[acfaulkn]

I installed a set of projector headlights with the Halo's and other leds, but while searching out which lights to get I came across this:

Installation Info: These lights will follow the same installation/removal procedures as your OEM lights.

**For lights with additional features such as halo rings or LED's there will be a 2 wire hookup that will need to be wired for your vehicle. We offer a relay diagram by request that uses the parking light circuit to turn the halos on and off to avoid adding a secondary switch inside the vehicle. To install using this method a 12 volt Bosch relay will be needed and can be purchased at most local auto parts, and car audio shops. Please click here to contact us via e-mail for relay diagram.

Once I installed the projectors I did notice that the led's brightness kinda sucked, the halos are very dim too. Would hooking up this relay, configuration from above, fix this problem? Is it really necessary? I already bought all the materials for the modification, but I am now wondering about the value of this recommendation.

Have any of you heard of this set up or used it?

Heres the link to the site where I found this info (these are the lights i ended up buying, but not from this vendor):

http://www.drivenbystyle.com/0710-dodge-caliber-halo-projector-head-lights-black-p-54751.html

I have the 2009 CSXT

 

[HIGHBRED8]

well they may be getting their power from the factory harness. this would probably cause a dim light for them if they require 12v to run. the headlights are can bus controlled so they dont run a full 12v. the parking lights are 12v and should power them fine. i wasnt aware that you needed a relay though, the factory parking lights im sure are wired to a relay themselves, and if your tying into them why couldnt you just work of the relay thats already there? id assume you could just wire in the ground and power into the parking lights and be done with it.

lots of people have these lights so someone more familiar with them will chime in.

word of advice: when you making a help me thread, make the thread title reflect that. you thread will get more attention that way. if people think your just talking about them or showing a pic many will over look it, but if they think you need help most will come in and try to get you sorted.

ill edit you title to give you an idea of what i mean.

 

[acfaulkn]

Yea, tying into the parking is what I did, but they're still dim, well significantly less bright than those in the picture posted by others. I figured that I would just try the mod that that site is talking about and see what happens. It might just be crappy bulbs or something too, the three small top LED on the driver side were all broken/dysfunctional when they arrived. I contacted the seller and eventually got him to send me some replacements. Im going to put them in tomorrow after I get my car back from the shop. (some **** side swiped/hit-and-ran me while I was at a basketball game last week.)

Thanks for the heading advice BTW.

 

[HIGHBRED8]

no problem.

i know quality in bulb does make a difference. i had some led's for my license plate that i ordered and they were dim as hell, then i got a different set from another vendor and they are super bright. so that could be your problem. these lights are pretty much all the same though so i wouldnt expect there to be much variance from vendor to vendor. maybe you just got a bunk pair.

most people with these lights try to hide the led's even theres work fine, you want them to show and your dont work well. isnt it always that way lol. good luck.

 

[acfaulkn]

Problem solved itself...i think. But now there is a new issue. I went to replace all the upper LEDs so that both sides would match (the drive side LEDs were shot upon arrival and then I ruined the replacements). When I received the new lights, I first installed the missing driver side LEDs and they worked fine. The passenger side LEDs, which have been and still are working, would not turn on when the new LEDs were installed. The original ones work, but the new ones don't on the passenger side only.

Any ideas from the Caliber Gurus?

 

[HIGHBRED8]

did you try flipping them over? i know it sounds stupid but sometimes we forget to try the simplest fixes and only realize this after we rewired the entire car.

try taking one of the ones that works on the driver side and putting it in the passenger side. if that doesnt work, try taking all the new led's out. then replace some of the empty slots on the driver side and the passenger side with the ones that worked on the passenger side. see if both sides light up.

do the parking ligths still turn on? another stupid question but its worth checking the fuse. eliminate possibilities. after this youll know if its a fuse, if the polarity was reversed, if the new passenger side ones were bunk, if the passenger side even works at all anymore etc.

where you moving too in florida?

 

[acfaulkn]

All the sockets are receiving power. The lights that work on the passenger side work on the driver side. I tested the new bulbs, the old bulbs, flipping them to make sure the polarity was correct and I even tried the burned out bulbs. Right now the only bulbs that work on the passenger side are the originals, while the driver side works with everything. Its weird and intensely annoying. The only thing that I can think of that may be causing the discrepancy is that there is a load resistor installed on the driver side for the LED turn signal. I was supposed to install the resistors on both sides but one of the two in the set was broken. I waiting on a replacement as we speak, but i cant rationalize why the lack of a load resistor would be preventing the bulbs from powering on.

 

[acfaulkn]

DURRRR, I'm moving to Gainesville. I was planning on going to U.F. for the Forensic Archaeology program, but I decided to go to Syracuse University instead. Which means that I am only moving for 6 months...It sounds retarded, and is, but I have an obligation to keep my buddy from dropping out of law school.

 

[HIGHBRED8]

actually i could see that being the problem. not because i know why or can offer some specific reason why, but because i know you need resistors for the led tail lights to work properly. so it would make sense that the leds on headlights would need them too. probably because the turn signals run on 12v and leds dont.

 

[acfaulkn]

I seee. That is understandable. I'll just have to wait and see if the resistor solves the problem. I really hope it does b/c the leds im putting in there are going to kick balls. There supposedly significantly brighter than the originals.