Installed HID lights and spyder went CRAZY!!!

[ARCTIC]

I bought the HID lighting kit from Xenon Depot. Spent an insane amount of time getting the spyder tore down and carefully routing wires and securing all wires from harms way. Tested the lights and they fire up with the trigger switch on the right handlebar PERFECT... Tried starting the spyder and it fires for 5 seconds then kills the motor and the display says " VSS fault" and "check DPS". I cannot get the spyder to run with the headlights connected. If I pull the fuse it will start and most times have a very high idle and other times run just fine. :dontknow::dontknow::dontknow: If it pull the fuse for the headlights and start it and then push the fuse in while it's running.... sometimes it revs the engine up and won't idle back down and other times it kills the engine instantly. Anybody got any ideas???? Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe my HID venture :banghead:

[r1100rider]

I bought the HID lighting kit from Xenon Depot. Spent an insane amount of time getting the spyder tore down and carefully routing wires and securing all wires from harms way. Tested the lights and they fire up with the trigger switch on the right handlebar PERFECT... Tried starting the spyder and it fires for 5 seconds then kills the motor and the display says " VSS fault" and "check DPS". I cannot get the spyder to run with the headlights connected. If I pull the fuse it will start and most times have a very high idle and other times run just fine. :dontknow::dontknow::dontknow: If it pull the fuse for the headlights and start it and then push the fuse in while it's running.... sometimes it revs the engine up and won't idle back down and other times it kills the engine instantly. Anybody got any ideas???? Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe my HID venture :banghead:Mine did the exact same thing I've got one working fine still fighting the other one shielding with foil helps and reversing the feed wires seems to make a differance also I found my battery connection caused more sensitivity some have give up on these kits xenon dept won't return my call and act like they have no idea this ever happens like I said mine did the exact thing you described I still can't figure out how it makes it run fast with throttle cable and throttle by wire

[Littlebadwolf]

My GS did the same thing with the Xenon HID....Once installed it rev'd up to around 5-6k in neutral and I have to hit the kill switch...Then it wouldn't start ...just crank...kept trying for another 5 minutes and it'd do the same...Come to find out it was placement of the ballasts too close to the electrical circuitry...Moved the ballasts to another location and it was fine.

[DrewNJ]

Mine would not allow the Spyder to start on the first try. It would always start-stall. Hit the button again and it would start. Appeared to be due to the load to first fire the ballasts.
To fix I was told I would need to spend more money for different ballasts that draw less power at startup......would have been nice to know BEFORE I ordered what I had and had everything installed. I pulled it all out and went back to the stock lights. I want to ride, not have the machine pulled apart in the garage.
My kid installed the kit i pulled from the spyder in his VW and said they work great....haha.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ARCTIC]

My GS did the same thing with the Xenon HID....Once installed it rev'd up to around 5-6k in neutral and I have to hit the kill switch...Then it wouldn't start ...just crank...kept trying for another 5 minutes and it'd do the same...Come to find out it was placement of the ballasts too close to the electrical circuitry...Moved the ballasts to another location and it was fine.
Curious where you moved them to? I can't get mine any further away without extending the wires.


Mine would not allow the Spyder to start on the first try. It would always start-stall. Hit the button again and it would start. Appeared to be due to the load to first fire the ballasts.
To fix I was told I would need to spend more money for different ballasts that draw less power at startup......would have been nice to know BEFORE I ordered what I had and had everything installed. I pulled it all out and went back to the stock lights. I want to ride, not have the machine pulled apart in the garage.
My kid installed the kit i pulled from the spyder in his VW and said they work great....haha.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Unless something obvious comes up as a reliable solution I'm likely pulling mine too. This project has been a long drawn out waste of time. Maybe my atv has the same headlight.

[dave01]

Make sure your ballasts are mounted to plastic and not touching metal. Also, make sure your battery is fully charged and if you have fog lights, they are turned off when you start the spyder. I had them on mt Phantom and the rt. It takes moving the ballasts around a little, but they will work.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

[ARCTIC]

Make sure your ballasts are mounted to plastic and not touching metal. Also, make sure your battery is fully charged and if you have fog lights, they are turned off when you start the spyder. I had them on mt Phantom and the rt. It takes moving the ballasts around a little, but they will work.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

After the initial starting issue, I went straight for the battery charger and let it charge for a hour and it had no effect on the issue. Also tried starting it with the charger on it. Same thing. Tried running a ground wire to different areas.... Same thing. Grounded the cases of the ballasts... Same thing. Took the ballasts off of the metal frame... Same thing.:banghead:

[dave01]

After the initial starting issue, I went straight for the battery charger and let it charge for a hour and it had no effect on the issue. Also tried starting it with the charger on it. Same thing. Tried running a ground wire to different areas.... Same thing. Grounded the cases of the ballasts... Same thing. Took the ballasts off of the metal frame... Same thing.:banghead:

Try one ballast at a time, with them sitting next to the Spyder, like on a bucket or something. You may have a bad ballast that is shorting out. Been there too.

[ARCTIC]

Try one ballast at a time, with them sitting next to the Spyder, like on a bucket or something. You may have a bad ballast that is shorting out. Been there too.

We are on the SAME page here. I disconnected the ground from both boxes because I had the positives soldered together. I could get it to start sometimes with one headlight and never with the other. Thought I had it all figured out and retested my theory and then it wouldn't start with either of them again:banghead:

At the time, both ballast were not mounted to the spyder and hanging off the side from the wires

[r1100rider]

We are on the SAME page here. I disconnected the ground from both boxes because I had the positives soldered together. I could get it to start sometimes with one headlight and never with the other. Thought I had it all figured out and retested my theory and then it wouldn't start with either of them again:banghead:

At the time, both ballast were not mounted to the spyder and hanging off the side from the wires
Try reversing the feed wires from the stock lites that fire the system also if the battery is at all questionable it will do this like I said before foil wrapping for shielding also helped

[wyliec]

You don't have the ballasts touching each other, do you? It's also a good idea to have as much separation as possible. However, your problem is a lot more complicated than what I had with my aftermarket hid's.

[DrewNJ]

Just FYI-
If you get tired of messing with it and go back to the stock lights but are worried about the holes you had to cut in the spyder rubber caps, I found these to work really good at blocking off the holes you cut in the rubber caps. http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=81174&eq=&Tp= Also Available at any boat or trailer shop.
You do have to make the hole a bit bigger but they fit real nice....:doorag:
Good Luck!

[ARCTIC]

Try reversing the feed wires from the stock lites that fire the system also if the battery is at all questiI nable it will do this like I said before foil wrapping for shielding also helped

I will try this. I was going to hook up jumper cables from my truck to the spyder to eliminate all questions about the battery. I honestly think my battery charger experiment probably crossed it off the list but I will completely rule it out with jumper cables. I'm a little surprised you can switch that wire around on the headlights. In the instructions it says something about a relay exploding if the polarity isn't correct on something but I don't have the instructions in front of me now to better explain

[ARCTIC]

You don't have the ballasts touching each other, do you? It's also a good idea to have as much separation as possible. However, your problem is a lot more complicated than what I had with my aftermarket hid's.
They are not touching each other but are mounted very close back to back with a 1/4" thick piece of aluminum in between along with the 3m sticky pads that they supply.

Just FYI-
If you get tired of messing with it and go back to the stock lights but are worried about the holes you had to cut in the spyder rubber caps, I found these to work really good at blocking off the holes you cut in the rubber caps. http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=81174&eq=&Tp= Also Available at any boat or trailer shop.
You do have to make the hole a bit bigger but they fit real nice....:doorag:
Good Luck!
Thanks:thumbup: I have some of those on the shelf. I was just going too glue a piece of tire inner tube over the hole

[NancysToy]

They are not touching each other but are mounted very close back to back with a 1/4" thick piece of aluminum in between along with the 3m sticky pads that they supply.

Thanks:thumbup: I have some of those on the shelf. I was just going too glue a piece of tire inner tube over the hole

Not a good idea! The magnetic interference from the ballasts is multiplied with that kind of setup, greatly increasing the size and strength of the magnetic and electrical field, making it far more likely to cause interference with the cluster of ECM. You also have to be careful of grounds. A grounded ballast, or one grounded in teh wrong place, can cause a lots of interference. The CANbus doesn't like electrical interference, and the computers don't like magnetic or EF inteference.

[Machinegunner]

My wife's bike gave us fits when we tried to start it. The high voltage spike after the motor starts and the lights fire up seemed to kill the ignition. I installed a direct FUSED line from the battery to a relay triggered by a wire that gets hot when the ignition switch is turned on. This way when the ignition is turned on the lights light so the electric surge is over when the bike starts. We have had NO problems since. The relay trigger takes very low current so can be hooked to any switched accessory wire in the fuse box. The direct feed wire from the battery eliminates all current draw through the Nanny. Also the lights stay on for twenty seconds after the key is turned off, until the time delay shuts off. If interested, PM and I can explain it better.

[Chupaca]

is it really worth it..?? I would worry constantly that something might move and my spyder will do a back roll and curl up it's legs...:roflblack:

[ARCTIC]

My wife's bike gave us fits when we tried to start it. The high voltage spike after the motor starts and the lights fire up seemed to kill the ignition. I installed a direct FUSED line from the battery to a relay triggered by a wire that gets hot when the ignition switch is turned on. This way when the ignition is turned on the lights light so the electric surge is over when the bike starts. We have had NO problems since. The relay trigger takes very low current so can be hooked to any switched accessory wire in the fuse box. The direct feed wire from the battery eliminates all current draw through the Nanny. Also the lights stay on for twenty seconds after the key is turned off, until the time delay shuts off. If interested, PM and I can explain it better.

I understand what you're saying and it is good solid logic but my spyder runs weird even when the fuse is pulled on the hot lead wire:dontknow:


is it really worth it..?? I would worry constantly that something might move and my spyder will do a back roll and curl up it's legs...:roflblack:
NOPE!!!! Not worth it. I'm buying PIAA extreme white halogen bulbs and putting them in there. I'll take a picture of the HID lights and then after I put the extreme bulbs in and compare the two.

[Bob Denman]

You couldn't find a decent way to move the ballasts farther apart and shield them a bit more? :shocked:
BUMMER! :gaah:

[va2djd]

Hi, i have hid on head and fog light without any problems
i try a lot of brand and the only one without
nany problems is KBcarstuff a sponsor
http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Xtreme-Digital-HID-Kits-p/xt-hid.htm

[ARCTIC]

Hi, i have hid on head and fog light without any problems
i try a lot of brand and the only one without
nany problems is KBcarstuff a sponsor
http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Xtreme-Digital-HID-Kits-p/xt-hid.htm

This IS the KBcarstuff kit that I'm fighting :banghead:

[va2djd]

Give them a call

[ARCTIC]

Give them a call

Already did. They've never heard of this type of issue :shocked:.

[r1100rider]

Already did. They've never heard of this type of issue :shocked:.
Sure funny they never heard of this I called them with the same questions a month ago and they never heard of it then either but they were going to talk to Tec and call me back with an answer still waiting

[r1100rider]

My wife's bike gave us fits when we tried to start it. The high voltage spike after the motor starts and the lights fire up seemed to kill the ignition. I installed a direct FUSED line from the battery to a relay triggered by a wire that gets hot when the ignition switch is turned on. This way when the ignition is turned on the lights light so the electric surge is over when the bike starts. We have had NO problems since. The relay trigger takes very low current so can be hooked to any switched accessory wire in the fuse box. The direct feed wire from the battery eliminates all current draw through the Nanny. Also the lights stay on for twenty seconds after the key is turned off, until the time delay shuts off. If interested, PM and I can explain it better.i got to thinking if that works so would triggering the lites with the handlebar sw and then hitting the starter tried it and it works

[ARCTIC]

i got to thinking if that works so would triggering the lites with the handlebar sw and then hitting the starter tried it and it works

I tried that and it didn't work on mine. Pulled the trigger, waited 30 or so seconds for the lights to warm up and continued to hold the trigger while pushing the start button and no luck

[ARCTIC]

Ok.... Here's a list of what I've done (all I can remember)


Tried moving ground
tried running with just one light at a time
unmounted the balasts and had them OUTSIDE of the plastic and separated from one another and placed in MANY different places within wiring reach of the headlamps
tried switching the polarity of the hookups at the headlights.
Experimented with different ground hooks
the hot wire is routed directly to the battery. AS is the ground for most of the tests.
wrapped the balasts in tinfoil :roflblack:
had the lights on and warmed up before starting.
had the bike running and then fired up the lights
had jumper cables ran to my 3/4 ton diesel truck with dual alternators and dual batteries while it was running. tried different timing of engine starts vs light starts and different positions of the balasts.


My final analysis is.......... IT WON'T WORK WITH THESE DAMN LIGHTS

I'm going to quit and patiently wait for my high powered halogen lights while I still have a functioning starter on my Spyder. :banghead:

[DrewNJ]

My final analysis is.......... IT WON'T WORK WITH THESE DAMN LIGHTS

I'm going to quit and patiently wait for my high powered halogen lights while I still have a functioning starter on my Spyder. :banghead:


Believe me....I totally feel your pain... :sour:

[va2djd]

KBcarstuff and xenon depot they are not the same
you said I bought the HID lighting kit from Xenon Depot
i don't know if they have the same quality of ballast ?

[ARCTIC]

KBcarstuff and xenon depot they are not the same
you said I bought the HID lighting kit from Xenon Depot
i don't know if they have the same quality of ballast ?

They are the same. Xenon Depot is sold through KBcarstuff.com Everything the user on here named "xenondepot" sells goes through the site KBcarstuff.com. I think (not sure) that the xenon depot is their store branded collection of HID lighting kits. Kinda like craftsman tools sold through sears. Type in www.xenondepot.com (http://www.xenondepot.com) on your web browser and see where it takes you. I do not see anywhere on their website where they sell anything but xenon depot labeled HID kits. John and Danny are the two that I have spoke with at KBcarstuff. For clarification, my kit is the xtreme kit which is supposed to have the higher quality components.

[ARCTIC]

Well,
KB is advising me to try eliminating the relay and power the system directly from the headlight wires because they think that my issue could be from not having a load on the headlight power wires. They never mentioned this in my initial call. I already have the whole thing uninstalled and boxed up. I MIGHT try to unplug the headlights to test their theory. Does anyone know if this is a possibility?

[ARCTIC]

It will run without the relay's in there BUT.... Won't start when you have the headlights on. So if you start it, turn the key off and then back on it will keep the headlights on and won't start. It's very strange. It kicks out the starter.

[va2djd]

Mind are install without the realay on head and fog and no problem with nanny

[ARCTIC]

The fawking thing still does weird chit with the lights. Sometimes the high/low shutter flickers rapidly and the engine sputters. :banghead:

[NancysToy]

Have you checked your battery condition and connections? It sounds like a bad battery may be aggravating the issue.

[ARCTIC]

Have you checked your battery condition and connections? It sounds like a bad battery may be aggravating the issue.


I guess I haven't gone back to hooking jumper cables up to the truck without the relay's

[ARCTIC]

Ok, I stuck with it and ruled out EVERY POSSIBLE scenario. Tried it with the jumper cables hooked up and It still does weird stuff. Sometimes it takes 2 or three attempts to start the bike. Sometimes it starts and runs but kinda sputters before it pulls through. I'm quitting on them. The PIAA bulbs are nearly indistinguishable between them and stock. Not worth spending any money for the swap. I'm back to pretty much stock but it'll start and run everytime I push the button. I would consider offers on the HID lighting kit if anyone out there wants to give it a try :popcorn:

[cjackg]

Ok, I stuck with it and ruled out EVERY POSSIBLE scenario. Tried it with the jumper cables hooked up and It still does weird stuff. Sometimes it takes 2 or three attempts to start the bike. Sometimes it starts and runs but kinda sputters before it pulls through. I'm quitting on them. The PIAA bulbs are nearly indistinguishable between them and stock. Not worth spending any money for the swap. I'm back to pretty much stock but it'll start and run everytime I push the button. I would consider offers on the HID lighting kit if anyone out there wants to give it a try :popcorn:

Seems pretty clear that the Xenon Depot type hids are the problem.... Are you not getting any help from them on resolving this?
They are a sponsor but when I had an issue with their fog light kit they were scarce and not at all helpful. Some sponsors are lots better than others and many will jump at the chance to resolve a problem like this...

[ARCTIC]

Seems pretty clear that the Xenon Depot type hids are the problem.... Are you not getting any help from them on resolving this?
They are a sponsor but when I had an issue with their fog light kit they were scarce and not at all helpful. Some sponsors are lots better than others and many will jump at the chance to resolve a problem like this...

I calmly discussed it with them a couple times on the phone. On the first call they told me that Danny would look at my thread on here and try and troubleshoot and respond. I've seen no response. They are pretty much calling it a freak deal. I'm on my own because they have been installed. They offered to sell me bulbs at cost for another application if I wanted to put them on another vehicle... I've done nothing wrong but I'm picking up the tab.:gaah: I'm not real impressed

To qualify my abilities so you don't think I'm some sort of a dumbazz.... I've installed multiple high powered car stereos and boat stereo systems, wired and rewired many trailers. Rebuilt and installed snowmobile motors. Worked in the service department at car dealerships all through high school and college.

[Mavericklion79]

I bought the HID lighting kit from Xenon Depot. Spent an insane amount of time getting the spyder tore down and carefully routing wires and securing all wires from harms way. Tested the lights and they fire up with the trigger switch on the right handlebar PERFECT... Tried starting the spyder and it fires for 5 seconds then kills the motor and the display says " VSS fault" and "check DPS". I cannot get the spyder to run with the headlights connected. If I pull the fuse it will start and most times have a very high idle and other times run just fine. :dontknow::dontknow::dontknow: If it pull the fuse for the headlights and start it and then push the fuse in while it's running.... sometimes it revs the engine up and won't idle back down and other times it kills the engine instantly. Anybody got any ideas???? Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe my HID venture :banghead:

This same exact situation is happening to me. I am finished hooking everything up on my 2011 RS (headlights and foglights), but when I try to start the bike, it goes straight to VSS fault. I contacted John from Xenon Depot and he told me I needed to purchase the inline capacitor they sell to fix the problem (CBFIX). I am skeptical about this working, but I am going to try. This has been frustrating to say the least.

[Flanker]

OK.....................you've convinced me. LED lights from Custom Dynamics it is! :joke:

[ARCTIC]

This same exact situation is happening to me. I am finished hooking everything up on my 2011 RS (headlights and foglights), but when I try to start the bike, it goes straight to VSS fault. I contacted John from Xenon Depot and he told me I needed to purchase the inline capacitor they sell to fix the problem (CBFIX). I am skeptical about this working, but I am going to try. This has been frustrating to say the least.

If you end up deciding to give up on the aftermarket ones.. I have a factory can-am kit for sale $340 the bike will run perfectly with the factory kit and replaces the whole light fixture with nicely sealed housings that are designed for the HID lights

[ARCTIC]

OK.....................you've convinced me. LED lights from Custom Dynamics it is! :joke:

How does led compare to HID?

[Flanker]

LEDs have a low voltage/current draw (compared to HIDs or halogens), run much cooler, don't have any ballasts to :cus: with, and put out an intense blue/white light. Might be cheaper than an HID kit too; though I'm not sure on that point as I haven't researched any HID kits. I would also note; from reading other forum threads here, there seems to be a huge qualitative and ease of installation/operation difference in HID kits.........some have reported excellent experiences with a particular brand of HID kit [of course I can't remember which brand it is :opps:]. This parallels what I've read about various HID kits in the car forums I'm a member of also.

customdynamics.com go to their Spyder section.....................they've got tons of useful (and the other kind too) LED upgrades. Turn your ride into a veritable road bound UFO!

BTW: Despite my initial post; I am sorry to hear you've had such an aggravating time with the HID kit; :cus: like that can really ruin your day in a hurry; especially considering the expense, and time and effort trying to trouble shoot intractable technical issues. good luck!

[ARCTIC]

LEDs have a low voltage/current draw (compared to HIDs or halogens), run much cooler, don't have any ballasts to :cus: with, and put out an intense blue/white light. Might be cheaper than an HID kit too; though I'm not sure on that point as I haven't researched any HID kits. I would also note; from reading other forum threads here, there seems to be a huge qualitative and ease of installation/operation difference in HID kits.........some have reported excellent experiences with a particular brand of HID kit [of course I can't remember which brand it is :opps:]. This parallels what I've read about various HID kits in the car forums I'm a member of also.

customdynamics.com go to their Spyder section.....................they've got tons of useful (and the other kind too) LED upgrades. Turn your ride into a veritable road bound UFO!

BTW: Despite my initial post; I am sorry to hear you've had such an aggravating time with the HID kit; :cus: like that can really ruin your day in a hurry; especially considering the expense, and time and effort trying to trouble shoot intractable technical issues. good luck!

This is an old post someone dug up. Since starting this post, I gave up on trying to make the Xenon Depot HID lights work and bought a CAN-AM HID kit which worked perfectly for me until I traded my RS (it's actually a GS) for a ST Limited. I had only used the kit for 2 months so I switched the bike back to stock before trading it in. And it won't work on my new bike.
Not sure If I'm going to mess with my ST headlights or not. They are better in stock form than the RS was but the HID kit was SOOOOOOO DAMN NICE.

[crazyspyder]

when it comes to HID's , nothing beats the quality and durability with great customer support ....that would be ......RETRO- SOLUTIONS for all of your needs (bike, car, truck). have used them many years with awesome
support and have NOT had any issues related to my spyder YET!:firstplace: I have tried other brands and had bad experience with them.:banghead: ooh and your wasting your money by going with LED's not the same light output!