Morimoto Elite problems on 2014 4runner

[baxllc]

This past week I purchased a Morimoto Elite H11 kit from The Retrofit Source. It consists of the 3five ballast XB35 bulbs and relay harness. I installed the kit in my new 2014 4runner with no problem, but after using it realized the lights rarely turn on with the first try. It's like they try to turn on, flash briefly, but shut back down. Most of the time both don't turn on, but sometimes one will turn on and the other will not. It's not consistently one side or the other, it varies. What I can say is that once the lights have been started once, they start back up with no problem. Also, they do not seem to have any issues staying on once they have been started.

During my first call to The Retrofit Source they told me to check all grounds and all connections. I reground both lights and unplugged everything, check to ensure that good connections were being made, and reconnected everything. Unfortunately, this did not fix the problem.

During my second call to The Retrofit Source, they simply stated that they had been having problems with their HID kits, took my name and email address and said they would contact me once they figured out how to fix the problem with their kits.

I am very frustrated at this point and am trying to figure out how to fix the problem on my own, because despite what I have consistently read on this forum, The Retrofit Source hasn't been a whole lot of help. It seems like the ballasts are starved for power when they are first trying to power up the lights. I am wondering if upgrading my battery to an Optima yellow top might help by providing a little more juice to the lights when they first start up. Does anyone have any thoughts on this possible solution?

Any other ideas or recommendations are welcome and would be very much appreciated.

[Fstrsn]

I know you said you re-grounded the harness, but did you check the ground with a DMM? Are you grounded to bare metal, no paint of any kind? TRSNate posted the other day about an issue they had with a recent batch of ballasts not consistently striking on the first strike, but were fine after being re-struck. Maybe it's possible you received a batch of those?

[baxllc]

That sounds like it may be the problem, but they never mentioned anything about a ballast issue. I did ground them to bare metal. Forgive me for being naive, but what is a DMM? A volt meter?

[dtexan]

DMM = Digital Multimeter

[Fstrsn]

That sounds like it may be the problem, but they never mentioned anything about a ballast issue. I did ground them to bare metal. Forgive me for being naive, but what is a DMM? A volt meter?

DMM = Digital Multi-Meter.

Look for recent posts by TRSNate and it should pop up.

[baxllc]

I just found the thread TRSNate was commenting on. He said they have identified and solved the problem. Perhaps someone from TRS might offer some input as to when the replacement parts are expected to ship out to customers?

[baxllc]

UPDATE: I received an email from Andrew at TRS this morning. He said it turns out the ballasts are not the problem and TRS is still working on a solution. Hopefully this is something they can resolve soon as this is becoming increasingly frustrating. I do want to emphasize that the customer service at TRS has been great, but it is just extremely frustrating to end up with a product that does not work for its intended purpose.

[philrab]

UPDATE: I received an email from Andrew at TRS this morning. He said it turns out the ballasts are not the problem and TRS is still working on a solution. Hopefully this is something they can resolve soon as this is becoming increasingly frustrating. I do want to emphasize that the customer service at TRS has been great, but it is just extremely frustrating to end up with a product that does not work for its intended purpose.

I'll let you know if I hear from them first, cause I'm in the exact same boat with a 2007 Mazda 3. TRS has been in touch, though I get the impression they're swamped with calls from the last batch that went out. With the reputation they have for customer service I'm sure they'll make it right, just frustrating sitting around not knowing where the problem is.

[riceandpho]

check the h11 to 9006 plugs and the rest of the 9006 plugs, i had a problem before when the pins arent fully inserted. this was on a 08 altima i did, it uses h11, but yea checks the plugs out and the ones on the relay too.

[philrab]

Just updating everyone. For reaons I can't explain, yesterday and this morning my bulbs have suddenly developed a cooperative streak and are working flawlessly. I haven't touched the wiring, or done anything, other than put about five hours of run time on them.

Not sure if they're fixed, or teasing me. I'll see how they do throughout the weekend, and let ya'll know on Monday.

[TRSMatt]

We are diligently working on this case, as about 5-10% of users are expericing something similar. Between our customers feedback, our own in house testing, and feedback from our manufacture/product engineer we are confident that we will be able to solve the issue within the next few days. It is not clear yet whether something needs to be adjusted/changed with the kits people have or new components will be recommended, but ultimately we want to reassure everybody they will be taken care of at no cost to them as soon as possible.

[ricky bobby]

Good to hear Matt. I bought my kit back in July I believe and had a few intermittent first firing problems when first installed. I've had my kit out of the car for a while doing some fog light projects, but they are scheduled to go back in over the weekend, and if I still am having issues on firing up on the first strike I will be in touch, as all the connections are good (I'm using CANbus harness on mine with 3five ballasts/H3C bulbs in my fog lights)

[snoftall]

Has this issue been resolved yet? I recently purchased a retrofit kit for my 2005 Tundra and am having a similar issue. When the light switch is turned to "On" one of the following scenarios will happen:

A) Both lights will turn on and work fine;
B) Both lights will flash and then both will go out;
C) Both lights will flash and then one will go out and one will stay on (seems random as to which light will go out and which light will stay on; sometimes its the driver side light that will stay on, sometimes its the passenger side light that will stay on).

Scenario A has only happened 3 times since they were installed 2 days ago. Scenario C typically happens when they are first turned on and if the passenger side light is the light which turns on (meaning the driver side light is out), then if I leave the light switch on for a minute or two and then turn the light switch off and then back on again, the passenger side light will flash and go out while the driver side light will turn on. This typically happens regardless to which side it is on (meaning that it has happened in a random pattern with sometimes the passenger side light turning on first and sometimes the driver side light turning on first). Then if I leave the light switch on for a minute or two and then turn the light switch off and then back on again, both lights will flash and turn off (i.e. Scenario B). However, there have been a number of occasions when Scenario B will occur when they are first turned on.

I've checked over the wiring, checked the grounds, and swapped the bulbs and ballasts to different sides (swapped the bulbs to different sides first, that didn't make any difference, than swapped the ballasts to different sides, that didn't make any difference, then swapped the bulbs again to different sides, and that still didn't make any difference).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. As a side note, this is the kit which I purchased: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=227

[kethnguy]

Has this issue been resolved yet? I recently purchased a retrofit kit for my 2005 Tundra and am having a similar issue. When the light switch is turned to "On" one of the following scenarios will happen:

A) Both lights will turn on and work fine;
B) Both lights will flash and then both will go out;
C) Both lights will flash and then one will go out and one will stay on (seems random as to which light will go out and which light will stay on; sometimes its the driver side light that will stay on, sometimes its the passenger side light that will stay on).

Scenario A has only happened 3 times since they were installed 2 days ago. Scenario C typically happens when they are first turned on and if the passenger side light is the light which turns on (meaning the driver side light is out), then if I leave the light switch on for a minute or two and then turn the light switch off and then back on again, the passenger side light will flash and go out while the driver side light will turn on. This typically happens regardless to which side it is on (meaning that it has happened in a random pattern with sometimes the passenger side light turning on first and sometimes the driver side light turning on first). Then if I leave the light switch on for a minute or two and then turn the light switch off and then back on again, both lights will flash and turn off (i.e. Scenario B). However, there have been a number of occasions when Scenario B will occur when they are first turned on.

I've checked over the wiring, checked the grounds, and swapped the bulbs and ballasts to different sides (swapped the bulbs to different sides first, that didn't make any difference, than swapped the ballasts to different sides, that didn't make any difference, then swapped the bulbs again to different sides, and that still didn't make any difference).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. As a side note, this is the kit which I purchased: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=227

if you have the 3five or 5five SS ballast read this thread to see if you qualify for a replacement: http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...e-DSP-Ballasts

[snoftall]

if you have the 3five or 5five SS ballast read this thread to see if you qualify for a replacement: http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...e-DSP-Ballasts

I do have 3five ballasts. That link/thread is golden and would make 100% sense for my issue as it has been relatively cold here (-12ºC = 10ºF). Thank you so much for the link, I will be in touch with TRS to hopefully have this issue rectified.