Hid headlight problems

[sanjaun2]

I am jealous of all you folks that bought the HID lights from the group buy at a much cheaper price than I paid for my autolamps-online kit ordered from Janet in the UK. It has been almost 3 months and they have not got mine working right yet. It was supposed to be a canbus ready kit. I hooked it up and the canbus rejected it and shut off power to it. So I asked autolamps-online for help and they emailed me back with a bunch of crap that did not help. While I was waiting for that reply from them I went to the dealership and had them program my bike for the hid option. That worked for about a week. Now I must start shutoff restart my bike anywhere from 3 to 20 times for the canbus to allow the hid to start. Once running It is fine until I shut the bike off and restart. I am starting to get very pissed at autolamps-online.

[messenger13]

I know that this is a potentially ugly question Brian, but what software version is currently installed in your GT?

[sanjaun2]

Joe,
I had the reprograming done in mid November so I assume it was 7.01? I asked for the latest version at the time. My dealership is very good so I did not ask for proof or question their word. But I am beginng to wonder if it took because I still have the fuel gauge problem where the coputer says you are out of gas but actually have over a gallon left.

[DavidTaylor]

Wow Brian, I'd be mad enough to chew horseshoes and spit nails at this point. :mad: Sounds to me like a few things are in order -

Get the dealer to test and reload the latest software, and get them to confirm it took. After that see if resetting the canbus system for HID works. It sounds like either it will fail immediately or work for a week or so before failing again, which is a week without the headaches at this point.
If the reload and reset doesn't work, pull the HIDs and revert to the halogens. That may be a PITA, but it sounds like less of one than the 20 restarts to get the lights on every time.
I'd be all over autolamps like white on rice getting a full refund including shipping costs back to them, or a new kit that's been tested by them in a GT and guaranteed to work. I'm actually surprised they haven't offered a replacement kit at this point. It really sounds like there's something fundamentally wrong with the one they sent you.
Good luck getting this worked out. I absolutely hate lighting problems.

[grifscoots]

If it works and then quits, I don't think it's the bike. The bike would throw a code and that would be it. Check your install and make sure it's good.

[messenger13]

Randy has tested an HID on his GT (without the resistor work-around) and the CANbus is not shutting down the circuit. Randy has 7.1 installed, and he does not have the Xenon option turned ON. I also have 7.1 and will be installing an HID kit by this weekend. I don't expect any issues.

You obviously have one of two things going on here. 1) The CANbus is shutting down that circuit. or 2) Your HID kit is defective. I think the next logical step is to get 7.1 installed. It would be nice if you could verify that installation...just for piece of mind. Once 7.1 is installed, your HID issues should go away. If they don't, I would try to return that kit and get the CQLIght.ca kit that we're all buying. $86 is a no-brainer, and it is a really nice kit. I've installed several.

Of course, you always could just buy the $86 kit form CQLight.ca, install it (with it's resistor) and be done with the whole thing.

[grifscoots]

I bought the CQ light with the resistor and installed it on my 07 GT. No fault.

I then pulled the resistor and still no fault.

You have the HID selected in your software. This should allow ECU/ZFE to recognize the smaller draw of the HID.

I'm thinking HID, or install, fault folks.

[sanjaun2]

If it works and then quits, I don't think it's the bike. The bike would throw a code and that would be it. Check your install and make sure it's good.
Its the high initial current to start the hid that I believe cause my canbus to reject it. When its warm out or the light has been running, It will start within the first 1-3 attempts. But, when its cold out it takes a long time. The bike does throw a fault(headlight) and shuts it off. All I get is the initial flash and it faults.I would have considered a faulty install if I had not been an aircraft electrician for the last 26 years! I would have raised holy heck with them but one of our esteemed members had worked with hid online to supposely get this right. He was able to get a good one. Joe, You guys getting your hid's for $86 and having them work is starting to get me worked up!!!

[jayjacobson]

Hid headlight problems

Brian, cut your losses and just buy a kit from CQ. It seems to be widely proven by numerous members. Sure, it will cost a bit more. But the aggravation saved is more than worth it!

[sanjaun2]

I just may do that, Fortenately time is on my side. It is 21 degrees and icy right now, I am trying to give autolamps a chance to make it right. I thought they were the best so I paid the extra since I was installing it on a brand new bike. I will try having the dealership reload the software again also.

[RaffyK]

Brian:

Let me contact Janet and see if I can heklp you out.

Raffy

[Randy]

Its the high initial current to start the hid that I believe cause my canbus to reject it. When its warm out or the light has been running, It will start within the first 1-3 attempts. But, when its cold out it takes a long time. The bike does throw a fault(headlight) and shuts it off. All I get is the initial flash and it faults.I would have considered a faulty install if I had not been an aircraft electrician for the last 26 years! I would have raised holy heck with them but one of our esteemed members had worked with hid online to supposely get this right. He was able to get a good one. Joe, You guys getting your hid's for $86 and having them work is starting to get me worked up!!!Exactly how is the unit hooked up? Is there a relay driven by the GTs headlight wiring, with the HID sourced through the relay to the battery -or- is the HID ballast driven directly from the GTs headlight wiring?

[sanjaun2]

Thanks for the help Raffy. I emailed her again today myself. They do seem to want to help so thats good.
Randy, My hid is wired directly to the stock wiring for two reasons, First, in case of failure on the road I want to be able to unplug the the hid and swap out the bulb with the stock and readily available halon light bulb. Second, so the canbus sees the light bulb and is happy even though it only draws 35 watts when fully warmed up.

[Randy]

Thanks for the help Raffy. I emailed her again today myself. They do seem to want to help so thats good.
Randy, My hid is wired directly to the stock wiring for two reasons, First, in case of failure on the road I want to be able to unplug the the hid and swap out the bulb with the stock and readily available halon light bulb. Second, so the canbus sees the light bulb and is happy even though it only draws 35 watts when fully warmed up.Then my guess would be that the ballast you are using is drawing far more current during start up than the few that I have tested. Using a peak hold ammeter, I have measured three. Two of them dissipated just over 9 amps at maximum and one dissipated about 13.5 amps. All three settled down to 3.5-4.5 amps when the capsule achieved full brightness. All three of these worked on my GS and my GT without triggering a fault. Is there any chance you would be able to measure yours? In the absence of measuring, I would suggest that they send you a replacement igniter and ballast as excessive startup current could be due to either.

[sanjaun2]

Randy,
I do not know how sensitive the canbus is supposed to be. But if you have 13 amps times 13 volts that would be 169 watts. That is way above the stock 55 watts of stock lighting. But you have "peaked" my curiosity. I will check at work to see if we have a peak hold amp meter I can borrow. I have a fluke that only measures to 10 amps but I can't find the amp attachment cable. I'll let you know.

[Randy]

Randy,
I do not know how sensitive the canbus is supposed to be. But if you have 13 amps times 13 volts that would be 169 watts. That is way above the stock 55 watts of stock lighting. But you have "peaked" my curiosity. I will check at work to see if we have a peak hold amp meter I can borrow. I have a fluke that only measures to 10 amps but I can't find the amp attachment cable. I'll let you know.The 13 amps was from an older Philips ballast with built in igniter. Two things to remember - 1) The efficiency of the ballast is not 100%, they can lose 20-40% in the conversion - 35-watts of energy consumed by the Xenon capsule could require as much as 60-watts into the ballast. 2) The HID capsule requires quite a bit of current to 'start' after it arcs over, then reducing substantially over the next several seconds as the lamp reaches operating temperature, light output and color. This higher current is the result of a start up program in the ballast which greatly reduces start time by slamming the capsule with current to get it hot fast. The two newer ballasts I have required much less current at start up but all three settled down to about the same draw once the capsule reached maximum efficiency. The older ballast seemed to get the capsule to peak color and brightness a little faster.

[sanjaun2]

I borrowed an amp meter from work and tried it. My meter was not fast enough to capture it. Canbus would shut it off within a second. Since its so cold I did not want to start and stop the bike the numerous times required to get the light to stay on. I'll check work again to see if I can find a faster meter.