TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

I started to take the headlight apart...and then the replaced gear from the night before, stripped.

[youtube]PYUY0a5vQRU[/youtube]

BLSolutions

iTrader: (14)

Yes it is safe to do this. The slim ballasts included with the kit are 55W so plugging into the 35W ballast won't hurt anything. The lamps are the same regardless of the wattage.

BLSolutions

iTrader: (14)

Also, after watching the videos, looks like you have one of two things going on. You have binding/poor gear mesh within the motor which caused your damaged gears or your motor is shot.

I'm leaning towards the first only because you have pulled the motors apart and confirmed your gears are chewed up on both sides.

Also, HIDs do not like to cycled very rapidly so try to take longer pauses between off/on operation.

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

Okay, I will try that this weekend.

BlueBird346

iTrader: (13)

I have two sets of DDM HIDs(slim ballasts) with absolutely no problems. BLS projectors are badass too.

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

So does that mean I can plug in the FAT ballasts that came with my Raptor HID fog light kit into the BLS Kit? or vice versa?

BLSolutions

iTrader: (14)

I would not run the 55W ballasts in the foglight location. They may run too hot for those housings. The lamps and such will be fine but I don't think the foglight housing can take the extra heat.

DopeFedZ

iTrader: (34)

I replaced the gears in mine several times and after finally getting tired of messing with the stupid things I replaced both motors and haven't had any issues since.

Jersey Mike

iTrader: (9)

^^^This.

You just on/off'ed them 4 times in 15 seconds. You should wait ~30 seconds between EACH on/off cycle. Doing what you did in that video will shorten the life of your ballast and cause them to fail.


And for what it's worth, BLS installed my BLS kit for me and they have never had any problems.
My fogs, on the other hand, are 35w DDM Raptor ("thick"), and I did have an issue with those earlier in the year--it worked itself out though, so whatever.

Jeep_junkie

I'm using a DDM 55w kit too (non-BLS) and within the first week, my passenger light would only flash when I turned them on but not stay on, so I swapped ballasts with the other side and everything worked fine. Skip to a few months ahead and the passenger side did the same thing again and guess what? Swapping back to the original ballast that was now working on the driver's side did the trick. I guess that passenger side bulb gets bored with the same ballast after some time lol.

As for your headlight motor issue, it appears that the worm gear isn't meshing properly with the headlight gear. These motors are designed to stop when the circuit sees a certain amount of resistance. It seems as though your motors are still running when they're supposed to have stopped. By the way, you can recycle gears by rotating them 180 degrees.

96silverram

iTrader: (12)

I would check a couple of items first: HCM (headlight control module) module, this unit can cause all kinds of weird problems when they fail. IE: one or the other headlight popping up and then they both work fine. I've replaced my HCM twice in my car. You should also check to see that you have properly installed the wiring relay harness for the BLS kit. If you have a weak ground or 12v's it's going to cause problems. IE: like one light turning on and not the other. If you have the 55 watt ballasts these are more sensitive to voltage. It also helps to have the car running when you power your HID system on (initial voltage is very high on startup). If I try to start my HID 55 watt setup without the car running it will sometimes only turn on one lamp, but if I have the car on and barely above idle (I have underdrive pulleys) it will turn on both lamps every time. Your last problem with the gear getting chewed up might be due to end play in the gear shaft of the motor. If you ran your motors for a while when they were stripped you could have caused the shaft to wear the OD of the housing just slightly. If so, you will have movement when you raise and lower the lights. Hence; possible stripping of the gear. If this is the problem you will have to replace motors with new GM units. I actually purchased brand new GM motors and installed the new gears in the unit and everything has worked perfectly from that point. I have the BLS 55 watt HID setup in my 96 WS6 and it works beautifully now that I have all my problems solved

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

Okay so here is my weekend update:

-Since my white plastic bump stop had a pretty deep gash, I took it off and put duct tape on it, and reinstalled it (flipped it around too)
-THOROUGHLY cleaned inside of gear housing and worm gear, removed all old grease and old epoxy
-Out of my 2 aluminum gears, I picked the one that had the least amount of damage and positioned it so only the good half was used (180 degree trick)
-Put new grease inside and resealed the cover

Now this is where I got a little crazy...since I ordered two of the T-Braces (bought an extra for the other side for safe keeping), I decided to just stick the second T-Brace on the back side of the gear. I think it may actually offer some additional support since it helps stabilize the axis the gear spins on.






Anyways, so I bolted everything back together and took it out tonight. Both headlights flip up and both HID's were working. I'm still not completely sold on the ballasts though. They're very fickle and I don't trust them. I'm going to continue to test everything out throughout the week. More than likely, I'll end up exchanging the ballasts for new ones.

Joshiedoom

iTrader: (4)

Do you open your headlights while driving? I went through the gear thing when I first got the car, got a set of OEM motors brand new and NEVER open or close them while driving. End of problems.

96silverram

iTrader: (12)

If you had to put the T-brace on both sides of your motor housing to stabilize the gear, its clear you had shaft tolerance problems. In the end all that matters is it works now

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

This may sound stupid, but where is the HCM?

I'm fairly certain the wiring was done correctly. I double checked everything and took my time installing the kit. Regarding the ballasts being more sensitive, I'm still confused as to why the HID's on my mom's X5 turn on every single time and sometimes mine won't. Since the X5 is parked in the garage (next to my car), whenever the key is in the ignition, but not to the "ON" position, the HID's turn on automatically since the garage is usually dark. Obviously, her HID's are not affected whether or not her car is idling.

Next time one of my headlights isn't turning on, I will start the car and let it idle before trying again and see what happens.

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

In the 10 years that I've owned the car, I've rarely turned on the headlights WHILE driving, again this was with the stock headlights too.

I've NEVER turned on the headlights while driving since I've installed the BLS kit (back in August).

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

I didn't HAVE to put a T-brace on the back side of the gear. I was just tired of dealing with it so figured what the hell. I was willing to try anything not to have to deal with this problem any more.

Seems like a good idea though since it offers additional support to the shaft that sticks out the back side. I suppose it would stabilize it more and prevent any wobble (IF that was the issue I was having).

ANTICOP RAM AIR

iTrader: (7)

pm sent

96silverram

iTrader: (12)

HCM module is in the upper drivers side area behind the headlight in the engine on (93-97) T/A's. The reason I mention the issue with voltage is because its of particular concern on a car with under drive pulleys (I have the ASP setup).

ANTICOP RAM AIR

iTrader: (7)

you should pm me.. you guys are SERIOUSLY over thinking this...