Hey Guys,

For those with hid relays, where did you ground them behind the headlights? The truck has been having trouble to start, the shop told me it had something to do with them. I ordered a new relay to see if that was the problem. Right now I'm trying to go over things that may be wrong

 

From what I know you should be able to just ground it to the body or frame.. :/

 

Define "having trouble to start". Not turning over? Turning over slow? Turning over but not catching? A shop is saying your HID's are causing a hard start issue? Simple test would be to disconnect your HID's and see if the truck does not have "trouble to start", whatever that means.....

 

On mine, there were two big grounding bolts behind the driver's side headlight, and one big one behind the passenger headlight. I used those for the grounds.

 

I used those grounds that were already there I think. Just loosened the small bolts and made sure nothing came loose, then tied it right back up again. Good luck!

 

got a new battery in january during a blizzard ( the other was the stock battery). then about a month ago, it would click click, then wait about 30 seconds and then it would turn over and start no problem, this happened about three days go by til i can get it to the shop. they think it was the starter, got that replaced, was told there was a flat spot in it. then saturday went to turn the truck on after the gym, put the key in... nothing no click just the red light that comes on, and i have no security system. tow truck brought it to the shop. they took the starter off tested it on the bench and it worked fine, thought it was a loose connection somewhere. I asked them how they got it in the garage they said it started when they took the hid power wire off the battery.

yea i used that too, just checking things off, on if they could be related

 

When you say that your truck doesn't have a security system on it, do you mean that you had the standard Dodge start/no-start, key recognition, etc., feature disabled by someone or that you don't have an aftermarket system installed?

I'm surprised that they'd remove a starter just to test it.

Did you ask them:

• What made them think to take the hid wire off the battery or did they just remove it to jump or charge the battery?
• Did the battery need to be charged to get the truck to start?

Without anything else to go on, I would think that your relay hookup might not be done properly and that you might have a drain through that. Could you make a sketch of how you wired the switch, relay, and hid and post that? Also, what switch did you use?

 

no aftermarket. so what ever is standard on the st model

the battery had plenty of juice, alternator worked but there was nothing to the starter. the AAA guy checked it before the flatbed came.

red to power and the two black negatives to the forementioned grounding bolts behind the headlights, but i just ordered a new relay, plan to put it on monday, as im gone this weekend and i have a car to use currently. and its windy as all hell outside. my thoughts are the relay

 

AAA guys usually don't do a load test on a battery and testing it for 12 volts doesn't tell you much, but the garage would know how much power the battery had when they started it. I would ask them how they knew to disconnect the hid relay power wire to start the truck - this is material.

I think that the wiring is incorrect and that the built-in security system (key check, allowing a start) had some interference that caused it to disallow the start. That's why I asked for a wiring diagram or description. The typical relay has 4 wires that need to be attached, but you gave me only 3, and 1 of those is incorrect. A typical relay has a low amp side and a high amp side. The low amp side will have 1 wire to ground (pin 85 or 86), and the other pin (86 if 85 is ground) to a switch (I also need to know what switch you're using and how you connected it). The other pin on the switch then goes to a hot wire (fused). The high amp side of the relay is nothing more than a high amp switch and the battery positive goes to pin 30 and the hid is connected to pin 87 - the other wire from the hid connects to ground. You indicated that you had 1 power and 2 grounds attached to the relay - this is incorrect and might have caused your security system interference..

Here's a picture of a typical automotive relay (the 5 pin relays will have pin 87a, while on 4 pin relays, this pin is missing - not used often):

relay.jpg

You may not need a new relay. If you would like a schematic to hook things up with, send me a PM with your email address - I find that an easier method of communicating detailed information.

 

from this relay there 5 outs, 2 for the lights, 1 power to battery, and the white and blue one that goes to the connector to the stock light output socket. at the end of the ends for the lights, there is the connectors for the ballasts and then after it connects to the ballasts there is the negative that goes to the ground bolts. the main reason i believe the relay is bad, is because it was replaced once because it was corroded. triple AAA said the battery output was close to a 1000 went it is was rated at 875