So I installed a set of 8000k HID's in my headlights on my o4 f250 and i noticed that every now and then when i turn them on my ABS light comes on for maybe 2 seconds then shuts off. I have thought about it for a while and i have no idea how they are even connected to each other circuit wise I'm not worried because i know there isn't anything wrong with my ABS because it only happened since I put my lights in but I'm extremely curious as to why this might be happening I've never heard or seen anything like this before.

 

Is there a control module for the HIDs? Is it too close to the ABS module, or did you wire it in for power to the same fuse as the ABS system?

 

It was literally just plug the ballast into the stock plugs and then the bulbs into the ballast and that was all.

 

I would say that the ballast on the driver's side is too close to the ABS unit, and the ABS unit is picking up the electromagnetic field generated by the ballast. Try moving the ballast away from the ABS unit or maybe wrap it in tinfoil to lower the strength of the RFI field.


RON

 

I didn't even think that the ballast gave off anything like that, Thanks! ill have to try moving it tomorrow! I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

I have read about people upgrading there lights and had issues with the ABS. It was the ground wire connector in front of the drivers side batter. They had tied into that ground and when they moved the ground and the problem went away. See if the ballast is up against that ground wire too. It doesn't make sense but that is what people have said.

 

Xmontex4, what chipworkz explained is what i had experienced when i had the same thing happen. The ground as he said is the problem. If you notice, you probably have one of the hid's momentarily not come on and for some reason this trips the antilock lamp

 

Just curious if you got this resolved and if it was that ground? I've been having the same issue but every once and a while my truck will also turn off, almost as if someone had just cut the key. And sometime it will start misfiring or "loping." And now not long after that I'll be sitting at a traffic light or in traffic every now and then and the truck shuts off without warning, but starts right back up no problem. I'm not sure if the two issues are related or not. Mines an 02 f250 7.3. I have the ts 6 position chip that does it in performance tune as well as stock tune. Chip is tight, ecm is tight to the firewall I've changed cps icp, cleaned ipr..

 

For some reason, the grounds on these HID's cause some real issues. I had a unintentional grounding on my HID converted fog lights that caused my truck to shut off every time I turned on the fog lights. It was weird and it didn't matter if I was stopped or rolling at 60mph. Anyways, I'd second the advice to double check all potential grounds. I've wrapped my HID balasts in electrical tape and have had no issues since.

 

Aftermarket HID lights/ballasts (especially cheaper Chinese models) can be an electrical interference nightmare. When they're first turned on there is a very large in-rush current (70-100 Amps per light) for a short amount of time (20-30 milliseconds). The resulting electrical noise the ballasts put out can be >150V with a frequency of 15-50 MHz as the HIDs are turned on. That noise is emitted as Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) that is radiated into the air around the boxes, and Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) noise that gets conducted through the vehicle's wiring. (You may hear a burst of audio noise through the AM/FM radio when the HID lights are turned on? Sometimes the radio will buzz/whine when the lights are running.) That EMI/RFI burst on HID turn-on can momentary confuse the vehicle's other systems... causing weird warning lights, and even as bad as momentarily shutting down the truck. (OEM HID lighting systems are designed to minimize/alleviate these issues.)

[(On edit) If your HIDs are wired directly into the truck's existing headlight wiring, the extra, big in-rush current could be causing a momentary "brown-out" condition where the low voltage confuses other truck systems. It might solve the problem if you re-wire it with using a relay that runs directly (thru a fuse of course) to the battery. The Relay's coil is triggered by the headlight circuit, but the main current to fire the HID ballasts comes directly from the battery and won't cause the voltage to other vehicle electronics to droop.]

The electronics of the truck are pretty well shielded against most RFI. So, odds are it's the Noise from the HID ballasts conducted through the vehicle's wiring that's causing most of the issues. To help alleviate this, the HID system's ballasts need a Really Good Ground to be able to dump all of that Noise energy properly. If the ground wires are small, or run a long distance, the Noise energy sees them as a higher resistance path to ground. That Noise will find another, easier way to get to ground - and may take a route where you don't really want it to go ..., through other vehicle electronic systems and it disturbs/confuses them momentarily. As the previous poster noted: once he insulated his ballasts with electrical tape, the problem went away. He got rid of the alternative ground path - and forced the noise to go the proper way through the HID system's ground wires (instead of the ballast's case) to ultimately get to vehicle chassis ground.

Other good Electrical installation practices: make sure that the Electrical ground wires are of sufficient size to provide a low impedance ground connection. If they have to run wires more than a foot or two, go to a heavier gauge ground wire. (i.e. go from a 12 AWG wire and splice in like an 8 AWG or even larger conductor.) Make sure they have a good, clean connection to the vehicle's chassis - scrape off any paint, and wire-brush the spot to bare metal. Make sure that mounting lug (and splices) is crimped tightly to the wire, and that the mounting screw is tight. (Put Di-electric Grease on it to prevent corrosion and ensure good conduction.)

If after you do this, the HIDs still cause problems, try moving the ballast grounds to a different spot - you may be able to move the noise away from the "susceptible" vehicle systems. (It's kind of hit & miss - you may have to try different spots until you find the best one.) Usually, one of the best spots is the main vehicle ground - where the truck's Battery & Alternator are grounded.

If proper grounding doesn't resolve the issue(s), it gets way more complicated - you can try ferrite filters, and filter capacitors on the power wires. It's just that the cap filters and the Ferrites have to be tuned to the type of noise (common mode or differential) and it's amplitude and frequency - and this starts getting beyond the expertise of the typical shade tree mechanic.

Sorry..., these kind of electrical interference problems are a B*tch to find and fix.


RWNJ

 

If the hids are what's causing all the problems, I don't want them. I'll take them out and put regular bulbs back in. But I'm not sure that's cause I got the stalling problem. It's been happening even with the lights off. But I'll try taking the hids out and drive it around a little bit this weekend and see what happens. Thanks for the input guys

 

Sorry ..., reading your previous post, I had assumed that your truck's problem correlated with turning on your HID lights. If the lights aren't on, and you're having these issues, then it's doubtful that the HID lights are the cause. You could disconnect them, but probably won't change anything.


Good Luck trying to chase down your Electrical/Computer Gremlins :-(