I had a recent issue with a DDM tuning kit. My relay harness melted. It first blew the 20amp supplied fuse. I installed a 30 amp fuse and all worked well for that night. I noticed a few days later my passenger side wouldn't ignite, but drivers worked fine. That's when I tore in and found the melted harness. My guess is a malfunction that caused the wires to heat up and the larger fuse I installed. The 30 amp fuse never blew even with the harness melted together. I've always seen the kits come supplied with a 30 amp fuse though, maybe this latest harness wasn't built with the right wiring to support a 30 amp fuse.
Er, the larger fuse wasn't the problem...the fuse is for protection in the event of a short or excess current draw. Whenever a properly-sized/supplied fuse blows that should be a sign of a problem, not a sign that you need a bigger fuse. A larger fuse due to an electrical issue is a great way to cause damage, as you found out, or even cause a fire.
DDM's kits seem to have been going downhill for at least a couple of years now based on what I've seen, not that I'd consider any inexpensive retrofit to be a good idea. They used to sell a quality kit, but like a lot of small-ish vendors their growth resulted in them having to cut corners and use cheaper components to meet demand.
ok here is my understanding of the situation. im not well versed with mopar as i am with gm's but here it goes. at sum point or other the computer is monitoring exactly how many amps or volts are applied to the relay box why u ask? because of all the technical equipment to make these engines run the way they do with all the extras we want them to have. the bcm talks to the ecm and so on and so forth. when programs are written for these cars and trucks they know wat options they will have on them and the calculated electrical load. when u add something that isnt in the program files it notices the fact it is taking more amps to keep the box powered up becasue other components are not getting the amps they need. in which case it kicks up the alternator to turn up the juice. well then u have all these others systems going wat the hell? when the alternator kicks up the juice to accomodate ur add ons it then overloads the fuse box and the over all load in which it was programmed to handle. anytime you add anything on these newer model vehicles you have to be wary of that. ive had to reprogram options in many of chevys for this because of people adding extra stuff that the ecms and bcms were originally programmed for.
kinda of a general laymans terms. may not be the most proper or technical way of putting it but should help to clear it up
Just spit-ballin here. The remote +battery post located on the side of the TIPM is designed to be used for jump starting the vehicle. I don't understand how using this post for a + power source for the HID relay harness can have an affect on the TIPM. I can see how the previous comments about TIPM could apply if you tied directly into one of the fused power sources inside it. Agreed, electrical systems are much more complicated than they use to be. Am I missing something here? My 2cents, the sole cause is defective inferior components were installed.
Just spit-ballin here. The remote +battery post located on the side of the TIPM is designed to be used for jump starting the vehicle. I don't understand how using this post for a + power source for the HID relay harness can have an affect on the TIPM. I can see how the previous comments about TIPM could apply if you tied directly into one of the fused power sources inside it. Agreed, electrical systems are much more complicated than they use to be. Am I missing something here? My 2cents, the sole cause is defective inferior components were installed.
I would have to agree here. The positive terminal under the hood is the same as attaching to the positive side to the battery. It shouldn't have made a difference if that is where he powered the HDIs from. I also agreed with everyone that has said that it makes no sense to blame the car for incorrect Non OEM part or an incorrect installation of that part or both.
Just spit-ballin here. The remote +battery post located on the side of the TIPM is designed to be used for jump starting the vehicle. I don't understand how using this post for a + power source for the HID relay harness can have an affect on the TIPM. I can see how the previous comments about TIPM could apply if you tied directly into one of the fused power sources inside it. Agreed, electrical systems are much more complicated than they use to be. Am I missing something here? My 2cents, the sole cause is defective inferior components were installed.
True - but what was being used to activate the non-factory HIDs? I'm assuming a wire was attached to the original headlight wiring to turn on the ballasts? That would be the problem and any variance in current was not allowed for in the TIPM programming. Plus unplugging two 55 watt headlamps told the unit they were blown or not working. Doing that and hooking up a turn-on wire was probably why it went crazy... just a thought. If the TIPM isn't blown and the OEM headlights were restored then it might be fixable. Not sure but on other models the TIPM can be reset 3-5 times before it locks up permanently.
Just spit-ballin here. The remote +battery post located on the side of the TIPM is designed to be used for jump starting the vehicle. I don't understand how using this post for a + power source for the HID relay harness can have an affect on the TIPM. I can see how the previous comments about TIPM could apply if you tied directly into one of the fused power sources inside it. Agreed, electrical systems are much more complicated than they use to be. Am I missing something here? My 2cents, the sole cause is defective inferior components were installed.
this guy understands what I'm saying. i did not wire the power wire of the harness to a fuse located on the TIPM. nor did i hard wire the power wire into the stock harness. I attached the power wire to the jump location post thats under that small red cover to the left of the engine that goes to the battery.
this guy understands what I'm saying. i did not wire the power wire of the harness to a fuse located on the TIPM. nor did i hard wire the power wire into the stock harness. I attached the power wire to the jump location post thats under that small red cover to the left of the engine that goes to the battery.
Did you install a separate switch to turn on the HIDs? If a short occurred then it was transmitted into the TIPM unit through that connection. Or in some other car forums the ballasts can produce electrical induction into other wires near by and that can cause issues.
So what are people doing differently that are running aftermarket hid kits in their challengers and not having this problem?
^this question...
Originally Posted by Yahooligan
If you plan on adding multiple accessories then I would suggest running a properly-sized wire from the battery to an aftermarket fuse block mounted under the hood.
^this answer.
Relays are your friend. If you're going to be making modifications and additions the best thing to do is add an aftermarket fuse panel that gets its power from a direct source via a relay. One method is to use the Painless Performance Cirkit Boss system to essentially isolate the aftermarket wiring from the factory wiring. These types of systems usually mean you're going to draw something like 30mA from the factory system to trip a relay feeding the aftermarket fuse box from a direct power source (battery cable).
I have the Painless 3 fuse circuit under the hood. One circuit powers the pump for the intercooler, second circuit powers the LC-1 and gauges, the third will be used to power a meth injection pump. This type of system not only doesn't put an extra load on the TIPM but it also isolates the circuits to prevent a short on your aftermarket goodies from getting back to the TIPM and factory wiring.
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