HID and LED Lights Install - GMT-400

[nubuilder]

Bernie, it appears as if that worked.
I put a board in front of the light so I could see it when I clicked on the highs. It never shuddered.

New problem
When I turn the highs off (click them off with turn signal) and the headlight knob (which after turning the highs off, should turn the lows off), the lows stay on with no other lights on.
Would this be solved by a diode?

Ok, so is the drawing like I posted what you did? and it solved the flicker?

Yes, but now the lows aren't turning off when I turn the headlight know off. Working on that one tomorrow.

 

[ScottyBoy]

You might need some 4000 series diodes. I have dozens of them if you need some. I can put a few in an envelope and mail them to you. I used to buy them in bulk when I was installing alarms and remote starters.

Thanks for the offer.
What do the "4000 series" do or what makes them different?

There are numerous different types of diodes. The ones that you would use in a 12 volt application would be a 4000 series. A diode is basically a one way valve for electricity. It will let voltage flow one way, but not the other , preventing backfeed which is what you need in this setup. Click this link for a better more detailed explanation about using diodes in a 12volt vehicle.


http://www.the12volt.com/diodes/diodes.asp

 

[drperry]

Bernie, it appears as if that worked.
I put a board in front of the light so I could see it when I clicked on the highs. It never shuddered.

New problem
When I turn the highs off (click them off with turn signal) and the headlight knob (which after turning the highs off, should turn the lows off), the lows stay on with no other lights on.
Would this be solved by a diode?

Ok, so is the drawing like I posted what you did? and it solved the flicker?

Yes, but now the lows aren't turning off when I turn the headlight know off. Working on that one tomorrow.

Did you disable your daytime running lights?

 

[700 sportsman]

I have my running lights disable, and I'm 99% sure Matt said he did away with his a while back too

 

[nubuilder]

My DRL's have been disabled since the day I bought the truck (so 1yr 9mo).

 

[ScottyBoy]

Its also possible that the relay may just be sticking. That does happen more than people realize. Try swapping the low beam relay with another and see what it does.

 

[nubuilder]

Its also possible that the relay may just be sticking. That does happen more than people realize. Try swapping the low beam relay with another and see what it does.

That would make sense, except it only started staying on once I changed that one wire. Before that, it was working just fine.

I'm thinking a diode would be the answer.

Hey Scotty, would you mind checking RadioShack and telling me which diode (part number) to pick up? Thanks!

 

[Bernie]

Its also possible that the relay may just be sticking. That does happen more than people realize. Try swapping the low beam relay with another and see what it does.

That would make sense, except it only started staying on once I changed that one wire. Before that, it was working just fine.

I'm thinking a diode would be the answer.

Hey Scotty, would you mind checking RadioShack and telling me which diode (part number) to pick up? Thanks!

The question is... Where ya gonna stick that diode?

Let's determine exactly what's happening before we try fixing it. We need to know where the power is coming from to keep the lows on like that, and the way to do that is what I outlined earlier... pulling wires, one at a time, to find what path the voltage is taking.

The way the circuit is currently designed I'm not seeing any way that the low relay should be energized with the headlight switch off, so I suspect that a couple of wires might have gotten reversed.

 

[nubuilder]

It sounds like one of the relays is staying energized. Start by pulling the orange wires off, one at a time, and see which ones cause it to stay on, and which don't. Very important, more than one may be causing it so you want to pull one off, see it it goes out, put it back then move on to the next. Test all three, even if the first one fixes the problem, to ensure we "see" exactly how the problem is happening.

I'll start by taking the orange wires -- my signal wires -- (even though they are actually black; I used different colors only for the illustration) off one by one and seeing what happens.
When I was first playing around with it and you had me move the blue wire on the Quad-beam (middle) to the orange wire on the Low (right), when I disconnected the blue wire from the orange, it shut off (just so you know if it helps at all).

Wish me luck !

 

[nubuilder]

I just realized I messed up my diagram.

The middle relay doesn't get its signal from the factory high beam wire.
It gets it from the wiring going from the high beam relay to the high beam ballasts -- so the blue wire coming off the HIGH relay.