hid kit flickering

[98pacific_frontier]

got a 9004 xentec,the bulbs has four wires,the low beams flicker,i spliced the ground for the high beam to the ground from the stock headlight harness.it flickers not too bad every 5 to 8 seconds,any ideas?

[alabama_lowlife]

i'd try a new ground. just for test purposes run a fairly large wire straight to the negative battery terminal and see if it affects the problem. if it does you can either try to fix the problem with the old ground or run a new one.

[onelozu]

If the ground doesn't fix it,it's probably a ballast going out.

[98pacific_frontier]

the ground,the black wire from my stock harness?ill try it out after work,oh and my hid is new,hopefully it isnt a defect never had a problem with xentec.grounding the high beams to any ground is fine, or can i leave it spliced to my stock harness?i have four wires from my hid bulb......

[onelozu]

My buddys set did it brand new too,and do you have Halogen high beams on the hids?

[1lownismo]

It dont matter I had a brand new set that one didnt work. I just ordered a set for my semi hope they work good. I have 6 ballest in my basement and all differt bulbs could be your bulbs too.

[98pacific_frontier]

yeah i have the halogens high beams & the low beam hids in one bulb,hopefully its not my bulbs but ill check,so whats the best way to ground the hid kit?

[pejsa HB]

you could also need a capacitor, voltage surges and drops cause problems like this and a capacitor wired in the circuit would probably stop it

[98pacific_frontier]

thanks guys,people have been telling me to put a relay in,i bought one,but need to wire it in,the relay i have is a 5 pin,blk,red,yellow,white and blue.40a/nc/30a relay.

[alabama_lowlife]

if you'll look on www.the12volt.com it will have a wiring diagram for a SPDT relay like you have. The best way to ground something (assuming there is not a good existing ground nearby) is to find a hole or drill one, then use sandpaper or a wire brush preferably in a drill to clean off all the paint down to bare metal. i put electrical contact grease on it at this point to prevent corrosion. then install the ground wire on a ring terminal with a bolt/screw. you have to make sure you actually have a good grounding place too. if you're grounding something in the bed, i've found that the bed isn't exactly a very good path to ground. i know you won't be grounding your headlights there but just wanted to throw that out there lol.

[98pacific_frontier]

thanks this helped so much ill be sure to try this out although im thinking of ordering the harness relay since its plug n play and much cleaner,but with spare time i might attempt this lol.

[screw_dup]

the connectors are cheap and short easily... mine are hardwired in... no problems

[98pacific_frontier]

howd u wire that in?the diagram hurt my head....

[alabama_lowlife]

+12vdc FROM HEADLIGHT SWITCH on pin 86, ground on pin 85, pin 30 +12vdc from battery, pin 87a to headlight, pin 87 unused.

[98pacific_frontier]

this wiring can accomodate both headlights,simple thanks AL.....

[alabama_lowlife]

yeah, as long as it's just the high side or the low side. you'd need another relay to do both.

[98pacific_frontier]

okay i tried it out and followed your advice i hooked it up and applied the 12v battery last,right when i did the hids turned on without flipping the headlight switch???

[alabama_lowlife]

oops lol 87a is unused, 87 goes to the headlight. i shoulda got my lazy butt up and walked to the garage and double checked.

[98pacific_frontier]

great AL it worked!14 gauge all around,i grounded the negatives from the ballasts directly to chassis,but sadly it still flickers...........POS its the slim kit too,swapped the bulbs out it still flickered,used a different ballast still flickered,the pass side does it way more than the drivers side.damn!

[alabama_lowlife]

make some jumpers and hook them up directly to the battery for testing to see if they flicker then. both ground and positive.

[98pacific_frontier]

i wonder if the battery being in the bed has something to do with it?and the only way would to extend the wires,is that too much resistance?my battery wires are 0 gauge though.

[alabama_lowlife]

get a volt meter and check the voltage at the battery and the voltage at the headlight and see if there is a drop. my guess would be that either the voltage is a little bit low or that the ground is not good. that's where i'd be looking. At work we have a saying "always check your connections first" make sure all the connections are solid/tight and have no corrosion or paint. a little corrosion can cause a voltage drop or a bad ground.

[98pacific_frontier]

let you know when i check.

[98pacific_frontier]

battery with truck off 12.85,battery with truck on 14.09,with efan on 14.01,power from battery to ballasts with truck on 12.60-62-65-71 back and fourth.