# HID low beam won't work??



## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

I bought a set of OEM HIDs from a buddy, fixed up the housing (he got into a fender bender) and was putting them in today. The lights came with the adapters, I pluged them in and the low beams wouldn't work. The high beams and turn signals work fine but the low beams would not turn on. 
The lights have new bulbs in them, and now I'm lost on what could be the problem. They are the older style Bosch lights with the ballast only on the drivers side housing. Any ideas on what could be wrong? Could the ballast be bad? or am I missing someting on the wiriing...the car is a 2003 wolfsburg. Thanks in advance for any help!


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

Also, How hard would it be to hard wire them in?? My buddy that had them before I bought the lights, had them hard wired into the car and they worked perfectly.


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## BrunoVdub (Aug 19, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

well maybe I read your post wrong, but you need a ballast for each side to fire each headlight up. Uper than that double check your wiring, double check it again, and then if that fails you may have bogus ballasts. its not in the harness cause the highs and other lights are working, so either its something to do with the source power for the hid system or you got some bad ballasts in there. I know it sounds vague but unfortunatly this seems to be a 2 biggest reasons for why OEM hids do not work.
Also it is slightly possible that your wiring isnt delivering the correct amount of power to fre the HID, you may need to invest some money(not really expensive) into a relay wiring harness.best way to deliver power in a failsafe maner.
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (BrunoVdub)*

If I need one for each side, then why did VW use only one on the older style HIDs?








This whole plug and play thing that ECS is making it out to be is turning to be a pain in the ass.....heh. Hope Nater sees this post


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## BrunoVdub (Aug 19, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

well if your using 2 HID bulbs, one for each hedlight, and they are 35 watt bulbs. I just just see how they use one source to ignite both bulbs. 
Hey i could be wrong but....that just sounds weird.


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (BrunoVdub)*


_Quote, originally posted by *BrunoVdub* »_....that just sounds weird.









Yeah, Thats what I thought too


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

Anybody know how to hardwire them into the car???


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## dennisgli (May 17, 2003)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

Are you sure you aren't confusing the control unit with the ballast or something? There needs to be a ballast at each side.
Are you getting power to the low beam connection at the headlight?


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## EternalMind (Jun 8, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (dennisgli)*


_Quote, originally posted by *dennisgli* »_Are you sure you aren't confusing the control unit with the ballast or something? There needs to be a ballast at each side.
Are you getting power to the low beam connection at the headlight?


yep, the oem hid DEFINITELY requires 2 ballasts (one for each side). like dennis said, make sure you are getting power to the low beam connection at the headlight. also make sure your ground wires are connected.
to "hard wire" i assume you are talking about sourcing power directly from the battery. to do this, you run power from the battery through a relay and then to the ballasts. the relays are "switched" (turned on and off) by connecting them to the stock low beam conection (on the vehicle side).


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (EternalMind)*

I don't know anymore...I'll take some pictures of the headlights on Monday and post them up...I probably am confusing the ballast with the control unit. All I know is that the drivers side headlight has the metal box on the bottom of the housing and the passenger side doesn't...


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## BrunoVdub (Aug 19, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

yeah snapp some shots so we can visualize what your trying to describe.


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

Yea, the older style (before I got too involved in OEM HIDs by the way) have that one box on the one side. 
I believe it's some type of control unit like the others have said.
You may not have ballasts at all. They are hard to miss.
As the others have said, hard-wiring them in is not that bad. 
The reason for the two relays is just as a fail safe. If one flips out then you still have one lamp left to limp home with.


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: (nater)*

ok...got the pics in.
Right side bottom:








Left side bottom:








back of both:








Left:








Right:








And just for fun, lol:


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

Anybody know where I can find the instructions on hardwiring them in...I tried searching for them but can up empty handed


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## EternalMind (Jun 8, 2005)

*Re: (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

search for "relay" on here or on google.


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## BrunoVdub (Aug 19, 2005)

*Re: (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

heres how to wire up hid with a relay. Only thing you gotta figure out for yourself is how you want to attach the low beam to the relay. The low beam wire will be coming from the stock wiring harness so you will have to take it off the ballasts and wire to the relay and then wire the rest as shown in the picture. let me know if there is something that you dont understand and I will try and explain better.


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

looks like you are missing a ballast?


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## LA20 (Feb 18, 2005)

*Re: (nater)*

you need another ballast.


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: (nater)*


_Quote, originally posted by *nater* »_looks like you are missing a ballast?

They never came with a second one! My buddy had these running like that (with just one). People have been telling me that they are the older style where they only run one?!?! I saw these lights running on his car before!
And BrunoVdub, that pic helps! Thank you so much! Thank you everyone that has helped! If you have anyother suggestions, please post them...anything will help! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## BrunoVdub (Aug 19, 2005)

*Re: (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*








http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## dennisgli (May 17, 2003)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

I'm not really familiar with these headlights - but I thought that four pin connector on the back was for the ballast?
If you open them up can you see where the wire from the HID bulb goes?


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## randallhb (Sep 17, 2002)

*Re: (LA20)*


_Quote, originally posted by *LA20* »_you need another ballast.

But at least one of them should work !
Can you post the part number from the housings?


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## StickiestOfTheIckiest (Jul 25, 2005)

*Re: (randallhb)*

The right one is:
1J5 941 016 AM
and the left one is:
1J5 941 015 AM


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## LuvnR32 (Jan 29, 2005)

*Re: (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

i was just wondering what did you end up doing .. i have an identical issue but on a Golf .. please check my post and let me know. I'm going in circles .. thanks in advance .. 
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2529030


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## A2B4guy (Dec 19, 2002)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (dennisgli)*


_Quote, originally posted by *dennisgli* »_I'm not really familiar with these headlights - but I thought that four pin connector on the back was for the ballast?


OK, I did a little ETKA research on this subject. I looked up the lights for a 01 Bora, 04 Bora, 01 Golf and 04 Golf. Both of the Bora diagrams were the same drawing, and both of the Golf diagrams were the same drawing. However, the parts called out were not necessarily the same for 01 and 04, reflecting the old/new style differences. 
First the 01 Bora page. Part #2 (the metal box on one side only) is not a ballast. It is the controller for the automatic leveling system that comes with oem HID's. This will not work for you unless you make major mods to install the entire system. 
Notice parts 9 and 11 at the bottom. This is the ballast and the cable that connects it to the 4-pin connector. These parts do exist on both sides for the old style light. You apparently did not get these parts and they are still on the car I'll bet. Part #10 is the igniter and bulb socket. 









Now the 01 Golf page. The same ballast and cable at the bottom on each side of the car. Note that the leveling control box is mounted on the back of the light, like on LuvnR32's pics. #3 is the igniter and bulb socket, though it is not called out in the list. 









Now for the 04's. In both cases, when I switch the year to 04, the ballast and cable come up "part # unknown", which usually means that the part shown is not used in this application. There is no indication of any ballast in the diagram for the 04 lights. If there is one, it was either left out or is somewhere else in ETKA.


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## BrunoVdub (Aug 19, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (A2B4guy)*

awesome. thanks for that! weird but I guess it all makes a little more sense now. the ballast that was thought to be missing isnt necessarily true then. But were the ballasts in each light located inside or outside the headlight? I was always led to believe that they were located on the outisde as they arnt very tiny and wouldnt fit to well inside the heousing. Is this true or am I still lost in the sauce?
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif







for you!


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## LuvnR32 (Jan 29, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (A2B4guy)*

Thank you very much .. any instructions or pics on where and how to install the remote ballasts ??
do the audi ballasts (TT) ballasts match the Golf setup ? thanks again







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by LuvnR32 at 10:55 PM 3-31-2006_


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## dennisgli (May 17, 2003)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (A2B4guy)*

Thanks Jeff! The reason I thought that the ballast was external is that there was someone here a while ago that had these lights. He posted pictures and it looked like somebody had spiced the low beam wires from the twelve pin connector directly to the igniters inside the headlight - basically bypassing the four pin connector. And he was wondering why they didn't work! I wonder where VW mounts the ballast on these cars.


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## A2B4guy (Dec 19, 2002)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (dennisgli)*

Part # 6 in the top pic and 7 in the bottom pic is called a holder for the ballast. It looks like a cover. Don't have any idea where it's located, but the length of the cable suggests that it is more than a couple inches away. Maybe they sit on the frame rail? On the 01 lights the ballasts are obviously external. As I said above, there is no mention or clue about ballasts for late style units.


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## A2B4guy (Dec 19, 2002)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (StickiestOfTheIckiest)*

I just happened upon a FS post that has good pictures of the parts you are missing. The ballast, cable, and metal cover are shown clearly here.


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## Flipflops365 (Jun 30, 2005)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (A2B4guy)*









Here's a pic. Now where in the world do these things mount? Any clue?


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## A2B4guy (Dec 19, 2002)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (wsutiger79)*

The Etka diagram above makes it look like along the frame rail, they are upside down in your pic. The ballasts hide under those covers.


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## Roger Moore (Feb 20, 2000)

*Re: HID low beam won't work?? (A2B4guy)*









As you all may know I have had a set of these on my GTI for about 6 years, no failures, no issues. One city light was replaced about 4 years ago.
*Here are some pictures where the Ballast Brackets attach under the wheel well liners.*
















*One option is to install an after market Ballast kit like this Phillips kit.*


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