JLMax16 Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Installed a 55w DDM Tuning HID kit. It's the newest model with the error correctors or CanBus. Install went fine, pretty easy. Grounded the ballasts to the cross member over the radiator, ground off the paint down to bare metal and used self tapping screws. Passenger side headlight fires everytime, absolutely no issues. The drivers side will NOT fire every time. Maybe one in ten. I have to cycle the headlights repetitively until hopefully it kicks on, sometimes it doesn't. I've checked and I've had the dealership check the headlight wiring, everything is perfect. DDM is stumped, they keep giving me new ballasts to try, which they all have the same issue. Anyone have any ideas? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirtanon Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 The problem with most 55w HID kits is that the ballasts actually pull an initial 'burst' higher than 55w. As a result, the lighting system has a hard time keeping up. From your description, it sounds like you have not installed a dedicated wiring harness for the lighting. If this is the case, I suggest that you make installing one a VERY high priority. If you don't, you run the risk of overloading your system and causing long term problems. This is why, when I installed HID in my 2010 Fusion, I went with the 35w kit. This way, when it first fires, it's still pulling less than 55w. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank F Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Installed a 55w DDM Tuning HID kit. It's the newest model with the error correctors or CanBus. Install went fine, pretty easy. Grounded the ballasts to the cross member over the radiator, ground off the paint down to bare metal and used self tapping screws. Passenger side headlight fires everytime, absolutely no issues. The drivers side will NOT fire every time. Maybe one in ten. I have to cycle the headlights repetitively until hopefully it kicks on, sometimes it doesn't. I've checked and I've had the dealership check the headlight wiring, everything is perfect. DDM is stumped, they keep giving me new ballasts to try, which they all have the same issue. Anyone have any ideas? My question is why? Are the headlamps in the 2014 that bad? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rfredal31 Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Like said above you need a dedicated wiring harness that connects directly to the battery, only sure fire way to have reliable HID's in a non HID equipped vehicle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timwil56 Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 I too wonder why, but that's covered in another post. When you say you cycle the headlights repetitively, I hope you're waiting a couple of minutes between shutting off and turning on the headlamps. HID's heat up very quickly and require a cooling down before being turned back on. This rapid on off cycle is very bad for the lamps and will dramatically shorten the bulbs life span. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefoeyouknow Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Get a 6800uF 50v capacitor for each ballast. You're feeding the ballasts a pulse width modulated signal for power, and they don't like it. Also, 55w is a poor choice for ANY HID install, there are several reasons why, you're dealing with at least one of them. On your car, you don't need CAN-BUS adapters or ballasts, because they also add load. You have to understand what the term can-bus means, it means that the system monitors current draw to determine the health of the light bulb and circuit. If draw is low, it thinks the bulb is out; if it's high, it thinks there is a short. When the BCM flags either of these conditions, it disables the circuit as a protection measure. Can-bus also means that the module controls brightness through the process of pulse-width modulation, which means it's cycling the power on and off at a high frequency with a transistor, rather than just grounding a relay on that supplies clean power from the battery. THIS is how ballasts die in newer cars. THAT is can-bus. If someone tells you a ballast includes can-bus hardware they're full of shit. A can-bus adapter includes a load resistor and a capacitor. The load resistor increases current draw so the module doesn't get the idea that the bulb is out, and the capacitor cleans up the power. With 55w ballasts, you're already at or near the current draw the module wants to see, so adding the load resistor can push the module into thinking there is a short by further raising draw. All you need for your high contrast special is a suitable capacitor on each ballast to clean up the power. You can do THIS, but in the few years since this post, I've started using 6800uF 50v caps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eGuru Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Doesn't look like the OP cares anymore as he/she hasn't been back to the forum since April 5. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mielikki Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 I found it useful. I have a 2013 SE, and the stock headlights aren't bright enough for my preference. I don't want to go overboard, but a bump in light output would be nice to me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMax16 Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Looks like I may have solved the issue. I redid the ground and it seems to work ok now. I had ground off the paint, but I went and ground off deeper into the metal and it seems to work now. I couldn't do the dedicated wiring harness and relay because it caused the vehicle to throw codes, same with the capacitor. Lesson learned. Make the ground the best ground in the world. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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