XD Xtreme ballasts, XD PWM module, or Retrofit xB bulb?
Been using the PWM module since they came out at around spring/summer of 2016 IIRC without issue.
Today when I got off work. I instantly notice my headlights are dimmed.... Got out to check and sure enough, the passenger side is out. Bummer. Figured it was the bulb. These bulbs are about 3 years old now. Ballasts are about the same time as the modules. So getting close to 1 year. 3 years with the bulbs seem like a decent run.
Anyways, get home and I figure, well what the hell, lets see what happens if I turn them off and on.
Well hell, the passenger side lights up too. I let it warm up for about 30 seconds. Turn them off again. Waited about 10 seconds. Turned them back on and they are lighting up like normal.
So, what part of my components is failing? I'm pretty confident I can scratch bulb off the list, but who the hell knows. Or maybe it's just a fluke and wont happen again. This is the first time ever. But I don't believe in flukes for electrical issues like this....
id contact XD and maybe they will work something out with yuh, PM steve from this forum he will point you in the right direction, do you keep them on as DRLs i disabled my DRL to keep the bulb healthy if thats the right way to say it
The DRL have been disabled since installation of the kit 3 years ago.
Alright, here's an update with my situation.
So, a day after the post, the light turned back on and worked for 2 days. Sweet.
Then the next day, it died again and hasn't worked since. I finally managed to take a look at it today.
I tested out the bulb first, but plugging in a new bulb to the ballast. Didn't work. Hmmmm.
Alright, so I grabbed my spare ballast and get the new ballast in place with the old bulb. Turn the headlights on and nothing still. So now I'm thinking maybe it's the PWM module. I happen to move one of the harness slightly as the engine was running and saw the lights flash on. Well shit. Looks like I have a loose or corroded connection somewhere. I wiggled the connections until I found the right one. Turns out to be the connector that leads out of the headlight and into the PWM module.
Turn everything off and looked at the connection. I could see there's oxidation on the red wire connector coming from the headlights. The prong on the PWM side looked clean though.
So I grabbed my small ass flattip screwdriver and pulled the red female plug out of it's housing. Scrubbed it with a bronze brush. There isn't a lot of corrosion. Just a little bit of dusting. Even though the black side looks good, I figure I'll do the same to it just in case. I went ahead and removed the wires from the PWM plug and scrubbed the red wire plug too.
Plugged in all the original equipment back in and boom. Lights stay on. Wiggled the connection with no issue.
You definitely want to protect your connections when installing these kits. Even though they have the rubber grommets and such on the plugs, it doesn't seem to matter. I know I had a corrosion issue with one of the XD ballasts from 3 years ago. At 2 years, it failed and I couldn't clean inside that plug. It was heavily corroded.
Was heading out and turned on the lights and saw the passenger side is dead again. WTF, it was just on like 3 hours ago after messing with it. So popped open the hood and wiggled the same connection. Light turns on. Tucked it away again and it stays on. Don't know what the deal is. So annoying. Maybe I will change the bulb assembly after all, since it has a new thru cap harness.
Alright, so today the weather cooperated and I was able to change out the bulb assembly.
For the past couple of weeks, I've been driving with either 1 headlight or 2, lol.
If I notice the passenger side is out, I'll pop open the hood and literally tap the harness connection and poof, light is on. I can drive over bumps. Slam the hood down. The light will stay on.
But then the next morning, it's dead again. I have to tap that connection and it'll come right back on. So odd.
I don't have large gorilla hands, but it's so much easier to remove the bumper, just to change the light bulbs than trying to wrangle with the access hole and such. Pain in a ass to just change a bulb, but whatever.
While I had the bumper off. I was able to remove my old damage ballast too from last year.
Get everything plugged in and turned on the headlights to test them out. Turns on instantly. Notice right away how yellow the passenger side (XD Phillips I think) is compared to my RetrofitSource XB35 bulbs. I think the XB35 must be at 5000K and the Phillips at 4300K.
With the bumper off, I went ahead and changed the driver side to the XD bulb too. Now they are matching, color wise. But I also notice these XD bulbs have the filament shadow issue. Didn't want to bother messing with it anymore. Looked good enough. Greased up all connections and we'll see if in the morning, it turns dead again.
WATacoRider, what headlights are you running on your WK2 - are they stock or are you running something aftermarket like Anzo/Eagle Eye headlights? I just installed a used pair of Eagle Eyes this weekend with the XenonDepot Xtreme HID kit and right away was experiencing the same issue you are currently with my driver's side HID bulb. Then driving my car yesterday I got an indicator that my driver's side turn signal bulb was out.
After some investigation I removed the pinkish/brown socket from the headlight and discovered a loose connection between the plug and the socket. This is not the connection between the socket and the plug on the outside, it is the connection on the inside and it powers the LED strips and LED turn signals for my Eagle Eye lights.
The socket doesn't clamp to the plug on the inside and it looks to be faulty so I ordered a new socket. In the meantime I taped the connection which still does not get a good connection, but at least my turn signal works. Even after taping the connection, I am still having problems with the HID bulb coming on reliably and I think that could be contributing to my HID bulb intermittently working. I'll get the new socket and install it this weekend, hopefully it will address the issue.
Could the Xtreme HID bulbs/PMW modules be sensitive enough that it detects slight variations of voltage in the Jeep's wiring harness which prevents the HID bulb from coming on?
I don't know if the PMW are sensitive. I did take the car out this morning. Turned on the headlights just bc to see if they work. They do. I've yet to drive at night to see how the beam pattern is with the new bulbs. I am expecting a minor issue with the filament shadow on the passenger side. It'll be at about the ~4:30 position. Held up a piece of paper on front of the headlights.
I do know the plastics used for the OEM plugs and clips are super brittle. I know I have a couple broken latch clips connecting to the headlamps. I think it's the big rectangular one. Anyways, even without that clip, it seems to hold very snuggly.
One of the issues with room is the damn wirings coming through the headlamp cap. With the LED bulbs in, you can remove the cap out of the way to try and few up space. You have to deal with it dangly bc of the wires.
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