DIY HID kit issue - The ol' one eye - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

wylde1 · 01-07-2015, 05:31 PM

Hey Everybody!

Since my car is asleep for the winter up here in the frozen north, and I may actually get some free time ... I was thinking about trying to tackle something that has been annoying me greatly with my HID kit.

Some of you might know that I installed BMW headlights on my car, and I've got HID's in the outer projectors. I built the typical DIY plug/play harness, which plugs into my factory driver side headlamp plug and feeds power to the ballasts in parallel.

The problem, as with many aftermarket harnesses for HID's, is that since the kit is closest to the driver side light it will always power up. But SOMETIMES it will not feed enough power to the passenger ballast and it won't light up. This is if I leave my lights in auto mode.

Now when I notice this I simply cycle my lights on/off and they come on fine, but it's something to do with the power available on startup that causes this I think. That the driver side ballast draws too much power and doesn't allow the passenger side enough to fire up. I'm tired of cycling the switch and I want to fix this.

One idea I had was split it into 2 harnesses. Where each light is controlled from the factory plug on that side of the car. It just means double the relays, which is not as clean as I'd like it to be.

Has anyone else experienced this and found a solution? this is the first car I've experimented with HID's on.

Also, does anyone know if the high beam signal is a pulsed signal like the low/DRL? I may just eliminate the high beam relay entirely and use that relay for the other side harness. I don't have a scope though (or meter for that matter) that is capable of detecting pulses, just average voltage.

seanjhon · 01-07-2015, 10:36 PM

Don't know if I'm understanding if u have same issue as I did but I installed HIDs on my camaro and had the flickering issue with one headlight. Bought a relay harness off of eBay, found a ground bolt behind fender, screwed ground wire. Then screwed the other wire to the positive outlet in engine bay and haven't had a problem since.

Look here starting at post 32
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...=318717&page=2

Splicing and stuff gets tricky sometimes and I hear nothing but issues when people splice in aftermarket lights and such. I bypass all splicing and run all my accessories to their own switch and own power source utilizing relays and such.

wylde1 · 01-09-2015, 11:40 AM

I don't have anything spliced into the factory harness. My DIY harness plugs into the factory light bulb plug and powers the lights from there. Everything runs off my factory switches.

Interesting though, I will definitely try just finding a better ground near to the passenger ballast first.

Thanks!

2SSRS@Gen5diy · 01-09-2015, 01:14 PM

The high beam does not use the DRL power so no need for that relay.

01-07-2015, 05:31 PM	#1
wylde1 I am the Stig Drives: Black w/ IOM stripe 1SS Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Saskatoon, SK, CAN Posts: 1,312	DIY HID kit issue - The ol' one eye Hey Everybody! Since my car is asleep for the winter up here in the frozen north, and I may actually get some free time ... I was thinking about trying to tackle something that has been annoying me greatly with my HID kit. Some of you might know that I installed BMW headlights on my car, and I've got HID's in the outer projectors. I built the typical DIY plug/play harness, which plugs into my factory driver side headlamp plug and feeds power to the ballasts in parallel. The problem, as with many aftermarket harnesses for HID's, is that since the kit is closest to the driver side light it will always power up. But SOMETIMES it will not feed enough power to the passenger ballast and it won't light up. This is if I leave my lights in auto mode. Now when I notice this I simply cycle my lights on/off and they come on fine, but it's something to do with the power available on startup that causes this I think. That the driver side ballast draws too much power and doesn't allow the passenger side enough to fire up. I'm tired of cycling the switch and I want to fix this. One idea I had was split it into 2 harnesses. Where each light is controlled from the factory plug on that side of the car. It just means double the relays, which is not as clean as I'd like it to be. Has anyone else experienced this and found a solution? this is the first car I've experimented with HID's on. Also, does anyone know if the high beam signal is a pulsed signal like the low/DRL? I may just eliminate the high beam relay entirely and use that relay for the other side harness. I don't have a scope though (or meter for that matter) that is capable of detecting pulses, just average voltage. Attached Images __________________ 2010 Camaro - 1SS, Black w/ Orange stripes

01-09-2015, 11:40 AM	#3
wylde1 I am the Stig Drives: Black w/ IOM stripe 1SS Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Saskatoon, SK, CAN Posts: 1,312	I don't have anything spliced into the factory harness. My DIY harness plugs into the factory light bulb plug and powers the lights from there. Everything runs off my factory switches. Interesting though, I will definitely try just finding a better ground near to the passenger ballast first. Thanks! __________________ 2010 Camaro - 1SS, Black w/ Orange stripes

01-07-2015, 10:36 PM	#2
seanjhon Drives: 2013 camaro Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Colorado Posts: 607	Don't know if I'm understanding if u have same issue as I did but I installed HIDs on my camaro and had the flickering issue with one headlight. Bought a relay harness off of eBay, found a ground bolt behind fender, screwed ground wire. Then screwed the other wire to the positive outlet in engine bay and haven't had a problem since. Look here starting at post 32 http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...=318717&page=2 Splicing and stuff gets tricky sometimes and I hear nothing but issues when people splice in aftermarket lights and such. I bypass all splicing and run all my accessories to their own switch and own power source utilizing relays and such.

01-09-2015, 01:14 PM	#4
2SSRS@Gen5diy Drives: 2014 Z/28 #82+#192, 18ZLE 66Nova Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: By the lake in AZ Posts: 15,719 View My Garage	The high beam does not use the DRL power so no need for that relay.