I need HID help, you guys are my last hope!

[grundig5]

Ok, so I just installed an Eaglite HID kit in my 2000 RS (H4 bulbs). I read everyone's posts saying "only took me 20 minutes" and so on...I've got one working and it took me the better part of a day and 2 trips to radioshack. After installing the ballasts and bulbs, I figured just test the three pronged factory harness, slide the spades in and be done with it...right? Not for me though, these things are never that simple...of course, the light failed to work. So I looked at the box and noted that it had an elaborate diagram for an H4 set up including relays and diodes and such, none of which was included. So after trip #1 to radioshack, I had relays, diodes, wire, various fittings, and a nice new multimeter to replace my well used one. So I ran a fused power directly to the battery, then a ground to the neg. on the battery, then a ground on my relay, and finally figured out which of the 3 prongs on the factory harness to hook the on/off switch to for the relay. I tested everything on one side, and plugged it in and everything worked fine, beautiful 5000K white light. I mirrored my wiring schematics for the driver side bulb/ballast and I noticed a very odd thing when i tested the ballast to make sure it was getting power...it was reading between NEGATIVE 10 and NEGATIVE 13 volts, unlike the other side which was positive and probably should be. I tried just about everything to make it positive but nothing would do it. Of course, this bulb wouldnt light but I know it isnt burnt out because I checked it on the other side and it worked fine. Could the ballast be wired incorrectly internally? Did I screw something up? IS the ballast toast? PLEASE I need some help, I am by no means an electrician but I can get by. please help! Thanks so much
Josh

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[grundig5]

Ok, I have been doing a little research on here but mostly I find stuff from you WRX guys...it seems like the Eaglite ballast is well made and I am not really suspecting it anymore. I know in my initial post I said I bought diodes, but alas I never installed them anywhere since I had no friggin idea what a diode was or how it helped. I sort of know now, it will take my faintly light high beam light off of my dash because the ECU will no longer think bad things about the HIDs. Will it also help with my negative power situation and maybe even lead to my light turning on??? Man I hope there is some easy answer out there because this is really bumming me out...Thanks
Josh

[brunetmj]

Well since no one else has responded perhaps this will help some.
First you are omitting some information . That is what kind of head lamp (stock lights) or other. ?

Below is a general diagram for hooking up HID's in morettes. However the principle is the same.
Note the following in the diagram. I have the unit labeled ballast. They are actually a ballast and igniter in one unit.

The igniter wires are easy to hook up because they go directly to the bulb itself.

1. Disconnect the DRL's because they cannot be used with HID's. PM me if you need further info on how to do that or do a search here.

2. The ground wires from the ballast should all be tied together and be sent to battery ground and/ or chaise. Do not use the stock ground wires.

This leaves just the positive wires from the ballast. This wire code is for the 2002 WRX not sure about the 2000 RS.
On the drivers side it goes o the common positive red/blue wire on the stock connector or to the corresponding wire on the adapter that you have The passenger side goes to the common positive Blue white.

I hope this will be of some help

[westy66]

Originally posted by brunetmj
2. The ground wires from the ballast should all be tied together and be sent to battery ground and/ or chaise. Do not use the stock ground wires.

YEA.. what he said... but this step is MOST important!!

Bob

[Mulder]

The GC8's don't have DRLs so nothing to disconnect there. You should not need relays to install your HIDs although there is nothing wrong with using one to power them directly from the battery. However your existing common headlight power should be sufficient. The negative side of the ballasts should be directly grounded as already suggested. You would no longer use either of the switched grounds on the headlight connectors- the low beam switched ground is replaced by the direct chassis/battery ground, and the high beam side isn't used since once you install the HIDs you no longer have high beams.
In short, there should be no need for added complication with relays, diodes etc. Simplicity is best here.

[grundig5]

Simplicity didn't work...I pretty much thought I knew exactly what I was doing. I grounded it directly to the negative terminal, and just plugged the spade connector into the stock 3 pronged harness (low beam side) for power and that should have been that. But unfortunately nothing happened and it was not that simple. I got one to work with relays and such but it no longer works...I am waiting until Friday when my good electrician buddy is going to come and help me out. He will probably fix it in like 30 seconds and I will feel like quite the dumbass. Thanks a lot for the input guys, I really appreciate it.
Josh

[Mulder]

Originally posted by grundig5
I grounded it directly to the negative terminal, and just plugged the spade connector into the stock 3 pronged harness (low beam side) for power

Which terminal on the headlight connector did you plug into? There is no low beam side power, it's a common positive, switched ground system. You would have to use the common positive terminal and not one of the switched grounds.

[grundig5]

I just assumed it was, but you're right, I just tested it and both right and left sides of the 3 prong harness thing put out the same power (~13volts). I redid some some wiring and got one to work again, but I now am starting to think my ballast is toast on one side. It is grounded to the battery, and when plugged into the factory harness it gets power all the way to the ballast, and then nothing from the ballast to the bulbs. So, I took apart the ballast hoping for some miracle and whoa...its just a bunch of electrical stuff sitting in some rubber like compound. My ballast is made by Osram...Mulder do you have any thoughts? Am I just missing something?

[Basshead]

you try putting your "burnt" ballast on the side that works to see if it really is toast?...might be good thing to try before proceeding...

[grundig5]

Yeah I just swapped them...and the side that had the working ballast and light up, no longer worked with the other ballast (the one I believe is toast). The other side light up perfectly with the working ballast, so it seems like I just need a new one. Is there any way to check the internals of the ballast, or just test it to make sure before I try to find a new one?
Thanks

[Mulder]

You don't want to mess around with the inner circuitry of the ballast when it's operating. The output is high voltage and can be dangerous. For the same reason you shouldn't probe the ballast output wire or connect it to anything except the bulb.
If your ballast is shot it will have to be replaced. Check Ebay, I recently got a replacement for one of my ballasts there. I got lucky and found an exact replacement in like-new condition. Wasn't cheap though.

[grundig5]

Damn...I just poked around in the ballast, but it is just sitting in my lap not hooked up or anything. There is some thick goo everywhere on the inside so I don;t think that I can do much. Is it possible that its just something simple like a blown capacitor? Should I take it to an electronics guy or just replace it (if possible). Are all ballasts roughly the same? I have the Eaglite 5000K kit, but when I peeled the Eaglite sticker back, it is just an osram ballast.

[Mulder]

The goo is a potting compound used to prevent high voltage arcing between components and also to keep things from loosening from vibration. There really isn't much you can do with it. There is no circuit documentation available and it isn't practical or time-efficient to try and figure the circuitry out. Also the components used are proprietary and/or high-grade type rather than off-the-shelf stuff that you can replace. I'm well-versed in electronics but I didn't waste much time with my ballast when it got flaky, beyond opening it up and looking for obvious mechanical issues like bad solder joints, broken PC board etc. Unfortunately it wasn't that simple so I just replaced it.
Chances are any ballast should work as long as the electrical connectors match the one you have, particularly the output to the bulb.

[grundig5]

Thanks a lot Mulder, you have been extremely helpful. I emailed a few ebay vendors about my ballast. Luckily its a popular Osram and I saw a kit on ebay that uses the exact ballast I have. It had a close up of it and had the part number and everything. Hopefully, the bulb output will be the same. Thanks again!

[Mulder]

Ok, good luck. Hope you get it working for not too much more $$.