big problems with my driving light install!

so i install the whole thing yesterday, biggest pain in my butt that ive ever done

so frustrated i finally finish and... they dont work!

here is what im experiencing

no power going to the driving lights themselves, and also i have no power to my drivers side turn signals, nor my drivers side tail light

im thinking the problem was with the module that i removed from the drivers side foot well, i mistakenly removed it, put in the one for the driving light harness, realized my mistake, and replaced the modules into their respective spots

im sure one of the could have maybe been damaged but i dont know for sure

i do have power to the aux light switch itself and to and through the fuse so if anyone can help me please let me know!

 

Have you checked all of the fuses (even the ones that don't seem immediately relevant to your current project)?

I'll look through the installation instructions for the driving lights and see if I can help narrow down where the power's being interrupted.

 

thanks!

 

Need a few more details: Are these the Mini driving lights or aftermarket? If aftermarket, are you running through a relay (hope so) or running full pwoer through the switch (lunacy).

Sounds on the surface like there is a fuse blown or a module not connected correctly, but there are reasons fuses blow.

Now that you've rested, doublecheck ALL your connections. Start with whatever Step One was and go from there. Do so with the battery disconnected, then follow the circuit with your circuit tester.

You may have inadvertently reversed something, or have a bad relay.

Good luck. I know how frustrating that kind of install can be.

Winter autocross... lights off for that run!

 

I've installed several sets of these....

biggest pain in my butt that ive ever done
can't argue that one

im thinking the problem was with the module that i removed from the drivers side foot well, i mistakenly removed it, put in the one for the driving light harness, realized my mistake, and replaced the modules into their respective spots

Here's where I get confused. You tap a wire into the passenger side computer wire bundle (tap the high beam trigger to tie the dl relay to high beam activation) but no module gets pulled ...a new module gets attached under the dash....I recall that's done with double sided tape. Did you yank something out of the driver side foot well and then realized you were on the wrong side...and missed that you should not pull the module, only disconnect the cable bundle?

If you pulled something out and "reconnected it" it sounds like you didn't reseat everything correctly (was the battery disconnected as you futz'd with the elecrical system?) pull it out again and push it back in HARD. And note that IF connected correctly the driving lites will ONLY come on when the high beams are on.

 

thanks a bunch guys, and yeah everything was done with the battery pulled, and these are the MINI driving lights. Im going to pull the other module again and see what happens

basically what happened was if you look in the left side of the drivers side foot well there is a module very similar in color to the one that you install. I was not thinking clear and didnt read clearly so i unplugged that module, and replaced it with the new one supplied with the kit.

Im thinking that even though its kind of cold im going to go out and mess with it a little bit, ill test a few things and see where i can get with this!

im thinking that its a module only because there are several things being affected, so ill report back!

 

ok, weird new info

so something is very odd

my drivers headlight does not have running lights, but the pass side does

when i turn on the low beams the drivers side with no running light turns on, but pass side doesnt, THEN when i turn the high beams on, only the passenger side turns on!

same thing happens with signals, the passenger side turns with the lights, but will not signal. The drivers side does not turn on with lights, but DO signal. WTF is going on?!

it sounds like i have some mixed wires, my perdicament is will it be the wires behind the radio, or the wire in the passenger side footwell?

also if anyone know and would like to call me, please PM me

 

curious....

to the best of my knowledge the only thing the wires to the radio do are provide the illumination for the switch but I can't confirm that.

The wire you tapped in the footwell is the high beam trigger, it should have NOTHING to do with the other lites. I'd triple check the connector here, it obviously DOES connect to a lot of other stuff and if it is not seated right wierd things may happen. I recall this is a PIA to get in right....it clamps down as I recall. And I'd check what that 'other module' was that you unplugged. If it is a flasher relay....hmmm.

But my most reasonable thought: I've had some really wierd lite things happen when a ground got messed up so I'd triple check everything up where you connected your ground...ensure you didn't drop an existing connection there and ensure you don't have any bare wire causing an unwanted ground on something you added.

Do you have xeon's?

 

no xenons, and see the odd thing about the passenger side panel was it tells you to use a five prong quick connect, but its only for one wire, so i just spliced in the one wire to the other one, is that the correct thing to do?

 

that's the way I've done it. I soldered the connection. As I recall the 5 prong unit allowed the thicker wire diameter....

This trigger wire and the ground is the only place any of this should get NEAR existing lights wiring. I'd snip this trigger connection and disconnect the dl ground and see if everything returns to 'normal' ... easy to reconnect once you get everything back to 'normal'. Snip in an accessable place and splice back together later

 

I've got fogs and driving lamps in the 4-light setup above. I wanted to be able to run fogs alone (necessary with the xenons in heavy snow or heavy fog), but have the driving beams come on only with the high beams. I also wanted to be really sure I didn't mess with any wires that did something critical, so I ran a separate circuit from the fuse box using an add-a-circuit, and tapped wires where I knew they'd have the voltage and signal I needed.

Here's what I did, running signal wires to relays to run aftermarket lights:

For the fogs, I ran the trigger to the driver's side marker light. I spliced it by stripping the wire, running the tap into the wire, soldering, and taping/shrink tubing. I don't have a pic of that.

For the highs, I went straight to the source - the high beam itself. I made a tap using the male end of a spade connector, bent 90 degrees. I inserted it into the plug for the + side of the bulb (circuit tester), and secured with a small ziptie, just to be sure. The connector itself was likely sturdy enough, but I like the belt-and-suspenders approach.

 

ok, did some fiddling and found the problem with the headlights, signals, etc.

something funky was happening with the yellow-green wire, going into the BCM in the pass side foot well, i think im going to have to sodder it instead of butt joint it because of possible mixed signals or something

now the only problem is that im not getting any power to my driving lights themselves, the grounds are both good too so it has to be, or what im assuming it has to be, is the 6 prong relay, just not transfering power to the lights themselves, the relay could be bad i guess but who knows for sure

 

well that wire in question, if not getting the right power, will prevent the dls from powering up. You could test them sep' the wire from the BCM and take it to some other "always on" source...the cig' lighter works..... Then try to power up the dls. If they won't pawer up then, I'd be afeared you toasted the relay.

 

soo all problems are solved, lights are working, and things couldnt be better!

thanks to all that tryed to help, esp BJ, i really appreciate it!

 

Accidental post