Hi,
Let me start by saying I bought this blazer and it had a HID kit installed. The drivers side went out, after some investigating it looked like some water made it into the connector that connected the ballast to the OEM plug. So the ballast is toast? No biggie right? I order some new ballasts and replace the drivers side. The HID will flicker for half a second then turn off. Maybe a bad ballast? I tried the other one with the same result. More investigating I notice the highbeam light doesn't turn on, but the DRL does. I swap everything from the passenger side and I get all the same results so it's something isolated to the drivers side.

I've done a little research on problems with this vehicle and it seems the BCM may have something to do with it? I'm getting the ABS/Parking brake light, but only when I hit hard bumps so I'm not so sure it's the brake light of death for the BCM. I had it scanned once and it was for a "Wheel speed mismatch" one was reading 0 every now and then. But I digress.

What other tests should I preform?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

I haven't been ever playing with xenon lamps, but You have my curiosity. They seem to be operating in a same manner like an arc welder: You get a high voltage spark (in kV) to initiate the arc and then, once the arc is initiated, high voltage is off and they go high current/low voltage.
Now, if You see the flash, it means that a high voltage worked out, initiating the arc. Then it cannot get a high current/low voltage supply. So the arc dies. An arc initiation is most probably done from a capacitor, that loads in advance prior You switch the light on, so even a poor connection might not be a problem, in case of initial arc of course, unlike to a hi curren/ low volt operation. If You have an option, You may connect with a voltmeter at the xenon driver power terminals and check if the voltage drops while initiating the lamp. It might be a short pulse, so depending on Your multimeter You may see it or not. But if You see, then it's the power line. Do You have any info/label/etc on the xenon driver? Maybe we could dig a bit more...

 

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the reply. I believe this doesn't have much to do with the HID kit, as the DRLs and highbeams aren't part of the HID install, they have a separate plug.

Here is the kit I purchased to replace the ballasts that were already there.
As long as I am supplying 9-16V (constant) it should fire. I'll take a multimeter to the headlamp OEM plug when I get home. I believe I should be seeing ~11 volts there correct?

 

ABS + parking brake light may come on/off if there's poor grounding on a front radiator support (driver's inner side, black wire with "o" connector just under the headlights).
I remember I've seen a grounding wire of the headlamp going to the front radiator support, but it was a truly neglected car with some monkey fixes already. A simple test - switch the headlamp on. Check with voltmeter - one connector to a negative battery peg, the other to a lightbulb (with a lightbulb into the socket) and see what reading You've got. If 12V its the power ("+") coming to a socket, probably grounding wire busted. If 0V - then there's no power ("+") coming through a hot wire, ground in unknown state.

EDIT: Oh, and You can always go an opposite way too - a positive battery peg and a lightbulb. If You get 12V the grounding wire is OK, no power ("+") comes to the lightbulb. If 0V - ground busted, positive line in unknown state...

 

Mike,
I looked up and down for a grounding wire near the front drivers side headlight and came up empty. I searched google images for the location and I still don't have a clue.

As for testing with a voltmeter, I'm a bit nervous messing around with electricity so I just want to be clear how I test this. My negative probe to the negative battery terminal, then my positive probe to the light bulb in the socket? The socket has two pins, does it matter which one I touch with the probe?

Thank you!

 

The connector is down the air filter. You may not see it, but surely there is a screw with a connector.
As for the voltmeter...
1. If You swap the voltmeter probes nothing bad is going to happen. Your reading will appear with a negative sign like -12V instead of (+ is always ommited) 12V. The above I've written is on 12V appearance or zero, no matter if it comes with a positive or a negative sign.
2. As for choosing a right contact - if You put a lightbulb into a socket, it is going to "shunt" the contacts and won't matter any longer whichever You probe.
If You're still not feeling comfy with a voltmeter, ask a friend for help.

 

I just took another look for the grounding wire. I pushed the air filter box a little bit and sure enough there it is, under a ton of rust and corrosion. I guess the best way to get down to it is take the airbox assembly out?


EDIT: Took the air intake assembly out and cleaned up the two ground points I found beneath it. Same results with the headlights and no highbeam still. At least the grounds are clean.

I'll test voltage tomorrow when I acquire a more reliable meter than the free one from hazard fraught.

 

Went ahead and voltage tested. I connected the negative probe to the negative terminal and back-probed positive probe to the positive line going into the HID ballast and got 12.5 volts. I then reversed the probes positive to battery/negative back-probed to ballast and got the same voltage. Not sure if I did something wrong or only did half the test, I've been watching voltage drop test videos since my last posting and I think I did it right.


EDIT: I tested continuity between the ground wire/screw and the battery and had 12 volts.

 

That might have solved Your ABS light triggering on bumps.

 

Did You test in the same manner a high beam too or just the xenon drivers?
You've checked the positive wire and a negative one - and as far as I understand, You have 12V power supply on the xenon driver terminals. So either the lamp does not kick in or there's not enough current supply to the driver and it brownouts. Can You disconnect the HID from a OEM socket and stick in a regular lightbulb? While swapping sides, You've swapped the HID lightbulb too, right?