[tommyz23]

Auto OEM HID headlights dim down during engine starting. Cause Damage?

Has anyone else thought the following may not be good for our OEM HID headlights?

My auto headlights come on at the same time the car is starting. This cause them to dim down while the starter is turning the engine over.

I'm thinking this can't be good for the ballasts or bulbs. Does anyone know the long term effect this may have on a HID system.

Again, This is how it works from the factory.

I had thought about putting a time delay relay in, but the relay in the car is slightly smaller than a standard automotive relay.

 

[DrLove]

Since the HID operate between 9V to 16V I would not care about a voltage drop.. AT first it burn at thousands of Volts, then it draw 80 volts,few amps. On my aftermarket HID I never saw the HID dimming when I start the engine..and u? With halogen u see the headlights become dim then goes more powerfull then before... 12.5V when u turn the key, about 9V when u start the engine..and 13.5V when the engine is running... with HID, the ballast take the X volts input and do what it needs to light up.

 

[Mz6GreyGhost]

That's exactly the reason why I turn the headlights on and off myself. I park in the garage at night, and I really don't want them going on and off, whether or not I start the car, or when I back out into daylight about two seconds after I start the car.

 

[tommyz23]

That's exactly the reason why I turn the headlights on and off myself. I park in the garage at night, and I really don't want them going on and off, whether or not I start the car, or when I back out into daylight about two seconds after I start the car.

That defeats the whole purpose of the Auto headlights.

I don't have a problem in the garage, because I back in so the front of the car is by the open door.

I may research a little further to see if someone makes the proper size delay relay.

 

[Mz6GreyGhost]

That defeats the whole purpose of the Auto headlights.

...which is fine with me. I've never been a fan of 'em, since my Grand Am had them and seemed to turn on every time I went under a bridge or parked under a cloud.

Also, I wouldn't flash the high-beams anymore either, since Mazda insists on having the headlights go on, HIDs or not... Between that, and the fog lights only working when the headlights are on, :wtf:

 

[tcc]

I have to agree with everything greyghost has said. I like to be able to turn on the lights whenever I want to. I'll use the auto feature like it's the ON switch. When I feel like it's dark enuff I switch it.
Having the HIDs on and in auto when starting your car when it's "dark" puts a bit of stress on the bulb and ballasts and reduces the longevity of the components.

Yah, and wtf is it with only having the fogs on when the headlights are on???

 

[StlMazda6]

For some reason, fog lights are wired that way on a lot of cars. On my old 95 Avenger Es it was like that. There was a mod where you could make the fogs come on with the parking lights, it was quite easy to do. I am sure you can do something similar with the 6.

 

[tommyz23]

...which is fine with me. I've never been a fan of 'em, since my Grand Am had them and seemed to turn on every time I went under a bridge or parked under a cloud.

Also, I wouldn't flash the high-beams anymore either, since Mazda insists on having the headlights go on, HIDs or not... Between that, and the fog lights only working when the headlights are on, :wtf:

1. I haven't had the same issue as your Grand Am, probably because the delay is 30 seconds of darkness.

2. I didn't know about the low-beams coming on with flash-to-pass. That's a new one. I wonder why they did it that way.

3. Nearly every car I've seen or read about needs to be modified to get the fogs to come on without using the headlights.

I will have to look into number 2. That can't be good for HIDs using the flash to pass. Besides, I can't remember the last time I used the flash to pass due to the fact most of my driving is in the city/suburbs.

 

[Mz6GreyGhost]

2. I didn't know about the low-beams coming on with flash-to-pass. That's a new one. I wonder why they did it that way.

It doesn't make any sense to me, since you'd think they would know that it shortens the HIDs life.

MY '04 was the same way.

3. Nearly every car I've seen or read about needs to be modified to get the fogs to come on without using the headlights.

That's odd, since every GM and Ford car I've seen or driven allows the fogs to be operated independently of the headlights, as long as the parking lights are on. The Fusion Sport I test-drove was that way.

I'd love to mod them to work independently as well, but until there's a specific DIY for the 2nd-gen, I don't want to be the guinea pig for this one.

 

[LukeG12]

My old Pontiac GA had this loophole of the lights going off when the e-brake was pulled, thus I could just flip on the fogs with the parking lights.

And i believe there is a write up on here somewhere about how to hook up the fogs to the parking lights.

 

[tcc]

So are you guys saying that when you flash-to-pass the HIDs flash or the DRLs flash?

What about high-beams?

 

[tommyz23]

So are you guys saying that when you flash-to-pass the HIDs flash or the DRLs flash?

What about high-beams?

When the headlights are off both the Low Beam (HID) and High Beam lights flash!

I tried it this morning before turning on my headlights and it's a crazy thing.

 

[tcc]

Wow, that's screwed up.

You would think that auto engineers would know that flicking HIDs on/off is not good.

 

[tommyz23]

Wow, that's screwed up.

You would think that auto engineers would know that flicking HIDs on/off is not good.

There seems to be a few design problems that should have never left the engineering department.

I'm always thinking I wish Ford still had a good stake in Mazda. I think our cars would have been tested a little more thourghly with Ford in place. Also, we probably would have that cool Sync in our cars!

 

[tommyz23]

If someone can find some solid information that states this is really a problem for the HID system, I may try to put a fix in place with a relay.

I'm wondering if it really is a problem. It sounds like this is no different than the way the 1st gen 6 worked. Maybe the ballasts didn't go out, but the bulb life maybe shortened.

So, Does anyone have any real research and testing or is it just speculation that flashing HID is a problem?