Please Help w/ HID Issue!

[gibbygsxr]

Does the plug still have power at it when the light flickers and goes out? That will tell you if it's the car or the hids.

Sounds like defective equipment. I run race sport 55w hid kit without a relay harness and it's been fine. Might want to try a differant brand.

It's a long shot but the newer dodge vehicles need an anti flicker harness because the vehicle doesn't see the bulb and will kill power to the headlights.

 

[Clean07Burb]

Does the plug still have power at it when the light flickers and goes out? That will tell you if it's the car or the hids.

Sounds like defective equipment. I run race sport 55w hid kit without a relay harness and it's been fine. Might want to try a differant brand.

It's a long shot but the newer dodge vehicles need an anti flicker harness because the vehicle doesn't see the bulb and will kill power to the headlights.

Yes, it has power at both pigtails when the lights are turned on, but the driver's side isn't working. When I turn the headlights on, the passenger side fires up just fine, but the driver's side just flickers on and off and then stays off.

I just find it odd that its a problem with the kit since everything works when swapped from side to side. All ballasts, bulbs, relays, etc. have been tested and shown to work properly. Plus, its the supposed better quality Morimoto kit that was purchased from The Retrofit Source.

 

[BoyWonder41]

I had issues with my halogen/HID conversion on my 2015 Yukon. I used the relay like every one stated and one capacitor on the harness and just one headlight would work. I thought that I narrowed it down to a bad or blown ballast. However, I never heard both ballasts fire up. I eventually hooked each ballast with a capacitor up to a bulb. Everything fired up great. The next day after work I went to start the truck up and the battery was dead and needed a jump!?! I replaced the factory battery with a deep-cycle Odyssey battery and no problems since. ( wanted to do a dual battery set-up eventually anyway)

I believe that the LED running lights along with the ballasts require too much power consumption initially and the ballasts need that reserve power of the capacitors. Not worried about wiring as that's what the factory fuses are for. Hope this helps.

 

[felixgun]

See I thought about the capacitor on each side. Talked to a local guy and he suggested that too. My issue is the one light that flickers even without the relay (only way to get it to work on driver side was to bypass the HD relay) even with the capacitor hooked up on that side still flickered. I then emailed TRS asking them if I needed two capacitors and they replied saying one is sufficient. Hmmm... I've tried doing it on both sides too.

 

[08grey]

You guys are somehow not getting enough amps to fire the ballasts. Here are your only solutions.

Use a regular hid relay harness or make your own.
Wire a capicitor to one end of the relay trigger to stabilize the pulsing voltage then comet the outputs to each ballasts.

Or use a capicitor and really for both sides. This is easier done with wire and terminals than a harness. This will ensure you get full startup voltage and stabilize the current.

 

[Clean07Burb]

You guys are somehow not getting enough amps to fire the ballasts. Here are your only solutions.

Use a regular hid relay harness or make your own.
Wire a capicitor to one end of the relay trigger to stabilize the pulsing voltage then comet the outputs to each ballasts.

Or use a capicitor and really for both sides. This is easier done with wire and terminals than a harness. This will ensure you get full startup voltage and stabilize the current.

What do you mean by a regular HID relay harness? The kit came with a relay harness that included two relays. Are you referring to something different?

 

[08grey]

Yes. Just a simple relay harness. Look in ebay for hid relay harness. You will see one there.

 

[felixgun]

You guys are somehow not getting enough amps to fire the ballasts. Here are your only solutions.

Use a regular hid relay harness or make your own.
Wire a capicitor to one end of the relay trigger to stabilize the pulsing voltage then comet the outputs to each ballasts.

Or use a capicitor and really for both sides. This is easier done with wire and terminals than a harness. This will ensure you get full startup voltage and stabilize the current.

The side that flickers I had a capacitor and relay. And TRS specifically said I only needed that one they supplied. I asked them about having a capacitor on both and they said no. If I knew how to build what you described I'd have already done it but unfortunately my electrical skills suck.

 

[BoyWonder41]

Quick update. I've been running my HID conversion for about a month and no issues. I've never had any "flickering" since adding the capacitors. I've also never really used the slim type ballast. I found that using the larger metal AC ballast have always given me better lasting results. (no matter what brand I use) I'm running an Opt 7 AC 35 watt 6000K ballast setup right now and they have a 2 year warranty. I get a crisp white like with light blue tinge. The cutoff is perfect. I don't know why GMC just didn't install Xenon headlamps as standard for all their trucks now.

 

[08grey]

You can always hit me up and I'll walk you through it.

 

[felixgun]

So I did switched the relay cubes to determine if it was internal harness issues or the relay itself was bad. Turns out that relay is good as passenger light is still good with driver side relay. I emailed them Saturday and they still haven't responded. I'm gonna call tomorrow and see if they can send out a new harness.

 

[felixgun]

Well TRS sent me another HD relay and driver side still doesn't work. TRS customer service via email is also slow as ****. Shoulda listened to lee and not go this route lol. Philips anyone?!?

 

[01Konvict]

Weird issues Felix, mine fire up just fine on my 11 Denali. Hope you get it straight but I would think a custom harness with capacitors to ignite the ballasts/bulbs would get them working right.

 

[felixgun]

Yea where do u get that? I have the HD relay and capacitor they supplied. The other harness they sent still has the same issue. I sent pictures to verify it was hooked up correctly. I emailed them a WEEK ago saying it still doesn't work and they still haven't responded. Needless to say I won't be recommending TRS or Morimoto to ANYONE.

 

[ATIII]

Finally pinned down what was causing my flicker!

Here's the rundown:

Symptom: Driver LO Beam only Flickering, and failing to fully ignite, sort of like a florescent light that the bulbs or ballast is dying, Turning the lights on and off a couple of times would get rid of it for a short time.

Swapped around Balasts, I have four installed and tried them all with same effect, but no flicker on any of the other 3 bulbs.

Replaced HID Relay

Installed capacitors (not the plug n play ones, but real caps wired across)

All power comes from a fuse distribution block with 4ga. as supply from battery, 10ga. to HID Relays. 30a fuses

STILL FLICKERING

Replaced Bulbs with DDM Ultra's,

Stopped the flickering until the other night.

I go to start the truck and the starter barely had enough to turn the engine over, but it still started, I go to check the voltages at the battery 14.4 strong at idle, so alt. is ok. And I notice the damn fcking driver LO beam is flickering again!

WTF YOU MFING POS LIGHT!

Take it to part store and put a load test on the battery, only pushing 524 of 700 cranking amps.

Got new battery under warranty and no more flicker. YET?!

I did a lot of wiring in about a 4 month period and I think it was just to much for the battery Gonna look into a battery with high 700's cranking amps when I get a chance prolly a Die-Hard or Optima.

Hope this helps

 

[Clean07Burb]

Finally pinned down what was causing my flicker!

Here's the rundown:

Symptom: Driver LO Beam only Flickering, and failing to fully ignite, sort of like a florescent light that the bulbs or ballast is dying, Turning the lights on and off a couple of times would get rid of it for a short time.

Swapped around Balasts, I have four installed and tried them all with same effect, but no flicker on any of the other 3 bulbs.

Replaced HID Relay

Installed capacitors (not the plug n play ones, but real caps wired across)

All power comes from a fuse distribution block with 4ga. as supply from battery, 10ga. to HID Relays. 30a fuses

STILL FLICKERING

Replaced Bulbs with DDM Ultra's,

Stopped the flickering until the other night.

I go to start the truck and the starter barely had enough to turn the engine over, but it still started, I go to check the voltages at the battery 14.4 strong at idle, so alt. is ok. And I notice the damn fcking driver LO beam is flickering again!

WTF YOU MFING POS LIGHT!

Take it to part store and put a load test on the battery, only pushing 524 of 700 cranking amps.

Got new battery under warranty and no more flicker. YET?!

I did a lot of wiring in about a 4 month period and I think it was just to much for the battery Gonna look into a battery with high 700's cranking amps when I get a chance prolly a Die-Hard or Optima.

Hope this helps

Hmm...I've tested my battery more than once recently and its been fine. I do have access to new batteries, though, so maybe I'll just try temporarily sticking a new battery in and see what happens. I'll be sure to use the highest cold cranking amp battery possible. I don't think it will fix mine or Felix's issue, as his truck is new, but I'll try it.

Thanks for the input and I'll update once I see what happens. Might even give it a go later today...

 

[fireburban]

I'm having this same issue on a BFC Retro kit on my 13 burb. Most of the time it's the DRV side that doesn't work. Sometimes Pass side, sometimes both don't ignite.

I think it's cause from the auto selector on the headlight switch. Not sending enough voltage or something similar. Also not sending it equally. Just my thoughts, even though i know some of you have wired directly to the battery. That's still where I look as the culprit.

I have new Mirimoto Three5 bulbs and ballasts from BFC to try and remedy the issue. I'll report back when i get those installed.

---------- Post added at 11:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

I guess the fix to me would be bypassing that switch or killing the auto option all together from the switch. I've read many cars with this option have problems with HID ballasts.

 

[08grey]

Getting a jatronix relay and using a basic relay harness will solve startup cut out. This cost like 45 bucks but Will allow you to keep the auto headlights.

 

[08grey]

http://www.jatronx.com/products/voltage-sensitive-latching-relay/

 

[Clean07Burb]

I'm having this same issue on a BFC Retro kit on my 13 burb. Most of the time it's the DRV side that doesn't work. Sometimes Pass side, sometimes both don't ignite.

I think it's cause from the auto selector on the headlight switch. Not sending enough voltage or something similar. Also not sending it equally. Just my thoughts, even though i know some of you have wired directly to the battery. That's still where I look as the culprit.

I have new Mirimoto Three5 bulbs and ballasts from BFC to try and remedy the issue. I'll report back when i get those installed.

---------- Post added at 11:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:10 AM ----------

I guess the fix to me would be bypassing that switch or killing the auto option all together from the switch. I've read many cars with this option have problems with HID ballasts.

I already eliminated my auto headlight feature from the start. I installed a resistor in the dash sensor so the truck always thinks its daylight outside. I have total control now of when my lights are on or off. I still have the issue of only the passenger side working, though....