LED Headlight Issues: Amperage and Fuses

[suspectnumber961]

Try to hit the contacts in there with some WD40 or contact cleaner....they can get fuzz and so forth in them...preventing good contact.

[OG VX]

Thank you for that info. Great idea. Did do that this morning, to no avail though. I'm going to through the halogen bulbs on this evening. I bet that solves the whole issue.

[Chrysler kid]

I can kind of relate.

In my camaro when running 55watt his headlights the wiper motors which were on completely different fuse panels and power wires, would trip the wipers descend function to lower into non use position. I believe it was too much current being put through the switch and the wipers which are on that column were being triggered by the extra current.

I think yours is the opposite problem, the bulbs are not taking enough current so the switch is not signaling to the fogs to work.

Again I'm not sure how your fog lights are wired, or if they are wired independtly.

Best way to trouble shoot is to see if the problem goes away with halogens, if it does you could measure the bulb resistance at the socket for the led and halogen and possibly use a resistor to even the current out for the led

[OG VX]

^^ Genious. Thank you. Now, how would I go about wiring in a resitor, and which type shoudl I be looking for?

All of this technology is with LED headlights is new, so there is just not enough documentation out there for common problems/fixes yet...

[freebeard]

I've driven with Hella H4s since the 80s and always felt smug about how much better they are (especially when they were illegal in the 48 states other than OR and WA); but today you have LED and HID projectors. The HID, anyway, have a much better (more uniform) field of illunination than halogens.

How would you compare LEDs in H4 reflectors?

[Chrysler kid]

Originally Posted by OG VX

^^ Genious. Thank you. Now, how would I go about wiring in a resitor, and which type shoudl I be looking for?

All of this technology is with LED headlights is new, so there is just not enough documentation out there for common problems/fixes yet...

I can't be sure until you test the current going to the bulb and then the current to the led bulb. My theory is the draw on the switch isnt large enough and thats why it makes a buzzing noise, or it could also be from an over stressed ground wire from the switch.

I would also try a seperate ground or wire a power source separately from the factory harness.

To be honest on the camaro I took the easy way around the problem, I just wired up some 12 gauge wire to a switch to use as the primary power source instead of the factory switch. I also created my own ground location on the radiator support.

Apologies I have imited electrical knowledge on trouble shooting and I usually just find a problem and correct it by eliminating the variables

[OG VX]

Happy to report back here that I did solve my problem!

I went out this morning to put the stock halogen bulbs back in, thinking that would solve the problem. It did not.

So, as a final resolve, I removed the headlight/turn signal combination switch for a good clean an re-greasing. It wasn't too bad of a task, and was actually quite fun/interesting to disect and re-assemble. Put the combination switch back in the vehicle and voila! Everything works now. Excited to put the LED headlights back in at the house. I bet they work perfect now.

Solved:
- Headlights back on; full force, no flickering
- Hi-Beams stay on when engaged (don't revert back to low beam)
- Fogs come on; no more relay buzzing.

What happened (I think): When I first test drove the car, I noticed an issue with the lights wanting to flicker. I jiggled the stalk, and they started working just fine. At that point, it was an occasional issue. But, as with all issues, they always get worse. I believe it was a mere coincidence that when I installed the LED lights the headlight switch was just about on it's way "out" of being functional. The connections inside were so badly corroded that it only let a limited amount of voltage to the headlights. However, (again, coincidentally) the LED's take such a low amount of wattage that they actually did fire and function...just not well. As a result, they didn't send a strong enough signal back to the fog relay to tell the fog system that the headlights were on. The fog relay got a half-strength voltage/signal, and rattled like crazy trying to decide what to do (ha!). When I went to install the halogen bulbs today, the voltage issue was much more obvious, as their wasn’t enough voltage to power the needs of the OEM halogen bulbs (even though the LED’s halfway worked on the voltage being sent, which is a testament to their lower than OEM-spec current draw!).

Upon removing the switch, I had melted plastic around the shroud RIGHT by where the headlight contacts are. The contacts (one especially) had old (and now) burnt grease caked on them, and were not allowing for a good contact.

I cleaned everything with a q-tip and alcohol. I hit the stubborn spots/grease with a small flat-head screwdriver, chiseling away the old goo. Once clean, those spots got wiped down with a paper towel, then alcohol wiped and dried.

Once all was clean, motion parts got WD40 treatment. Then all electrical contact points got some grease. I used “Bulb Grease” since it was what I had on hand. I know “Di-Electric” grease is most appropriate, but again, that’s what I had.

OK, so in case anyone else has a similar issue, hopefully all of this can help you.

Thanks to everyone for your input. Looking forward to getting the LED lights back on and seeing what they can REALLY do!

[samwichse]

What led bulbs are you using? Do you have a link?

[serialk11r]

^^ I was wondering the same thing, I have never heard of plug n play LED headlamps. I know you can get "H4" bulbs that are an appropriate power rating to serve as fogs. Maybe these aren't that bright? That said, my old weaksauce OEM halogens + fogged up lenses barely provided much illumination at all.

[freebeard]

We're all wondering.

That said, my old weaksauce OEM halogens + fogged up lenses barely provided much illumination at all.

OEM halogens are a joke, they have a beam little different than old sealed beams that were required by law in the USofA, starting in the 1940s. Look at the beam pattern in Hellas. The low beam has such a sharp cutoff you can see the line across the road. It reaches farther down the road on the right. European bulbs are opposite, lighting the 'kerbside'. On high it's white light wall to wall and 80 feet in the air. Bulbs range from 55-85 watts.