HID Headlight Problem, Please HELP

[tysamigo]

I've been having a load of problems after installing the Xenon Headlights (from Tone). After initial installation they worked for a few weeks to a month perfectly. Then one day the passenger side stopped working. The headlights are SOOO good that I never noticed driving with only 1 headlight until someone told me. For about a week the headlight would come on then go off (staying on or off for 1 day at a time, it was not like the lights were flashing or turning on and off by hitting bumps).

I contacted Tone and he rushed me a new replacement kit (thanks man!). I installed the new kit and yet again the same side did not work. I checked the fuses including the 10A in the car and the wiring harness, no probs. I troubleshooted each and ever single part of the kit and found the faulty part to be a ballast. I contacted Tone again and he came to my rescue again by swapping out the faulty ballast with a new one. It arrived and I installed it late lastnight. It still does not work. ARGGGGGHHHH

If I take the GOOD ballast and move it to the passenger side of the truck, it works fine. In fact, I drove around for 1 night with it installed like this (with no front bumper). No problem. I put it back on the driver side and it works no problem. I take the BAD ballast (the one I just received) and it won't work on either side.

So the thing is that I've had one good working ballast this whole time. It works on either side of the truck. The system IS installed correctly and professionaly. I have yet again troubleshooted EACH AND EVERY PART going from driver side to passenger side. EVERYTHING works except for this new ballast that I just received. This is the 3rd ballast to go bad (1st from the original kit, 2nd the replacement from the new kit, 3rd from the ballast only replacement I just received).

Please could someone brainstorm with me and give me your thoughts... I just don't have any idea of what is wrong except for the ballast however I understand completely that Tone has an exceptional reputation for sending only quality parts....so I'm at a loss for words...

ANY AND ALL HELP would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Tyler

[tysamigo]

Oh yes, did I mention (in case you don't know) that I removed the whole front of the VX each time. It's been 4 times now and I'm still back at square 1. This has taken sooooo much of my time and is becoming a nightmare, seriously. I just want the lights to work.

Has anyone else have had troubles with the ballasts or the systems?

[circmand]

Sometimes it's just better to write a check

[circmand]

Sometimes it's better to just write a check

[WyrreJ]

From your description, there can only be two issues:

1) You have an undiagnosed, intermittent problem on the passenger side that can destroy a ballast.
2) You have had a bad run of luck and have just received 3 bad parts in a row.

You can rule out #1 by switching your known good ballast to the passenger side and leaving it there for a few weeks. If it never goes bad, then you can be reasonably confident that it is #2. The longer you run that way, the stronger your confidence.

[MZ-N10]

how is ur passenger ballast mounted? that might contribute to the dying ballasts.

[mdwyer]

You might want to check to make sure everything's tight. I believe doing a hot restrike is usually pretty hard on an HID system. Once you turn them off, you're supposed to wait for them to cool before you turn them on again. Some of them have a hot-restrike capability, I guess, but I haven't done the full research on it.

Anyway, what I'm getting at, is make sure you don't have a short or break that could be causing the light to flicker out.

[tysamigo]

After consulting with Tone, he said "Double check the install instructions and verify that you are only powering one side of the system as it passes power to the other side - there should be 2 wires not connected."

This surprised me because I cannot find this information in the Kaixen Xenon Light System Owner's Manual. I hooked each side up to the battery separately and grounded each properly. I believe, based on Tone's response, that this IS the problem.

I asked him if he could provide a set of instructions that has this info and he said the info he described is in the instructions I have, although I cannot see it.

Does ANYONE have a set of instructions of what Tone is talking about?

OR can anyone please help me?!

It's been months since this has worked. I have the original Kaixen Xenon Light System Owner's Manual only. Should there have been a supplement or separate instructions for VX installations?

Tyler

[MrCrowley]

Doh! I was really interested in the HIDs too. Just has been on a backburner for a long time.

Until Tone chimes in or someone has the manual, all I can say is- if you have the wiring diagnostic ability- to maybe follow the wires included with the kit, and see if the power is doing like he stated about going to one light, which then powers the other, or is the power going to both lights? It is a little vague. We just dont want you driving a padiddle, and possibly getting pulled over for it. Lol

[Kenny]

I had a recent issue with my Kaixen Bi-Xenons from Tone; The bulbs were turning off. Turned out the in-line fuse holders and fuses had broken down and were "sparky". I cut them out and when directly to a custom fuse block and the problem went away. Not sure if this helps any...

[LittleBeast]

I had the same issue with Tone's HIDs and it really was never resolved. Tone is a great guy and would definitely buy from him again, but the HID thing kinda didn't work out. His kit was a little more complex than the HID kit I ended up putting in my VX and my brother's Mustang and my sister's Xterra. Tone's kit kept on going out on one side or the other, my problem seemed to be the cheap relay (black box looking thing). Try tapping or hitting the black box (relay) on the side that is not working next time. I sent my kit back to Tone for him to look at it and have not heard anything about it since, and I don't really mind, he was great to work with through the whole thing, but I decided on some HIDs from XenonRider.com and his prices are amazing and I have never had any problems and his kits are far less complicated (less to break). Once again absolutely nothing negative about Tone from me here, but the HIDs I got from him never worked out either and it sounds like I had the same problem you did. I gave up and bought different ones after the fifth try at fixing the problem for more than a week.

[iamjacksadrenalgland]

little beast,

exactly which xenonrider kit did you use? my second kaixen ballast unit just went out and i'm ready for a more reliable product. thanks in advance.

[LittleBeast]

http://www.xenonrider.com/products/h...hid_kits.shtml
The dual lamp one of course, and give him a call normally he can give you an even better price over the phone. I have his cards for 10% off referals if he asks, but normally over the phone he just gives the best price possible, but maybe that is because I have bought 5 kits plus some extra from him already and never had a problem and the set I could not get to work with my RX-8 fog lights I broke in the installation process and I sent them back to him and he still gave me $100 back even though it was totally my fault.

little beast,

exactly which xenonrider kit did you use? my second kaixen ballast unit just went out and i'm ready for a more reliable product. thanks in advance.

[iamjacksadrenalgland]

many thanks for the info!

[tysamigo]

This project was on the back burner until the snow subsided and I could continue. After consulting with Tone I sent the faulty ballast (we did confirm through diagnosing that the ballast was bad) to the manufacturer. Within 1 week I received a new ballast.

I sent the rest of the kit to Tone as he offered to label the connections for me. I'm pretty darn sure that I had it connected properly but when I heard about connecting them together I was confused so I thought what the hell, send them to Tone, have him label the connections, get the kit back from him labeled and throw in the new ballast from the manufacturer. One Problem, USPS lost the package on the way to Tone's. So now I have one brand new ballast from the manufacturer and nothing else.

I am awaiting for the USPS insured claim to be approved ($349, the purchase price). Once I get the money I had planned on just getting a new kit, HOWEVER I just read a thread about Xenonrider (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...threadid=13092)

Now I'm wondering which way I should go when I get the money from USPS. . .