Slider-01

I have a 2010 3LT and had a strange thing happen tonight with my headlights.
On the way home from a club dine-out I had to stop by a store. Got out of the car and when walking away (prior to the car locking) noticed that my drivers side driving light wasn't on. Figured a loose connection (it has the HID kit I got from a forum vendor). Just figured I would get into it in the morning and check the connection.

Went back out to the car, started it and drove; turned on the driving lights and both worked. Got home, pulled in the garage and got out to make sure; they were both on and now my right low beam was out! WTF is going on?
Turned the car off; turned on the headlights; both low beams work as do the driving lights.
Now, everything is working fine.
So, knowing that batteries can do some strange things (this is the original battery) I put a volt meter on the battery; with the car off, 12.8 volts; with the car running; 14.4.
I left the volt meter on it over night to see if it drops dramatically.
The car is always on a battery tender when stored.
Any ideas?

ddanis60

i had the same issues on my motorcycle with an aftermarket HID kit. i doubt its your battery. you might need to get the optional 30 dollar relay if you dont already have it to run inline with your HID wiring.

i hate to say it, but a lot of people have issues with aftermarket HID kits. same probs youre having. all this being said i ALSO have a 6000k set in my driving/fog lights. no problems yet prob the same kit if you also bought on the forum.

Slider-01

Hadn't thought about the relay; didn't want to get into that.
Those HID driving lights have been in there for several months and no problem that i know of. What is bizarre though is the right low beam thing. All is working now but sure puzzles me which is why the battery is the first thing I suspected just because of the strange stuff these cars do when the battery is weak.

ddanis60

yeah when there is low voltage in a lot of todays computer driven cars, things go nuts. especially our cars.

in my bike, sometimes an ignitor would fail to light.. or i think my ballast would overheat. when i would trouble shoot and swap certain things over from one side to the next: just the bulb, or just the ballast, or a combo of, to see what would light and what wouldn't, i really got nothing consistant. in the end, i was getting so pissed off at intermittent failed turn-on's, i just went back to stock. just try and monitor it.

hope someone else chimes in.

oh... and the relay is really easy to install. complete plug and play.

Slider-01

Thanks, good info. I took everything apart yesterday, cleaned the connectors and sealed the connectors with dielectric grease. All is working but you are right, I am going to monitor and if i get pi$$ed off enough it is back to stock.

LS WON

More often of whatever little modification done I find myself returning everything back to stock. Learned this a long time ago on another car.
WIth HID's systems I have heard that the ballast is usually the weak link or is prone to problems sooner or later due to vibration/heat.
So the good thing about these HID systems is they are bright but not sure how long they will be reliable or trouble free. But if it is easier to switch back to factory by removing ballast and I think it is then at least you can easily go back to stock unless there is some damaged caused by HID to system. Also relay too maybe needed.
fyi: Here is some useful info on HID systems and it may address the problem you are having:

http://retro-solutions.net/cmspage.php?page_id=12#10

Slider-01

I can tell you that going back to stock crossed my mind several times yesterday when I had it apart.
you are absolutely correct, what I do like with the HID driving lights is that they are bright and I feel I can actually use them. If I could find a brighter driving light replacement bulb then I would go back to stock and quit fooling around with the HID lights.
I suppose I'll see what happens and if they keep working; good. If they don't then...

LS WON

I have heard going with LED bulbs in the fogs are an option but probably won't be bright enough but there is no delay at start up to get to full power. From the info I read from above website it describes problems like yours and the solutions and one of them being a relay. They also suggested 35 watts on 9145 fog bulb which is what our cars use. The 55 watts ones are probably too hot for the housing in Corvette.
I have switched all my bulbs over to LED's. I may do the HID conversion on fogs soon but I had to read up on this and found out tons of info from these lighting webstites to know what problems may occur but at least you can still go back to factory.

http://autolumination.com/corvette.html

http://autolumination.com/page2.html

Slider-01

I found that Sylvania makes a Silverstar replacement bulb for the driving lights. That may be in my future.
What is puzzling though is that for a moment the other night, the right low beam went out; now is ok. I took those out and cleaned, etc. also. Those bulbs are replacement bulbs too that I bought from the same forum vendor. So; don't know if it was just a coincidence or affected some how by whatever was going on with the HID driving lights. Just seems weird.
Thanks for all the info; interesting and a bit enlightening reading.

Rob4092xx

Don't give up on your aftermarket HID kit. There is a very, very simple fix! Happens to most everyone who installs an aftermarket HID kit without a wiring harness.

HID lights take a lot of energy to fire up when you turn them on. The amperage is greater than the factory wires to the ballast can take so all you need to do is install a "HID Wire Harness."

Once the HID light is lit, the amount of amperage goes to almost zero. It is that first "punch" of amperage necessary to get them both lighted is what happens when one light won't come on. The car's factory electrical system frequently cannot light both lights at the same time....sometimes it can, sometimes it can't. Depends on how many accessory items (radio, a/c, etc.) you have going at the same time.

The harness connects directly from the battery to the ballast. The other side of the harness connects to the headlight wires coming from the car.

You can find these wiring harnesses on Ebay for about $10-$15. Just do a search for "HID Wiring Harness" and then find one that fits your bulb number.

Here is a step-by-step video how to install your wiring harness. It also better explains what I tried to explain above. Simple...very simple!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0aqlhf-NNY

The person you purchased your HID kit most lekely has them as well!

Guarantee this is your fix!

Slider-01

PERFECT!
This is just what I needed and it makes sense now that you talked about the amount of energy it takes to light the bulbs.
Thanks for the info....

LS WON

Do mean the replacement bulbs Silverstar by Sylvania? I believe they are halogen. I have had a pair in my closet now for over five years as the factory fogs have not burned out.

LS WON

should this wiring harness be installed regardless from the get go? A no brainer that one will eventually have this problem sooner or later with HID lights?

Rob4092xx

Great question!

I have installed probably 20 aftermarket HID kits in my cars over the past ten years including my two Rhinos and Rzr. Some worked without the wiring harness and others did not. To avoid the hassle I just install one with every kit I do nowadays. Many of the kits even come with the harnesses now!

LS WON

But now not all Corvette owners get this problem? They get by without a wiring harness? Or is it a common problem that eventually with HID lights on Corvettes just depends on luck?
Is going to a more expensive ballast system like ones made in Japan or USA as suggested in one of the above websites an option so one won't have this problem?

Knob Jockey

There may be a valid reason that HID ballasts and lamps from name brands like Phillips/Osram cost considerably more than generics.

$.02

Rob4092xx

When I began having this issue I thought it was the ballasts as well so I ordered a Phillips. I had the same problem. The Chinese kits seem to work every bit as good as the Phillips so I have stuck with the cheap Chinese kits and had zero issues with a wiring harness installed.

ddanis60

i wanted to bring this up, but i really didn't want to hate on the 70 dollar forum vendor ones, which i have and am happy with so far...

LS WON

But these more expensive ones are like $130+ do they still require a wiring harness?

Knob Jockey

I've never heard of a wiring harness that will increase the power supplied to the OEM ballast for the low beams.

When you change the OEM low beam to a 6000K lamp, for example, you're not putting any greater load on the OEM HID system.

HID fog light upgrades could require a relay in some applications but the Vette appears to have enough capacity to supply any typical HID ballast. If not, I think there would have been an outcry from all the modders.

Just an FYI, my 4+ year old Osram HID fog lights cost WAY more than $130. Probably not the best solution now with the abundant cheaper options available, but my research at the time didn't instill any confidence in the generic/unknown brands.

And at that time I didn't have the option of multiple Forum Vendors willing to stand behind their product. A major benefit to C6 owners now, IMO.