Posted here as I thought would receive the most exposure. Anyhow last night I got a ticket for a burned headlight which I was aware of. Here's the thing though the dumb light turns on for like 30 secs then turns off? A quick google determined that I need a new ballest as anyone ever had an issue with this?

 

Switch bulbs from the bad to good side or vice versa to nail it down.

 

Sounds like a bulb to me....

 

Bulbs are designed to last the life of the car, ballasts go out all the time from moisture and crap. Most likely ballast. Like bow said, switch bulbs from one side to the other.

 

I had this issue before and I thought it was the ballast burning out.

However, I changed out the bulb to a new one and it has been fine. The only real way to check is to change out the bulbs since they're the cheapest of the two first. If the new bulbs don't work, then change the ballast.

It is much less work to change out the bulb than the ballast, so I would start with the bulb.

 

I ordered these from amazon

We'll see how they work. Also while we're on the subject of headlights, what's the easiest way to clean them. can I really use toothpaste ?

 

BS! Philips rates their xenon bulb at 3000hrs. So depending on how much night driving you do, that may only be acouple years. But as time goes on the output of a HID bulb decreases. According to some spec sheets, at around 1500 hrs of use, an HID bulb is only emitting around 75% of its brightness.

Really they should be replaced ever couple of years if you do moderate amount of night time driving, definatly not life of the car. I guess if you hardly ever drive at night, they could last life of the car.

Here is a typical Philips loss curve


He is right, most common failure is ballast.

 

Yup, they never go out on luxury race cars. lol

 

Damn, my cars 10 yrs old and still on original bulbs. Can't believe it hasn't been 3000 hrs yet. Judging by your rule they should have gone out about 3 yrs ago. I drive a lot at night.

 

Progressive wet sanding from 1000grit to 1500 to 2000, until all the yellow crap stops coming off. Then polish with rubbing compound a few times and then a few coats of good wax. Once you do this tho your gonna have to maintain them now and then unless you find a good UV coating.

 

Has nobody ever seen the "pinkeye" in cars that have HID headlights? It was popular in older Acuras and older BMWs with HID.

That's a sign of bulb about to go out. I've seen it quite often where the bulb outputs a pinkish hue. Usually, the BALLASTS last the lifetime of the car, and the bulbs go out. Ballasts don't usually go bad. Our headlights are sealed so water entering the ballast is rare unless it isn't attached properly to the headlight housing. There's a rubber gasket that prevents water from entering the ballast.

Just because a bulb is rated for a certain lifespan doesn't mean it'll go out by that time. It is usually the average lifespan. Some humans live much longer than the expected lifespan, and vice versa.

This is an example of a bulb on its way out while the ballast is still functioning properly:

 

Problem is that our cars are very sensitive to aftermarket HID bulbs. It has been reported that our cars like staying with OEM. I wouldn't trust HID bulbs like Maxlux from Amazon since they are aftermarket. You can read al about this issue on hidplanet.com or theretrofitsource.com. Reading the reviews on Amazon shows that these bulbs you bought have very short lifespans.

I would either stay with Philips D2S bulbs or Osram D2S, as they are OEM suppliers for most car manufacturers for HID bulbs. Our cars came with Koito bulbs, so that is also a viable option. Our ballasts are Matsush-ita. Remove the dash.

 

Our headlights aren't sealed, they're vented. I've had a ballast go out do to moisture. In fact, it happens quite often.