HID headlights drained battery...whats the deal??

[Casutherland42]

HID headlights already drained my battery. I literally installed them 2 days ago. Also, when I jumped the car, the left headlight went out...

[Towncivilian]

Do the HID ballasts have some "fast ignite" feature or something to that effect which draws power to help get the HIDs to optimal brightness quicker? If so, there may be a parasitic draw on the battery when the engine is not running.

[Casutherland42]

Not that I'm aware of. The ballasts just plug into the headlight and then into the three program headlight connector. It actually takes the headlights a bit to warm up and get to maximum brightness. This last time I turned on the headlights when I jumped the car, the left headlight wouldn't come on. So now its raining and I'm not sure if the headlight burnt out or is loose. Its becoming very frustrating.

[Towncivilian]

I really don't know too much about aftermarket HID kits. I would double check your wiring to ensure that you didn't mix up a battery and ignition sourced power wire, that would certainly cause a drain on the battery.

[Casutherland42]

I literally plugged the HID kits directly into the original headlight three prong connector. Just went and bought a battery from batteries plus. I will let you guys know if it drains too..

[Camelfilter]

I suspect something is off with the wiring setup.

Although not Headlights, my HID foglights have been in use now about a year. I run them whenever I drive the Pathfinder (day or night), I haven't had to charge up my battery yet.

[Casutherland42]

Well, replaced the battery, and the driver's side headlight went out. Found out it was the fuse, so i took it down to the dealership and asked them some question about it. The mechanic told me that it was getting so hot that it was melting my wiring harness. He said if I left it on there much longer, they would most likely have to replace the entire harness and that would cost quite a bit.

So I sent the HID kit back in the mail today -_-...its frustrating because I loved the brightness that they put out

However, I went today and purchased some Sylvania Silverstar ZXE halogen headlights. (supposedly as bright as HID's, but they truly do not compare)

Any thoughts guys??

[Towncivilian]

Any bulbs with blue coating on the exterior may seem brighter, but they actually put out less usable light. I would return those and purchase a set of normal non-tinted bulbs. I found that the cheapest Sylvania bulbs from Walmart are a small upgrade over OEM bulbs. I'd think that having clear, non-cloudy headlights would yield a more noticeable difference.

[Casutherland42]

I've read online that these are supposedly the best out there. Also, people say that the Philips xtreme power are good too.