[s-cars] E-Code High Beams Stuck On

[Cody Forbes]

Sounds to me that the relays being used are not rated high enough and are welding themselves together. Get some good quality 40 amp relays (not from Autozone, Walmart, Radioshack...) on each position and the problem should be solved.


-Cody Forbes (mobile)

On Oct 27, 2014, at 4:41 PM, Tom Green <trgreen at comcast.net> wrote:

> Just about anyone who wants more light output today will install one
> of the VVME HID kits from ebay for about $35 and be done with it.
> 
> Relaying the euro lights does not make much sense when the housings
> and high beam reflectors are the identical plastic.  So, your lights must
> be of similar voltage to the original DOT lights.  Any old school 100W
> high beam bulbs would have long ago burned holes in the plastic reflector.
> Those bulbs are what required the e-codes to be relayed.
> 
> I believe removing the relays is the method to solve your problems.  At the
> same time inspect this 20 year old wiring to ensure you are getting ~12V to
> the headlamps.  Some Deoxit on all the connectors may help with current flow.
> 
> Cleaning the projector and reflector inside and installing new glass covers will
> probably make more difference than buying silverstars.
> 
> Tom
> 
> On Sunday October 26, 2014, at 9:19 PM, weski at verizon.net wrote:
> 
>> Patient is my 95 S6 with e-code headlights.
>> 
>> I've been running the e-codes for over 10 years.  They have always
>> been relayed - one relay for highs, one for lows, and one for fogs.
>> From the beginning, the high beams would not turn off immediately when
>> I turned them off - some times they would stay on and other times they
>> would turn off after 20-30 seconds.  Needless to say the on-coming
>> traffic was not appreciative.  For a quick fix, I installed a license
>> plate socket under my hood and added it into the passenger high beam
>> circuit.  This worked great by draining off just enough power after I
>> turned the highs off to actually turn them off with less than a 1 second
>> delay.
>> 
>> Fast forward 10 years.
>> 
>> I've been having trouble this summer with keeping all lights working
>> consistently - highs, lows, and fogs.  The relays and wiring was getting
>> somewhat corroded in places so I redid all the wiring this weekend and
>> also upgrade all the bulbs to Sylvania Osram SilverStar H1, H1, H3 bulbs
>> (I had been running these in my lows and they were noticeably brighter
>> than what ever bulb that came with the headlights and I wanted the same
>> temperature and light level for all lights).  After I was done, once
>> again the highs would not turn off when switched off - even with the
>> extra drain of the little license plate light.
>> 
>> Anyone have any ideas as to what I can check next to try to correct
>> these latching high beams?  Do you think the new bulbs draw less current
>> so my original quick fix isn't drawing enough circuit to work any more?
>> The lows are bright enough to get me by at night in the short term and I
>> can flip the lights off and on quickly when I need to turn my high beams
>> off but I don't want to plan to drive it like this into the winter but
>> it's good enough to get me to and from the airport once a week until I
>> figure this out.
>> 
>> TIA,
>> 
>> Paul Dooley
>> 95 S6 - 256,000 miles and counting
> 
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