Manopka

I bought retros off a member on here 5 months ago. Worked great without any issues until about a month ago. Started off with them not turning on randomly and in order to get them on I would have to turn the auto switch on and off numerous times. But then tonight I couldnt get them to turn on at all no matter how many times i switched them on and off. The weird thing is that the LEDs and the blue halos work just fine. Its JUST the projectors that dont work.

It seems that some component has gone out/bad but I'm not knowdledable enough to know what it is.

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

Probably the ballast. Did tou unhook your DRLs?

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

The projectors dont go bad lol. The are just lenses. I would test your ballasts, sounds like they are failing(common with cheap HIDS). Other than that check your bulbs, and lastly the wiring. Test everything if you can before just throwing some ballasts at it though.

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

If you hook your stock bulbs back up do they light up?

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

... How would he? Unless they are plug and play. Mine are all hacked up.

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

Retros are more plug and play than your gen lights modified. Should still be able to reconnect the light to the stock harness, not the ballast connection which I assume is an AMP connection

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

Is there some sort of adapter they use for 9007 to the ballast power connection? OP listen to ecaulk and try out your stock bulbs. Me, id get out my DVOM

Manopka

What are DRLs?

I dont have my stock bulbs. Part of the deal was sending him my stock headlights

And i know the projectors dont get bad. I meant along the lines of ballast or power supply.

What would be the procedure of testing the ballast?

iToastie

iTrader: (4)

Are they HIDs or just halogen bulbs?

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

Yeah the harness should connect into the 9007 plug

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

DRL stands for daytime running lights. There is a reason why they cause your ballasts to go bad, cant remember exactly though.

For testing the ballasts, youll need a basic voltmeter or some sort of test light at least. Unplug the bulb from the ballast(positive wire). Then test for 12v while grounding your other test lead to any suitable ground. Make sure you turn the headlights on AFTER youve unplugged the ballast from the bulb.

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

They kill your ballasts because they don't send the full power required

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

I have my low beams on their own circuit connected straight to the battery post. I guess im special haha

Manopka

HIDs

no i never unhooked my DRLs. So once I do get them working again I should look up how to disconnect the DRLs?

and ill try to go buy a multimeter and test them out to see if theyre bad. is it normal for both ballasts to go out at the same exact time or for on to not work unless the other is working?

ECaulk

iTrader: (6)

DRL's have a fuse you can pull

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

It is possible for them to both go out at the same time. Im really not sure how the stock headlight circuit is set up at all, but it wouldnt hurt to check your fuses either.

Manopka

i checked the fuses for the low beams and high beams and both were fine.

Manopka

Alright guys. I bought a multimeter and today I tested both sides. I left the ground plugged into the headlights and unplugged the positive wire. I put the multimeter positive into the ballast connection and the multimeter negative onto a ground on my car.

I got these readings:
Driver side: ~50-70V
Passenger side: ~180V

I'm not sure on the units cuz that many volts doesn't seem right. And it's strange one is so much different.

EmperorJJ1

iTrader: (5)

were u reading dc volts?

Manopka

It was ACV 200. should i do it over with DC? 10A?

Innova Electronics 3300 - Multimeter | O'Reilly Auto Parts

Manopka

oh and before I did all this I removed the fuse for the DRLs

Slowbalt2000

iTrader: (1)

The black lead should be in the COM port on the meter and the red lead should be in the volts/ohms port(usually to the right of com). Id set the dial on DC 20. Nothing should be more than a little over 12 volts.

Manopka

Redid the tests and this time I got 12-20V on both sides. So it seems like I'm getting power from my ballasts right? What's the next step? Bulbs?

Manopka

Bump

LS6Rally

iTrader: (14)

ok so where did you get that 12V from, I believe your ballasts should be putting out more than 12V.