Tanman

Turned on my lights for the first time since yesterday (they worked fine then), the passenger side HID won't turn on. The running lamp, turn signal, and high beams work fine, so I doubt it's a wiring or ground problem, even though I've had problems with that before. Not sure what could have happened. It worked fine the last time I had the headlights on. I've searched and it seems the replacement bulbs are expensive. Any thoughts?

I have the 2K2 HIDs on my 2K SE.

Maksim2000

iTrader: (4)

did you try swapping in the burner from the other side ?

Tanman

No, I haven't really checked it since it's late. I'm going to check it tomorrow before ordering the new bulb. I'm hoping it's just a loose connection or something. Since everything else works on the passenger's side, I doubt it's wiring, but let's hope it is.

Funny thing is, even with only one HID lit up, it's brighter than most cars halogens It's bright enough to illuminate enough of the road that I could get by with one lamp!

00Semaxi

that really sucks, I hope you find the problem, does anyone know the lifespan on these bulbs?

Tanman

Found a thread where someone claimed they last 3000 hours. I've had them on my car for maybe 9 months, and I don't do a lot of night driving, so I'm nowhere near that many hours. However, I've flicked them on\off a lot, so maybe I burned something out

FrankY2K2

I think if you flash HIDs on/off too much, you can wear em down faster. Anyways, HIDs are supposed to last much longer than halogens.

-Frank

SteVTEC

Yup. HID'd don't like that.

If I'm not mistaken there's even a warning in the manual about not flicking them on and off like that because it can drastically shorten their life or something to that effect.

TimW

iTrader: (6)

I doubt you could cycle them enough in 9 months for a problem.. even flashing them. However, if you had a bad ground, that would be really bad. The bad ground could make them cycle thousands of times. :/

time to find some D2R 6000K bulbs and burners

Mark S.

You could try checking with your dealer. It might be covered under the initial bumper to bumper warranty. My son was able to have Chrysler replace a burned out fog lamp on his Neon since he had less than 36K miles on it. It's worth a try.

I have to agree that the design to turn them on is ridiculous. In order to turn on your headslights in a normal manner you have to go through the "Auto" mode first which of course turns them on for a split second (when you're in your garage or it's dark outside) and turns them off as you go through the "Parking lamp" mode and then finally they come back on when you reach the "headlamps on" mode. So, everytime you cycle through this you are actually turning them on twice. That probably leads to an earlier than expected failure.

You can't win...they win...and they (Nissan) will love it each time you go in and have to buy a new bulb.

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

I have learned to twist my **** rapidly enough so that the HIDs don't cycle on during Auto.

Mark S.

Prinz, I'll give it a try...but you have to admit that they designed it poorly.
For thouse who like the "Auto" mode they could have put it all the way to the end of the turning on the lights cycle. That way those who like it in the "Auto" mode can just leave it there. Those of us, who don't want it, can just do it manually and never have to go to that mode.

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

I agree with the poor placement of that control. Another thing that is kind of nuts is that your lights stay on for 5 minutes after shutting the car off in Auto. Generally, I will run the lights in Auto and turn them off manually.

JBWhitley

I don't think they will cover it due to the fact that it was not original. Not sure though.

Mark S.

JB, good catch, I didn't notice that Tanmann doesn't have a 2K2... you're right...they would only cover it on a 2K2 model within the warranty period.

Sorry, Tanmann...I think you're going to have to get a bulb on your own. Or pay for the dealership to get the bulb and do the install.

Tanman

Hehe, we've got DaveB on our side. I got the HIDs less than a year ago, so he says they are most likely under warranty (1 year on parts). I'm going to check to see if it actually burned out, then I'll check with Dave again.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Exactly! 1yr./12K miles baby!

Dave will hook you up, but I'm betting it's just the wiring. Hopefully, it's not the ballast.

Tanman

Now you're making me worry I haven't had a chance to check to see what the problem is, but the turn signal, running lamp, and high beams all work, so I doubt it's wiring. So that leaves the bulb and the ballast. I'm considering taking the bulb from the good side and trying it on the bad side, but then I risk damaging the good bulb. Arghh.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

How did you wire them?

1)Dixits Low/High powered off same H4 lead.
2)Mine withOUT relays. Low powered off H4. High powered off battery.
3)Mine with relays. Same as 2).
4)Hybrid of Dixits and mine.

How did you power the turnsignals and running lamps?

Tanman

I wired them with Dixit's instructions including the alarm fix. One thing I'm curious about, for the alarm fix, I ran the power from the MAF sensor switched 12-volt power. A shop told me that was a bad idea and rerouted the power for the alarm fix to the battery. It was running ok that way for the past two weeks. Do you think that could have damaged the bulb? I'm not too good with voltages and electricity.

My biggest concern is, if the alarm fix power from the battery is overloading the HIDs, where should I run power from instead? The shop said not to use the MAF sensor power wires.

TimW

iTrader: (6)

after I found out the 2k2 alarm flashes the HIDs, I skipped the fix..

I plan on an aftermarket alarm anyway, I'll just have the parking lights flash.. In the meantime, my alarm has only been tripped twice. once because I left my dome light on, and when my wife hit panic instead of trunk. I was in the car at the time.. I came out reaching for the fob. freaked her out.. I was trying to get the alarm turned off (mostly because of the hids). the alarm sound didnt help either. freaked her out

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

The battery?

Wouldn't that mean the relay was closed all the time and thus defeat the "alarm fix"?

According to an EE looking at the schematic there are
switched power possibilities(NOT VERIFIED!!!!):
------------------------------------------------------
1) AC relay next to the power steering pump Connector E71, Pin #1, Color: Pink with blue stripes. Gets 12v when car is on.

2) Windshield washer motor, pin 1, (only 2 pins) red wire, 12 volt is supplied via fuse 25 when the car is on and or acc.

Tanman

The shop guys couldn't figure it out, so we went with the battery for the power source. You're right, the alarm fix no longer works, the HIDs flash with the alarm. I'd like to put it back to normal wiring with the HIDs, but it was such a mess wiring it, I doubt I could get it back to stock. I'm getting an aftermarket alarm soon, so I'll ask them to rewire everything back to stock with HIDs.

TimW: same here, the alarm has never gone off since I've had the HIDs installed, so the alarm fix was a big waste of time and effort I learned a thing or two, so it wasn't all bad.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Ok. That's what I thought. That relay has blown or if it has a fuse check that. The relay has been energized 100% of the time for the past 2-weeks, which is NOT what they were designed for.



An easy test to see if the burner is fine is just unplug the power wire to the HID from the relay and touch it to the battery.

suds1

I thought I was the only one that had noticed this. I don't like to leave mine in auto because when I am parked in my garage and crank up my lights come on because it is dark inside the garage. I soon as I back out they cut off so I am wasting a "start-up" of these lights. I have thought about just leaving it in the Parking Lamps position and having them as Daytime Running Lamps since I think they will cut off after a few minutes after the car is turned off anyway.

Anybody else do this??

I have also noticed that it says in the instruction manual to try and avoid cutting them back on soon after you cut them off. What about when you stop to go in a store for a minute at night. There is no way around it then. Am I just being too over-cautious?

dmbmaxima2k2

iTrader: (1)

i have a spare bulb and ballast and a passenger side housing all work fine i would let them go for a decent price, let me know how much you would pay for one bulb. i have the extra bulb and ballast laying around.

Tanman

Hey thanks for the offer, but my units are still covered under warranty, so I'll go through DaveB. If this happens again , i'll pm you

Tanman

I rewired everything (removed BigDogJonx's alarm fix) so it's just stock with 2K2 HIDs. Now my HIDs work fine. At first I swapped the bulbs and the passenger side still wouldn't turn on. I checked the wiring and nothing was loose, but then everything worked fine. Might have been the ground again, but it was secure. Weird. I'm just happy everything is working again. Hope these bulbs last as long as advertised!

You can see pics of the HID bulb here:

http://www.maximanet.org/gallery/album22