GoHurdler1

Hello Everyone!

I have 2007 Mustang V6 Pony Package. In 2011 or 2012 I had a Steeda XSighting Lighting (part of Osram Sylvania) HID kit installed. Steeda no longer sells the HID kit. The HID headlights lights are Ford branded. My Mustang was involved in an accident (driver’s side quarter panel and door were hit) in November 2018 and I barely got my car back a few weeks ago.

I started to notice that the passenger side HID would shut off after I would estimate 20 something minutes (could be more). I checked the fuses that are part of the HID wire harness (came with the HID kit) and they were fine. I then checked both Bosch relays that are part of the HID wire harness and I saw a lot of rust on them. I took the relays off and they both had a lot of rust and one of them had a bad rattle (when I visited the body shop one day they had the hood open and quarter panel removed etc. without a cover, so I think rain got in there). I replaced the relays with the same Bosch relays along with using an electronic cleaning spray on the relay plugs and thought that my passenger HID problem was over. Unfortunately I was wrong!

While driving home from work at night I noticed that my passenger side HID went out. If you turn the light switch off and on the passenger side HID will turn back on.

So, I’m trying to figure out if it’s the ballast gone bad or HID bulb that is going bad or if it’s something that the body shop did to them because they took off the front fascia to repaint it and replace the air deflector.

The ballast is built into the headlight unit (see attached diagram) so it isn’t something that I could easily swap out with the driver’s side to test.

Also, I do think that the HIDs appear dimmer but that could just be my perception because I was driving another vehicle for so long while waiting for the Mustang to get repaired.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem could be? Is it the ballast or HID bulb that is starting to fail or something else? If it is the HID bulb, how do I replace it? There is a giant rubber cap (see photo) on the back and I have no idea if that is removable or not. I assume it is I just don’t know how nor do I want to damage it so removal tips would be great!

Thanks for the help in advance!


Ford 8R3Z-13008-A diagram. Photo used for educational purposes.


Ford 8R3Z-13008-A Headlight front and side view. Photo used for educational purposes.

UPDATE
The black rubber cap in the back does pull off but it's a pain to put back on properly if the headlight is attached to the car still. I had difficulty removing the cable attached to the actual HID bulb so, I removed the headlight from the Mustang, which meant taking off the front fascia. When I finnally got the cable off and replaced the bulb, I guess I manhandled it and frayed the cable or maybe when I unplugged the headlight from the car the ballast finnally crapped out because the new bulb or the old bulb would no longer light up. I went on eBay and found a used wire harness with ballast because Ford does not sell it separately from the headlight assembly. I tried removing the old wire harness but it was too difficult and I didn't want to cause more damage. I took the headlight assembly to a local car/wiring shop and they were able to detach the old wire harness by cutting one of the cables (not exactly sure how they got the replacement one on) The shop charged me $40.00 instead of $120 because they didn't have to remove the front fascia since I brought them the headlight assembly. Anyway, I plugged in the headlight assembly to test it out before reattaching everything and it worked.

08'MustangDude

You can test the bulb by putting it in the other side that was working.

Factory type HIDs, not only have a ballast, but the BULB also has
a built in igniter, that can go bad. That's the big metal square area.
Aftermarket HIDs do not have that, just a bulb with two wires.

I also believe each side has its own fuse with the HIDs.

Derf00

That's what I was going to suggest, swap the headlight and then the Ballast to see if the problem follows one of them. If it does, then you found the problem, if not, then it's a wiring issue on the one side.