ok guys I have a problem. I figured i'd post in the accord forum cause you get more discussion on this type of thing. I have some 9006 phoenix microlite phillips bulbs and ballasts. I took them out of my Acura (in which they worked perfect for over a year) and put them into my new Silverado. All was well for the first day.
Then at night I went out and turned my lights on, and the right one ignited for about 10 seconds and then immediately went out after. I checked all fuses, relays, connections, etc, and found no problems with anything. Then it happened the day after and the day after. I always get my hopes up and then bam! It goes out after a brief excitement. Sometimes when you flip the switch off and on again it will ignite and stay ignited, but its a really iffy situation. I dont know whether its the bulb, ballast, or what.
Does anyone know what the problem is? This pisses me off, I made a special effort to not touch the bulbs or anything and now I'm getting problems in my new truck. Thanks for any help
Rob

 

did your PML kit come with a relay? or does it simply plug into the stock harness? sounds like you're not getting enough juice to the ballast.

if you don't have a relay, then get one. if you don't know how to set it up, then take it to someone who knows/can; meaning you might want to try an audio-specialty shop who are comfortable and knowledgable in working with relays. should be a simple, cost-effective upgrade, and safer in the long run.

if you do have a relay, then your ballast might be going and time to get a new one. however, it's sounding to me that you don't have a relay.

 

The PML kit didn't come with a relay, it was plug and play. There is a stock relay in the fuse box, I even turned it around to see if one side was screwey, but every time the right one always goes out. Should I try to replace the relay in the fuse box?

 

your best bet is to just get a wiring harness with a relay. power to the ballast should come directly from the battery, and not through the stock wiring. the setup would then be:

battery -> 20amp fuse -> relay -> ballast -> bulb (repeat 2x)

and the stock 9006 harness would then act as a trigger, connecting to the relay to either 1) turn on, or 2) turn off the HID. the ballast will automatically regulate how much electricity it needs. your stock wiring might be offering too much resistence right now, not allowing the ballast to get enough electricity to start up and maintain the system. think of your stock wiring like a 56k modem and the HID ballast needs broadband streaming in order to boot up. not sure if that analogy helps you visualize the current problem. a metal wire conducts electricity. but it's also a resister. if you don't give it enough juice, electricity can't flow through it. if you give it more juice than the wire can handle, then it heats up and can melt.

but if you're not sure what i'm talking about, take it to someone who installs car stereos. the ballast is like an amp. all the installer needs to do is insert a relay between the ballast and battery, where the relay is connected to your stock 9006 harness.

or you can sell off your old PML kit and buy a new 9006 kit. just about all kit (even the crappy ones) come with relays nowadays.

 

how did you connect them and are you sure the bulb fits in a silverado??? if you used connectors check to see if they are ok , and check to see if the bulb really fits

try the search button here and type something like LxAccord97 HID lights to see some pics of mine

 

hey does anyone have a picture of the relay system that came with their HIDs? Maybe if I take a look at it things would be easier. I've been installing car stereo stuff for about 5 years so I'll probably figure out how to do it. Thanks for all the help

 

well, if you get the chance, swing by a local radio smack and look at their relays. usually there's a diagram on them.

a relay functions pretty much like an electrical switch. it allows you to route power from various sources, or to various targets

for example, let's say:

A = source A
B = source B
S = switch
C = target C

say you connect A to nothing, and B to battery, S to the 9006 harness, and C = ballast. right now, the default is A -> C. which means ballast isn't getting any juice from anywhere. but once you turn on your headlights, feeding electricty to S, the relay then swaps sources... instead of A -> C, it's now B -> C. and voila, HID.

that's the jist of it.

 

switch the bulbs to see if the same thing happens on the other side. If the same bulb doesn't work on either side it's probably the bulb. Thats what happened to me, one would ignite for about 20 seconds, then just shut off. I tried it on both ballasts and it did the same thing, ended up being a faulty bulb

 

cool I'll try that, I've just been lazy to change bulbs cause its a hassle in the truck. Anyways I'm going to send it to PML and hopefully get a new one. USC, I have a question for you -- where do you get those HID reflectors from Autolamp or whatever? I need a pair of those.

 

what reflectors? you mean my h4 shield/adapter? they're only for H4's.