SlightlyEvil Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Tried putting HIDs on a LGT this weekend. Unplugged battery, wired em up, plugged battery in, turned car to ACC mode, lights go on fine. Try start car, makes PSSST sound, car goes dead. I mean DEAD - no lights on dash, no sound, no dinging, noothing. Unplug battery, return stock H7's to sockets, plug everything back in, plug battery back in, car starts right away and runs fine. HIDs worked ok in ACC mode but the car died when I tried to start it, why would it do this? Any ideas? I think I saw a post about this a long time back but couldn't find it through search... Advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGT Dave Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 The car itself makes the PSSST sound? That's weird. Can you describe how you're wiring them up? Did you disable your DRL's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 This post does not make any sense. There has to be more to the wiring. HID's are by far the easiest install ever! More details please. X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlightlyEvil Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Didn't disable the DRLs since the switch ont he light stalk was never set to 'drl' mode it shouldn't have made a difference. They're wired normally... Stock H7 harness > HID spades > Ballast > HID harness back to bulb assy. I don't see how it can be a wiring issue since they switched on ok in ACC mode on the ignition, but when i tried to actually start the car it just went dead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Does it make a cranking noise, or nothing at all? Are you trying to turn on the car with the lights on? Didn't disable the DRLs since the switch ont he light stalk was never set to 'drl' mode it shouldn't have made a difference. Huh? DRL mode on the stalk? Wait what? :confused: Please explain further. X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlightlyEvil Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Didn't crank at all. Nothing. At first I turned the key to ACC mode (where the dash lights come on, headlights, etc) and the lights worked fine. The light selector twist-thing on the wiper stalk is what I was referring to, next to the steering column, was set to "lights on" the whole time, not "lights off" (ie. the mode where the DRL are enabled, or in DRL mode) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 I am guessing a low battery situation. If you want to avoid the DRL's being on just put on your parking brake before turning on the car. I say drive it around for a while, let the battery fully recharge and then do the switch. Do not turn the lights on before you turn on the car. Just my 2'c X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlightlyEvil Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 Oh, another thing, There was an audible whine coming from the ballast... nothing freakish loud, just what I assumed was normal electronics whine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGT Dave Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Maybe try wiring them up, disabling your DRL's and then start the car with the light switch in the OFF possition. Those ballasts draw a pretty good amount of power when they fire up. Maybe they drew too much power to allow the car to start correctly? (That's a guess...just throwing suggestions out there.) My ballasts whine a little too. I think that's normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squishyface Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 bypass the battery, and go direct plug in using the stock headlight harness as your power source. Def. Disable DRL's! Ballast whine means they're doing thier job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlightlyEvil Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 Yea I did plug them into the stock headlight harness actually, not directly into the battery. I'm just worried that perhaps something could be damaged - but it seemed like the car detected something was wrong when it tried to turn over, and flipped a breaker somewhere or something? It wouldn't even recognize the key in the ignition until I disconnected the battery and reset the ECU. At which point it did something very strange - wiped the AccessPort Base Map clean off the car, when driving it the car would just die when the turbo was going to kick in. I re-installed the AP and then the car worked fine. I'm still scratching my head over this... I don't want to hve to go through reinstalling the AP base and rt maps again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWDxBOOST Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 what? you plugged hid bulbs into your stock harness? or you cut your stock harness to go to the ballasts and then to the bulb? maybe you blew a main fuse... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilT Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Very strange indeed, what brand of HID's (not sure if it makes any difference). Disconnect the DRL's and try again. Double Award Winning Legacy GT Wagon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRAZY KEN Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Can you tell me exactly or show pics of install...where did you mount your ballast? Did you ground them or shield them from the body? Do ou have an intake system? Which kit?Plug and play? CK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 what? you plugged hid bulbs into your stock harness? or you cut your stock harness to go to the ballasts and then to the bulb? maybe you blew a main fuse... From his post: Stock H7 harness > HID spades > Ballast > HID harness back to bulb assy. One thing may not be relate to another, but see, there is another variable, an AP. I second the suggetion to disable your DRl's before you connect the HID's. X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlightlyEvil Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 No no no I dunno why this is so complicated to understand - I must suck at explaining it, I didn't cut anything or do anything odd. I basically just followed the walk-through! No weird wiring setups or splicing anything. I plugged the HIDs (which have 4 plugs each - 3 used to connect to ballast, 1 to connect to the stock black wiring harness) in, they worked in ACC mode, went and tried to start the car, it died. Wouldn't turn over, no dash lights, nothing. Sounded like a PSST noise. Unplugged the battery again, installed stock lights, everything on car worked fine (including the stock lights). So if I had blown a main fuse, even the stock lights would no longer be working, or there would be some other issue, correct? Phil, it's a GT HID kit from Terrence on TSC. It's a plug n' play kit, yes, basically like any other. The ballasts were sitting on a separate piece of plastic on top of the engine (since I was just testing the wiring) and weren't touching anything metal. I assume though that would make no difference since when you install them you just double sided tape them to the inside of the engine bay anyways and I have never read anything about them having to be isolated/grounded/whatever in any FAQs or the intall guide that came with the kit. I have no aftermarket intake system, but I am running the ecu with stage 2 AP maps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VXCL Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Oh, another thing, There was an audible whine coming from the ballast... nothing freakish loud, just what I assumed was normal electronics whine. 100% normal. you've seemed to narrow your problem directly the the xenon kit itself. They do draw ALOT more power the halogens during warmup 20-30amps! Very possible having the lamps on during startup is drawing too much power on the crappy oem battery. First mod to my car was a new optima batt because of how crappy the oem one was! I would test each ballast by directly wiring the + and - to your battery. MAKE SURE THE BULBS ARE CONNECTED !!!!!! If both work then MAYHEM #122/22 STS NNJR SCCA AUTOX4U.COM XENON RETRO GUIDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOTATURBO Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 if the ballasts whine, they are bad....they shouldn't make a peep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VXCL Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 if the ballasts whine, they are bad....they shouldn't make a peep High voltage ballasts do that. its normal. every oem setup i've retro'd or sold since 2000 all whine. MAYHEM #122/22 STS NNJR SCCA AUTOX4U.COM XENON RETRO GUIDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlightlyEvil Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 I'm still at a loss as to what caused this 'short' - that's all I can assume it was. Something must've shorted and either the ballast or the car (I'm assuming its more likely the car) flipped some sort of breaker or fuse or something that was only reset by unplugging the battery. I'm pretty basic with electrical stuff, I know how to unplug the battery right and etc, but would putting the ballast in the vicinity of the engine, alternator, or starter motor cause this sort of short out whhen the thing tried to crank over? Any way to test the ballasts/bulbs to make sure I didn't damage them without wiring them into the car's harness first? The manual says it's possible to wire them directly to the battery but then makes reference to a special wiring harness needed for this (which I assume is simply just longer wires since the stock wires from the HID wouldn't reach when the bulbs are in the housing?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookslikeanevo Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 fuse will not fix itself when you disconnect the battery! only thing i can think about is that your batt didnt have much juice, you turn the hids on after install and it drained it even more... Current:MY05 SWP wagon - 253/290 UP, AEM CAI, Invidia Q300, tuned@yimisport OLD: MY06 GRP - 274/314 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlightlyEvil Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Yea a fuse wont fix itself and if I had blown the fuse for the light harness, my stock bulbs wouldn't be working now, right? So I'm guessing it was either a breaker in the ballast for safety, or something in the ECU that detected something outta the ordinary and killed the ignition process (unlikely but hell I'm guessing here). Again, not an expert here but the HIDs had only been powered in ACC mode for about 10 seconds before I started the car, and if the battery was that low I would figure it'd manifest itself in other ways when the stock bulbs were back in (longer crank times to start, etc), no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Turn on the car without the lights on. Turn on the car without the lights on. Turn on the car without the lights on. X --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlightlyEvil Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 ^^^ ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VXCL Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 buy SRT4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAYHEM #122/22 STS NNJR SCCA AUTOX4U.COM XENON RETRO GUIDE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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