HID install fail - confused now?
 

--I posted this in exterior lighting also (no responses), admin please delete if not allowed.

Hey everyone,

I purchased an HID kit from xenonlightshid.com a while back and after installing them, only one would turn on due to not enough power running to the stock wires. I checked that both ballasts and both bulbs work by changing the sides out so those are both good. The problem is I decided to get a H11 relay harness to fix this issue, but after ordering one from amazon and putting it in in every way possible, nothing worked. I tried every polarity, different ground points, every possible combination of everything but it seemed the thing was broken (someone told me you're supposed to hear a click of it turning on if there's power running to it and I could never hear a click). I never even got a flicker from the HID's.

Are there any other options or should I get another harness? Someone at some point mentioned I could just take both low beam fuses under the hood and replace them with some higher rating fuses.

Open to any suggestions!

Thanks!

You should never replace a fuse with something higher rated unless you really know what you're doing.

You either have a faulty relay or you don't have it wired correctly.

How did you conclude there was not enough power? Does one side work?

Only one side works at a time, I've tried on both sides with different HID bulbs and different ballasts to make sure the ballasts and bulbs were all working correctly.

How do you get it to switch sides, or does it switch randomly?

Makes no sense only one side works at a time.

Someone should take a multimeter to the wires for the headlamps. And, try with just one bulb in to see if the voltage drops on the other side.

I am guessing something to do with the ballasts. Try putting back in the stock bulbs first, then the other tests. Maybe the ballasts need/draw more than the proper current.

Always check connections are correct and actually connected.

NEVER overfuse! The fuse is the weak point if the circuit overloads to protect the rest. If you overfuse, you fry the circuit, potentially.

I'm assuming it isn't switching sides. I'm guessing the side with the shortest path is the only working side (passenger side?)
Only one side works for each set of ballasts/bulbs.

Makes more sense. So, try stock bulbs first. If it only happens on one side with all the bulbs/ballasts then need to check with multimeter for low side. If its too low for the threshold power the ballast needs it might look dimmer with the stock lamp.

I wonder how you explain to the dealer that your car is faulty since one side wont ignite an HID lamp.

Probably short pins on the connector one side or debris limiting contact.

Now that you guys mention it, only the passenger side HID would ignite. I currently am running one halogen one HID though. I have it as HID on the passenger and halogen on the driver side. If I have both HID's in, only the passenger side one will ignite, if i disconnect the driver side HID (and leave it hanging or plug in a halogen OEM bulb) the passenger HID will ignite.

I guess I'll try another relay, I honestly just didn't think that I would just get a bad relay but I've sent it back now and ordered a different one from somewhere else. Thanks everyone for advising against the fuse thing lol, I swear someone on another forum told me to do that and I was quite skeptical of it.

if you disconnect the passenger side, does the driver side work? if it is a bad relay, then both sides should not work. might be a bad ballast

Sorry, this was without the relay. Anything attached to the relay never worked, ever.

+1 to all of this.

OP, I suggest going back to OEM and looking closely at the brightness.

If equal in brightness then proceed with installing and troubleshooting the HID on the driver's side. Proceed knowing you've narrowed it down to a wiring issue, most likely the connector.