Weired Problem with The Rear Window, help please :S

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2.0_hippo

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Hertfordshire
Hi,

I have a bit of a weired prob with my freelander. I recently fitted A HID Xenon Headlight kit. That works a treat but since i installed it i have a had a weired problem.

When i turn on the new HID headlights the rear window just opens itself ?

Then sometimes when i try and raise it back up, when it reaches the top i get a warning beep from the dash and it lowers down once again.

It only does it when i turn on the headlights, if i take out the hids it doesnt do it ? does anyone know why HID's would do this to the window.

They must be somehow interfering with the ECU ?

I have tried Re-calibrating the window in hope that was the problem but it still does it when i turn on the lights.

Someone please help me out and give me some pointers ?

I dont think an auto electrician could sort this ?

Thankyou ! :confused:
 
Only thoughts are that when you switch on lights you are getting a blip in the supply and the window drops just like it is when you reconect the battery
 
Only thoughts are that when you switch on lights you are getting a blip in the supply and the window drops just like it is when you reconect the battery


Thats what i originally thought at first, so i got a multimeter and put it on the battery, the voltage was fine, so then switched on lights and it hardly changed, turning on the blower causes more of a blip then the lights.

Thats why im soo puzzled ???

It must be the ballasts for the HID's there interfering with the electricals somehow.

they do output 23000V !

still tho, the original wiring hasnt been touched so why ?

grhh i dont know what else i can do other than live with it :S :(
 
Hi,

Infact these lights use less power than the original lights. The original lights pulled 55w on main beam 60w on high beam. These new lights only use 35w that operates both high and low beam.

So less power being pulled, could that be confusing the ECU ? still tho why would that make the window go down lol

Thanks for your help
 
yeas, so it cant be a power problem. anyway im going to change the battery as it is the original one that is 10 years old lol
 
think it's caused by the inrush current when you turn the HID lamps on. as you say, they have a ballast which charges up then strikes to cause an arc. When you first turn them on, the inrush will be many many times higher than the running current. However, the blip is so fast, the multimeter can't register it fast enough, not even with peak hold.

Although it is without a doubt the HID lamps causing this (you have proved it by changing the lamps back) the battery may well be exacerbating this problem. If your battery is in a poor condition, it might dip when the lights are first switched on, then the ecu will register battery disconnected, then the inrush current passes and the battery recovers, so the ecu then registers battery reconnected and drops the rear window.

Might be worth trying a new battery to see what happens. Other members of this forum (stownrow to name but one) have fitted HID lamps to their freelanders with no adverse effects.
 
sounds pretty right.

Will get a new batt soon, what do you recommend ? I would like something more beefy ;P

what about the bosch silver range ?

Thanks for your help
 
::::UPDATE::::


Got a new, Big 70AH Battery and guess what, i still have the same prob !

Im still very puzzled ???

I wonder if i can get a resistor or something and put it inline on the lights and see if it balances out the power ?

Cheers

:confused:
 
There is one more thing to consider. Retrospective fitting of HID units into 'old' style headlights means the vehicle no longer complies with Construction and Use legislation, thus leaving you open to the possibility of prosecution from the good old boys in blue....

Just a thought...
 
I agree - been tempted to fit a HID kit but they are not CE marked and are not legal as an aftermarket fit for public road use as far as i understand.

Might be an issue with an over enthusiastic mot tester too.

If they run hotter they may also damage the plastic lens...

Be careful!

However I agree that only a drop in supply voltage would cause the rear window to do this. What about using a feed direct from the battery fused appropriatly and switched by a relay activatd by the existing headlight feed?

Is the LH and RH headlight on the FL fused seperatly too in the main board? I can't be bothered to go look as its cold but your problem could be where your feed is coming from!
 
If they run hotter they may also damage the plastic lens...

it's not the heat particularly that damages the plastic, it's the amount of UV light created from the HID bulb. This potentially damages the plastic and can make it go milky / cloudy.

However I agree that only a drop in supply voltage would cause the rear window to do this. What about using a feed direct from the battery fused appropriatly and switched by a relay activatd by the existing headlight feed?

Is the LH and RH headlight on the FL fused seperatly too in the main board? I can't be bothered to go look as its cold but your problem could be where your feed is coming from!

It's irrelevant how it is fed, it is the effect of connecting the load to the battery that is causing the problem, either directly or indirectly.

only solution would be a big capacitor in the supply line which could damp out the huge inrush current, similar to those fitted to high end in car audio systems.

or try a new battery...
 
could always wire a second battery in!

still - aftermarket kits are illegal for road use so milky lenses or discovery of kit would be a mot failure and don't think the insurance company would be too happy!

anyway i'm off to put a new clutch in my td4
 
dont start with telling me the law, this that and the other. I chose to fits the lights because they are 5 times as bright as normal halogens and boy there great. I can finally see the road ahead clearly and other people can see me much better thanks to these great lights.

These actully use less power and burn cooler than my old halogens did !

The original lenses work with these hid's very well, the light is not scattered about and they dont blind people. I new when i fitted them that i would never go back to normal halogens.

regarding to mot's just stick the old lamps back in ! just a plug and play system - no original cables were changed.

regarding the question about the relay: yes the kit came with a relay, the lights power is drawn from the battery and not from the original power supply for the old lights, im thinking this problem is being caused because the car senses the lights turning on but there is no current being drawn from them, other than a relay ! maybe i should stick a resistor on the circuit to simulate a lamp ?

Thanks to those that want to help
:doh:
 
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Thats what i originally thought at first, so i got a multimeter and put it on the battery, the voltage was fine, so then switched on lights and it hardly changed
Many multimeters would be hard pressed to register what might be a very rapid deflection, small enough not to be noticable to a dampened coil meter or the display scan rate of a digimeter; however the blip might be recognised by an ECU looking for logic pulses in minute time frames.
 
so the kit cant be pulling more than 10amps as thats the fuse on them.

would a 10amp blip really cause the ecu to think "battery disconnect" ?

lol
 
dont start with telling me the law, this that and the other. I chose to fits the lights because they are 5 times as bright as normal halogens and boy there great. I can finally see the road ahead clearly and other people can see me much better thanks to these great lights.

These actully use less power and burn cooler than my old halogens did !

The original lenses work with these hid's very well, the light is not scattered about and they dont blind people. I new when i fitted them that i would never go back to normal halogens.

regarding to mot's just stick the old lamps back in ! just a plug and play system - no original cables were changed.

regarding the question about the relay: yes the kit came with a relay, the lights power is drawn from the battery and not from the original power supply for the old lights, im thinking this problem is being caused because the car senses the lights turning on but there is no current being drawn from them, other than a relay ! maybe i should stick a resistor on the circuit to simulate a lamp ?

Thanks to those that want to help
:doh:

good luck if you choose to go down this route, hope it resolves your issue.

as you seem to be getting a little excited by what people have to say, I'll leave you to it now.

as previously stated, and as per kernowdragon too, I suspect this is volt drop related, due to the inrush current of the ballast for the HID lamps.
 
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