2004 aftermarket HID Ballast intermittent with noise

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by El_jai, Jan 14, 2026 at 3:45 PM.

  1. El_jai

    El_jai Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2023
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    Location:
    San Antonio
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    5 months ago I had escalating intermittent HID bults going out (flip off and on would work) until one stopped working entirely even with new bulbs, swapped Ballast side to side and defect followed Ballast. I replaced with 3rd party ballast and kept new bulbs in and worked until last week. Looks like the other Ballast went out and bulb burned up. I swapped back in my "old" bulbs back while I wait for new ones, and old ballast is intermittent, and will only stay on a few seconds.

    All that is normal for HID and Ballasts failing, the one weird thing is sometimes when I turn off lights and turn them back on even the bult with new ballast won't turn on and it makes a noise like a slight buzzer. If I turn them off and then turn the car off and turn car back on light will turn back on. but has anyone ever heard a light buzz or something?