Firm
Member
So, our 06 Escalade has (had) the factory HID headlamp setup. Factory harness plugs into the ballasts behind the grill, which outputs to the stock D1R bulbs.
Back in August I replaced the headlight housings with new OE units because the originals were yellowed, and one had a small crack. Transferred everything over, no problems.
Then in October I had one of the OE bulbs go out. I ordered two new D1R (4300K) bulbs from a reputable online lighting specialist and installed them. No immediate problems.
In November the passenger's side light went out again. I took it apart (again) and diagnosed as a bad ballast. I ordered a Dorman replacement ballast, which didn't work, so I returned that and bought an OE ballast (~$500) and installed it.
That worked for about a month, and then it went out again. Some more diagnostics determined that the ballast was bad again. I ordered another new OE ballast (no warranty on electronic bit apparently!) and installed it again. 3 weeks later it went out again!
Not wanting to piss away another $500, I brought the truck to my mechanic, on the way there, the driver's side headlight also went out! The mechanic voltage tested the circuit (it tested fine) and replaced both ballasts with an aftermarket D1R kit, and powered the kit using the factory harness.
That brings us up to last week, when the drivers side went out again! I took it directly back to the mechanic who diagnosed as another bad ballast. Of course, no warranty on these aftermarket units either. We both agree now that there is likely some intermittent voltage spike (or drops) in the circuit that is frying the ballasts.
We're currently waiting on some parts; but the plan is to run an aftermarket HID relay harness to draw power direct from the battery to power the ballasts, using the factory harness for "switch" power only. The hope is that doing so will prevent whatever voltage irregularities are happening in the stock circuit from damaging the new ballasts.
At this point I've spent about $1500 on headlight parts/labor just since November (excluding the new bulbs and housings), and I am probably looking at about $2000 by the time the above parts are sourced and installed. Really, really annoying. The rest of the truck is in great shape, so I don't want to give up on it, but I might be forced to if this headlight thing can't be solved
Anyone ever heard of anything similar on these trucks? I've done a ton of research and while shit like this is kinda common in the world of aftermarket retrofit HIDs, I've never heard of anyone with issues like this on a factory system.
Back in August I replaced the headlight housings with new OE units because the originals were yellowed, and one had a small crack. Transferred everything over, no problems.
Then in October I had one of the OE bulbs go out. I ordered two new D1R (4300K) bulbs from a reputable online lighting specialist and installed them. No immediate problems.
In November the passenger's side light went out again. I took it apart (again) and diagnosed as a bad ballast. I ordered a Dorman replacement ballast, which didn't work, so I returned that and bought an OE ballast (~$500) and installed it.
That worked for about a month, and then it went out again. Some more diagnostics determined that the ballast was bad again. I ordered another new OE ballast (no warranty on electronic bit apparently!) and installed it again. 3 weeks later it went out again!
Not wanting to piss away another $500, I brought the truck to my mechanic, on the way there, the driver's side headlight also went out! The mechanic voltage tested the circuit (it tested fine) and replaced both ballasts with an aftermarket D1R kit, and powered the kit using the factory harness.
That brings us up to last week, when the drivers side went out again! I took it directly back to the mechanic who diagnosed as another bad ballast. Of course, no warranty on these aftermarket units either. We both agree now that there is likely some intermittent voltage spike (or drops) in the circuit that is frying the ballasts.
We're currently waiting on some parts; but the plan is to run an aftermarket HID relay harness to draw power direct from the battery to power the ballasts, using the factory harness for "switch" power only. The hope is that doing so will prevent whatever voltage irregularities are happening in the stock circuit from damaging the new ballasts.
At this point I've spent about $1500 on headlight parts/labor just since November (excluding the new bulbs and housings), and I am probably looking at about $2000 by the time the above parts are sourced and installed. Really, really annoying. The rest of the truck is in great shape, so I don't want to give up on it, but I might be forced to if this headlight thing can't be solved
Anyone ever heard of anything similar on these trucks? I've done a ton of research and while shit like this is kinda common in the world of aftermarket retrofit HIDs, I've never heard of anyone with issues like this on a factory system.
