HID Ballast Unit needs replacing (Yellow Bulb) - Help!

[IanH755]

Hi all, I noticed my drivers side headlight was looking very yellow (almost like a French one) and I took the D2S bulb out and the glass "bowl" looked cloudy so I bought a new one with the same 4300K rating only this one also looked very yellow. After a quick grump I swapped the drivers side bulb for the white looking passenger side bulb which then also looked yellow with the original drivers yellow one now looking white again on the passenger side which confirmed it's the ballast unit not the bulbs.

Then became the long saga of finding a replacement but I noticed that the parts diagram shows that the rear light cover comes as part of a new ballast unit from a Stealer so does this mean I can't use a generic ballast ("have" to buy an Audi one) or can the cover be removed/refitted to a new generic ballast?

I'll be taking the headlight out tomorrow to have a butchers at the OEM ballast but any help for someone whose had to replace theirs would be gratefully received!

Cheers....................................................Ian

PS. I'll also be changing the temperature of the bulbs to 5000K for a slightly whiter look too (6k is a bit too blue and 4.3K too yellow for me).

[IanH755]

Well couldn't get the headlight out, the small plastic clip next to the Rad just wouldn't pop out so I went down to Oxford Stealers, just for a giggle, and they came back with £429 just for the part!

I'll be looking at 2 from a scrappys unless someone knows of anyone selling new ones!

[IanH755]

Balls, the ballast has failed completely now

[chunky79]

That's dump. Are there any breaking on fleebay?

[IanH755]

This is getting annoying now. I changed the bulbs over to the 5000K ones and the yellow side failed to fire up (see above post) so I've just been out again and did nothing but wiggled the loom about at the ballast end and everything works again - Bright white light on both sides with no yellow

I took it for a road test and made sure I hit a few bumps etc and everything still works so I've cycled the lights about 20 times and it's still OK. I'm guessing there's a dodgy connection at the ballast end thats been temporarily cured but we'll see how long it lasts!

The 5000K bulbs are spot on too BTW but the rear passenger interior lights started playing up I noticed (working then all failing). Pressing the plug home seems to cure it temporarily but thats not a permanent solution.

[IanH755]

More lighting woes

After replacing both ballasts with 2nd hand eBay ones both are now failing to light randomly regardless of the bulbs fitted. I thought maybe I had a dodgy set of bulbs and fitted the originals to test but it's still the same. It's 50/50 whether they work on either side and it usually requires you switching the lights on and off upto 10 times before they spark up. Once on they are fine it's just that initial switch on thats an issue. I've now bought 2 new OEM ballasts and hope that this is the end of it!

I've also bought 2 new Philips xTreme Vision bulbs as the cheap 5000K Chinese bulbs that I tried look great but weren't that bright/powerful and the Philips are extremely highly rated.

Long story short - Bought cheap, ended up buying again.

[IanH755]

Fitted the new Ballasts and the problem has gone away but the new Philips bulbs (supposedly 4800K) are very yellow, almost the same as 4300K OEM bulbs, so I've put the cheap Chinese 5000K ones back in for the time being.

As a bonus I found that if you brake REALLY hard you can snap off one of your LED sidelights! So the drivers side light will have to come out and be taken apart to get the remains of the sidelight out, will this never end!!!

[amanda1]

Ian have you got standard lights or have you upgraded to LEDs?

[IanH755]

Standard Audi light unit with silvertek indicator bulbs (silver bulb not orange), white LED sidelights, 5000K Chinese Xenon bulbs and standard main beam bulbs.

[saulcupra]

How much did you pay for the ballast Ian?

My headlight went off randomly and threw the warning light. Turned them of and on again and it came back on???

[IanH755]

£80 from this eBay advert - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400683371909 - Arrived very quickly and looked brand new. They're not 100% the same as OEM as the plug has the cable coming straight out inside of at a slight angle, but they fit and work perfectly.

You *can* replace them without taking the bumper off but there's a knack to doing it which is easier to show than describe so I may do a quick video later/tomorrow.

[IanH755]

Well this is just <beep> annoying - The right headlight *YET AGAIN* is having major problems. It only switches on 50% of the time and has a distinct 1sec delay if it does come on compared to the left one and if it does switch on and you switch to sidelight and then back again it fails 100% of the time unless you drive on sidelight only for at least 20-30 seconds first.

Lefty is still fine although both are still yellow with a Philips 4800K bulb fitted and dim with the white 5000K chinese bulbs.

At this point I just want to bin them completely and buy a new set from somewhere that do work and aren't *tarnished* around the edges requiring T-Cutting every 5 minutes like mine as I could do without the constant faffing around I have to do whilst driving! Anyone know where to buy a set?

PS Has anyone got any wiring diagrams for the headlights, I fancy checking the wiring looms incase I've got an issue in the loom somewhere.

[steely66]

I've got a headlight for sale if interested, lens is knackered and one of the tabs is bust (why I changed it) but the ballast etc are all intact and were working. If you want it let me know. From a 53' RS6 Avant