Headlight Issues

Hello all, i have a seriously vexing issue and need advice on a possible solution. My drivers side headlight has quit working, only the low beam, everything else works fine. I have been running an E-bay HID kit for about five months with zero issues till now. I was operating under the assumption that the ballast was dead because the bulb works using the passenger side ballast. However, when I installed a new ballast this evening, still no light-y (headshake This leaves me with the conclusion that the trouble is in the factory wiring harness, which I have no real interest in un-tangling to fix. The fuses are all fine as well. My question is this: Could I run an in-line splice from the passenger side headlight harness (factory side) and basically run both ballasts from one source? I assume I would want to double the fuse size from 10 amps to 20. Any reason why this wouldn't work, at least until I can figure out a permanent solution?

(deadhorse(cricket) No one?

Secondtyme said:

Hello all, i have a seriously vexing issue and need advice on a possible solution. My drivers side headlight has quit working, only the low beam, everything else works fine. I have been running an E-bay HID kit for about five months with zero issues till now. I was operating under the assumption that the ballast was dead because the bulb works using the passenger side ballast. However, when I installed a new ballast this evening, still no light-y (headshake This leaves me with the conclusion that the trouble is in the factory wiring harness, which I have no real interest in un-tangling to fix. The fuses are all fine as well. My question is this: Could I run an in-line splice from the passenger side headlight harness (factory side) and basically run both ballasts from one source? I assume I would want to double the fuse size from 10 amps to 20. Any reason why this wouldn't work, at least until I can figure out a permanent solution?

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Did you use the 55w or 35w kit? If you ran the 55w check the wiring harness (the harness that normally plug into the stock blub) for oxidation. If the bulb is good and only the low beam is out, I am betting the higher current draw ultimately burnt the harness. Since you use low beam most, low beam gets burnt first.

I had this issue with running higher watt bulbs before. Most OEM harnesses cannot support high current draw, at least not for extended use. It may for short periods but that one long evening drive with headlights on for an extended period of time will fry it. You can band-aid it by cleaning the harness (UNPLUG BATTERY FIRST) but more than likely the harness has a lot more resistance and you will not get a good contact for max current flow. In this event, the long term solution is to simply cut out the existing harness and solder in new one, which is not hard. If you still want to run higher watt bulbs, Google to see if anyone offers beefier aftermarket replacement harnesses for Mazda.

While you can technically splice the wire and run the bulbs in parallel, I highly do NOT recommend it, not for the low/high beam. The issue is not the fuse. The current draw would be too high for the stock wires to handle. 55x2 = 110w going through the stock wires. Add in lights being on for a while and a hot engine bay + hot day and you are asking for trouble. I’m betting this may literally fry the wire itself in time and may end up in a fire! Replace the whole wire is a lot worst but I guess you can techincally ghetto run it. If you are willing to do a little splicing to run the blubs in parallel, why not just buy a new harness and replace that!?

have you tried plugging a stock headlight bulb into the harness? that will tell you if its the harness or not.

It is a 55w kit Silentnoise. I hadn't thought about the wires not being able to handle the extra wattage, thanks for that. I checked the harness with a voltmeter and came up zilcho, so I at least know the trouble is the factory wires. The plug was oxidized and bent so as not to make good contact. I cut that out and replaced with spade terminals when I installed the new ballast. I am thinking that there is a break in the line somewhere in the run back to the fuse box. I had hoped to avoid having to check the entire wiring run for breaks or fry-age (real word, probably not LOL) but I may have to I realized pretty quickly that ghetto rigging the headlights was a recipe for disaster, so I abondoned my initial plan. However; even if I go with a TRS relay harness, it relies on the drivers side factory wiring to run, so what ese can I do? I have to get the "turn on headlight" signal delivered to the relay harness somehow...

Courious, what did you check for with the multimeter and where did check? Also, did you do the same check for the parking and high beam at the same area? Typically it is the harness that goes first.

The high current draw can be a problem. Not sure if you hear about people using space heaters resulting in fire. It is almost always due to leaving it on unattended (overnight) but plug in using a dollar store extension cable. The cheap extension cables cannot sustain the highe current draw and litterely heats up and burns the wire.

I suggest a new harness at this point no matter what you do. For low beam, here's something to consider. You can use a SPST relay and tap the low beam from the working light as the trigger. You can directly tap power from the battery.

i have kind of the same problem and i think mine is related to a relay inside the fuse box. i unplugued it,plugued it back in : both lights worked. they did not come on before,only my yellow corner lights and my high beams were working. yesterday same thing : no low lights...drove to work and when i came back from work they came on and worked until i stopped the car. so i'm thinking the relay is making trouble inside the fuse box.

highly recommend a relay harness for 55w installs. I've been running my kit for years without a single issue. http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/HID-Kit-Wiring-Harness