Why aren't my plug-and-play HIDs working (DDM)?
11-02-2009, 11:27 AM
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Why aren't my plug-and-play HIDs working (DDM)? Got the DDM tuning plug-and-play 35w HID kit for 9006 bulbs for the SS. I've installed a few HID kits before (GTO, Integra) and both went in easily and worked flawlessly. This kit seems to have the best overall quality, yet I'm getting no light. This kit seems to have a few less wires than the other kits I've installed though.
For this kit I have the stock headlight harness going into the clip near the ballast that it fits into. Then I have the wiring (two wires) coming out of the ballasts and igniters into the respective clips on each HID bulb.
There is an extra two-wire clip that looks to only serve as an extension between the factory headlight harness and the input plug of the ballast, and where I mounted my ballasts I didn't need it so it's not in use (although I did try plugging the stock headlight harness into it, and the other end of it into the input of the ballast when the HIDs didn't work initially and they still didn't work, so I unplugged it and hooked it up the original way to reduce wiring).
Unless I'm just having an off-day and really missing something glaringly obvious this should work, but it isn't. On the Integra I did HIDs on I had to ditch the factory high beams all together and use the high beam plug to actually get enough juice to power the ballast. The kit was like that by design. I really don't think that's the case with this 9006 kit because I haven't heard of anyone else on the board here losing high beams to make a HID kit work. I'm just finding it odd that it isn't working, and doubt I'd have either two defective ballasts, bulbs, or both.
For this kit I have the stock headlight harness going into the clip near the ballast that it fits into. Then I have the wiring (two wires) coming out of the ballasts and igniters into the respective clips on each HID bulb.
There is an extra two-wire clip that looks to only serve as an extension between the factory headlight harness and the input plug of the ballast, and where I mounted my ballasts I didn't need it so it's not in use (although I did try plugging the stock headlight harness into it, and the other end of it into the input of the ballast when the HIDs didn't work initially and they still didn't work, so I unplugged it and hooked it up the original way to reduce wiring).
Unless I'm just having an off-day and really missing something glaringly obvious this should work, but it isn't. On the Integra I did HIDs on I had to ditch the factory high beams all together and use the high beam plug to actually get enough juice to power the ballast. The kit was like that by design. I really don't think that's the case with this 9006 kit because I haven't heard of anyone else on the board here losing high beams to make a HID kit work. I'm just finding it odd that it isn't working, and doubt I'd have either two defective ballasts, bulbs, or both.
11-02-2009, 03:11 PM
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Who designs these kits? 
I did some more online searching and found a troubleshooting guide. Where the stock harness plugs into the ballast I had it attached so that the clip fit over the little spike to hold it all together (read: the correctly installed way). I unplugged that, flipped the plug around so that the clip didn't fit over the little spike, so that it was plugged in upside down. The lights fired right up. Way to go DDM, hopefully the guts of the ballast are better in design than the plugs that hook it all up.
I did some more online searching and found a troubleshooting guide. Where the stock harness plugs into the ballast I had it attached so that the clip fit over the little spike to hold it all together (read: the correctly installed way). I unplugged that, flipped the plug around so that the clip didn't fit over the little spike, so that it was plugged in upside down. The lights fired right up. Way to go DDM, hopefully the guts of the ballast are better in design than the plugs that hook it all up.
11-02-2009, 08:36 PM
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Guess it's just Chevy's wiring? Because obviously nothing is exact vehicle specific, it's just a 9006 HID bulb kit. Way to go then GM!
Otherwise the kit is tip top. It's the smallest ballast I've ever seen, and it's so damn solid. Best kit to date I've installed. The plug thing just irked me.
Otherwise the kit is tip top. It's the smallest ballast I've ever seen, and it's so damn solid. Best kit to date I've installed. The plug thing just irked me.
11-02-2009, 10:24 PM
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It's amazing that through a number of searches I never saw anything about this anywhere. Hopefully this post will serve as helpful to someone down the road.
HIDs are in the fogs and low beams. Looks great. Definitely not the cutoff I had in the GTO with the projectors, but it's really not that bad. Took it for a spin tonight and had one person flash me (I've had people do that to me in the GTO too, people do that to me with halogens in the truck, etc), but passed plenty of people who just rolled right on by. The driver's side light is a little higher than the passenger's side but I'll fine tune it when the Halo lights come in in a few days.
HIDs are in the fogs and low beams. Looks great. Definitely not the cutoff I had in the GTO with the projectors, but it's really not that bad. Took it for a spin tonight and had one person flash me (I've had people do that to me in the GTO too, people do that to me with halogens in the truck, etc), but passed plenty of people who just rolled right on by. The driver's side light is a little higher than the passenger's side but I'll fine tune it when the Halo lights come in in a few days.
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11-03-2009, 03:55 AM
#8
You'll get flashed occasionally with non projector housings.
Projector's = win.
What sort of bulb temperature did you go with on the fogs and lows? Any pictures?
DDM is definitely a cheap kit, but if you do a proper burn in time and try not to blink them they should last a while.
Projector's = win.
What sort of bulb temperature did you go with on the fogs and lows? Any pictures?
DDM is definitely a cheap kit, but if you do a proper burn in time and try not to blink them they should last a while.
11-03-2009, 07:18 AM
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The funny thing is I got flashed just as much WITH projector housings when I had the GTO, and got flashed with regular old halogens in the 2008 F150 I had too, so it's hard to contribute one person flashing you every once in a blue moon to having blinding headlights, simply because people around here are flash-happy. I've seen stock BMWs, Audis, and Cadillacs flashed a lot too. By my eye there isn't a sharp cutoff, but the lights definitely aren't blinding either.
I've had a few people recommend the DDM kit over other kits out there, and it looks identical to the kit I've seen a few people go with from some big name companies, although who can ever really be sure these days.
I went 6000k in the lows and fogs. Normally I like to stay in the 4300-5000k range, but for the non-projector housings taking a little edge off the white with the 35w 6000k bulbs was the best bet I thought.
I've had a few people recommend the DDM kit over other kits out there, and it looks identical to the kit I've seen a few people go with from some big name companies, although who can ever really be sure these days.
I went 6000k in the lows and fogs. Normally I like to stay in the 4300-5000k range, but for the non-projector housings taking a little edge off the white with the 35w 6000k bulbs was the best bet I thought.
