One of my HID bulbs has blown... do i have to buy a new kit?

[alizzle]

hi there, i have recently inherited this car from my brother, and im a total amateur when it comes to modifications ! as said in the title, one of my bulbs has blown, and i have no idea what to do! ideally i'm looking for the cheapest option to repair it (oh the life of a student), i thought i'd upload a pic of what it looks like inside my bonnet because i have no idea what type of kit is already installed ! aha your help will be much appreciated, cheers !

http ://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/849/img0028ro.jpg/

http ://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/525/img0025ax.jpg/

remove the spaces to look at the pictures !

 

[JPS3290]

hi there, i have recently inherited this car from my brother, and im a total amateur when it comes to modifications ! as said in the title, one of my bulbs has blown, and i have no idea what to do! ideally i'm looking for the cheapest option to repair it (oh the life of a student), i thought i'd upload a pic of what it looks like inside my bonnet because i have no idea what type of kit is already installed ! aha your help will be much appreciated, cheers !

http ://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/849/img0028ro.jpg/

http ://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/525/img0025ax.jpg/

remove the spaces to look at the pictures !

I'm assuming you have an Ibiza and its the dipped (normal beam) that has been converted to HID and blown?

If so then you need a H7 HID bulb and better to just replace in pairs and keep your old as a spare. Any idea what rating the old one is? I.e. 4500k, 6000k, 8000k etc? The higher the number the bluer the appearance but also less light they output.

You want something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2pcs-Car-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f09a21a6d

I changed mine last year from 6000k to 5000k and paid similar price as above and been perfect. Cheaper than a normal filament bulb. You'll find they are just plug & play as well, dead easy to change.

 

[FR_MATT]

if you get H7R you are less likely to blind other drivers

 

[Jordanwaterhous]

If its only your bulb that has gone then you only need a new bulb, not a whole kit!

 

[Nath.]

In my experience the bulbs outlast the ballasts. Does it flicker on at all or is it totally dead?

 

[alizzle]

In my experience the bulbs outlast the ballasts. Does it flicker on at all or is it totally dead?

its completely dead, i also took a picture of the other one working, i quite like the colour am i right in guessing its 6000k? http: //imageshack.us/photo/my-images/580/img0023xz.jpg/

 

[alizzle]

I'm assuming you have an Ibiza and its the dipped (normal beam) that has been converted to HID and blown?

If so then you need a H7 HID bulb and better to just replace in pairs and keep your old as a spare. Any idea what rating the old one is? I.e. 4500k, 6000k, 8000k etc? The higher the number the bluer the appearance but also less light they output.

I changed mine last year from 6000k to 5000k and paid similar price as above and been perfect. Cheaper than a normal filament bulb. You'll find they are just plug & play as well, dead easy to change.

thank you so much, and yes it is the normal beam, by it not flickering at all does that mean i need a new ballast or bulb? aha sorry for all the amateur questions !

 

[JPS3290]

thank you so much, and yes it is the normal beam, by it not flickering at all does that mean i need a new ballast or bulb? aha sorry for all the amateur questions !

Just unplug the working bulb and try it into the other ballast. If it works then you can be sure its just the bulb blown. If its the ballast you can pick them up for peanuts these days on the internet.

 

[mick-fr]

Just so you're aware, I've seen some kits that have the bulbs wired straight to the ballasts so you can't just change the bulb. Hopefully your's isn't one of them

 

[JPS3290]

Just so you're aware, I've seen some kits that have the bulbs wired straight to the ballasts so you can't just change the bulb. Hopefully your's isn't one of them

Its not, he supplied photo's in the original post which I checked so I didn't waste my time when replying

 

[mick-fr]

its completely dead, i also took a picture of the other one working, i quite like the colour am i right in guessing its 6000k? http: //imageshack.us/photo/my-images/580/img0023xz.jpg/

Wow, there's quite alot of glare there! It does look like 6K, but you can't be sure as HID colours are known to differ, e.g my 6K could look more blue/white than your 6K - So you're probably better off buying a new pair, unless you know the exact place you got those ones and you can get an exact replacement.

 

[mick-fr]

Its not, he supplied photo's in the original post which I checked so I didn't waste my time when replying

The plugs you can see are on every set of HIDs, the plug I'm on about for changing the bulb is right at the bulb, i.e inside the light cover - Do you have x-ray vision?

 

[JPS3290]

The plugs you can see are on every set of HIDs, the plug I'm on about for changing the bulb is right at the bulb, i.e inside the light cover - Do you have x-ray vision?

Their just straight forward spade connectors. I wouldn't have a heart attack over making a connection up for them to be honest. lol

 

[mick-fr]

So you don't have x-ray vision then? Yeah it's just spade connectors, like you say would be easy enough to fabricate yourself if you had to - I was just pointing out it might not be a simple unplug one bulb and plug in another. Although as I said previously, if you don't know where you got those and can't get an exact replacement then I'd buy a new set of bulbs

 

[alizzle]

oh sh**....

right thanks for all the responces buttt unfortunately the problem is worse than i / we thought ! after removing the bulb which i thought didnt work, i put it in the otherside and guess what? it worked! so the problem isnt the bulb, then i thought it could be the ballast, so i tried connecting a new halogen bulb to directly to the power supply, and it didnt work, but then i tried the same bulb on the working side, and it worked ! so this shows that there is a problem, aside from maybe the ballast not working. so i tested the fuses and they both worked, i also put the tester to the power supply, and it showed that it could hold current but there was no power flowing through it! im out of ideas on what the probelm could be...

to show what i mean by the 'power supply' its circled red on this picture, and i also plan to test each cable in the thing circled yellow on the picture, and test the same thing on the other side and see if they are any differences.

http ://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/img0031dl.jpg/

as always your help is much appreciated, cheers

 

[JPS3290]

So bypassing the ballast/hid wiring and using a normal bulb with original wiring doesn't work on the dodgy side?

I assume you been testing the power with keys in/ignition on?

 

[alizzle]

So bypassing the ballast/hid wiring and using a normal bulb with original wiring doesn't work on the dodgy side?

I assume you been testing the power with keys in/ignition on?

Yepppp exactly, and yeah the power was on haha

 

[JPS3290]

If all the fuses have checked out fine then there must be a problem with the original wiring, most likely a poor earth connect. You'll have to see if a live feed is going to the fuse box before & after the fuse and trace it to the light unit to find the fault.

Check the connectors that go onto the bulb are not damaged as they as delicate if handled a little rough.