Last week, I installed my HIDs from DDM Tuning and everything was fine for a few days.

But since yesterday, the Fit has stalled 3 times. All of them when the headlights were switching on (I keep them in the auto mode). They always come on when I pull into my garage which has accounted for 2 of the times.

But today, as I was starting from a red light directly under an overpass, I guess the darkness from being under the overpass, my headlights switched on and my car stalled in traffic which is not acceptable.

After every stall, it happily starts right back up after putting it in park. And it doesn't seem to stall when I switch the headlights on, only when they come on on auto.

Anyone have any ideas? This seemed to start after I pulled the fuse to turn off DRLs. I will put the fuse back and see if the problem persists but if it does, I may be forced to go back to stock headlights.

 

If your running aftermarket HIDs leave the DRL's disabled. It's just my opinion, I run LEDs head and fog. It will prolong the HID lifespan. No state law where I live requiring my DRLs being on. I turn them on when weather permits. Also, may want to consider switching out the stock battery.

 

canbus? i read somewhere the new Fits have em now

 

Its the ballast. When the HID strikes it causes a high current draw and generates large amounts of RFI which interferes with the ECM causing it to shut down. You need a better ballast that is shielded for EMI/RFI.

HIDs also dont like being started, turned off then restarted before the metals inside have had a chance to recrystallize. It shortens the life of the bulb and can cause the ballast to fail over time. Dont set it to auto for HIDs

HIDs look great but need to be treated differently than regular vacuum gas incandescent filament bulbs

 

Also if you have a cheap HID kit that doesn't come with a relay that might be the problem too. I also pulled the DRL fuse and have used auto lights with stock battery and don't have any problems. I got the OPT 7 55W kit from amazon.

 

Cheap kit.
Don’t leave them in auto mode. It messed up the bulbs starting and turning off randomly.
Get a better ballast.

Or maybe try a projector retrofit. Its oem style HID.
I did mine in my si.
The Retrofit Source Inc they have good quality products and great customer service.

 

i got a pnp hid kit to use temporarily until someone confirms the jdm projectors fit

for those of u with HIDs, did you lose your DRLs? mine dont turn on anymore

 

figured it out. when you turn the car on (lights off), there will be no DRL on. when u turn your lows or highs on, the headlamp will keep it at the low beam setting (on) to act as DRL even when you turn the lights off. i do not like this as the DRL runs at a different draw and i do not want to damage my ballasts. i am pulling the DRL fuse out

 

I'm trying to figure out what is so terrible about the original headlights. They have decent brightness without glare, no hot spots, and a cutoff pattern almost as good as original Marchal or Bosch H4s.

It seems kind of silly to risk screwing up the electrical system with cheap Chinese electronics just to have slightly bluer light.

Or do people still misinterpret hot spots as brighter lights?

 

the stock lights are terrible. Compared to any other vehicle I've driven, including old 80's and 90's vehicles, they light output on these headlights is one of the worst. The pop up halogens on my 86 300zx were better. Of course HID projectors like those in Audi, Mercedes, BMW, and even the S2000 have a sharp cutoff and great light output, but even halogens in other vehicles are better. I have checked and they are aligned to the proper height as well.

The only vehicle that I've seen worse light output is the 2005ish Mazda 6.

 

"Terrible" in what way?

 

they basically don't illuminate anything, the road, curbs, low bushes along the road. The light is not even. Roads that I've driven down for 10 years are dull. Do I have exact metrics? no. I have comparison, and these lights suck. Unfortunately I have a thing against improper optics and won't put HIDs in a reflector housing, so I'll have to do another retrofit. Eventually, if I keep the vehicle.

Not sure why Honda chose to put halogen lights in this vehicle. For 20k+ I would have expected HID or LED headlights. Heck if they made the EX-L with Nav have the option I actually might have considered the nav version for more than .2 seconds.
And you know THAT would have definitely improved their profit margins on this vehicle, since the nav option is another $1000 (when it should be an additional $100 or standard for the EX-L)

 

I'd be interested to know how the stock 2015 HL's compare to 2012. Quite a different style. Honestly I keep my fogs on all the time and I'm spoiled by how much more they add for curbs and overall coverage. I wouldn't drive without them on. They add that much. And typical fogs like these on other oncoming cars don't bother me at all. I'm not blinded by fogs. I detest super bright moronic HL's coming at me, that's for sure.

 

Yeah, I did.

Initially I had the ground wire going to a bolt near the frame. A friend recommended moving it to the negative battery terminal. With both of those, the car would stall or nearly stall. Once, the car even threw the CEL with it on the neg. battery terminal.

Later, I moved the ground again a different bolt in the engine bay and no more problems.

I'm guessing that a weak ground was messing with the circuit. It was just about finding the best ground point.

But I ended up getting CREE LED headlights, so I took out the HID kit.

 

Also interested in which grounding points you used.

 

maybe the car needs a grounding kit.

 

For my hid I mounted the ballasts to under each headlight. Driver side under the light to a bolting point next to the bolt with the grounds. Passenger side to a bolt next to the wiper fluid reservoir. I mounted the relay to the side of the driver side ballast.

I have absolutely no issue with stalling.

 

thanks nori - i am going to switch my grouding points and try yours

 

Ok so I moved my ground to another bolt but first I wanted to make sure the ground is good so I scrap the paint around the bolt to expose metal. Ive been driving around for the past two days with two hour break between driving and using auto light with no stalling at all. Phew Hugh weight off my shoulders

 

You didn't need to scrape the paint... it would've grounded through the bolt itself.