Catbeater Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I just bought a 2005 Legacy GT in December, and it came with HID Headlights. However, as my luck seems to be consistent with expensive purchases, the left side headlight burned out a bit ago, so I just decided to buy a whole new HID kit. I had always assumed that the car for some reason didn't have automatic headlights, since the HID's stayed on even after the car turned off. However, after it burned out and I started using the high beams more, I discovered that the high beams and the fog lights (both the stock ones i assume) do in fact turn off with the ignition, its just the HID's stay on. My question is... is this normal? I found the HID installation instructions on this forum and plan on using them. Will I still have this problem in the future, or is it as I suspect and the guy was just a moron when he installed the last ones and didn't wire them correctly? I'm just wondering if I'll get my automatic headlights back with the new HID's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rice_rocket Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 No, all lights should shut off when the car shuts off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtang Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 well.... is ur kit the plug and play or are u gonna run a relay off the battery?? the problem i had was i had daylight running lights and if i had the lights turned off and the e brake down my hid would flicker cuz it wasnt getting enough voltage to the ballast to power them correctly... so i always had my lights to the on position... when the lights are in the on position the hid were on all the time... but after the car shuts off the lights turn off automatically... so i never had to physically turn lights on or off... but i noticed sometimes one of the lights wouldnt come on.... probably due to the fact when i cranked the car over it wasnt giving enough power to the ballast at that moment.... so i just diconnected my day running lights... theres a thread on here somewhere that tells u how to do that... very very simple... oh... my hid kit were plug and play... and im pretty sure if ur lights are in the on position and ur fog lights are on with it both ur lights and fog lights will turn off when your car turns off... someone correct me if im wrong?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catbeater Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 well.... is ur kit the plug and play or are u gonna run a relay off the battery?? the problem i had was i had daylight running lights and if i had the lights turned off and the e brake down my hid would flicker cuz it wasnt getting enough voltage to the ballast to power them correctly... so i always had my lights to the on position... when the lights are in the on position the hid were on all the time... but after the car shuts off the lights turn off automatically... so i never had to physically turn lights on or off... but i noticed sometimes one of the lights wouldnt come on.... probably due to the fact when i cranked the car over it wasnt giving enough power to the ballast at that moment.... so i just diconnected my day running lights... theres a thread on here somewhere that tells u how to do that... very very simple... oh... my hid kit were plug and play... and im pretty sure if ur lights are in the on position and ur fog lights are on with it both ur lights and fog lights will turn off when your car turns off... someone correct me if im wrong?? I bought the Apexcone kit that RPM was dealing out on this forum (http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17448). They should be plug and play, but to be honest I haven't looked in detail at the lights (which arrived today) or the walkthrough. I'm also not sure about the daytime running lights, I've actually never looked at them. My main goal is just to make sure that when the car is turned off, all of the lights turn off as well. I have killed the battery 3 times already by accidentally leaving the lights on when its still light outside (since the car doesn't come with a dinger to let you know that the lights are ton). I am not sure, but I think that the guy who owned this before me probably just didn't know what he was doing... I am an Electrical Engineer so I have a pretty good feel of electrical systems, just wanted to make sure about the ones in the Legacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtang Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Well I think the lights are suppose to turn off automatically... that's probably y there's no chime telling u ur lights are on?? all of my lights could be on but once my car shuts off everythign turns off... sounds like he ran a relay connected straight to the battery so it doesn't use the stock harness at all??? That could be y ur lights stay on... if u turn ur lights off... and put ur ebrake down ur day running lights will come on... they only come on when ur ebrake is down though... but since u have a hid kit u probably won't see it... I'm really no expert at electrical stuff... I'm justin tellin u what I experienced with mine... hope it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbrotens Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 When wired correctly, the lights will go off with the ignition no matter where the selector is set. I have the slimline apexcone kit from RPM installed on my car. I would recommend disabling your DRL's because while the starter is cranking, the ballasts won't get enough power and sometimes neither or only one will come on. Here's a link: DRL Disable If you leave the switch on all the time, just turn them off and then back on after you start the car. I don't even think about it anymore. Because I still value safety (and of course sweet looking cars!) I also installed Daylight Demon Eyes and use them during the day. They are hooked into the marker lights (middle light setting). They can also be bought from RPM. There is a thread on them here: CCFL Daylight Demon Eyes Sorry if this post got a little off topic. I just love my lighting setup and want to share the love! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbrotens Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Let me add to why the DRL's must be disabled. This is from RPM in this THREAD, Post #94: "It's not a matter of how much faster the bulbs would burn out, it's that the DRL module will damage the ballasts. The DRL module works in one of two ways, either by lowering the amount of power sent to the halogen bulb or by simply sending it pulses of power. Either method of dimming a normal halogen bulb will damage an HID ballast. Ballasts are designed to operate on a full, steady 12 volts and underpowering them in any way will cause them to stop operating. The DRL module must be removed when installing HIDs. If you are concerned about safety, simply turning on the HIDs during the day would not cause any problems." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtang Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Let me add to why the DRL's must be disabled. This is from RPM in this THREAD, Post #94: "It's not a matter of how much faster the bulbs would burn out, it's that the DRL module will damage the ballasts. The DRL module works in one of two ways, either by lowering the amount of power sent to the halogen bulb or by simply sending it pulses of power. Either method of dimming a normal halogen bulb will damage an HID ballast. Ballasts are designed to operate on a full, steady 12 volts and underpowering them in any way will cause them to stop operating. The DRL module must be removed when installing HIDs. If you are concerned about safety, simply turning on the HIDs during the day would not cause any problems." But if ur like me and are very forgetul and forget u have DRL and don't turn on ur lights during the day u end up having a strobe light in the front of ur car... that's prolly y sometimes only 1 decides it wants to work.. its easier just to disconnect the DRL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbrotens Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 ^ - For sure, you don't want to end up damaging your ballast because you forgot to turn on your lights, that would suck! Also, I know if I leave my lights on when the car is off (the lights turn off with car), sometimes only one comes on when I start it. To get them both on I have to turn the lights off then back on. I don't know if this would even work if the DRL's were not disabled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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