Hi all,

I'm having some issue on the ballast on my camry ACV40 HID ballast.
I've replaced the ballast on the projector headlamp 3 times, with new, OEM, used halfcut (confirmed to be working) ballast, as well as with 3 new OEM HID bulbs

Upon installation, it will work as fine but the light beam is not as bright compared to the other side of headlamp. I would blame it on the inside of the projector which reflects light beam to the front.

After 1 or 2 days of driving, the ballast failed again and the HID bulb totally won't light up. There's a low hum sound on the ballast if it is operating properly, but on the side which the ballast failed, there is no low humming sound which indicate the ballast didn't work.

Not sure if it's important, but the side that fails is on the left side (passenger side), the driver side HID headlight works properly without failing. Any idea what else could fail apart from the ballast and HID bulb? Been replacing them several times but it still spoilt

As a general rule of thumb, check the ground/-ve cable of your LH HID system. Get an experienced wireman to check that part.

Bring it to a wireman to check your wiring. Having 3 sets of ballast to fail prematurely shows something else is wrong.

Thanks for the reply. Would a plug & play LED bulb work to get rid of the ballast issue? The wireman I approached told me that they dare not touch the HID system due to the high voltage, I'm kinda speechless on that

acc shop should be able to help to check your wiring....

Stupid wireman. Then what about all those contractors fixing house wiring? Battery only supply 12V vs house wiring 110V/240V. Does he use his hand to feel the current? There is a method to check properly without being electrocuted.
Go find a better wireman.

This post has been edited by Balanced: Jul 21 2022, 10:57 AM

Yes... You can buy the suitable led bulbs and install yourself. Easy peasy job

With all those changed parts...

isn't cheaper to go back Toyota SC and get it fix...

Sorry not familiar with Toyota so dunno what how old is it...

Do you have any suggestions on the suitable led bulb? As I see in shopee that all the led bulbs are H1, H4 H7,H11 etc. But the HID system is D4s, so not sure which one to go for plug & play.

The ballast is dead so would like to bypass it totally instead of replacing a new ballast again

i'm on D4S and i done my HID > LED bulb conversion.

look up for my previous posts.

I would second that....

Check out 2Pcs Car Light D1S D4S D2S LED Canbus Headlight D3S D1R D2R D3R D4R D5S D8S D2H Bulb 70W 32000LM Kit to Replace HID Conversion Lamps at 15% off! RM221.00 only. Get it on Shopee now! https://shopee.com.my/product/147967516/807...33-1658454341.9

Been using this more than 2 yrs.

[Saw both of your reply in the other thread. However my concern is, if the ballast is the one constantly failing (and has already failed 3rd time currently using a second hand ballast), will replacing the Hid bulb with LED fix my issue? Or is there a way to use LED to bypass the ballast?

This post has been edited by bbhing98: Jul 22 2022, 11:46 AM

Nope

You could do a proper/ full conversation, but obviously will be more costly.

I understand your situation as I've gone through similar. Initially like you thought is ballast, but the bulb also plays an important factor, so is the entire wiring system and its associated grounding.

Simply put, if don't want to gamble or spend time troubleshooting, it'll require at least 5-7k for full replacement (a ballast is 2k+ and one bulb can be between 200-600 ish per piece)

The LED I bought from Lazada, only 300+ a pair lol.
Solved my problem entirely, used for over a year since June 2021 never had issue and still super bright and shines super far.

My original problem: one side HID will flicker and eventually shuts off.. Either side or even both sides
A workaround which you can try: turn off headlamp and turn back on. Usually it'll work lol

My original problem is also that headlamp flicker, then eventually shut off. Then I turn off and on again, it comes back on.
But eventually over time it totally stopped working. The ballast for my car is not as pricy, around rm200-300 for a new piece, or halfcut around rm70.

Initially I've tried changing the bulb and claimed warranty twice ( 3 bulbs total), all with the same behavior.

So I suspected it is ballast issue, so I proceed to replace the ballast, 3 times too, with several halfcut used ballast that are tested and proven working. At first, upon installation, it works properly, but after a few days of usage, the bulb totally won't light up anymore.

Is there any component connecting to the ballast that may be a problem?

Did you gotten original ballast from Toyota service center or you bought outside OEM?
same goes for bulbs

Assuming you didn't do any electrical modifications or suffered any damages (eg: rats chewed off your grounding cable connected to your headlamp/ballast), no your issue is generally first and foremost bulb, ballast highly unlikely unless worn, which the LED solution will work as it is much more efficient

I never changed by ballast because i didn't want to gamble with OEM and half cut, and brand new original cost way too much around RM2K.
The reason for this old decrepit tech is how the bulb requires a plasma arc formed, needing 24k volts. Yes 24000 volts lol

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_discharge_lamp


Life expectancy of non Ori ballast and bulbs will give you a lot of headache.

can I know who replace this for u and what is the costs ?

Got my workshop to replace $30 labour