I'm a long time reader, first time poster. Anyway, I pulled the trigger the other day and ordered the 6000k HIDs from flashplus to put in the Hella headlights. Wired everything up (no problem with the H4 plug thanks to the forums); started the truck with the headlights off, turned on the headlights, and passenger side came on just fine. The driver side flashed initially but failed to remain lit. So i go through all the troubleshooting (switching bulbs and ballasts side to side) and narrow the problem down to one of the ballasts. No fuses in the stock system are blown (I re-installed the silverstars for now), and all the fuses in the "flashplus" harness are good. I emailed the manufacturer, just haven't received a reply yet. I was hoping someone out there may be able to help. Doesn't really matter but the truck is a 2006 F-150 FX4. Thanks in advance.

 

looks to me the bulb got burned, it happend to me when i was installing my hid on my 03. Have the company send you a new bulb, it should be a problem.

 

Both bulbs work. I moved the driver side bulb (unlit on the first try) to the passenger side (lit the first try) after it failed to come on first try. After I did this, the bulb on the passenger side (originally on the driver side) lit up. The bulb in the driver side (originally on the passenger side) did not.

 

what about swithching the balast???

 

I switched the ballasts as well during my troubleshoot session and thats how i narrowed it down to one of the ballasts. I have been doing some research and it's not looking good. I got this info from HIDYNAMIC.com :

Only one light works, although both lights are installed exactly the same.

Reason: 1. The polarity of one side might not match with the stock harness. 2. Fuse might be blown on this side. 3. Malfunctioned parts.

Inspection Procedure:
Check all connections between the bulb, ballast, & igniter. Check the bulb that does not work. Check the fuses. Use at least 30mA fuse if the stock 15mA fuse blows. Switch the failing bulb module to the working one to see if the problem remains. If the failing light now works, the bulb may be failed. If the problem still persists, the Ballast and/or Igniter may be malfunctioned. Check the Ballast and Igniter, switch it to the working side of the vehicle. If the problem still persists, the Ballast and/or Igniter is malfunctioned. If HID system works properly, your vehicle connections, battery, alternator, etc. may have problems.

I've read about adding relays but i believe there is one already built into the ballast unit. I just hate to think I received a brand new faulty ballast after all these other guys had such good luck with this product. But I realize it does happen.

 

btw remove your drl's as well

 

No DRL's on the truck. It does have the Autolamp feature, but i started the truck in the "headlight off" position, and manually turned them (clockwise) to the on position.

 

Anyone have any other ideas or suggestions? I still have not heard back from the manufacturer (VVME).

 

I just installed some HID's in my fod lights and kind of had the same problem. When I first turned on the fogs I had nothing. waited a few minutes to see if they would eventually kick on but nothing happened. So I plugged the stocker lights back in and everything worked fine. So I hooked up the HID's again and this time the passenger side one came on but nothing from the driver side. So with the lights turned on I was going to plug in the stock light again just to make sure everything still worked and after ever so slightly pulling the stock wiring harness out of the ballast the thing kicked on and started to warm up. I reinstalled the clip into the ballast and it has worked ever since. Might want to try playing with the harness a bit.

 

I agree that maybe you need to check all connections on the side that isn't working. If both bulbs and both ballasts are working, maybe you're not hooking something up properly. Since these kits only use one side of the headlight wiring, there really shouldn't be a problem like this.

 

From what I have seen so far the "unlit light" follows ballast "A" around, whether it be the driver side or passenger side. I'll mess around with all the connections again tonight and see if that helps. Thanks for the replies

 

If your ballast is faulty, flashplus will replace it. They charge 25$ for replacement parts if I'm not mistaken. Or you can send it back and just pay for shipping once they find out its messed up.

 

Yeah I already looked into it, $11.99 for the part (and I'm wondering why it doesn't work ), $35 for shipping for a grand total of $46.99. I'm not sure which way I'm going to go yet as I have yet to hear back (wrote an email Monday night). It'd probably be cheaper to just suck it up and buy the new ballast than to ship it back to wherever it came from and risk having to pay shipping once again on the way back.

 

Well I messed around with the ballast wires last night and finally got it to kick on. However, it is pretty inconsistent as about 50% of the time i have to open the hood and unplug and re-plug the "power" wire that runs to the ballast a few times to get it to fire up. So i still believe that ballast doesn't work as it should, but i can live with it until i get a replacement. Light output is great and it looks great. Thanks for the advice

 

Sounds like your ballast is working fine. What you need to do is redo your headlight pigtails and the pigtail going into the ballast. HID's work like a gas stove, when they first turn on, the ignitor in the ballast sparks to begin the arc, and the bulb needs constant non-flcikering power. If you have crummy connections, the HIDs flicker and run the risk of completely going out. The quick solution would be to turn off and on your lights quickly to reignite the bulb. Speaking from experience, I hope this helps you out a little bit.