1994 Nissan 300zx HID problems. PLEASE HELP!!

[jonnybmdub3]

Ok, So I've had Xentac 32w 10,000K HID's in my car for about a year now. With no problems. The other day one of the bulbs went out. So to determine whether it was the bulb or the ballast, I took the bulb from the side that was not working and plugged into the ballast that was working and it did not turn on. Then I did the same thing vice-versa. So, It seemed as if the bulb was just blown. So, I ordered new bulbs. But this time 6000K. I plugged them in, and they came on fine. Later that night, I turn the car on and turn the lights on and the fuse blew making the high beams come on. I looked under the steering column and replaced the fuse that was blown. Turned on the lights and everything was fine. An hour later I turn the car on and go to turn the lights on and get NOTHING. No low, or high beams on...NOTHING. Then I notice that my brake light is on. I went andf looked at the trunk and my third brake light stays on! Dim, but on! And everytime I hit the brake pedal (even when I have the lights off) my gauge cluster, pod, and parking lights come on. So I popped the hood and saw that the fuses for both LOW beams were blown. So I put new fuses in, and took the HID's out, and put the stock bulbs in. So, all the lights work, but the third brake light stays on and the other lights come on when I hit the brakes. I'm trying to figure out how I can keep the HID lights on without blowing the fuses! It never did this before! All of a sudden now that I changed the bulbs I'm having problems. A faulty ballast maybe!? Please HELP. It's driving me NUTS. Thanks.

[Ace2cool]

I moved your other thread, since it was

1. Posted in the wrong section, and
2. a post asking the exact same thing as this. I don't care if you really, really want it fixed, forum rules are forum rules. Keep it to one post per topic.

NOW, as far as your problem, your ballasts may have given out and failed in a way that it bridged a circuit improperly and killed something. If you have a friend nearby with a Z32, try swapping your brake light relay with him, and see if that fixes the problem. I've seen it before where someone swapped to LED tails and a very similar thing happened with the gauge cluster due to the circuit being incorrectly routed through the bulb. Same thing could apply with the brake light relay. If it's burnt out, it could cause some very odd symptoms.

[jonnybmdub3]

Thanks for your help Ace. I'm new to the nico forums. It's the very first post I put up. I didn't realize that posting twice was inconsiderate. My apology. My brother has a 90' Z. I'll pull the relay tmmrw and see what happens. Thanks again. If anyone else has any other advice let me know.

[Ace2cool]

Just so you know, it's in the hatch, under the rear driver's side interior panel. It's going to be either white or green, and have a wiring harness coming off of one side of it.

And no worries about the double post. I was just letting you know why I moved the other thread.

[jonnybmdub3]

So, my brothers brake light censor broke on em a month ago. And he went to take mine out to swap them (before it potentially broke) and said that there was no brake light censor there. His is green. I asked him if there was a white one and he said no. Maybe 94's don't have them in the back? I heard that there was some sort of censor/switch behind the brake pedal that I should check out. I looked, and didn't see anything there. Anything you know that I don't know? Thanks for your help Ace.

[Ace2cool]

My '94 has one. Every Z32 has one. I've seen it once or twice where it was white, but most of the time it's green.

The brake pedal switch will only be suspect if the brake lights aren't working or are ALL on constantly. If your brake relay has been removed, there may have been some sort of ghetto-rigged repair done on it that has shorted out. Tear into there and see if you can fin any wires just taped together or anything of the sort. Also check to see if the brake light relay just fell into the body panels by the tail lights. Sometimes they come unmounted from the rear hatch wall and can fall back into the interior paneling.

[jonnybmdub3]

Last night my tail lights finally went out. I replaced the the sensor and they work again. Which is great! But the problem still persists with the third brake light staying on and the other lights coming when I hit the brake. I know you don't think it's the switch. But now I'm running out of ideas.

[NolimitZ32]

Is the TBL ground switched or power switched? if its ground switched it could very well be a short to the ground somewhere. trace the TBL wires and make sure they are in good cond.

[Ace2cool]

^^Exactly. Check for resistance to ground (body) to make sure it's not shorting against the body somewhere along the line, creating an "always-on" condition.

[jonnybmdub3]

After I put in the new sensor. The very next day everything started working properly again. Third brake light is off and the light do not all come on when I hit the brake pedal. Thank you guys for all of your help!!

[NolimitZ32]

Glad to help (even though I don't think I gave any advise that helped with this particular situation).