HID/LIGHT Problems
HID/LIGHT Problems Ok, first off, ive always had problems with these damn lights. So I spent $325 on one of the ledgauges hid kits to end all my lighting troubles. WRONG.
Here is the deal, I replaced my low beams with the HID kit, installed everything correctly. (i checked it a thousand times). So I go to turn on my lights....and nothing works at all. Not highbeams or lowbeams. So I unplug the left highbeam....and the right lowbeam (hid) starts flickering like its trying to light. Just flick flick flick. Nothing from the other lights. So I plug in the highbeam agian, then unplug the left highbeam...and the rigth HID starts flicking!!! WTF
. Then i plug in all of the lights agian and see if my highbeams work....nope. Nothing. I went and bought new sealed highbeams. Same situation. The HID will flick if the oppisate side is unplugged. If I unplug both highbeams neither of the HIDS will flick. Its either one or the other as long as the oppisate highbeam is unplugged.
edit: Both #15 fuses for the lights are fine, and all running lights, blinkers, and fog lights work fine as well.
ANY IDEAS?!?!?
-----------------------Update
ok gentlemen, here is what i got so far.
STOCK WIREING (hids taken out of the loop) w/ car OFF
Low beams ON
L/R Low beam = 12.2* v
L/R High beam = 3.** v
High Beams ON
L/R Low beam = 12.2* v
L/R High beam = 12.** v
Also, I hotwired the HID's to my battery and they work. Time for a relay i suppose.
The stock wires were tested for volts, and the HIDS were hard wired via the wires shown in the picture.
Here is the deal, I replaced my low beams with the HID kit, installed everything correctly. (i checked it a thousand times). So I go to turn on my lights....and nothing works at all. Not highbeams or lowbeams. So I unplug the left highbeam....and the right lowbeam (hid) starts flickering like its trying to light. Just flick flick flick. Nothing from the other lights. So I plug in the highbeam agian, then unplug the left highbeam...and the rigth HID starts flicking!!! WTF
. Then i plug in all of the lights agian and see if my highbeams work....nope. Nothing. I went and bought new sealed highbeams. Same situation. The HID will flick if the oppisate side is unplugged. If I unplug both highbeams neither of the HIDS will flick. Its either one or the other as long as the oppisate highbeam is unplugged.edit: Both #15 fuses for the lights are fine, and all running lights, blinkers, and fog lights work fine as well.
ANY IDEAS?!?!?
-----------------------Update
ok gentlemen, here is what i got so far.
STOCK WIREING (hids taken out of the loop) w/ car OFF
Low beams ON
L/R Low beam = 12.2* v
L/R High beam = 3.** v
High Beams ON
L/R Low beam = 12.2* v
L/R High beam = 12.** v
Also, I hotwired the HID's to my battery and they work. Time for a relay i suppose.
The stock wires were tested for volts, and the HIDS were hard wired via the wires shown in the picture.
Last edited by Pharm0r; Aug 7, 2008 at 12:16 PM.
Polarity as in the positive (+) (usually but not always the red wire) and negative (-) (usually but not always the black wire) wires need to reversed. Let see if I can break this down even more for you, the wire that used to plug into your old bulbs now plugs into the little HID box (ballast), those two wires now supply power to ballast need to be change. Mean put the + wire where the - wire used to be and put the - wire where the + wire used to be.
Hopefully I broke it down enough for you. Kinda scary, if you don't know what polarity means, your probably shouldn't be working on cars
lol i was being halfway sarcastic. Thats what i figured you might mean, but I wasnt for sure to be honest. thanks for the explination anyways...even if it was kind of smart...
Ill give it a shot tomorrow during the day....were yours doing the same or no?
Ill give it a shot tomorrow during the day....were yours doing the same or no?
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Verdad Gallardo Did you try reversing both? Have you tried contacting ledgauges to see what they say? Everyone bags on the Ebay kits but I've got two of them that are working perfectly. And for the price you paid, I could just about buy a total of 4 sets. The kits that ledgauges are the same exact ones that you find on ebay except with a very large markup. If you look at the ballast, there should be a + & - so you know which wire goes where. Do you have any pics of your setup?
Flickering means not enough power to supply the ballasts for light off (HID bulbs require HUGE current to light off....upwards of 15AMPS +). The stock wiring in the F-bodies is known for being rather small/poor suppliers of current. This is why when you unplug one side, the other then starts to flicker (it is TRYING to light off).
Have you tried "hot wiring" just to CHECK that the ballasts and bulbs are good?
If both ballasts and bulbs ARE good, then look into doing a rewire to bypass the factory leads.
Have you tried "hot wiring" just to CHECK that the ballasts and bulbs are good?
If both ballasts and bulbs ARE good, then look into doing a rewire to bypass the factory leads.
Registered User
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: Cypress
Sounds like you need a relay to get more power to the balast. You can use the factory leads to trigger the relay and send power from the battery to the ballast. Some kits come with an optional relay harness. Were there any wires left over from the kit you have?
Yeah, I've contacted ledgauges, but they totally suck when it comes to customer service.
I agree, I've never heard of anyone having problems getting enough power to the lights....but also, I was having lighting problems before I installed these. (very dim lights) Tomorrow im going to read out the wires and see what kind of power i am getting to them.
Ill also include pics of the setup, and hardwire the ballasts to see what i get.
thanks for the input guys!
and no i didnt have any wires left. and yes i rewired both.
edit: i have an 25% underdrive pulley installed...but i hardly doubt it would suck that much power away from the alt....
I agree, I've never heard of anyone having problems getting enough power to the lights....but also, I was having lighting problems before I installed these. (very dim lights) Tomorrow im going to read out the wires and see what kind of power i am getting to them.
Ill also include pics of the setup, and hardwire the ballasts to see what i get.
thanks for the input guys!
and no i didnt have any wires left. and yes i rewired both.
edit: i have an 25% underdrive pulley installed...but i hardly doubt it would suck that much power away from the alt....
Sorry, I am extremely busy with school right now. I emailed you back.
Try hooking them directly to the battery to test them. Also what problems were you having before? And why are you unplugging the high beams? Is the car on when you turn the lights on? Are the high beams on when you turn the low beams on? Do your low beams stay on with the high beams? If so make sure the high beams are OFF when you turn the lights on initially.
Try hooking them directly to the battery to test them. Also what problems were you having before? And why are you unplugging the high beams? Is the car on when you turn the lights on? Are the high beams on when you turn the low beams on? Do your low beams stay on with the high beams? If so make sure the high beams are OFF when you turn the lights on initially.
And please DO NOT rewire anything. The factory wiring is more than capable of taking the initial load, that is not the problem. You MAY need a relay, but with only having one kit installed in the car that shouldn't be the problem. Underdrive pully wouldn't be the problem either.
Let me know about the things I posted above and we can go from there.
Let me know about the things I posted above and we can go from there.
thanks for the info, i understand about being busy and everything, hope you didnt take the way i said that to offence.
im about to go test the wires right now.
before i was having problems with dim lights, when i would turn on my lights, on the right side the low beam would come on fine....on the left side both the high and low beam would come on, but VERY dim.
im about to go test the wires right now.
before i was having problems with dim lights, when i would turn on my lights, on the right side the low beam would come on fine....on the left side both the high and low beam would come on, but VERY dim.
Copy & Paste Moderator
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 9,764
Likes: 208
From: Eastern MA
If you are getting dim halogen lights, and flickering HID lights, then use a multi-meter to check the voltage at the bulb connectors. It should be just under 12v with the engine off and close to 14v with the engine on. If you are getting readings much lower than that, then there is something wrong with the wiring. Inspect it for damage or corroded connections.
If you were having problems BEFORE then installing HID's is not going to fix the problem. If the halogen bulbs weren't working properly, the HID's aren't going to work properly.
ok gentlemen, here is what i got so far.
STOCK WIREING (hids taken out of the loop) w/ car OFF
Low beams ON
L/R Low beam = 12.2* v
L/R High beam = 3.** v
High Beams ON
L/R Low beam = 12.2* v
L/R High beam = 12.** v
So apparently my wireing is fine up until the HIDs. Also to answer somone's question, yes it looks like both high/low beams come on when the highbeams are switched on.
Now im off to radio shack to get some wire and hard wire these HIDs to the batt. I'll update soon.
STOCK WIREING (hids taken out of the loop) w/ car OFF
Low beams ON
L/R Low beam = 12.2* v
L/R High beam = 3.** v
High Beams ON
L/R Low beam = 12.2* v
L/R High beam = 12.** v
So apparently my wireing is fine up until the HIDs. Also to answer somone's question, yes it looks like both high/low beams come on when the highbeams are switched on.
Now im off to radio shack to get some wire and hard wire these HIDs to the batt. I'll update soon.