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I'm sure this has been on the forum but can't find it so here ya go......
I have a 2005 C6 heavily modified and running great!!! 820 HP of pure fun.....BUT my left low beam has gone out!!! Sounds simple huh??? Well it ain't!!! I replaced the HID bulb assembly with no luck! I have factory manuals and for some reason the low beam connectors are nothing like what's in the manual. My car uses HID Bulbs for Low beams. The connector has 4 small connections with a grounded (Braided) cable. Since I'm using HID bulbs the ballast is in the bulb itself so I believe the connector should be feeding 12 V.....it ain't!! I do not know if my car has anything between the bulb and the relay other than a cable but am having a terrible time trying to trace it. I see on line some C6's have a controller buried up under the bumper but I don't think I have one. (Am I wrong?) It shouldn't be anything more than the fuse, the relay, the cable, and finally the HID bulb but i'll be darned if I can verify that anywhere.
Any chance one of you experts can give me some pointers on how to handle this.....don't say a dealer!!! 2005 did have a recall on headlights but from what I am reading it would be BOTH low beams from an expansion problem at the relay. I replaced the relay for fun but still only have one lighting. I do not believe the relay controls the lights separately (Like they are fused) so since I have one lit I say the relay is fine. My symptom of ONE being out is not what the recall was for so I'M STUCK!!!
There wasn't much to take pictures of but if any are needed just ask.
I'm sure this has been on the forum but can't find it so here ya go......
I have a 2005 C6 heavily modified and running great!!! 820 HP of pure fun.....BUT my left low beam has gone out!!! Sounds simple huh??? Well it ain't!!! I replaced the HID bulb assembly with no luck! I have factory manuals and for some reason the low beam connectors are nothing like what's in the manual. My car uses HID Bulbs for Low beams. The connector has 4 small connections with a grounded (Braided) cable. Since I'm using HID bulbs the ballast is in the bulb itself so I believe the connector should be feeding 12 V.....it ain't!! I do not know if my car has anything between the bulb and the relay other than a cable but am having a terrible time trying to trace it. I see on line some C6's have a controller buried up under the bumper but I don't think I have one. (Am I wrong?) It shouldn't be anything more than the fuse, the relay, the cable, and finally the HID bulb but i'll be darned if I can verify that anywhere.
Any chance one of you experts can give me some pointers on how to handle this.....don't say a dealer!!! 2005 did have a recall on headlights but from what I am reading it would be BOTH low beams from an expansion problem at the relay. I replaced the relay for fun but still only have one lighting. I do not believe the relay controls the lights separately (Like they are fused) so since I have one lit I say the relay is fine. My symptom of ONE being out is not what the recall was for so I'M STUCK!!!
There wasn't much to take pictures of but if any are needed just ask.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
I'd still look at the recall. Even though they have seen it happen with both headlights 95% of the time doesn't mean that there aren't some anomalies. I've had my 05 for 15 years. Most of the issues I have dealt with are the same one's that others have dealt with but there have been some things here and there that are the 5%.
If there's no record of your '05 having the recall work done, I would do that first, even though as you note, the fault should appear in both low beams. The GM recall is N130146, dated 5/15/14.....the fault is caused by a break in one of the circuit wires in the under hood fuse box due to excessive expansion & contraction from engine heating/cooling. The repair is to add a jumper wire to the backside of the circuit board.....no cost to owner. This may not be the ultimate solution to your problem but would at least eliminate one possible cause.
Went in and asked and found that the original owner already did the recall. That's that!!! Still cannot find where the darn cable tracks thru the car. I need to check between the relay and the light. Thanks for the suggestion tho!!
I think your are right. I answered another fellow about recall.....already done so they won't "redo" it!! I must admit I have done everything from brakes to cams on corvettes but NEVER the underhood fuse panel. I have no idea how to get to the underside which would give me the chance to check continuity between the relay and the light. Guess I'm headed to Google for a DIY video.
Thanks muchly for your reply. Corvette Forum has been a great place to participate in.
The blast is not in the bulb. It is on the bottom of the headlight housing. If you remove the closeout panels you will find the connector, it has the lo beam, hi beam and marker/turn signal circuits in it.
A lot of people confuse HID INCORPORATED bulbs and standard HID bulbs. Not sure when they chnged these....they were OEM for my car as far as I know.
The INCORPORATED bulbs have the ballast ATTACHED TO BULB. It is nice because you aren't working with high voltage as in the regular type that has the cable WITH high voltage between the remote ballast and the bulb.
This is an HID with REMOTE ballast This is the HID with remote ballast harness This is an HID bulb WITH ballast Ballast marking on back of HID bulb ballast.
Problem I have is I can't find a circuit diagram for INCORPORATED bulbs. This is the plug I don't know whats ground and what's hot etc.
I can see the cable is braided so that should be grounded....DUHHHH but what about the four connections.....there must be a ground there also. Have poked around with my meter and can't find any power. Should be 12 volts somewhere????
Anyone with some help would be forever remembered in my will!!!
That connector will have an AC voltage on it from the module that is on the bottom of the headlight housing. There will not be 12V on it. The module on the bulb itself takes that AC voltage and steps it up through a kind of flyback transformer to 1kV+ to fire the bulb.
I was afraid I was wrong!!!! To get to the module would that be under the covering in front of the wheel? Hope so....doesn't look too hard to get to. That will give me another spot to check!!!!
Originally Posted by SilverC54me
That is a D1S bulb which still has a High Voltage input.
The following photo is the module that provides the High Voltage to the D1S bulb.
most cars you have to remove the headlamp assembly to get to the module, never did a c6 though so not sure, it def is under the light but maybe you can snake your way to the connector. anything feeding out of the connector is some crazy AC voltage so be careful.
You will have to open the close out panels under the head light to get to it.
I would just go get another D1S bulb and replace the existing one. From what I have read here over the years the bulb is the most likely culprit.
If this was one of the cheep aftermarket HID kits I would say replace the ballast.
There's no power at that connector probably because your ballast (the silver box thing shown in the picture in post #8) is not working for one reason or another. The box on the back of a D1 HID bulb is not a ballast. When working on HIDs, keep in mind that they use high voltage, up to 30,000v at startup and 80 - 100v continuous use.
Check to make sure the ballast on the bad side is getting 12v. If not, check the usual stuff - fuse, relay, connectors, fuse box, switch, etc. If it is, swap it with the ballast from the good side and see what happens.
I turn 73 on the 8th.....does that mean I'll get even dumber????
You are right....so why the large can on the bulb. I've always thought that was ballast!!!! Guess not!
My car doesn't have the easy access but I found it!!!! Its an Osram 35XT-D1/12V. The interesting thing I see is the input is normal at 13.5VDC but output says 85 V RMS. I thought output on these things was in the thousands???could it be the backend of the bulb takes it the rest of the way up??? Just askin for a friend
QUOTE=SilverC54me;1602550920]That is a D1S bulb which still has a High Voltage input.
The following photo is the module that provides the High Voltage to the D1S bulb.
Well .....checked voltage and have 12 at the plug for the ballast. Was wondering ....is there a way to check a ballast before replacing??? Other than plugging it in and putting a bulb on it?? As I said before.....73 yeras dumb!!!
One other thing.....Loks like this thing costs $60-80 bucks in most of the places on ebay. One was $179.....are all of them knockoffs.....they all say new Osram so which would you buy??
Well .....checked voltage and have 12 at the plug for the ballast. Was wondering ....is there a way to check a ballast before replacing??? Other than plugging it in and putting a bulb on it?? As I said before.....73 yeras dumb!!!
at work we swap sides and see, def labor intensive.
I turn 73 on the 8th.....does that mean I'll get even dumber????
You are right....so why the large can on the bulb. I've always thought that was ballast!!!! Guess not!
My car doesn't have the easy access but I found it!!!! Its an Osram 35XT-D1/12V. The interesting thing I see is the input is normal at 13.5VDC but output says 85 V RMS. I thought output on these things was in the thousands???could it be the backend of the bulb takes it the rest of the way up??? Just askin for a friend
QUOTE=SilverC54me;1602550920]That is a D1S bulb which still has a High Voltage input.
The following photo is the module that provides the High Voltage to the D1S bulb.
Head light problem.....FRUSTRATING!!
