1 Headlight Flickering Out

[Albaberg]

Hi -- upon moving to LA we recently bought a 2002 Mazda Protege5 with HID headlight upgrade. We noticed that the left front headlight starts to turn on but then flickers out after about 2 seconds (the high beams seem to work fine). I've checked and all connections seem tight but nothing seems to help.

Would love any help and info. We're from NYC so are car novices.

Thanks!

J.

 

[mountjonas]

bad ballast maybe? high beams work because it's probably the regular halogen bulb.

 

[Albaberg]

bad ballast maybe? high beams work because it's probably the regular halogen bulb.

Thanks mountjonas.

When you say bad ballast, those are the boxes that connect wires to headlight, right? Is there a way to test those to determine if that's the cause? If that is the cause, I imagine they'd be covered under previous owner's purchase warranty?

I'm going to go play around with wire connections again and see if I can get anywhere.

 

[drgnzadiel101]

Thanks mountjonas.

When you say bad ballast, those are the boxes that connect wires to headlight, right? Is there a way to test those to determine if that's the cause? If that is the cause, I imagine they'd be covered under previous owner's purchase warranty?

I'm going to go play around with wire connections again and see if I can get anywhere.

yea those are the ballasts. try switching the ballasts around. if your other headlight starts doing the same thing after the switch then its your ballast. if not then its your bulb. also check the location of the ballast and make sure it isnt getting wet or near an a/c line. i was having the same issue but it stopped but i have no idea why

 

[mx-p5]

yup, as he said.

Swap the boxes to the other bulbs and see if it happens on the other light

If so, it's time for new ballasts

 

[Albaberg]

Yep -- thanks much, gang. I switched the ballasts and now the other one flickers off. I can get away with just buying 1 replacement ballast, not 2, right??

Many thanks!

J.

 

[Albaberg]

... and do you guys have a place you like to get replacement gear from? Any Ballast brands to recommend or all they all the same?

My ballast details seem to be:

9-16v in
35w out
Vnorm 13.2v
I in max <6.5A

 

[mx-p5]

here ya go

I've got 2 of these currently in use and havn't had any issues yet

To any who say it's cheap ebay crap, unless it's an OEM ballast, they're all the same