well, i got done reading over Xenon's FAQ sheet. It says the HID bulbs are supposed to outlast the life of your vehicle, with bulb life being over 2500 hours.

i really, really hope it's the bulb or the wiring though. i talked to passwordjdm today, and they told me that there's no exchange service, or warranty on a defective HID unit, because it's used. so, i'll be stuck with a defective HID that I paid $900 more for, than a non-HID unit. that would friggin' suck. what's worse, i won't really have the money to afford any new head lights for a while, so i'm stuck driving a car around that has no driver side head light...

=(

 

You paid $900 !!! for HIDs? ? ?

I hope that was with the headlights not just the HID units.

 

used ITR non-HID front end: $1899
used ITR HID front end: $2499

$600 dollar difference (my bad, not $900, I forgot about tax).

in any case, I was reading through Honda-Tech "Please Read Before You Post" dealie, and it looks like I'm not the first one to experience this problem (where a head light flickers, and then goes out).

From their forum, I've come up with a few trial and error things to test, add what you can, or rule out one before I do it if you can. I'd do it now, or would've done it last night, if not for my gosh darn job that makes me go to work!

1. Try different fuses. Someone had said their lights weren't coming on because of the fuse. They said they were blowing their fuses though, and my fuses aren't blown. I'm running 20's, but they switched to 15A and it got theirs to work.

2. Adjust the aim. I read that someone elses were flickering because of a cut off point in the JDM Housing for the HID's. It didn't say anything about them eventually shutting off, or changing color, but it was referred to as "cut off point." I'm assuming cut off point is where it would turn off.

3. Swap the bulb from one side to the other. At this point, it's kind of discouraging, given that HID bulbs are supposed to last over 2500 hours. Still, I would hope that it's a blown bulb, and not a bad unit.

4. Check all the connections again. Even though I went over it a dozen times already, I'll check again. Furthermore, I'll let my friend check it too, in case there's anything he might catch that I overlooked.

5. Be really sad and drive around with only one working head light, then probably get pulled over and given a ticket for having only one head light, and then given another ticket on top of that for having HID's. That's right! Even with all this time spent at work, I live pay check to pay check and won't be able to afford new/used HID lamps again for a while.

 

OK, I checked all the connections again...I didn't bother switching the ballasts from each side, because either way, one of them isn't going to work (I checked all connections very thoroughly, grounds and all!). I adjusted the aim. I changed the fuse, with the same result, passenger side works fine, driver's side doesn't turn on at all.
well, i found a solution. philips makes a ballast for D2S bulbs. I read on Honda-Tech.com that it's compatible with the JDM housing, and the only difference is the length of the cable. it's slightly shorter in the JDM OEM. I guess I can find a way to wind the wire around so it "becomes" shorter.
in any case, i like this alternative better than trying to find another JDM HID light housing. i believe it will be cheaper, and if there's any kind of problem, at least this time it comes with a warranty.

i'm not sour toward passwordjdm or anything, i should've understood better that when you buy used parts, there's never any kind of expressed warranty. i still plan to do business with them in the near future.

if the moderators want me to write any kind of article on my trek through trial and error with the JDM HID Conversion for reference to future JDM'ers, I'll also be happy to do so.

 

I still say switch parts to determine what went bad... But you don't want to.

Hey ya never know it might just start working on the other side. Have you used a test light to see if the wires coming from the car to the HID unit are sending power?

 

i'm going to switch them on sunday (I'd do it tomorrow, but alas, I have to go to work). i think it's also worth a shot.

however, i must say i'm relieved to find a cheaper solution than buying new light assembly. excuse the bad grammar, it's 430am and i'm tired as fawk.

if i can get them both working, that'd be great! if not, the philips ones actually look better, my friend has it in his vw golf, and they're much brighter.

anyway, good night all...i'm so sleepy...

 

hahaha! took the front end apart today (you have to to get to the HID Headlight assembly).

It was the bulb! OMG was it the bulb! I'll post a pic of it tomorrow. Hunting down a d2s bulb is not an easy job either! Long story short...I found the bulb at a Nissan Dealership for $100 + tax (CA tax) = $108 out the door.

I tried many places looking for the d2s bulb. Honda wanted $180, Acura wanted $260, Inline4 wanted $150 and had to order it, but finally, I arrived at Nissan for $100.

Honda and Acura were both out of stock. Nissan had it! Also, the parts guys are idiots, and can't tell the difference between a d2r and d2s.

 

And where is this Nissan dealer that carries d2s bulbs? So I don't end up going there.

 

no no no, nissan parts guys figured it out right away. they came out with a d2r, and then looked at it again, and go, oh wait, wrong one, d2s, then came back with the right one. the honda and acura parts guys didn't know the difference. they were in long beach.

cerritos nissan had the right bulb though, because long beach was sold out of it.

 

definately the bulb. here's the pics of the old bulb...notice the cloudy looking area where it went boom. also notice the NISSAN box the new bulb came in. =P