Asking for help - Audi 80 and HID kit

[dangel]

Hello folks - got pointed this way by an S2 owner although I'm just a poor Audi 80 TDI driver i'm hoping I can find a little help on a problem i've got with a HID kit and installation. Sorry if this isn't allowed here (me being a non-s2 bloke) but if anyone can offer any advice it'd be much appreciated (and you do seem like a helpful lot!)

First off, i've done plenty of reading this afternoon on K pin mods, modding the loom to keep the HIDs on etc - but that's all a stage away from where I am now - let me explain:

- H4 kit
- Single unit light - one x HID for the dipped beam, one x std light for the main beam
- ballasts located externally to the light, two wires leading to the unit that goes inside the headlight itself.
- headlight is non-ellipsoid (so the stock bulb is two-in-one like this kit)
- both kit and the old bulb plug into a single three pin connector
- stock light bulb unit works fine in all modes
- and the killer: the HID replacement unit lights up but only when main beam is on and both lights remain on (dipped HID and main filament lamp) in this mode.
- Switch on dipped beam only and nothing happens at all.
- car does have bumper lights which were added by the previous owner and are only active when main beam is on (they are not fogs as such).

So.. conclusions:
1. the HID kit itself appears to be working
2. ze wiring is not so good..

Ran out of time (and light) but my next logical step is to get out a trusty multimeter and start drawing up truth tables to work out what the loom provides - the seller of the kit isn't being very helpful and i don't have a (reliable) wiring diagram for the kit (which was sold as plug and play and supporting this car). And yes, it's off ebay so happy happy joy joy!

Any advice?

Thanks folks.

[Le S2 Audi]

Sounds like a wiring or faulty HIDs issue to me... Stating the obvious I'm afraid..

There are a number of threads on here covering fitting of HID's, so do a search whilst its dark!!

Most ABY S2's have ellipsoid lights, but I think I am correct in saying Early 3B's didn't so this may help refine your search...

[Jamo]

Search forum for H4 HID, the 3B uses the same hi-low kit. Sounds to me you haven't got the right kit.

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10987

[HPmuirt]

Greetings pop-pickers,

Apart from the fact that Dangel seems to be driving an Audi powered by a wood-burning stove, his main issue here seems to be that when he turns the dipped beams on, nowt happens (even though they illuminate in mainbeam mode (which is wrong for a standard bulb but at least shows that the HID's can be powered).

So the question is, when 3B owners upgrade to HIDs without changing to ellipsoids, what other mods are required?

My initial thoughts are that this is related to one or several of the following issues: -

1. Are the standard 10A fuses enough or should they be raised to 15A? (was this the cure for the strobe issues some folks had?)

2. Does it require the stalk mod and if so, just the pin 7 to 8 mod or the more involved method of removing 2 pins altogether and moving 2 pins to different positions? (this is assuming that he has the same early stalk as fitted to the 3B)

3. Is it affected by the dim-dip mode (I think one of the pin mods above may deal with this though).

Cheers n

Si

[dangel]

Thanks for the replies - starting to think "wrong kit" also

Fuses - well neither main or dipped (both 10A) have blown so raw current draw hasn't blown them (but i might uprate them should this ever work!) and popping the original lights back in shows all is well (albeit dimmm). The ebay seller is "contacting a garage today" which fills me with untold hope and joy - still it's better than "get them fitted properly" which was his initial "response".

As for the wood burning stove - wood is much cheaper than rocket fuel mixed with myrrh

[PeterS]

Si:

Recommend against ever installing a fuse greater than specified - especially for the headlights.
You will greatly increase the risk of frying your headlight switch.

If you have issues with sufficient voltage/current, install a supplemental relay and appropriate wiring.

-Peter

[HPmuirt]

Si:

Recommend against ever installing a fuse greater than specified - especially for the headlights.
You will greatly increase the risk of frying your headlight switch.

If you have issues with sufficient voltage/current, install a supplemental relay and appropriate wiring.

-Peter

Agreed, but I seem to remember that a few people suspected that their strobe issue was cured by moving to higher fuses. I don't know why and certainly wouldn't do that in my car for sure, just trying to keep the discussion going as our wood-burning newbie has not many replies thus far

Cheers n

Si

[Nuvo]

What wattage are your ballasts rated at? 35W or 55W?
The solution I am aware of is to place a high value (1,700uF) electrolytic capacitor rated at 50V across each of the ballast outputs to smooth any unwanted voltage ripple.

Edit: A 2200uF 50V cap will probably easier to source.

I haven't tried it myself, so I can't verify this. Make sure you get the polarity of these correct before doing this.

[cd_contact]

Hi,

A filtering capacitor is a good idea in case your HID lights up but flickers.

In your case I think it's the wiring. Does your kit have an additional relay? Are you shure you have proper grounding ? If you switch back to dipped after going to main does the HID stay on ?

I used to have a dipped beam HID, main beam Halogen kit on my 1991 80 (same H4 headlights) and it was the worst combination possible : very powerful dipped beam and a lot less powerful main beam ... I starded avoiding switching to the main beam due to lack of light (usually these madeinchina.com kits have low quality halogen bulbs) So my personal advice is to upgrade to the bi-xenon kit (and 55w would't hurt if you have the single projector headlight).

[Nuvo]

Sorry, I didn't read the thread through fully. I saw the word "flicker" mentioned and I "filled in the blanks".
Assumption is the mother of all f*ck ups after all.

Still, it could help someone who is seeing the HID flickering fault as I haven't seen this fix suggested here before now...