Problem with Hella500 Install
 

I have been reading through the posts about hella 500 installs and the tech writeups and can't seem to figure out my problem.

I have a 2004 limited and am mounting these to a brush gaurd using the switch that it came with for now. I have the relay mounted to the side frame next to the battery with wire #30 going to the battery, the light power going to #85, the ground going to #87, and the switch going to #86. I have the switch wired with the top going to a ground, middle to the relay, and bottom to the fuse box. The light on the switch lights up with it flipped up and the relay clicks when I flip it up and down, but no light comes out of the hellas.

I have tried switching just about every wire around with no luck and seem to be just about dead here. I am not sure what to try next and hope that someone might have some ideas since the single sheet that came with the lights is horribly vague when it comes to the wires.

The fuse is fine by the way, but the package did come with two nuts missing, so it is possible that it was used and returned and therefore broken.

Thank you very much for any help that anyone can give me.

Ground
 

Sounds like the ground wire from the lights is not on a good ground, try another, or your power wires are not hooked up properly. What did you get power to your Hella's from? Straight off the battery or jumped off a light? If you are jumped off a light you must have the headlights on...

Good luck!

:guitar:

i would say check your grounds coming from the lights themselves...

The instructions that come with the 500s are horrible. There's a much better wiring diagram here .

I have actually tried grounding these to several different things, from the frame, to the engine itself, and now they are hooked to the ground on the battery. I am getting the power for the relay from the battery direct and the power for the switch off a full time fuse.
Thanks for the better diagram, I will take a look at that this afternoon and see if I it will make a difference.

According to what I'm reading on their site you have the light power and ground swapped:

#30 goes to batery
#85 goes to vehicle ground or headlight ground
#86 goes to the switch
#87 goes to the Hellas ( I think this is your problem)

I took a look at that site and I did have the wires switched, but it does not seem to make any difference. I have tried moving them all around, but it doesn't seem to help. I am starting to think that some part of these lights are broken, but the fuse and the bulbs are fine and these are all that I know how to check.

Multimeter
 

Time to get out the multimeter and see what is working as it should...and what ain't.

:guitar:

perhaps you should make sure the fuse is still intact. maybe the wires messed it up? i dunno..just a thought.

If you're wiring it to your headlamp low or high beam lead, don't forget to turn on your headlights in the right mode. I assume were atlking driving lamp so it should be wired to your high beam lead.... Do the lamps come on if you connect direct to 12vdc bypassing all the relats, switches, etc..?

Bypassing everything is the next thing that I am going to try, thanks for all your help.

I can't get mine to work either. I was told that the bulbs ground themselves in the reflector, and I have my switch (the middle 12volt lead part) wired into the lead on my factory fogs. Switch lights up but hellas don't. May need to use a different ground somewhere.

Write-up
 

I got a simple write-up on my website that explains what I did based on the Hella instructions...I'd bet yours is a ground issue too, as mine was.

:guitar:

It's not as complicated as some of you guys are thinking. The lights are made to work the way they came. They need no additional modifications. I know, because I've wired up 3 sets of them, and each time I followed Hella's instructions. The issue is more than likely a bad ground somewhere. Check them all (lights, relay, switch).

If you're grounding to something that's painted, you need to scrape the paint off so it'll be touching bare metal. Paint is not bare metal. Same thing with rust.

If that doesn't work, you might have messed up the relay by wiring it up wrong the first time. Only way to tell is to test it with a multimeter.

If you are wiring it to the headlights for a switching source, make sure you're using the right headlight prong. I'm pretty sure it's the top one, for high beams.

It's possible you might have blown bulbs. Did you check the filament in them? Other than that, there's really nothing else that can get "messed up". That's what the fuse is for... to blow in case stuff starts happening that will mess everything else up, and shut everything off.

A good way to test the ground for the lights is just take a wire and attach it directly to the positive battery terminal.. if the lights light up, your ground is good :hillbill:

I figured out what was wrong with mine. Apparently the fuse was blown, but it was such a tiny burn out that I couldn't see it without staring at it for a minute or so.
Such a simple thing that I checked several times, but never looked close enough. The instructions on the hella site do help alot though and thanks to everyone.
If I have to do this again anytime soon, it will be much easier thanks to your help.

-Jeff

Bahaha... never forget to check the basics! :pat:

Glad you got it fixed but you may need to visit the eye doctor--a blown 15A fuse should be easy to spot. :chairfall

DOH!!!!! :saw: