headlight and wiring issue

[ryanclesi]

before you give me shit and tell me to check the FSM and read other forums, i have. I have spent 4 hours reading and googling other posts and no such luck. My tailights do not work and my headlights do not work. Cornerlights and blinkers all work and so do the brake lights. I checked the switch and i have power in and out when turned on. I also checked the relay and i have power to the relay and power out when switch is activated. Just put in new hid kit and the headlights turned on and worked, 10 seconds later they shut off and nothing worked. All the fuses are good (which according to the FSM are before the relay and switch anyway so if i have power at those i couldnt have missed a fuse, if im not mistaken)

Are the tail lights/headlights/cornerlights all operating off the one fuse?

i know its not the correct way but would there be issues with wiring the headlights into the corner lights?

[JrDarknes]

before you give me shit and tell me to check the FSM and read other forums, i have. I have spent 4 hours reading and googling other posts and no such luck. My tailights do not work and my headlights do not work. Cornerlights and blinkers all work and so do the brake lights. I checked the switch and i have power in and out when turned on. I also checked the relay and i have power to the relay and power out when switch is activated. Just put in new hid kit and the headlights turned on and worked, 10 seconds later they shut off and nothing worked. All the fuses are good (which according to the FSM are before the relay and switch anyway so if i have power at those i couldnt have missed a fuse, if im not mistaken)

Are the tail lights/headlights/cornerlights all operating off the one fuse?

i know its not the correct way but would there be issues with wiring the headlights into the corner lights?

What car?

Hmmm and youre sure all the fuses are good?
Not sure about corner lights but tail lights have their own fuse inside the S13 and headlamps have their own fuses in the engine bay.

You may be able to get away with that but I recommend taking the light signal from the stalk and use it as a signal for a relay. Use the relay 12V from teh battery to power the headlights instead. Much better idea imo. Don't forget to have a 10A fuse if you decide to do this.

[ryanclesi]

its a 1998 240sx sorry i didnt throw that in there. All the wiring from the switch to the relay seems to work thats why im so confused. wouldnt the corner lights be protected by a fuse as well? why the extra step

[LoSt180]

Have you checked for power at the headlight wire? Did you use the stock wiring for this kit or did you run a sub-harness for the HID lights?

I won't get into why you shouldn't bother with those HID kits in the first place. Generally they draw more current than the stock lights, so should be wired in with a separate harness with it's own relay and power to the lights. Due to the fact that the lights worked for 10 seconds then went out, my hunch is that you melted the stock wiring.

The headlights are fed by a 15A fuse for EACH side, stop lights have their own 10A fuse, and the parking lights (front, side, rear) are all fed from the SAME 10A fuse. So it would be a bad idea to try to wire that crappy hid kit into those wires.

[ryanclesi]

Have you checked for power at the headlight wire? Did you use the stock wiring for this kit or did you run a sub-harness for the HID lights?

I won't get into why you shouldn't bother with those HID kits in the first place. Generally they draw more current than the stock lights, so should be wired in with a separate harness with it's own relay and power to the lights. Due to the fact that the lights worked for 10 seconds then went out, my hunch is that you melted the stock wiring.

The headlights are fed by a 15A fuse for EACH side, stop lights have their own 10A fuse, and the parking lights (front, side, rear) are all fed from the SAME 10A fuse. So it would be a bad idea to try to wire that crappy hid kit into those wires.


I am using the stock harness for the switch and the relay but after the relay it turns into number 12 wire for each headlight. I have relocated the fuse box underneath the dash and I had the HID kits before. They never gave me any problems. I do not have power at the H ID kit. I guess I will have to check the wires and see if they are burnt. But I would think that the fuse would blow before the wire melts?

[DiscountPirate]

I know more about s13 but if problem started when you wired in an HID kit that would be where I would start. Obviously check all the fuses but maybe a common relay got fried closed or something.