HID - DRL Problem solved!!!

Tavman

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:
02 Protege5
So I finally bought my HID kit from ddmtuning.com (H7 35W 5000K) and 12V wiring harness relay. I installed it the other day as to the instuctions that came with the kit. When I went to let down the e-brake the harness relay just started going nuts and clicking, which caused my HID's to flicker. This happened when the lights were in position 1 and 2 (e-brake down) but when I turned the lights to position 3 they worked as per normal!
So trying to figure out what the hell it was doing I decided it could just be a faulty relay. Went to my buddies parts store and tryed another one..... same thing. So I went home and did some research in turn finding a Mitsubishi forum that had a simple way of fixing this problem with out cutting or splicing factory wires to change the DRL to turn the fog lights on. So I thought I would share my success with everyone.

How to fix HID's with DRL problems:
1) Buy an HID kit that has a wiring harness AND relay (most of them nowadays do)
2) Install everything as normal in the HID kit including 12V wiring harness relay
3) Remove relay from socket and use a test light in the relay socket on pins 85 and 86 to see which is positive and which is negative (with e-brake down) - for mine, terminal 86 was positive and terminal 85 was negative. Double check with your relay just in case.
4) Buy an Electrolytic, Polarized Capacitor at Radio Shack or local electronics/stereo store 25V (or higher) and 2000uF (or higher). Mine was 35V and 2200uF $1.99!!
See Attached Picture
5) The capacitor has a marking down the side indicating which terminal is negative
6) Solder the negative lead to the relay lead you noted (in step 3) as negative and the positive lead to the relay lead you noted as positive
See Attached Picture
7) Insulate the exposed leads with electrical tape or shrink tubing so they don't short out
8) Put the relay back in the socket
9) Test it all out!

Hope this helps anyone having the same problem that I did!!
 

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All that is not required. If it's a true relay kit, it takes its power directly from the battery. The headlight power is only used to close the relay, and that only takes ~ 0.1V. Even on DRL dim the stock lights use about 10V. If you didn't disable your DRL's, then a relay kit should eliminate this problem altogether. You probably tapped power itself from the headlight wiring, thats why you had flickering.
 
I got the wiring kit from the same place that i got my HID kit!!! So I dont know how its not the right one.........
 
i did exactly how the instructions told me!!! i try all sorts of combos from only hooking the relay to one side, that cause one side to work fine but the other side to be very dim and when i shut my car off, one head light stayed on even though my keys were out of the ignition!!! same thing if i did it to the other side. when i completely took the wiring relay out of my circuit the HID's were very dim but the balist was humming pretty loud to keep the head lights on.
Oh and it is called relay Chatter its a pretty common thing for relays to do when dealing with DRL's and not being able to disable it.
 
its not hooked up wrong
the same thing happened with my wiring harness from T/R/S..... took pics, sent to them, they verified the wiring, etc...

you can't wire this thing wrong man... it's pretty dummy proof lol

and if you want go ahead and say T/R/S is "not a true wiring harness" then, then i don't know what to say

the only way to fix this, as you said, is to add the capacitator or cut the DRL

as for me, i just cut the DRL

in sunny weather i drive with no lights, providing it's not during the times the HTA states
if it is, i turn on my driving lights

if its dark/cloudy, i turn on my driving lights

if its foggy, i turn on all lights

and in the night, i turn on all lights

as good as the capacitator fix is, i prefer to not have the HIDs running when its bright as f*ck outside... even though i have a spare set of bulbs, i'd rather these not blow

much easier and cheaper to replace all those other bulbs than the HIDs (providing these bulbs don't blow everyday!)

and i drive in the night 80% of the time so ehhhhhhhhhh

great work Tavman! This helps us canadians a lot who don't want to have to rewire the fogs are DRL or disable them!
 
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Thank you fLaPjAk!!!!!!
I dont like running with my HID's on all the time either but its a small price to pay to have them plus with I figure with the compacitor in there i will get a more consistant voltage which will help with premature light failure!! if not they are only 15 bucks to replace plus probably 15 in shipping too...
 
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