Hey guys. I just bought one of my dream cars. 08 g37. (Obviously). And the owner before absolutely did NOT take car of the car. Got it for a steal tho so its worth it. ANYWAYS in all i just need help figuring out what connects to what on the ballasts to the headlights. Everything on the driver side were directly connected to the headlight. So i had no previous knowledge. So that one doesn't turn on at all. The passenger one flickers. And i would love some help. THANK YOU

 

First, welcome to the forum and congrats on your new toy.

For starters, I suggest you go here and download the factory shop manual for the car. For your headlight issue you will need section EXL (Exterior Lighting) but I strongly recommend you download all sections. They will come in handy, trust me.

I am attaching two pics from the FSM outlining the headlight (HID) only. Technically, the "ballast" only has two (2) wires going to it: Pin #3 (BLACK wire) for ground and Pin #5 (PINK wire) for 12V+.


Keep in mind this is only for the HID/main headlight. Other diagrams will show the wiring for the fog lights, turn signal, and city/parking lights.

Not going to overwhelm you at once. Get the diagrams, look them over, and start putting the pieces of the puzzle in order. As much modding as I've done to the electrics (steering, AV, etc.) in my car, they are pretty robust. Just take your time and don't hesitate to ask for help.

 

Thank you for the welcome! I’ll definitely look into it i still have no idea why one of them are flickering still, after i changed bulbs it did the same thing

 

When the bulb "flickers" that typically means that the ballast is on it's way out. If the ballast is not getting full 12V or if the internal inverter is unable to produce a strong enough AC current to ignite the gas in the bulb and maintain the charge, you will get the flicker. As you've indicated the wiring had previously been monkeyed with I would start there.

Being that you changed bulbs and the light still flickers, I would try setting up a jumper wire and briefly connect the ballast directly to the battery. If it flickers then likely the ballast is shot. You could also try swapping the ballast from the other side (assuming that ballast is good) and see what happens.

 

Thank you for the response!! I don’t know what i did but the passenger side is now working perfectly. But now the driver side is completely off. I bough new ballasts bulbs and literal headlights. I’ve connected everything and still nothing. The driver side was the first one to actually work and now nothing. Any ideas??

 

Do you have a digital multimeter? First step would be to pull the connector(s) and verify your getting voltage (when the lights are turned on). If you are getting full voltage then the issue is with the ballast or bulbs. If you are not getting any voltage then the issue lies upstream. It could be a bad wire (pinched/ broken), bad connection, or something further up the circuits (relays, switches, etc.).

Is it just the main headlight (HID) not firing or is the whole headlight (fog, parking light, turn signal) "dead?"

 

I don’t have one at the moment but i’ll buy it. It’s just the hid not firing. The turn signal works fine. I also noticed when i pulled the bulb its has little yellow sploches in the middle. Mind you they are brand new so i would think it’s sending some sort of power into it?

 

Normally, I would not be too concerned about the yellow "splotches" inside the bulb- these are the salts that ignite (give off light) when the electric charge passes through the Xenon gas. However, those splotches are rare in brand new bulbs. This could indicate that the ballast is not getting full 12V power to ignite the gas charge in the bulb.

Sounds complicated, but the technology is really easy to follow. Honest.

Did you buy the bulb(s) from a reputable source? Reliable brand? Can you tell if the bulb is trying to fire?

 

I got them off amazon, so probably not. Do you think its the ballast then? Or buy different bulbs? And i don’t see anything when they try to turn on

 

If the bulbs are name brand then you should be fine. If they are "off-the-shelf" no-names then I'd return them. Not all HID bulbs are created equal. Nothing against Amazon but they're full of cheap Chinese knockoff crap as well.

Here is the gamble. The passenger side works fine. You could try swapping everything over and see what happens. If the driver side is still acting up then you know you have a wiring/voltage issue. If it works fine, then it becomes a hardware issue.

 

I have the same problem with my '10 HIDs. I bought and they worked for a while. My right would flicker then go off. Can turn them off and right would come back on for a short period then off. It quit working all together. One day they BOTH quit at the same time and after a while they both came back on after an off/on cycle. I bought new ballast and that fixed it for a week. This is the third set of ballasts this car has had. worked for a week and now the right again is now off alltogether. If I unplug the connector from the ballast it will turn back on but if I turn the car off then back on the right will not work. Now the only working LH light is now flickering and it will probably go out soon. I am getting a constant 12v to the ballast. No DRL's. WTF is wrong with this car! WTF is the fix?!?! Bad grounds? Seems as if the '10 has the problem for the most part.


pmoreno818 writes:
"My HID lights are flickering."

Flickering usually means the car is unable to supply enough power to the ballast. You can easily test this by connecting the HID kit directly to the car battery. If the kit works, it is a power issue. To resolve this you will need a wiring harness.
If your car has Daytime Running Lights (DRL) flickering is usually caused by the lower voltage needed to run the DRL at half power. The car's factory harness does not provide enough power to the ballasts. If the flickering is caused by the DRL you will need a wiring harness or have the DRL disabled (this may not be legal in all areas).
Flickering can also be caused by the vehicle's onboard computer failing self-check test due to the new HID kit you just installed. This can easily be corrected with a set of warning cancellers (capacitors).
4. My LED headlights are flickering.
LED lights may flicker on some vehicles, this is caused by the vehicle's onboard computer failing self-check test due to the new LED kit you just installed. This can easily be corrected by adding a set of warning cancellers (capacitors) to your setup.
5. My HID kit works sporadically.
If only one side turns on from time to time or you lights work inconsistently, you probably have a power issue. You will need a wiring harness to power your HID kit directly from the car's battery.
If you install the wiring harness and still experience intermittent firing, please check your wiring connections. Make sure the power terminal is properly connected to your car battery and that the wiring harness is securely grounded.

 

Can someone please tell me where the HID headlight grounds are on a '10?