I was reading in my manual that the life expectancy of the HID bulbs decreases with repeated turning off and on. Can anyone explain this further? I avoid using the auto on feature of the headlights during dusk because the car seems to get confused and turns lights on and off until it's significantly darker. Thanks for the help

 

i'll try to help you. from what i've learned, turning on your hid's takes more power than when they actually warm up and are running. i could be wrong, someone correct me if i am. but i think thats why they say dont turn them on and off quickly.

 

I read that in the manual, too...so that's why I can't figure out WTF Nissan made the HID lows flash WITH the highs during "flash to pass"

 

If I remember correctly when I had the headlight out that it said right on the bulb that it was rated for 3000 hours.

 

Yeah right - so do the ones in my kitchen ceiling fan that need replacing about every 2 weeks

 

Maybe so, but i haven't heard of one bulb that's bit it yet on the org. Seems like they're pretty good quality.

 

Check out www.hidforum.com to learn more about HID's. If the bulbs are Phillips (German) they should last apprx 5 yrs. Btw my HIDs stay on all the time I was able to flash all I wanted to, that was til I got the HIDs in my fogs, now I cant flash again til I rewire the fogs Anyway 3000hrs is about average for the stock bulbs (they are phillips 4300K) and flashing them DOES take life out of them.

 

I hate that about the auto on feature too.

Overall the headlight control seems rather poorly designed. If you want to set the lights to full on then of course you have to first rotate past auto on. If it's dusk then the lights might briefly flash as you get to auto on and then go back to parking lights and finally to full on. I'm sure that's good for the HIDs...

Personally I'd rather not even have the auto on feature. I know it's possible to adjust the sensitivity. Does anyone know if it can be entirely disabled?

 

Ooooh...don't get me started on that STUPID "feature". I LOATHE IT!

 

Right - the "auto" setting should be all the way at the bottom, or a switch on the dash.

 

they last until it gets stolen

edit: sorry about this post, I was just hit couple hrs ago

also, what are our HIDs? German or ??

are they sylvania?

 

Yeah you got that right...actually I wonder if I can trace were the signal comes from and cut it off so the auto feature basically is diabled. This should be interesting, what a pain in the @ss. Maybe this winter if I have some time at work ill trace the stupid thing. If I have to take the whole dash apart then screw it

 

GLE02NJ: Ours are the Phillips 4300K bulbs so yes they are the ones that last long, or as long as they stay in place. Whichever comes 1st

 

I thought about that, but I have had the "stay on after shutdown" (or if you are a domestic fan, "Twilight Sentinel" ) feature of the auto lights come in really handy a few times...might miss that...

 

hitmanse: are the ballasts also phillips? does that make a difference as well? sorry HID newbie here...i am going to go browse hidforum.com

 

Hmm... alright then easy fix. I can tap into the ground and run an on/off switch and hook it up to one of the empty spaced bt the steering wheel. I dont know, ill see what happens. Im too busy at work to mess with it right now, ill see if I can do it in winter.

GLE02NJ: Im not an HID genious either, I just know the basics. I "think" the ballasts are made my nissan. I did not see and brand names on the ballasts when I installed my 2K2 HIDs. As far as I know the ballasts do make a diff. Phillips and Catz are two of the best brands you can get your hands on, I the catz hid kit in my fogs but its only the 21watt kit. Its still atleast 1.5x brighter then the stock fogs, but my headlights are still OEM 4300K, Im waiting for my 6500K Catz bulbs (which btw uses Phillips)

The only problem that you will now encounter is getting a retrofit kit, once you get HIDs you will never want to go back to normal halogens. The AE headlights are halogen and retorfits are illegal since the 15th of this months so even if you go that route you cant upgrade

 

Just hook to the sensor on your dash. It's got 3-wires. One is power, another ground, and third is input for the auto position. I was just going to remove the sensor, but a switch would be a better idea.

I'd rather SWAP the "auto" and "on" position, but it looks pretty messy.

 

I would LOVE to just switch them around, and I still need to re-wire my fogs so they wont flash when I hit the high beam since those are HIDs too. Can you possibly hook me up with a write up? Search is still jacked but since your a mod, im sure you can still use it back to the topic... It would still work to just cut the groud and pop in a switch which 99.9% of the time I personally wont use. I really dont feel like taking the dash apart for a project as this, so many wires to keep track of and its anoying as hell

I just got my D2R bulbs, about damn time too