Auto lights and HID Kit

[GTI_UK]

Am considering an aftermarket set of headlights which use regular xenon kits so thought id try the kit to see if it works ok and make sure there are no flickering issues.

I'm also using a set of Canbus warning cancellers. The lights seem to work fine and the headlights come on when I unlock the car. However if the light switch is on the auto lights setting and I turn on the engine the lights go off and only one comes back on again with other causing a bulb out warning. In order to correct this I need to switch the lights off and back on again- in which case both lights come on and stay on.

The lights don't seem to flicker once on but I really like the auto lights feature so would like this to work as intended.

Has anyone else (most likely with a HID kit or a non OEM setup) experienced this? Any thoughts or ways round this or is it something I'll have to live with if I go down the non OEM route?

[xjscx]

I had this problem with my hid kit. My battery died a week or so after mine started doing it. I put a new battery in and it's been fine.

Your batteries on its way out, not enough power to keep the lights on while cranking the car.

[GTI_UK]

Did yours do this at all before fitting the kit? I didn't think HID kits took up any more power than the halogen bulbs?

[xjscx]

No mine it didn't do it straight after fitting the kit. 

Hid's don't use anymore power but need a constant stable supply to the ballast. When your cranking the power is dropping so the light goes out, it was probably happening before with the halogens but they would have just dimmed instead of going out.

I'm pretty sure it's your battery.

Check the voltage with a multimeter when cranking with the lights on or connect some jump leads up to another car and see if it still dose it

[GTI_UK]

Ok thanks. I’ll have a check of this when I get a chance and update the thread for reference

[john87]

I'd be very surprised if changing your battery would solve this. Cars that come from the factory with HIDs will 'cut' the lighting circuit via a relay when you are cranking the engine.

As your golf came with halogens as standard, this cutoff circuit was not fitted, therefore when you crank the engine, the majority of the battery's available power is supplied to the starter motor...which causes your HID kit ballast to switch off (because of the low voltage) and is a common feature of HID ballasts. The best solution is to simply turn your lights off before you fire her up