Rep Power: 211

I wish I had of seen this thread earlier...I had the exact same problem last year, and no one in town could test my starter, so I bought a new one, which made no difference, so I returned it. It was shortly after after I did so that I recalled that I was told the about 80-90% of electrical problems stem from grounding issues, so I grounded the starter directly to the battery (rather than through the body) and away it went. Then it was just a matter of cleaning up the proper grounds and putting it back together to fix the problem. Sorry for telling you this after it was too late XD

 
Rep Power: 181

Don't actuallly have time to test the ballasts until tomorrow, but hopefully I can figure this one out pretty easily. I still think it's odd that the ballast is completely silent. The light actually came on this morning for a second and then died out again, but it seemed to be only half as bright as it should be. The driver's side (which I usually have to turn on twice to ignite) is now working perfectly on the first try. Also I should mention that the headlight fuses are good and I do not have a relay harness for them.

And thanks anyway Aetoc. I would've found the problem had I spent a little more personal time with my car. Unfortunately with my busy schedule and doubtful parents, I couldn't get around to it.

 
Rep Power: 291

Thought I made it clear to sand down the connection points when doing the big3 :P

 
Rep Power: 181

I did. Dremel tool and a sanding tip.

 
Rep Power: 518

Got any of these (or similar) installed?
Poor connection between the clamp and the bare wire of the cable is common. Especially if the copper wire ever had acid damage.

 
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This is what I have.
The larger diameter is the ground, the smaller one is the stock terminal connection that had to be spliced into the clamp because my old terminal was very badly corroded.

 
Rep Power: 291

Those connections are solid.

Not sure how you got dirt underneath....

 
Rep Power: 181

I think when I washed the bay it may have caused dirt to run into the connection that touches the fender between the transmission and the battery and dry out. All the dealer told me is that they were dirty, so that's my best guess.

Also I forgot to mention, even though the car starts now, it takes about 3 seconds to turnover when it used to only take 1 second to start. Annoying :P

 
Rep Power: 181

lol, now my headlights are doing something really quite amusing.

When I hit the switch the first time, the passenger light comes on, but not the drivers side. When I flip them off and on again, the driver's side light comes on but not the passenger's side.

What the hell is going on here

 
Rep Power: 518

I'm reasonably certain it will not be the fault of the car nor its wiring.
That leaves your HID setup. (Made in China? Water damage?)


This sounds very much like why I went through 2 different HID setups on my Hog (aftermarket, and one was Hella IIRC).
Now I have an LED headlight and spotlights from J.W.Speaker Co..
http://www.jwspeaker.com/

 
Rep Power: 181

Wow, I had no idea such a thing existed.
Looking at the model 90 light on there, does that fit existing HID shrouds? Looks really tempting and LEDs are much more simple so there's less to go wrong, haha.

 
Rep Power: 518

I have no clue man, you can try whatever you want.

This is the headlight I put in my bike



And the spotters

(just the bulbs, not the housings pictured here)



Yes, the basic LED lights are quite simple.



Something else to think about: The 2013 Accord Touring has some LED headlights you could look at.

 
Rep Power: 193

GET READY FOR IT TO CATCH FIRE!!!! One side of my old DDM kit went out after going to a high pressure car wash, water got inside the connector and shorted it. After inspecting the ballast, the inside was completely charred. I think i warned you a few moths ago right?

 
Rep Power: 244

I went with the Morimotos, and actually had a ballast not stay ignited. It worked for a month or so. TRS is sending a new one out. It can happen with any manufacturer but catching fire is not cool at all!

 
Rep Power: 291

Nope, In fact, that's hot!

I have eBay HID kits, nearly 2 years, haven't had a problem yet.
Went through a couple power washes in the bay, no problems.

Just gotta play with lady luck.

 
Rep Power: 181

Finally a conclusive answer to all my startin' problems!!!

I really hate to point fingers, but Kenny... this is all your fault......



I think the dealers may have "accidentally" bumped the connection back into place and thought they fixed everything. WRONG. After not starting 6 times today, I dug in again and found the culprit was the ground wire between the engine block and the frame. The solder was busted and the wires free to move around inside. So I went mad with a propane torch and a bunch of solder and packed it full Now it all starts up in under 1 second again!

The HIDs kinda work better now (the drivers side even better than before, lol) but the passenger still side cuts out. I'll swap ballast on Friday because I'll bet that is the problem.

I learned the hard way Kenny. You better check our grounds too before the same thing happens to you

 
Rep Power: 518

Crimp, not solder. Or crimp first, THEN solder.
At least that explains some of the other weird sounding descriptions you have.

Who removed perfectly fine ground straps the factory had in there, and replaced them with crap?

 
Rep Power: 181

Actually the stock ground from the same spot was almost entirely corroded through. You could almost break it with a pinch of the fingers.

All the other joints are really good on these, but the solder at this joint barely reached into the wiring. Yes, they were crimped before soldered.

 
Rep Power: 518

That eyelet in the fuzzy pic above doesn't look crimped, that's why I said that. (Maybe it's just fuzzy?) If it had been crimped (well), it shouldn't have been able to pull out of the eyelet.

 
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Just a bad picture. It was definitely crimped. If you don't believe me, just ask kennykid, lol

 
Rep Power: 291

They weren't exactly crimped.
I don't have a crimp tool for that size.

They were folded up on each other.

I made sure all connections were snug and tight.
Had it wrung up on a pole, and tugged on it with at least 10lbs of force.

Made sure they were sturdy before sending em off.

Not sure how you (or the dealer) broke the solder off.

 
Rep Power: 181

Have you seen the metal eating s**t they put on the streets here?
Everything rusts here. EVERTYTHING. And that are above the grille tends to be problematic. I'm not saying that's the main cause, but that entire terminal was solid brown underneath. Also the bolt holding in the connection may have been too tight and twisted and torqued the wire till it hit breaking point.

 
Rep Power: 291

Possibly, and the engine moves around in there, so it may have tugged on that wire too hard.

But it still doesn't explain your headlight problem

 
Rep Power: 181

Ahhh, good point. With the wire slightly twisted, the vibration of the motor could've been tugging on it until it finely broke loose.

The headlight thing, LOL, I dunno what's up. Now they both come on at first but the passenger cuts out after 10 seconds. Like I said, I will tests the ballasts on Friday.

 
Rep Power: 181

Well, I fixed my headlight by uhhhh.... jiggling some wires around and reconnecting a few things.
Both ballasts and bulbs are still good.


Now back to the other point of this thread...
Who else really likes that ES1? The K-swapped EM2 is also awesome, but that silver sedan is awesome.

 
Rep Power: 244

Glad you got it fixed!! Probably will happen again if you all you had to is wiggle them.

ES1's/ES2's ROCK!! It was sweet looking. The EM2 was also. I prefer the look of the sedan over the coupe.

 
Rep Power: 181

I like them both equally.

It's really strange, but recently I've found myself preferring the style of the 01-03 over the 04-05. Even though the 04 is more modern and aggressive, i like the front bumper and side panels of the earlier one. It looks more natural to handle modifications than the new bodies do.

 
Rep Power: 291

^
I like the 01-03 as well...
The only thing that bugs me a lot, is the license plate holder.

I think I might buy a spare bumper, and shave it off, then paint it.

 
Rep Power: 244

Yea, I agree. I thought about converting to an 03-05 front for the more aggresive look but I think the 01 with a lip would be enough so I'm going with that. After seeing that ES I think it will be best. The license plate thing is annoying. Never thought about shaving it.

 
Rep Power: 291

I think it'll be some work.
It probably is molded on with the bumper.

Will prolly have to cut it out, put a metal screen behind it, and bondo the **** out of it.

Lotsa work involved, but I think it'd be worth it.