Please help!!! headlight problems :(
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio Texas
Please help!!! headlight problems :(
Ok guys i put an HID kit on my 99 vette and as soon as i was done the headlights only go down 3/4 of the way... thought it was the batt. voltage but its reading 13.8 on my display theres nothing in the way of the lamps closing sometimes they barely go down sometimes, sometimes though i get 3/4 out of em... i adjusted the "angle **** lol" to where they sit flush but up one more time and down back to the same problem... please let me know if this is a simple fix or a dealership thing...
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,960
Likes: 21
From: West Norriton PA
St. Jude Donor '08
Ok guys i put an HID kit on my 99 vette and as soon as i was done the headlights only go down 3/4 of the way... thought it was the batt. voltage but its reading 13.8 on my display theres nothing in the way of the lamps closing sometimes they barely go down sometimes, sometimes though i get 3/4 out of em... i adjusted the "angle **** lol" to where they sit flush but up one more time and down back to the same problem... please let me know if this is a simple fix or a dealership thing...
Turn on your high beams and then close. The circuit of the new HOD's has the wrong resistance and causing the problem.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 980
Likes: 18
From: Columbia, SC
and then some
I just put mine in tonight, lows and fogs, and had the same lights not dropping issue, but a flick of the brights and they're down. I can live with that. My problem is that the fogs up and stopped working. They worked fine till I pulled into my friends place and shut the car off. I know they were on cause saw the reflection in his tailgate. When I unlocked the car a few minutes later, no fogs. The light on the dash doesn't even light up. I checked the fuses, both ok. The relay "clicks" when I hit the switch, so I assume the switch is ok. they are still plugged in, and I just can't imagine both fogs dying at the same time like that, and even if they did, why isn't the led in the fog light switch lighting up?
Also, every time I turn the lights on, fogs or lows, it would reset my laptrax, as if it thought the ignition had been cycled...
I'm officially stumped. Any ideas?
Also, every time I turn the lights on, fogs or lows, it would reset my laptrax, as if it thought the ignition had been cycled...
I'm officially stumped. Any ideas?
Last edited by IM28702; Oct 30, 2007 at 01:58 AM. Reason: added a bit
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,960
Likes: 21
From: West Norriton PA
St. Jude Donor '08
I just put mine in tonight, lows and fogs, and had the same lights not dropping issue, but a flick of the brights and they're down. I can live with that. My problem is that the fogs up and stopped working. They worked fine till I pulled into my friends place and shut the car off. I know they were on cause saw the reflection in his tailgate. When I unlocked the car a few minutes later, no fogs. The light on the dash doesn't even light up. I checked the fuses, both ok. The relay "clicks" when I hit the switch, so I assume the switch is ok. they are still plugged in, and I just can't imagine both fogs dying at the same time like that, and even if they did, why isn't the led in the fog light switch lighting up?
Also, every time I turn the lights on, fogs or lows, it would reset my laptrax, as if it thought the ignition had been cycled...
I'm officially stumped. Any ideas?
Also, every time I turn the lights on, fogs or lows, it would reset my laptrax, as if it thought the ignition had been cycled...
I'm officially stumped. Any ideas?
Your HID Fog lights are probably drawing to much current and you'll need to run directly from the battery, just like the PIAA's.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 980
Likes: 18
From: Columbia, SC
I'll check....
I looked at the footwell fuse box last night, but didn't see anything that looked promising, so I didn't pull any fuses under there. I'll look at that in a while here. I had actually thought of running all four lights on independant relays to allow more power than the factory had in mind. I'll look at the fuse in a bit and re-post here.
Thank you, and we'll see where we get.
Thank you, and we'll see where we get.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 980
Likes: 18
From: Columbia, SC
Still brokededed
OK, I checked fuse # 6 under the footwell, it's marked for rear parking lamps, and is fine. No fuse in the footwell states anything about the fogs. There are 2 fuses under the hood, #1 & #6 and they are fine as well. Any more ideas? I feel that the fact that the led on the switch isn't lighting, but the switch is triggering the relay should be telling. Seems to me that the BCM is defeating the fogs for some reason.
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Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,960
Likes: 21
From: West Norriton PA
St. Jude Donor '08
OK, I checked fuse # 6 under the footwell, it's marked for rear parking lamps, and is fine. No fuse in the footwell states anything about the fogs. There are 2 fuses under the hood, #1 & #6 and they are fine as well. Any more ideas? I feel that the fact that the led on the switch isn't lighting, but the switch is triggering the relay should be telling. Seems to me that the BCM is defeating the fogs for some reason.
Check relay #39 under the hood.
Do you have approach light selection on when you hit the key fob. If not turn it on and see if they light up at night.
If they don't you'll need to start tracing the circuit to see if it's a power or ground problem.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 980
Likes: 18
From: Columbia, SC
Relay 39 "clicks" when the switch is actuated, checked that last night. I do have the approach light option on, and they do not light when I unlock the car,that's actually how I realized that they weren't working. I think when I get home I'm going o tap into the #39 relay, and if there's power there, I'll use that to trigger an accessory relay under the hood with direct power from the battery, running through a junction box to run both fogs... I just wish I knew why they weren't lighting so I could fix the problem instead of finding a work-around. I'll also switch the headlights and fogs to verify that the ballasts and lights didn't die.
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,960
Likes: 21
From: West Norriton PA
St. Jude Donor '08
Relay 39 "clicks" when the switch is actuated, checked that last night. I do have the approach light option on, and they do not light when I unlock the car,that's actually how I realized that they weren't working. I think when I get home I'm going o tap into the #39 relay, and if there's power there, I'll use that to trigger an accessory relay under the hood with direct power from the battery, running through a junction box to run both fogs... I just wish I knew why they weren't lighting so I could fix the problem instead of finding a work-around. I'll also switch the headlights and fogs to verify that the ballasts and lights didn't die.
I would see if there is another similar relay and see if that works, first before trying to directly connect up to the battery.
I would also check fog light wiring to see that it is not melted.
Does the light in the fog light switch light up when you turn them on ?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 980
Likes: 18
From: Columbia, SC
I am soooooo embarrased...
OK, so I feel as though I owe the forum an apology... After spending an hour swapping ballasts and bulbs, and chasing wires, I tested the fuse with my meter and found that even though it passed visual inspection, it had in fact blown. I popped in a 20 amp fuse, and viola... Lights work flawlessly. Thank you ajg1915 for the help, and boy do I feel like the idiot of the day.:o
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 15,960
Likes: 21
From: West Norriton PA
St. Jude Donor '08
OK, so I feel as though I owe the forum an apology... After spending an hour swapping ballasts and bulbs, and chasing wires, I tested the fuse with my meter and found that even though it passed visual inspection, it had in fact blown. I popped in a 20 amp fuse, and viola... Lights work flawlessly. Thank you ajg1915 for the help, and boy do I feel like the idiot of the day.:o
When in doubt, I always stick in a fresh fuse to test as it sometimes diffcult to visually tell if the fuse has been blown.
Additionally, the labeling on the fuse box is not great. I had similar problems when I did a conversion from an auto to six-speed as the tranny harness wire also has the wiring for the rear turn signals, rear lighting, etc..
When I finished the swap, I had no instrument lighting, rear light, fog lights, parking lights, etc. The only thing that worked was my headlights.
Turned out that one of the wires in the terminal block was loose in the passenger footwell, that I had probably hit when I was sliding wires in and out of the firewall in that area when I was doing the re-wire job for the six speed.
It had me stumped for a while, but then I just systematically went thru each wiring schematic and did my due diligence. As usual it turned out to be the last circuit that I checked being the culprit.
A quick re-crimp of the terminal end that was causing the problem and presto it was fixed.
Only problem left is to figure out why my alternator keeps giving me low voltage 12.3 vs that across the battery.
