I see it.

So, what do you guys think I should do? This is a 1.5 month old car with just under 1k miles on it. Is it worth it to get service for this? If so, what would they have to do, replace the bulb(s)? Should I just wait until the lights get worse or fix it now?

Thanks.

2k2.6spd

i didnt know anyone else noticed how it is super blue for a millisecond when u turn them on then it goes to regular..i love that! it is the awesomest thing about HID's!

itdood

I have a brand new '03 SE. I noticed in my garage (after reading your post), even after the light was warmed up, there was a red streak towards the top of the beam. It wansn't in the main area of the beam, it was at the top of it. Kinda orange-red, and mostly towards the outside of the beam. Like i said though it was not in the main part of the light beam.

MetaOrbit

iTrader: (19)

You could try taking it to the dealer, but I think the sad truth is that they'll probably say nothing is wrong with it until it's burnt out completely.

vito1281

That is EXACTLY IT!!! That's what I have and I also have a 2003. The thing is though is that I don't remember having this streak before I went away for 6 days and didn't drive the Max. Could it be that this is normal and I just overlooked this red streak at first?

Can people with 2002/3's check against a white wall/garage door/whatever and see if you have this streak that itdood describes.

By the way, the only reason why I am little worried about this (besides having an ugly red tint in the beam) is that HIDs, when they are burning out, start to emit red light, and so I'm thinking that my lights are starting to die (even though the car is only 1.5 months old). If this is not the case though, then I'd rather not get involved with Nissan service.

Thanks.

Thanks.

vito1281

Bump...anyone w/2002 or 2003 try out their lights?

saxdogg

VITO- I don't have any red, but one of my lights is bluer than the other... (?)


ARFF

TimW

iTrader: (6)

its been below freezing and a few days since I drove the car, I definately had a quick flash of red on the top of the beam. It went away in about a second. My lights are about a 15 months old.

Neeferea

Change the Garage door

vito1281

Hahaha, that would solve the problem I guess eh?!?!

Anyhow, I guess it's just me and itdood that have this "problem". I'll wait a little longer until it gets warmer here in Boston, and keep monitoring this thing, and it doesn't go away, I'll have the dealership take a look at it.

In the meantime, if more of you HID owners can just check your lights and let me know if you have it or not, that'd be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.