Intermittent HID headlight issues 2015 Laramie

[Brianjonesphoto]

Hi I've had a HID bulb kit from Retrofitshop installed on my truck with projectors for 10 drama free years. In the last 8 months I've been chasing intermittent issues when one or the other bulb would not ignite. At first I assumed it was the bulbs aging, but new bulbs did not solve the issue.

The Driver's side light is the most common issues it will not light especially if I use remote start. For a while if I turn the headlights off and then back on both would work. Occasionally the passenger side will be out, but drivers side will work. I have no made any changes to the truck prior to this starting.
Here's a list of the troubleshooting steps I've taken.
Verified HID/LED setting in Alfaobd as enabled.
Check all connectors.
Checked ballast resistors for continuity.
Swapped ballast from one side to the other.
Swapped bulbs from one side to the other.
Swapped other known good ballasts and bulbs.
Checked relay harness wiring.
Swapped relays on harness.

Every time I've had the headlights apart I've been able to get them to work consistently. Then a day or 2 later the issue returns. Obviously I have yet to find the root cause

In the last few days I've gotten to the point of having no headlights and a B162A BCM error code. Which is for a short/open to battery + on the left side. I think I've been able to trace the issue to the truck headlight circuit not supplying signal to relay harness.
If I remove the harness relays and jump the output terminals both headlights ignite as they should. I'm really tired of pulling the headlights only to have to do it again. I'm looking for some guidance here. Since it seems to be a signal issue, my next step is to replace the ballast resisters with new canbus encoders and see if that is a solution.

thanks

 

[blue ghost]

You may have already done this, but i would shake or wiggle the wiring harness to see if it does it then. I had a connection that seemed tight but but still kept knocking out the right side light. Also double check the ground.

I do not know if this is any help, good luck.

 

[RamDiver]

Hi I've had a HID bulb kit from Retrofitshop installed on my truck with projectors for 10 drama free years. In the last 8 months I've been chasing intermittent issues when one or the other bulb would not ignite. At first I assumed it was the bulbs aging, but new bulbs did not solve the issue.

The Driver's side light is the most common issues it will not light especially if I use remote start. For a while if I turn the headlights off and then back on both would work. Occasionally the passenger side will be out, but drivers side will work. I have no made any changes to the truck prior to this starting.
Here's a list of the troubleshooting steps I've taken.
Verified HID/LED setting in Alfaobd as enabled.
Check all connectors.
Checked ballast resistors for continuity.
Swapped ballast from one side to the other.
Swapped bulbs from one side to the other.
Swapped other known good ballasts and bulbs.
Checked relay harness wiring.
Swapped relays on harness.

Every time I've had the headlights apart I've been able to get them to work consistently. Then a day or 2 later the issue returns. Obviously I have yet to find the root cause

In the last few days I've gotten to the point of having no headlights and a B162A BCM error code. Which is for a short/open to battery + on the left side. I think I've been able to trace the issue to the truck headlight circuit not supplying signal to relay harness.
If I remove the harness relays and jump the output terminals both headlights ignite as they should. I'm really tired of pulling the headlights only to have to do it again. I'm looking for some guidance here. Since it seems to be a signal issue, my next step is to replace the ballast resisters with new canbus encoders and see if that is a solution.

thanks

Before firing up the parts cannon, I would spend more time troubleshooting, even if you're getting tired of the issue. Spending money on useless parts is not a good solution and won't help to make you feel any better.

With a ten-year-old truck, I would be focusing on common grounds and wiring.
The fact that swapping parts between the sides has no noticeable effect reinforces the idea that the fault is something else, such as common grounds.

AFAIK, there's a common ground near each of the headlights. You can test the ground wires by measuring with an ohmmeter, from the connector in the headlight housing to chassis ground, or just take the plunge and yank off the fastener and visually inspect each side.

Unless you live in the south/not by the ocean, have recently refurbished the grounds, chances are they are past due.

Once the grounds have been verified, time to chase wires and look for any wear, scuffing or damaged insulation or connectors.

.

 

[Brianjonesphoto]

I’ve been in contact with the retrofit shop that sold me the hid kit. They have been responsive and it’s a bit of a head scratcher for them too. They suggested that I abandon the relay harness and it is really not needed with the advent of AlfaOBD.

I dove into it today and disconnected the relay harness. I left everything in place but pulled the relays so there won’t be anyway for the wires to be energized. The ballasts are now running off the stock wiring harness and the headlight work. I verified via Alfaobd that the headlight voltage is set to 13v per a 2015 TSB I found. I cleared the codes and will monitor things to see if it behaves.

Ironically when I started the truck up to move it into the garage to work on it both came on without issue ‍I hate intermittent issues.

Sure hope this was the last time I need to dive into this , but I’ve said that before too.

 

[One Mile Up]

Just out of curiosity -- did you also turn off the "feature" where → when you unlock the doors, the headlights come on? This killed one of my HID's

After I noticed this → I went into Alpha OBD and turned the feature OFF. No more issues. I made a quick vid and put it on YouTube for anyone else that ran into that issue... I can dig it up if you need the name of the dumb feature. Just LMK

 

[Brianjonesphoto]

Just out of curiosity -- did you also turn off the "feature" where → when you unlock the doors, the headlights come on? This killed one of my HID's

After I noticed this → I went into Alpha OBD and turned the feature OFF. No more issues. I made a quick vid and put it on YouTube for anyone else that ran into that issue... I can dig it up if you need the name of the dumb feature. Just LMK

Yes that’s been off since since the truck was new. I have no need for that feature.

 

[16WhiteQC]

FYI - https://www.ramforum.com/threads/ti...-issues-then-step-inside.215315/#post-2984002

 

[Brianjonesphoto]

Since taking the relay harness out of the equation I haven't had any further issues.