HID question
 

when i turn on my headlights, my left hid bulb doesn't turn on, but my right hid bulb turns on. my left bulb will turn on after a few tries.

would adding a hid relay kit fix this?

yes it should. that way you're giving direct power from the battery to the ballast. ground through a good chassis ground.

Is HID stock? ie comes with the car?

You should try swapping the ballasts to see if the problem is replicable.. because it can also be the ballast is gimped.. you mind as well try to narrow down whether it is a wiring problem than a component problem first.. then adding more things to the mix.

Relay is just fancy word for a switch, if your wiring is done right, you shouldn't need a relay.

its a aftermarket kit.

if the ballast was gimped, wouldn't it just flicker?

after about 3-4 attempts, then both lights will stay on.


some info on my kit.
Specification:
Voltage In: 9V-16V
Voltage Normal: 13.2V
I Normal: 3.2A
I Max: 20A
Voltage Start: 18KV ~ 23KV Max
Temp: -40C ~ +105C
http://images.craigslist.org/3n53m13...afea05177a.jpg

If a ballast is gimped it could do what you're saying it does or it's not receiving enough power to turn it on the first time.

You could try turning it on the lights with the working side disconnected. if the non working side turns on you're not recieving enough power.

Hence the need for a relay.

Relay is a fancy word for a switch, but in this case it's use to provide direct power to the ballast as opposed to being power through the headlight harness. The headlight harness runs through thin wiring as well as the headlight switch or even a control module and then a fuse box and then to the battery. That's a bit of voltage drop that could potentially affect the amount of powered required to turn on that ballast right away the first time.

As I have put the caveat in my post, it depends on the wiring, if the wiring is fine.. the OP would likely not have the problem in the first place.

There are so many variants of relay kits out there, I don't think it would help either.

My suggestion is figure out the wiring (preferably a rewire), then add relays if necessary.

I'll change the ballasts around and see if I get the same problem. I'll double check the wiring again, but I sure it was done right.
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