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Yeah, another headlight buckets bad behavior post

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Old May 16, 2019 | 11:15 PM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by My Vette Life
So what causes those led to not let the headlights go down?

Just not enought power to it?
not enough of a change in amperage when power is turned off. (some LED kits don't have enough change in amperage when power is turned on to trigger the headlights to open)
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Old May 17, 2019 | 12:12 AM
  #22  
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But there are some brands of led that don’t have any issues. Lasfit and auxbeam users have no issues.
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Old May 18, 2019 | 08:56 AM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by My Vette Life
So what causes those led to not let the headlights go down?

Just not enought power to it?
I haven't tested it out yet - but I'm thinking the LEDs being used as the highs is not the problem. I ran those same LEDs as highs along with the bi-xenons, using the original 55W ballasts that came in the kit, for years without an issue.

Also, those LEDs I've been using for the highs are not LED "headlights". They are basically just "for show" to match the color of the bi-xenons since they are pretty much unnecessary. With the Hi-4 harness in the kit, the highs keep the bi-xenons on along with those LEDs.

Last edited by dood73; May 18, 2019 at 08:59 AM.
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Old May 20, 2019 | 10:40 AM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by TheRadioFlyer
Sound like the issue is stable amperage draw. Just because an HID ballast claims 55w draw, it's not always accurate. HID Ballasts draw more power on a cold startup then stabilize to a lower current draw a few seconds later. The headlight control module is looking for a current change when the headlights shut off to trigger the headlight doors to close. This is why on startup, they open with no problem, but closing, the ballasts are pulling the lower "stable" current.

Our ballasts are carefully selected to be "True 55w" ballasts and maintain a stable amperage draw within the range required to trigger the headlight control module.

The "quick fix" has been to turn on your high beams, and turn off your headlights, this should trigger the doors to close.
All the work I've been doing has been in the driveway with the E-brake on. I'm going to chock wheels with e-brake off and put the Sylvania's back in-place and see if I can get the motors to behave - then work on swapping in the new stuff
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Old May 21, 2019 | 08:07 PM
  #25  
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Well, I went ahead and tried the leaving highs on while turning the light stalk to the off position. With little hope as I turned it, I was amazed when the buckets went down and the lights-on warning chime shut off (even if I waited a couple seconds at the parking light position). Tried it with the highs off, and the buckets stayed up.

So, yes the quick fix worked for me. But I don't think it clarifies the underlying problem since the HIDs and ballasts, as well as the highs, are all off at the parking light position. So logically, I should have had this bucket staying up problem ever since I put the ACAs in a few years ago (I'm running the same LED highs). That is unless I'm misunderstanding or missing something in how this all works.
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Old May 21, 2019 | 08:13 PM
  #26  
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Sounds like you need these

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ose-doors.html
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Old May 21, 2019 | 08:23 PM
  #27  
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Interesting. I guess the new ballasts are not doing what ever the car needs to close the buckets. Everything else is unchanged.

I'll go with the highs on fix for now. Rather not mount the hot resistors. I installed those in my truck along with a relay harness to fool the canbus.
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