I just recently put in some h4 bulbs and housings in and they are extremely dim to the point where my brights now are dimmer then my previous lows. I tryed putting an upgraded harness on and it did not make it any brighter. Any one that was in the same boat as i am or has an idea of what to try?
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Dim h4 headlights
- Thread starter powersb
- Start date
Tim00XJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
What kind of bulbs did and housings did you use? Does the harness draw straight from the battery?
I have Delta H4 housings with PIAA Xtreme White 60/55w which actually put out 110/100w and have had no problems with brightness and a headlight harness. They are almost as bright as OEM HID's as well as producing very close to the same color.
I have Delta H4 housings with PIAA Xtreme White 60/55w which actually put out 110/100w and have had no problems with brightness and a headlight harness. They are almost as bright as OEM HID's as well as producing very close to the same color.
I have the Autopal E-code housings and i've tried multiple different bulbs including some 7000k 100w bulbs with still no avail. Should i put in hid ballasts? would that make it brighter? Has anyone used this hid kit www.buyhidkits.com/6000khidkits.html
Original_MudButt
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- In the eighth dimension
Look at your grounding. You want to make sure you have the best ground available. If you can, ground directly to the battery. If not, make sure your OEM ground contacts are clean.
I am assuming that since you upgraded the harness that the power is coming straight from the battery??
maybe2fast
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- COMMERCE, MI
EBAY
username HIDGATE
I recommend 5000k, 6000k is kinda blue
I have 3 sets from him
username HIDGATE
I recommend 5000k, 6000k is kinda blue
I have 3 sets from him
winkosmosis
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Maui, Hawaii
Upgrade your wiring harness and upgrade to 65/70W bulbs. Then you'll be putting down as much light as modern cars that come with good wiring.
- Location
- Rainy side of Washington
I suspect wiring like the rest, either you have a poor ground or a poor wiring harness in general. Try the 100 watt bulbs you got with a decent headlight harness, it's a known issue.
Ok thanks I will put my grounds directly to the battery. And yes with the kit i do have the power running directly into the harness. Although i also thought i could have been the wiring so i ran test jumpers outside of my harness to power, ground, highs, lows... ect and i could not tell a difference.
- Location
- Columbus, In
Tim00XJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
Try finding the problem first before dumping more money into lighting. You may only be hiding a problem that could come back and bite you in the future by purchasing HID's.
Like everybody else said, check your grounding and connections. Did you hook up everything properly? Did you purchase a wiring harness or did you make your own?
Like everybody else said, check your grounding and connections. Did you hook up everything properly? Did you purchase a wiring harness or did you make your own?
Ok so i went back through all my wiring and i ran 8ga wires to every thing (some extra wire i had laying around). I rewired the whole harness and still no luck they may have gotten just a slight bit better but not much at all. I even tried my original bulbs(55/60w) hoping to see a difference but there was none. I bought the wire harness from eautoworks.com and it look really nice.
Care to elaborate on this? If he uses a proper stand alone harness for the HID's then all he's using is the stock harness to trigger the relay for the HID harness. If there were a problem with current draw or voltage drop through the stock harness then the only effect that might "bight" him would be insufficient power for the relay causing the HID's to turn off (or not on at all). It wouldn't cause a dimming or flickering problem for the HID's since the power's are seperate. And since there'd be no draw on the stock harness anymore with HID's comparable to what there was with stock head lights, there really shouldn't be a problem.
Of course, burnt, corroded, shorted wiring aside.
CharlesS
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Quezon Province, Philippines
With the engine running have you measured the voltage at the battery and the headlight connectors...
Sounds as though your voltage is very low...
Might have a problem with your charging system.
When I built my harness for the headlights the voltage went from 11.8V to 13.8. The additional 2V makes quite a difference!!!
derrickdrew17
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Duncanville
Do you need a upgrade wiring harness for the HID kit's? or do they usualy plug into the battery?
CharlesS
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Quezon Province, Philippines
While you could plug the HID harness into factory headlight harness the additional 2v provided by a dedicated power source would give a more stable and higher amperage source. Not sure how much amperage is needed to power the HID starters.
mbennett
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- B'ham alabama
Start by checking the voltage drop from the battery to the headlight connectors individually with both unplugged from the bulb, anything more than a few tenths a volt is too much, if so check voltage drop at the headlight switch, see what voltage is coming in (switch off) and what voltage is going out (switch on) you should see no difference here. compare you readings from the headlight connector to the output of the switch, and you should be able to locate the source of the drop. Finally if nothing reads much lower than your battery voltage check the voltage at the connectors with the other bulb running. (Who knows, maybe some goober wired them in series) just set up a relay for them if this sounds like a pain :hang:good luck
They can be done both ways. But the way I see it is... its a Jeep. No need to spend the time trying to make the stock stuff work and support the current draw for the HID's. Especially when a lot of the kits out there can supply, or come with, a stand alone harness. The extra harness just uses the existing stock wiring to trigger the HID harness relay to supply the power for the HIDs direct from the battery.
crazydave
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Saginaw,Tx
i agree with checking the grounds connections. also I used two relays and upgraded wire. Of course a 170 amp alt. does help. But I did see some of those hid kits I been thinking maybe, may try on the daily driver first.
