[hosps]

I was driving a friend home last night and noticed a problem with my HIDs. I got out of my vehicle, leaving the MO running with the lights on, opened up the back door and took a few boxes into the house.

On the way back out to my MO, I noticed that my driver side HID was off but the passenger was still on. Tried the highbeams and only the passenger side worked. I though the bulb was blown and decided to leave. As I was pulling out of the driveway, I decided to try turning the lights off and then back on. To my surprise, the driver side light turned on as normal and stayed on for the rest of the ride home.

Has anybody else seen this problem or have an explaination of what happened?

 

[GripperDon]

Sounds like the starting ballast skipped a beat and timed out. Or someting like that, lots of stuff going as that plasma forms (arc). Be interesting if it was a rare occurance or happens again. Have you tries lighting up again?.

 

[hosps]

Yea, didn't have a problem lighting up again but it worries me if its going to fail again on the next long trip or if this was just a one time fluke.

I wonder if it's possible for a HID to "overheat" and shut itself down? On the road I was driving, I had the Highbeams on for a long time (30+minutes while watching out for deer and other wildlife running into the road) and I wonder if this could have been the problem.

 

[Kris]

Hosps,

It is rather unlikely that the HID overheat. They “consume” only 35W energy. And it does not matter low or high beam. Actually there is only one “bulb” and switching between high and low beams is accomplished by means of a mechanical shutter. It could have been just a once off fluke. But keep an eye on this.

I have never had any problems either on my Murano or FX for last 18 months.

 

[hosps]

Thanks for the information about the HID and how it works. I'll keep and eye on it and post any new developments.

 

[SugarRushMurano]

Had that happen before in my prev car..

First, it was very rare, then it happen intermittently and then occasionally.
Turns out that the ballast need to be replaced because the wire harness is faulty. (you have to replace then entire ballast for faulty wire, what a design eh? ).:4:

 

[GripperDon]

What kind of car was it. Might be interestign to determin the supplier of the HID's

 

[dklanecky1]

Thanks for the information about the HID and how it works. I'll keep and eye on it and post any new developments.

I would suggest that you report it in writing to the dealer (on your next trip in there) and ask them to investigate. Even if they don't find anything and you get the "unable to duplicate problem" diagnosis, you will have a written record of the issue documented, hopefully before you leave the 3/36 BTB warranty period.

I've had very good luck with getting things replaced at no charge after the warranty has offically expired with this technique.

 

[SugarRushMurano]

It was...

GripperDON wrote: What kind of car was it. Might be interestign to determin the supplier of the HID's

It was an audi A4, b6 body (circa 1999).
The ballast was philips brand.

 

[GripperDon]

I think we have Phillips also. Went and looked but couldn't find it again.

 

[hosps]

Re: Had that happen before in my prev car..

I'll have to check this out in the morning.

Another idea that my friend came up with was the fact Plasma has problems at altitude. Was driving around 10k FT at the time of the incident and he said there were known problems with plasma (especially TVs) which would go intermittent when above a certain altitude. (having to do with the outside presure being too low)

I haven't found anything yet to confirm this but it sounded interesting. I'll check the harness out first and see if that is the culprit.

First, it was very rare, then it happen intermittently and then occasionally.
Turns out that the ballast need to be replaced because the wire harness is faulty. (you have to replace then entire ballast for faulty wire, what a design eh? ).:4:

 

[Kris]

Re: Re: Had that happen before in my prev car..

Another idea that my friend came up with was the fact Plasma has problems at altitude. Was driving around 10k FT at the time of the incident and he said there were known problems with plasma (especially TVs) which would go intermittent when above a certain altitude. (having to do with the outside presure being too low)

Put it into the "urban myths" arena..........altitude should not affect HID's.......I am leaning more towards balast problems or cabling (the triger voltage is quite high - a few kV).......

Have the car checked by dealer during next service. Even if it does not happen again

 

[GripperDon]

It certainly would not effect the inside of the bulb which is hermetically sealed, however it might allow an arc over of the associated high voltage external wiring as gap distance per volt increases as the pressure reduces.

If it did arc over it most likely would be a lower resistance path than the bulb and cause the lamp to extinguish. Then you are out of the start up sequence so it would stay out.

 

[GMTURBO43]

I did see this on a buddy's car - but it ended up being an issue with battery voltage (it was about 10V when we checked ).

 

[GripperDon]

That would sure do it, but with only one side effect here, I am more suspicious of something else.