2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992) 1986-1992 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections.

HiD problem

Old Jun 3, 2008 | 03:56 PM
  #1  
J's fc's Avatar
Thread Starter
Jiu-Jitsu Triangle
Tenured Member 15 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 432
Likes: 2
From: Central Coast of California
Exclamation HiD problem

Hey guys i had a question, i have hid's hooked up to my s5 and every time i hook them up my headlap relay F@#ks up and i cant use my hIds. does anyone have the same problem, and do you guys have a remedy for it? thanks
Reply
Old Jun 3, 2008 | 05:27 PM
  #2  
evileagle's Avatar
Reverse Cerberus
Tenured Member: 20 Years
Liked
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,789
Likes: 11
From: Vancouver, WA
Don't wire them into the factory wiring. Have the OEM wiring turn on a relay and wire the HID stuff straight to the battery. The OEM headlight circuit was never made to run that kind of power.
Reply
Old Jun 3, 2008 | 11:32 PM
  #3  
J's fc's Avatar
Thread Starter
Jiu-Jitsu Triangle
Tenured Member 15 Years
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 432
Likes: 2
From: Central Coast of California
Originally Posted by evileagle
Don't wire them into the factory wiring. Have the OEM wiring turn on a relay and wire the HID stuff straight to the battery. The OEM headlight circuit was never made to run that kind of power.
Does it matter if my lights are hi and low beam?
Reply
Old Jun 3, 2008 | 11:35 PM
  #4  
raptor22's Avatar
Senior Member
Tenured Member 05 Years
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
From: San Diego, Socal
Originally Posted by evileagle
The OEM headlight circuit was never made to run that kind of power.
Well that might be true if HID's didn't actually pull less power than Halogens...

--Alex
Reply
Old Jun 4, 2008 | 11:12 AM
  #5  
gross polluter's Avatar
Senior Member
Tenured Member 05 Years
 
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 268
Likes: 0
From: San Diego, Ca
Originally Posted by raptor22
Well that might be true if HID's didn't actually pull less power than Halogens...

--Alex
HID ballasts require quite a bit of power on startup to establish the arc inside the light bulb. This is the issue evileagle is addressing. The higher starting current the HID ballast draws will overload the stock headlight circuits on some vehicles. Sometimes you get a flickering effect with the ballast trying to establish an arc, sometimes you get nothing because the circuit simply cannot supply the current required to create the arc. Sometimes everything works as it should. Once the light bulb fires up the current will normalize to something that's a little less than the halogen that was replaced. Making a simple harness from the battery to the ballast with a relay controlled by the stock headlight relay remedies that issue.

Originally Posted by J's fc
Does it matter if my lights are hi and low beam?
Yes.

Another issue with putting HIDs on an FC is the high beam circuit. The stock sealed beams don't operate both high beam and low beam at the same time. The dimmer relay switches between one filament or the other. If you wire your HID ballast to the low beam and try to turn on the high beam the HID ballast will shut off completely. When wiring HID ballasts into an FC, it's a good idea to bypass the dimmer relay and use the headlight relay to turn the ballast on and off. The dimmer relay can still be used for the high beam circuit, and it won't turn off the HID ballast either.

Last edited by gross polluter; Jun 4, 2008 at 11:19 AM.
Reply
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
The1Sun
1st Generation Specific (1979-1985)
7
Sep 18, 2015 07:13 PM
The1Sun
New Member RX-7 Technical
5
Sep 15, 2015 04:45 PM


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:36 PM.