Morimoto XB Headlights Startup and DRLs

[Chris Mies]

I cannot get the startup sequence or DRLs to work on my Morimoto XB v2 headlights. When I start the truck all four lamps are at regular dim brightness and after a short while (in the daylight) they completely turn off. I've been going back and forth with Morimoto and they had me try putting the fuse tap directly on the positive side of the battery. Low and behold a startup sequence! At that point Morimoto washed their hand and said the headlights are working properly. I tried several different fuse location and flipped the fuse tap 180 each time just in case. I also verified with a DMM that there is voltage present at the end of the DRL harness. I ran across an always on fuse and when I plugged the tap in the headlights did the startup sequence. The problem seems to be when I turn on the ignition. Is there a certain setting I need to have with my lighting for this to work? Right now I have DRLs on. Anyone run in to something similar with their install?

 

[LF LandShark 2818]

You need to turn DRL's off from the settings on your truck. I tapped into Fuse 14 for constant power with a 15A fuse and 10A above. I haven't run into your same issues but this is what i did on my install last week and have had no problems. I leave my lights in "Auto" now and the start up sequence works through remote start or when i hop in and start the truck and it's bright enough out for the truck to sense that the lights don't need to be on. Let me know if you need any further info.

 

[Chris Mies]

You need to turn DRL's off from the settings on your truck. I tapped into Fuse 14 for constant power with a 15A fuse and 10A above. I haven't run into your same issues but this is what i did on my install last week and have had no problems. I leave my lights in "Auto" now and the start up sequence works through remote start or when i hop in and start the truck and it's bright enough out for the truck to sense that the lights don't need to be on. Let me know if you need any further info.

Thanks, man. I changed my DRL setting as you suggested. I just don't know what I could be doing wrong. In a dark garage when I remote start it the headlights don't come on at all. When I start it from inside all four LEDs turn on to dim setting.

 

[LF LandShark 2818]

Just a question based off what you had said earlier... what fuse did you end up tapping into and what fuses did you use? I tapped into 14 but i had to swap out the bottom fuse to the 15A from the stock location. I also went back before i buttoned up everything up and had pins from the morimoto harness that were bent and had to be fixed. The lights "almost functioned" but i ran into intermittent problems similar to what you've described and it was super confusing. The plugs all fit smooth but the lights didn't work until i went back and bent the connection pins to actually fit into the receivers. May be worth taking a look at along with the fuse.

 

[Chris Mies]

Just a question based off what you had said earlier... what fuse did you end up tapping into and what fuses did you use? I tapped into 14 but i had to swap out the bottom fuse to the 15A from the stock location. I also went back before i buttoned up everything up and had pins from the morimoto harness that were bent and had to be fixed. The lights "almost functioned" but i ran into intermittent problems similar to what you've described and it was super confusing. The plugs all fit smooth but the lights didn't work until i went back and bent the connection pins to actually fit into the receivers. May be worth taking a look at along with the fuse.

I am currently using 16 as Morimoto recommended. I have tried several different locations and the results are the same. I can't use 14 because with the fuse tap in the proper orientation I can't get the cover back on.

I did see the advise of checking the male pin prior to assembling so I did that. If those pins were bent I wouldn't be able to trigger the startup sequence by placing the fuse tap on the positive terminal of the battery.

I appreciate you trying to help. This is a real head scratcher.

 

[LF LandShark 2818]

I ran into the same issue with the fuse cover not fitting. The solution i used was to take a Dremel and shaving off a small piece of the cover so it would fit snug and over the wire. Funny enough, it was the biggest pain of the entire install. For whatever reason i could not get the cover back on as easily as i should have. I kept the trimming minimal to allow the cover to close but also not pinch the wire. I added some electrical tape and heat shrink to surround the hole after for my own peace of mind.

 

[raiderofthelostark]

I just did this install and didn't really like the fuse tap personally.

I ended up slicing into the side corner marker and used a 4-pin relay with fused power from the battery.

Here's the gest:

"Wiring was pretty simple for the DRLs but takes a bit of effort. The LED system is isolated so you can’t run a constant ground on a relay if you’re using one of them (front or rear side markers) as a switch.

-You’ll splice into both wires coming from the passenger side marker in the loom just behind the passenger headlight. This will be used to create a switch with the relay.
-Splice two wires from the side marker: One wire spliced into positive (blue wire) and one for negative (black with white stripe).
-Run the wires up above through the cavity in the passenger front fender to the fuse box.
-Run the DRL wire (single) from the headlight loom to the same area
-Wire a 5a fused wire off the battery terminal

Using a 4-pin relay
30 - Fused 5a wire to battery positive
85 - Ground (black wire) from Side Marker
86 - Positive (blue wire from Side Marker
87 - DRL wire"

 

[David R]

To Chris, not sure if you are still having that issue with the DRLs but I also upgraded my F150with the Gen 2 version of the XB LED lights. All was good for a couple of days until the DRL stopped working along with the startup sequence. To make a long story short, It turned out to be a blown 5a fuse on the harness at the box. I was being "lazy" and decided to use the same harness from fuse box that my Gen 1 lights had. But the Gen 2 lights have (2) 10a fuses. the Gen 1 had a 5a and a 10a fuse.

 

[Jesse1983]

DRL question for anyone that has these.

The DRLs (light knob in the off position) are super bright. When you turn the knob one click to activate the grill and marker lights, the DRL brightness reduces drastically. Anyone find a way to maintain max DRL brightness while also running grill and marker lights?

 

[Markvtwin]

I just did this install and didn't really like the fuse tap personally.

I ended up slicing into the side corner marker and used a 4-pin relay with fused power from the battery.

Here's the gest:

"Wiring was pretty simple for the DRLs but takes a bit of effort. The LED system is isolated so you can’t run a constant ground on a relay if you’re using one of them (front or rear side markers) as a switch.

-You’ll splice into both wires coming from the passenger side marker in the loom just behind the passenger headlight. This will be used to create a switch with the relay.
-Splice two wires from the side marker: One wire spliced into positive (blue wire) and one for negative (black with white stripe).
-Run the wires up above through the cavity in the passenger front fender to the fuse box.
-Run the DRL wire (single) from the headlight loom to the same area
-Wire a 5a fused wire off the battery terminal

Using a 4-pin relay
30 - Fused 5a wire to battery positive
85 - Ground (black wire) from Side Marker
86 - Positive (blue wire from Side Marker
87 - DRL wire"