Projector retrofit snag, high beams not switching back to low

[USMC0351]

Ok, so I dove in and got a FX-R III kit from TRS. The 3" FX-Rs, Motocontrol harness, Morimoto 5500k DS2s, and XB55 ballasts. After test wiring it all into the truck, I flipped them on and presto! It all worked. Then, I ran into a little hiccup: When I switch to high beams, it will not switch back to low without turning the headlights off altogether. The TRS harness has a connector for the solenoid plug ins, but is there something I need to do other than that? If anyone has any ideas, it will be appreciated.
If I need to provide further details, I'll gladly do so.

 

[USMC0351]

:lalala:

 

[TheDurk]

Did you test the solenoid with a 9V battery in Step 12 of the DIY to make sure it is good?

If you did, I'm going to guess you took your input from the legs of the existing headlight circuit. Recognize that the non-DRL 4Runners--'99 (your year and mine) and earlier, are GROUND switched headlights, so the solenoid ends up getting switched between ground and nothing in one position and ground and ground in the other. In neither case will it do anything. It just stays where it is.

I don't know exactly how you should wire it--I'd look for specific instructions for dealing with a 'negative trigger.' Maybe connecting the ground wire of the solenoid to a 12v source would do it, but I don't know if you can isolate from the rest of the circuit. You don't want a short. Maybe you need an extra relay to convert to a 12V+ trigger. I can't say.

Above is just a guess--I'd really need a diagram of what you did and how the product is set up to be sure.

 

[USMC0351]

Did you test the solenoid with a 9V battery in Step 12 of the DIY to make sure it is good?

If you did, I'm going to guess you took your input from the legs of the existing headlight circuit. Recognize that the non-DRL 4Runners--'99 (your year and mine) and earlier, are GROUND switched headlights, so the solenoid ends up getting switched between ground and nothing in one position and ground and ground in the other. In neither case will it do anything. It just stays where it is.

I don't know exactly how you should wire it--I'd look for specific instructions for dealing with a 'negative trigger.' Maybe connecting the ground wire of the solenoid to a 12v source would do it, but I don't know if you can isolate from the rest of the circuit. You don't want a short. Maybe you need an extra relay to convert to a 12V+ trigger. I can't say.

Above is just a guess--I'd really need a diagram of what you did and how the product is set up to be sure.

Yeah, I tested the solenoids with a 9V prior to wiring anything up. I just plugged the factory headlight connector into the TRS harness. The weird thing was that only ONE projector would stop actuating, sometimes on the first try and others after 5-10. The side which the projector that stuck was on also varied. However, I messaged [MENTION=94545]MTD[/MENTION] about it and he suggested turning the fogs on once. Which made me realize I had the fogs on the entire time (I have always just kept the switch for them on, I run them anytime I run the HLs). After trying it with the fogs switched off, both solenoids actuated from HI to LO probably 50 consecutive times without a problem. So, somehow the fogs must affect this. I think I'll just not run the fogs, considering the factory ones are not going to keep up with the HIDs anyway.

 

[BrianSD_42]

It is a possibility the comtroller is bad. Probably not the most likely but still a possibility.

 

[USMC0351]

It is a possibility the comtroller is bad. Probably not the most likely but still a possibility.

I tried it again with the truck running, fogs switched off and another 30 switches or so pretty quickly without any sticking in the HI position. Could the harness/controller being bad cause this issue with them not working while the fogs are on, or would it have issues regardless of the fogs?

 

[aeroneer1]

I tried it again with the truck running, fogs switched off and another 30 switches or so pretty quickly without any sticking in the HI position. Could the harness/controller being bad cause this issue with them not working while the fogs are on, or would it have issues regardless of the fogs?

Definitely a possibility. My harness did not put the hi-beam signal out to the passnger side. I checked with circuit tester, and it was bad. Replaced it (free of charge from TRS) and it works fine.

Have somebody flip the brights on and off for you while you stand rigiht next to the headlight and listen for the solenoiod clicking, just to see if anything is happening (sticking).

Then test the circuit with high beams off freshly started up, verify it's off, then turn them on, verify the connector now has power, then flip off, and verify it's still getting power.

Then do this same thing with the OEM H4 plugs to isolate the problem to the harness.

 

[USMC0351]

Definitely a possibility. My harness did not put the hi-beam signal out to the passnger side. I checked with circuit tester, and it was bad. Replaced it (free of charge from TRS) and it works fine.

Have somebody flip the brights on and off for you while you stand rigiht next to the headlight and listen for the solenoiod clicking, just to see if anything is happening (sticking).

Then test the circuit with high beams off freshly started up, verify it's off, then turn them on, verify the connector now has power, then flip off, and verify it's still getting power.

Then do this same thing with the OEM H4 plugs to isolate the problem to the harness.

Well, I'm doing this solo so I can't do the audible check, but when I have them test wired I can see the projectors and the two springs that push the solenoid back up when you turn off the highs can be seen, and easily seen moving when it does actuate. I will use a multimeter on the circuits to check them, but like I said with the fogs switched off the solenoids seem to work fine, I've tested them probable 200 times since [MENTION=94545]MTD[/MENTION] suggested switching the fogs and no issues. The multimeter is a good idea, just to be sure. I also emailed TRS about it last night so maybe they can provide some further input. Right now I'm getting the factory headlight housings out so I can switch the cloudy old style lens for the new clear glass from TYC. I'm going to continue intermittently checking the solenoid function while I'm doing the rest of this.

 

[MTD]

Well, I'm doing this solo so I can't do the audible check, but when I have them test wired I can see the projectors and the two springs that push the solenoid back up when you turn off the highs can be seen, and easily seen moving when it does actuate. I will use a multimeter on the circuits to check them, but like I said with the fogs switched off the solenoids seem to work fine, I've tested them probable 200 times since [MENTION=94545]MTD[/MENTION] suggested switching the fogs and no issued. The multimeter is a good idea, just to be sure. I also emailed TRS about it last night so maybe they can provide some further input. Right now I'm getting the factory headlight housings out so I can switch the cloudy old style lens for the new clear glass from TYC. I'm going to continue intermittently checking the solenoid function while I'm doing the rest of this.

Its something to do with the 4runner wiring. What year is your runner? Mine was a 99' and now my 2000 doesn't have the issue. TRS had no idea how to fix it so I said screw it.

 

[USMC0351]

[MENTION=94545]MTD[/MENTION] it's a 98. On top of that, I'm pretty sure someone added the OEM fogs after it was bought, you can tell where they dremeled or cut the lower grill/valance to put them in. Oh well, if it works without running the fogs it's cool with me. Never really liked them, they weren't mounted square. I plan on probably getting Bean LEDs to replace them, or the TRS DRL single and running a completely seperate harness from the headlights.

 

[MTD]

[MENTION=94545]MTD[/MENTION] it's a 98. On top of that, I'm pretty sure someone added the OEM fogs after it was bought, you can tell where they dremeled or cut the lower grill/valance to put them in. Oh well, if it works without running the fogs it's cool with me. Never really liked them, they weren't mounted square. I plan on probably getting Bean LEDs to replace them, or the TRS DRL single and running a completely seperate harness from the headlights.

Yep that would be one of the years that the fogs interfere.. The fogs were a port instal option. The look like they aren't somthing toyota would do, but strange enough they are.

 

[USMC0351]

Yep that would be one of the years that the fogs interfere...

That's actually pretty reassuring. For a few minutes I was concerned that I'd done something wrong and FUBAR'ed things.

I just got the old headlights opened up. I can't decide if the old reflector bowls with the smooth sides are going to look good, or terrible. Here's a question, do you think the gray headlight sealant would be really noticeable if I flat black the reflector bowls?

 

[MTD]

That's actually pretty reassuring. For a few minutes I was concerned that I'd done something wrong and FUBAR'ed things.

I just got the old headlights opened up. I can't decide if the old reflector bowls with the smooth sides are going to look good, or terrible. Here's a question, do you think the gray headlight sealant would be really noticeable if I flat black the reflector bowls?

I personally don't like the smooth bowls, but the glue shouldn't show at all so you would be fine.

 

[Unner]

The projector retrofit in my Supra doesn't switch back to low beam either if the fog lights are on. It has something to do with the stock wiring turning off the fog lights when the high beams are turned on. You can add a resistor to solve the issue, but I'm not sure what size. I stopped messing with mine. You can also remove the foglights and put them on their own circuit to solve the problem.

 

[MTD]

The projector retrofit in my Supra doesn't switch back to low beam either if the fog lights are on. It has something to do with the stock wiring turning off the fog lights when the high beams are turned on. You can add a resistor to solve the issue, but I'm not sure what size. I stopped messing with mine. You can also remove the foglights and put them on their own circuit to solve the problem.

Mk4 or mk3

 

[USMC0351]

The projector retrofit in my Supra doesn't switch back to low beam either if the fog lights are on. It has something to do with the stock wiring turning off the fog lights when the high beams are turned on. You can add a resistor to solve the issue, but I'm not sure what size. I stopped messing with mine. You can also remove the foglights and put them on their own circuit to solve the problem.

Pics or there is no Supra :whip:

I'm just not going to use the fogs. I have been wanting to replace them for awhile so it's all good, probably just going to get some Bean LED 2x2s and run them as fogs. On a completely separate circuit.

 

[Unner]

Mk4 or mk3

MK3. She's my baby. I'm the second owner and it's got 91k miles on it.

Pics or there is no Supra :whip:

I'm just not going to use the fogs. I have been wanting to replace them for awhile so it's all good, probably just going to get some Bean LED 2x2s and run them as fogs. On a completely separate circuit.

With the projector headlights there's not really even a need for foglights other that the looks. I can hardly even tell when mine are on.

Here's a few pics as requested.







Plus a few of the projectors to keep it on subject haha

 

[USMC0351]

Damn, that is slick dude.

I just like having fogs. It looks better, to me. And I figure if I get some flood pattern LEDs, I can get a wider area up close, even with high beams on. Sadly, I kinda botched the retrofit. At some point between the test alignment and securing it into place, I must have bumped the left projector off of a fairly level plane, and now it's rotated so that the cutoff line angles up on the left side as looking from the driver seat. Not a huge deal, as overall the light output is excellent and visibility is so much better, but it vexes me. That and I didn't mount the projectors deep enough, so if you walk up and look, you can kinda see behind the shrouds :bash:

Definitely not one of the better retrofits around here, but considering everything I'm pleased with it for now. I can probably tweak them some when I have the time off to do so.

 

[Gratefulhead]

I blacked out my housings. I'd post a pic if wasnt a nipple head when it comes to technology. I had some burly seepage and it's not noticeable.

 

[Gratefulhead]

Butyl, not burly