GearJamr Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 So, the stock headlights suck. Fact. I have purchased the Osram bulbs, but have not installed them - was waiting until the stock went dead. Put them back in a year ago, so shouldn't be long. I did have the HID retrofit kit installed. I experienced issues with them, mostly both lights would not come on at the same time when first turned on. If I turned off the engine and started again, the lights would both then come on. This became tiresome, especially if I was ever in a hurry. I think this was a grounding issue, never had an issue with the stock lights, so circuitry seems okay. I am considering putting the HID lights back in as the stock bulbs are just not enough. Question is for those who have this kit, where did you run the ground wire? I had found a threaded hole in the body/frame just below the headlight assembly on the driver side, but it was pretty rusted when I removed the kit last year. The ground wire has a pretty decent length, so I imagine it could go in a number of places. TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 90% of the HID issues I’ve seen on these are from cheap kits and weird voltage from the DRL. Do you have DRL disabled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearJamr Posted March 23, 2023 Author Share Posted March 23, 2023 Had to disable the DRL because of the flickering. I have the Mirimoto retrofit-quik kit. Was not cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 Does the hid kit use relays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent55 Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 I have this harness connected to my HIDs. No issues. https://ddmtuning.com/Dual-Relay-Harness 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 48 minutes ago, kent55 said: I have this harness connected to my HIDs. No issues. https://ddmtuning.com/Dual-Relay-Harness This^. It likely needs this to handle the initial current demands of turning on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent55 Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 I installed that harness back in 2017 and it's still working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 (edited) Sounds like the battery is not sufficient to power the starters. Hence needing the alternators power generation to kick on the lights. DDM is cheap I should know. They were a few miles from my shop and I was a dealer. Quality was not as high as I had previously used. But... failure rates were surprisingly low, warranty replacements were easy and fast, the smaller ballasts were easier to mount and the darn things worked I used them in my wifes 08 LGT. 4 years and no issues. Both headlights and fogs. Edited March 26, 2023 by m sprank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearJamr Posted March 28, 2023 Author Share Posted March 28, 2023 On 3/24/2023 at 5:31 PM, kent55 said: I have this harness connected to my HIDs. No issues. https://ddmtuning.com/Dual-Relay-Harness My kit has something that looks similar to that. So I would say yes it has relays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 Even with a relay kit if your battery is not strong enough the current demand from the lighting starters will be too much and the lights will not turn on. If you need to start the car to run the lights it is not a grounding issue it is a power issue. You do not have enough battery and the electrical draw is enough to require the alternator. A 4th gen LGT alternator puts out 90-95amps. If using a 35watt ballast you should be fine with the battery alone. If using a 50watt ballast then all best are off. Rarely do I see LGT's with a really good battery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearJamr Posted March 29, 2023 Author Share Posted March 29, 2023 It's a 35W ballast. I have a feeling we've gone down a rabbit hole in trying to diagnose. Engine did not have to be running for the lights to turn on. Problem was SOMETIMES only one would come on. Restart engine, all good, both would turn on. If I just turned key to ON, the lights would do the same thing. Maybe battery is the problem, but I had the battery replaced (Interstate brand) during this issue (since it wouldn't even crank the engine) and no change. The lights didn't start with this issue after installation, so it SEEMS like something changed along the way. But maybe just not enough "electrical horsepower". I liked the better light with the HIDs, but I'll just try the 65W Vosla bulbs I have and see how they do before trying these again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m sprank Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 Could be an issue with the light ballasts or starters. Maybe one requires a higher starting current draw. Need a meter to check. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NORULZleggy Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 I have never had a problem with the stock LGT projectors. EVER, I so many comments on how my lights look. I run V-LED lights and they look very classy. I really see no need for a retrofit kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearJamr Posted April 4, 2023 Author Share Posted April 4, 2023 I tried LED bulbs in the stock projectors, the light was even poorer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KZJonny Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 No joy for me either with LEDs. And they weren't the cheapies, the projectors just didn't work well with them, and that was after I did a reasonably good job of correcting the aim. (Indoor area with flat floors and room to measure off 25ft and put tape on the wall, etc...) I got some Osram 9011s (highs) from tyler and they're pretty killer. I would say pretty competitive with the HIDs I used to have on the car. Not quite as good, but enough I won't be crashing into any deer at night anyway. Still kinda playing around with low beam bulbs to see what works best for me, but since most of that driving for me is on either highways with overhead lights, or in the city, lows are relatively a lot less of a speed/stopping distance thing most days. I'll be trying out some Osram Nightbreaker 200s from him shortly as well, for lows. They'd be the most expensive lows I'd have tried, but are supposed to be really good. I can take some photos if youd' like.... (before vs. after) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackobxt Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 I felt that the LED’s worked decent in my outback’s fogs but they were very poor in the headlights. Went back to HID’s in the headlights after a few days of trying LED’s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent55 Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 It seems HIDs are better in Projector style and LEDs are better in standard reflector headlights. YouTube has several examples I saw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseenlo Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 I've had my DDM HID kit (Apexcone Raptor) from 2010. Low beams were 55w. No issues except for a bulb going out this year. I looked back just now and the kit was $39.955. Crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent55 Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Yes. Agreed. Solid product. I can't believe their LEDs are $200 compared to their HID pricing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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