XenonDepot Xtreme Kit - Doesn't work, how am I being an idiot?
03-23-10, 04:49 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
XenonDepot Xtreme Kit - Doesn't work, how am I being an idiot?
So I tried to go slap in the xenondepot xtreme kit tonight. Before bothering trying to actually get the bulb in the socket and everything mounted I decided to just see if after wiring it it would light.
I am installing without the relay. BUT, it won't ignite no matter what. The halogen bulb worked fine before and after (when I put it back the way it was). It seems simple enough though they don't have a wiring diagram sans relay in the box. The two separate little plugs go from the ballast to the bulb, and the other cable from the ballast goes to the car's wiring harness. At this point I figured okay that's that... but no go.
I thought, oh no, did I get a bum bulb/ballast? But no, I tried other combinations with the other bulb/ballast and I just couldn't get it to work. What's the secret to this seemingly stupidly simple process? Either I am incredibly unlucky and got two bad bulbs, or two bad ballasts, or worse... or I'm just being an idiot.
I stopped short of trying the ballast plugged into the factory harness "backwards" (the way it doesn't clip in place). That just doesn't seem right and I had no idea how reversing the polarity there would affect things but at this point the only thing I can think of is that ballasts or bulbs I got were accidentally wired in reverse or something.
Any help appreciated -- I left the fender unbuttoned in hopes of figuring it out so I can get it over with. I've been waiting for the kit for a very long time and this is a total bummer.
I found this post elsewhere on the forum:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/cl-...hallenged.html
Apparently, perhaps I was right about the polarity. And if that's the case, I'm not really sure what I should do... I can go and try plugging it in backwards but without being "clipped" in it doesn't really feel like a great thing... so I'm pretty much limited to taping the dickens out of the harness to try to ensure it doesn't come loose or cutting the harness on the ballast? This doesn't seem right to me.
I am installing without the relay. BUT, it won't ignite no matter what. The halogen bulb worked fine before and after (when I put it back the way it was). It seems simple enough though they don't have a wiring diagram sans relay in the box. The two separate little plugs go from the ballast to the bulb, and the other cable from the ballast goes to the car's wiring harness. At this point I figured okay that's that... but no go.
I thought, oh no, did I get a bum bulb/ballast? But no, I tried other combinations with the other bulb/ballast and I just couldn't get it to work. What's the secret to this seemingly stupidly simple process? Either I am incredibly unlucky and got two bad bulbs, or two bad ballasts, or worse... or I'm just being an idiot.
I stopped short of trying the ballast plugged into the factory harness "backwards" (the way it doesn't clip in place). That just doesn't seem right and I had no idea how reversing the polarity there would affect things but at this point the only thing I can think of is that ballasts or bulbs I got were accidentally wired in reverse or something.
Any help appreciated -- I left the fender unbuttoned in hopes of figuring it out so I can get it over with. I've been waiting for the kit for a very long time and this is a total bummer.
I found this post elsewhere on the forum:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/cl-...hallenged.html
Apparently, perhaps I was right about the polarity. And if that's the case, I'm not really sure what I should do... I can go and try plugging it in backwards but without being "clipped" in it doesn't really feel like a great thing... so I'm pretty much limited to taping the dickens out of the harness to try to ensure it doesn't come loose or cutting the harness on the ballast? This doesn't seem right to me.
Last edited by BinaryJay; 03-23-10 at 05:01 PM.
03-23-10, 05:05 PM
#2
^ Its how mine is and I have had no issues
It will be fine! They do plug in backwards to work. The only option is get an extension and cut the wires and swap them so its PNP and you get to clip them as them should. I thought about trying this but mine has been good for a year now so I think you will be okay.
It will be fine! They do plug in backwards to work. The only option is get an extension and cut the wires and swap them so its PNP and you get to clip them as them should. I thought about trying this but mine has been good for a year now so I think you will be okay.
03-23-10, 05:10 PM
#3
Pole Position
Thread Starter
^ Its how mine is and I have had no issues It will be fine! They do plug in backwards to work. The only option is get an extension and cut the wires and swap them so its PNP and you get to clip them as them should. I thought about trying this but mine has been good for a year now so I think you will be okay.
It will be fine! They do plug in backwards to work. The only option is get an extension and cut the wires and swap them so its PNP and you get to clip them as them should. I thought about trying this but mine has been good for a year now so I think you will be okay.
03-23-10, 08:10 PM
#5
Pole Position
Thread Starter
I've already done putting everything in and back together, well mostly. I just flipped the connector and it snapped in snug enough backwards and taped it up with electrical tape to be sure.
But I got a nasty surprise when I moved to the passenger side. The passenger side fog light housing had a broken clip and it was being held in place on that side by a metal wire through the hole in the bumper and wrapped around the bulb harness (?!). I guess it broke at some point with a minor fender bender in the past and they solved the problem this way. I'm pretty disappointed to have found this... I patched it up as best as I could to make it as solid as possible with the "fix" and I guess it's not that bad because I've had this car for this long and never even noticed anything was up with it. The bumper on the outside doesn't show any signs of anything having hit it and nothing else in there looks bent or damaged so I'm a bit clueless as to how that happened... unless some lazy tech broke it somehow in the past and just tried to hide it.
Also bothering me is the fact that after I put the liner back inside the wheel well, one of the fasteners where the clips are for the life of me would not go back in. I tried nudging and moving the liner for a good half hour trying to see if it was just a bit out of alignment and finally gave up. All of the other ones went in without a hitch. One fastener missing isn't going to make any difference but it's those small things that just bother you to no end.
Anyway, fog lights are super bright now for what it's worth. I had a hard time finding a good way to put all of the wiring and ballasts into the bumper area and secured well enough so I'm just hoping I don't get any problems in the future "water proof" or not, since they are very close to the holes at the bottom of the bumper that I suppose are there for drainage. After spending so much time on it after discovering the patched up fog light I was just eager to get it back together so I could drive the car again.
Now with the LED parking lights, and the 3000k fogs, things are looking a bit esoteric and I'm going to have to eventually try to put matching d4s to the putco leds... this never ends does it.
But I got a nasty surprise when I moved to the passenger side. The passenger side fog light housing had a broken clip and it was being held in place on that side by a metal wire through the hole in the bumper and wrapped around the bulb harness (?!). I guess it broke at some point with a minor fender bender in the past and they solved the problem this way. I'm pretty disappointed to have found this... I patched it up as best as I could to make it as solid as possible with the "fix" and I guess it's not that bad because I've had this car for this long and never even noticed anything was up with it. The bumper on the outside doesn't show any signs of anything having hit it and nothing else in there looks bent or damaged so I'm a bit clueless as to how that happened... unless some lazy tech broke it somehow in the past and just tried to hide it.
Also bothering me is the fact that after I put the liner back inside the wheel well, one of the fasteners where the clips are for the life of me would not go back in. I tried nudging and moving the liner for a good half hour trying to see if it was just a bit out of alignment and finally gave up. All of the other ones went in without a hitch. One fastener missing isn't going to make any difference but it's those small things that just bother you to no end.
Anyway, fog lights are super bright now for what it's worth. I had a hard time finding a good way to put all of the wiring and ballasts into the bumper area and secured well enough so I'm just hoping I don't get any problems in the future "water proof" or not, since they are very close to the holes at the bottom of the bumper that I suppose are there for drainage. After spending so much time on it after discovering the patched up fog light I was just eager to get it back together so I could drive the car again.
Now with the LED parking lights, and the 3000k fogs, things are looking a bit esoteric and I'm going to have to eventually try to put matching d4s to the putco leds... this never ends does it.
03-24-10, 08:19 AM
#7
It was nice speaking with you Jason. Glad you've got everything up and running. Sorry to hear about the unexpected surprised. As per our conversation, the polarity had to be changed given that the ballasts are being powered right from the OEM fog light harness. It would not have been an issue if the relay harness was used.
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