turning on HID'd causes ESP, ABS and brake light to come on??? help plz

[sunny.s.]

so i just installed HID's on my b6 and everytime i turn them on the esp and abs light come on along with the brake light flashing

does anyone know what could be causing this? thanks

[Ethar]

when did you install it? When I installed my HID I had the same thing come on couple of times not sure which light it was but after few days it disappeared for good. but I am not sure if that's the case with you.

some HID kits are not compatible with audis thats why this happens sometimes the computer cancels the errors after couple of days. or it could be the harness. was you kit plug and play?


hope this link helps +1 if it does ;)

http://www.audiforums.com/forum/arch...p/t-60099.html

[Red Rings]

check where the ballast is mounted, many people had problems where the ballast would get to hot causing the ecm to throw codes. try to move it away from the current spot. i have mine mounted under the headlight, others have theirs in the fender.

[sunny.s.]

when did you install it? When I installed my HID I had the same thing come on couple of times not sure which light it was but after few days it disappeared for good. but I am not sure if that's the case with you.

some HID kits are not compatible with audis thats why this happens sometimes the computer cancels the errors after couple of days. or it could be the harness. was you kit plug and play?

just today damn i hope thats the case for me too

[sunny.s.]

check where the ballast is mounted, many people had problems where the ballast would get to hot causing the ecm to throw codes. try to move it away from the current spot. i have mine mounted under the headlight, others have theirs in the fender.

oh ok that might just be the problem is the ecm on the driver or passenger side

[sunny.s.]

Oh and it is plug n play

[sunny.s.]

So I just went outside and relocated the ballast's and no lights :)

[texasboy21]

if it happens again just turn the car on and then off two times. that will remove the lights from the dash

[artcollinsjr]

Turn the lights on before you start the car.

[EBG 18T]

i think the car is rebelling against the HID retro fit kit.

[[email protected]]

i think the car is rebelling against the HID retro fit kit.

Yep, and people post up about it almost every week. Easy problem and solution to find via search.

[2003_a4]

sorry but I found a fix for this. If you search for my thread from a couple months ago, a fix was done. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with where the ballast is. Put it in the stock location. The problem is in the Audi grounding. It's stupid but the ABS module and the healdight only on the drivers side share the same ground. Because you are using a 35w kit, it draws less power so the current through the grounds is retarded. Here is what you do:

-on the headlight harness plugging into the headlight, look for the two brown wires. there should be a fat one and a skinny one.
-cut the skinny one.
-tape off the and that comes from the harness and you are done with it.
-the end coming off of the back of the headlight, ground to the body. There is a bolt that holds the washer fluid bottle that you can use close by.
Hide your wiring, you're done. Its that easy.


I've been fine for 2 months now. There is your fix. I will not take credit for this, as a guy posted in my thread that did it. Just a +rep

Steve

[2003_a4]

So I just went outside and relocated the ballast's and no lights :)

It will come on in a couple days if not tomorrow. I promise. Do the above and you're golden.

[a4cruiser]

Turn the lights on before you start the car.

This works for me as well

[OhhFourA4]

I'm having the same problem, hopefully I can take a look at it this weekend and fix it. Thanks for the comments guys.

On a related note... when I turn my lights on my radio signal will start becoming progressively more static and have interference. It is worse on some radio stations than others. Could this be due to mounting? Or maybe the wiring? I'm honestly not sure how this was all installed, as it was on the car when I bought it. In which case, I'll have to do some investigating, but would just like to guidance / advice. Thanks! Good luck OP.

[xKrNxBoix]

alright... bringing this thread back to life.

I think some things werent very clear... what gauge wire should be used? So we only have to mess with one wire? which brown wire (there are 3. skinny, medium and fat one.) do we have to use?

I actually attempted this DIY fix and kind of botched up the wiring cause i didnt know which brown wire to use. There was one config that worked but after a few hours the ABS/ESP/Airbag light came back on. and oh btw i have a 2004 model A4, not sure if the wiring is the same for all b6. Appreciate it!

[heywier427]

visualize this: you open your hood, your drivers side headlight is were its suppose to be and its wiring harness is plugged in just like it always is. ok... looking directly down at the wiring harness plugged into the back of the drivers side headlight, notice the two TOP wires on the harness. the one to YOUR left is the correct brown one. now unplug the headlight harness from the headlight. snip the brown wire we are talking about 4 inches back from the plug. now you have two ends of this brown wire. the end that is coming from the wiring harness (from the car), tape off and forget about. that leaves us with end of the wire coming from the headlight plug. add about 15 inches of wire to it ( many people have ask what gauge. no smaller than the stock wire you cut. i think i used 14 guage. it was in arms reach at the time) and ground it to the bolt that holds the windsheild washer fluid down. thats it. neatly tuck the new wire in and tape over/shrink wrap the connection point. done.

[xKrNxBoix]

thanks for the help... really appreciate it.

i did exactly this but i used gauge 16 wire. The lights are still flashing at the moment though. I think maybe it might be because i also cut the other two brown wires by accident and botched the splicing? I tried my best to splice them together but i cut the wire too close to the harness so i dun have much wire left. Any fixes? Will soldering the wires help? maybe those wires are coming loose? or is it cause i used 16 gauge wire?

[Akronnnnnnnn]

thanks for the help... really appreciate it.

i did exactly this but i used gauge 16 wire. The lights are still flashing at the moment though. I think maybe it might be because i also cut the other two brown wires by accident and botched the splicing? I tried my best to splice them together but i cut the wire too close to the harness so i dun have much wire left. Any fixes? Will soldering the wires help? maybe those wires are coming loose? or is it cause i used 16 gauge wire?

I know I'm not going to be much help, but no there is no fix. I tried this same shit, even with the new harness and bulb out eliminators and it didn't work. These kits are apparently garbage. I'm in the process of trying to get my stuff returned so I can buy one of jackyaudi's kits.

[texasboy21]

I just got an email back from DDM tuning and my 8 month old 55w kit had a bad bulb, ballast and one of the head light code elim was bad so im getting it all taken care of and shipped back

[heywier427]

i know mine has been working with this setup with no problems since i bought the car. ive only ever run the cheapest ebay kit at the time, and have never had a problem with them. 6 years in my inifiniti and 5 in my escalade. i think kit for my audi was 40 bucks shipped! many people have done this wiring set up and had it work, so i not sure why its not working for some guys.

xKrNxBoix try unpluging all the hid stuff and pluging in your halogens, that will rule out botched up wiring. i dont think the guage of the wire is a problem, but it can hurt to twist in another 16gauge and touch it to the ground.

[xKrNxBoix]

hmm... this is what i found out after a couple of months...

I sometimes can turn my lights on without the lights flashing... works sometimes but sometimes it doesn't. Basically i turn my lights on while my car is moving on the road. If i try turning them on while it is idling it is almost 100% that it won't work.

Heywier427, how long have you had the kit? On my first install the lights actually came on too but once i started the car again it disappeared. After owning the kit for about 9 months (around last summer), the lights come on everytime now! So... what im saying is that maybe your lights are gone now but it will reappear like mine?

[diagnosticator]

The primary cause of all these problems, is the el cheapo crap ballasts uses with these retro fit kits. Specifically, the cheap ballasts do not have adequate EMI shielding to prevent the radiation of the high energy electromagnetic pulse radiation associated with the high voltage necessary to ignite the burner at turn-on. The required ballast output pulse voltage to ignite a cold burner is ~ 800 volts to ~2000> volts, and depends on burner condition and capsule temperature/ambient temperature. The ballast output pulse voltage applied to the burner required to re-strike a hot burner capsule (a crucial requirement for automotive HID lamps) increases until re-ignition is successful, and is typically ~ 20,0000 volts or higher. After the burner arc is re/established, the ballast output voltage decreases to the normal stead state voltage/current values applied to the burner after the warm up phase.
The high voltage pulse required from the ballast to ignite a cold burner, and especially the much higher voltage required to re-strike a hot burner, generates a large amount of electromagnetic energy. The electromagnetic energy radiation that results, if not sufficiently shielded and contained within the ballast, and also, prevented from escaping the ballast electronics on the ballast output wire, power input and ground wires by an effective inline EMI filter, causes high value EMI noise in the wiring harness that feeds back to the Central Electric Control Module by magnetic induction in the harness wiring.
The EMI feedback into the CECM, confuses the normal firmware logic and internal solid state switches inside the CECM, resulting in the typical range of error symptoms and malfunctions that often occur after fitting a cheap HID retro fit kit.

The effects of the above described situation, are different for each car. Each individual retro fit kit HID installation having problems, will exhibit unique subtle variations and range of malfunction symptoms occurring at each headlight turn-on cycle.

Sorry for the techno jargon and length, but hopefully this will help understanding why the problems with the cheap retro fit HID kits occur.

[heywier427]

makes sence.

to be honest, mine have come on from time to time. i always turn on my lights when at idle first thing in the morn. its hit or miss, but much more miss. maybe once every two weeks. if i shut down and restart (yes i know how bad cold starts are :( ), they go away. ill try when already moving as i have a good size drivway, and report back.

ive had them installed for almost a year now. cheapest ebay ones i could find! fogs as well.

good enough for me. im a youngster!!! my standards havent risen so high yet!

[xKrNxBoix]

I see... Thanks for the explanation, Diagnosticator... Although its hard for me to understand the full process of whats going on, i kinda get the jist. So im guessing getting a new ballast of the same quality wont help? or will it help just temporarily? Do you know if having a low quality kit such as DDM is causing other permanent problems to my car?

yea... when i first bought it i just couldn't believe the price (it went down even more after i bought it) and everyone was getting it around here. Now i can see why it is soo cheap compared to OEM.

[munninghausen]

Your description is much appreciated. I wanted to replace my cheapo DDMs with something more legit. Is there anything to look for in an aftermarket HID set, or is OEM truly the only option?

[the sheriff]

Your description is much appreciated. I wanted to replace my cheapo DDMs with something more legit. Is there anything to look for in an aftermarket HID set, or is OEM truly the only option?

OEM is your only option. That is if you want a kit to work 100% of the time.

[heywier427]

just because this was brought back. i changed out my 6000k to 4300, and the lights have never come back on. not once. i did absolutly nothing but change out 2 bulbs for 15 ebay bucks. and the 6000 did not burn out. i changed them because the lamin-x (smoke color) killed the light output.

[joon]

hey all.

i might be beating a dead horse but i feel it's still unclear of the solution here. i've been trolling around since i got my a4 a few months back, and i decided i should contribute to the audi community.

i managed to find a fairly nice HID kit for a low price, $99 (PM me if you'd like the website, i dont want to seem like a spammer), definitely plug-n-play, and it all fits in the headlight housing, and this was exactly what was happening to me, if i didnt turn my lights on BEFORE turning the key, i'd get ESP, ABS and the brake light. my HID doesn't flicker or die out, about a month with them thus far in the harsh cold weather conditions of Alaska.

keep in mind every aftermarket HID kit is different, simply due to the fact that a lot of the "companies" buy the ballast in mass and do their own wiring.

easily fixed with the first solution posted up there. i'll even post pictures for those of you still confused.

first refer to this wiring diagram:



first start off by splitting the harness up to give you room, be careful not to nick or cut any wires.

you're going to want to cut wire 10 (ground for low beam, labeled on the connector) about 4-6"s out from the connector to give you some room to splice then butt connect.



splice a 14-16 gauge wire to the connector side, tuck, and ground to power steering reservoir mounting bolt.





tape off wire 10 from the harness side and then tape up the harness.

that's it.

hope this helps!

- Kyle

[theboss]

bringing up the ancient thread but has anyone tried to tap (http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2104093) into the low beam ground and do that to power steering fluid bolt? Thinking about trying this instead of actually splicing wires... just a thought would only save me legit 5 minutes of work

[bclemons]

Yes, you could probally do that but I tried grounding to the brake res. and I did not have good luck with it. Went directly to the battery and it solved my problem forever.

[synergy04]

I'm gonna try running straight back to the battery as well, i contacted the company I went with and am waiting for a reply and their tech services input. @bclemons, is it still going good for you?

[Bo0sted_Rafi]

Bring this back to life. I got certain ocasions the same problems but not with the headlights hid, its with another hid kit im using in the foglights! sometimes works fine but in 2 of 10 times i get the fogs on, i got the warning lights!!

The fogs use the same ground like the headlights or my case its other thing?

[jacobsen]

Bring this back to life. I got certain ocasions the same problems but not with the headlights hid, its with another hid kit im using in the foglights! sometimes works fine but in 2 of 10 times i get the fogs on, i got the warning lights!!

The fogs use the same ground like the headlights or my case its other thing?

The bulbs on this car use resisters. Resisters let the computer know when a bulb is burnt out. So, perhaps you're setup doesn't have a way to trick the computer into believing the bulbs are fine. I have the same problem, every time I start i get beeeeeeeeeeeeep indicating fog light out. Not sure if I need to install resisters or improve the ground. I also had the problem the original poster had, but after I did my clutch I disconnected the starter cables and cleaned them off. Ever since it's gone away, go figure lol

[ZipMeUpJ]

Just tried this grounding solution and my driver headlight didnt turn on at all. soon as i touched the wire back to the harness it was on, but I still have the issue where left headlight is always on. Turning the key to off doesn't turn off the car either unless I turn off the headlight switch first.

literally just swapped in a new morimoto ballast and bulb and still the same issue before and after rewiring the ground. Stumped.

EDIT: turns out it was the jetta euro switch. Swapped in my oem peeling switch and ignition and left headlight issues gone lol. But now my fogs wont turn on. delving deeper when I have more time

2nd edit : swapped the switch bases and all is well again. Will see how long this lasts,

[Bo0sted_Rafi]

In my case its only when i gets on the hid on fog lights!!!

[grigor88]

Bringing this back so what I did was I took the ground coming from the left ballast and rounted it to the right headlight and I'm not having any issues maybe this will help for some of you

[amkmeco]

So, does these warning lights when flashing every now and then pose any risk on the computer of the car?

[Willënskraft]

So, does these warning lights when flashing every now and then pose any risk on the computer of the car?

Non that I know of. I've had the issue for about 8 months till I bought H7 halogens and problem solved. But, I do miss my HIDs. Anyways, try scanning with VAG-COM without turning on the headlights and see if it throws any codes.

[Gooner1886]

So, does these warning lights when flashing every now and then pose any risk on the computer of the car?

Have you tried rewiring like above pictures? its fairly easy to do and solves the issue.