Strange headlight issue

[Ryno12]

Hello all,

I thought I’d pick the collective brains of you all about an issue I’m having with my headlights.

I have a 2014 Sierra Denali 1500. About two weeks ago, I purchased a set of VLED Micros. (9012 5K) Everything has been working great up until tonight. I was driving home tonight from an appointment and after about a mile down the road, both my headlights briefly flickered & simultaneously went out. I pulled over, put the truck in park & got out to check the lights. While outside the vehicle, I cycled the headlights off and then back on & they came back on. Weird but ok, cool. Anyway, I get about 500 feet down the road and again, same thing, brief flicker then both out. Thankfully, I have bright fogs so I threw them on to get me the 25 miles back home.

 

Once home I started troubleshooting. I found that if the lights went out and I tried cycling the lights off, then on again while driving, nothing would happen. If I stopped, put the vehicle in Park, then cycled the headlights off/on, they would come back on. I could always only get a few hundred feet down the road before they’d go out again. What’s weird is, I could sit and idle the truck in my driveway and the headlights would stay on for as long as I allowed it to. The problem only happened while I was driving.

 

I then decided to swap the drivers side headlight out with the old halogen and take a drive to see what would happen. About a mile down the road, same thing except this time, it was only the passenger side with the VLED. It would briefly flicker & then go out but the driver’s side with halogen stayed on.

 

At this point I’m assuming it’s voltage issue with the LED headlights, but why would this problem first pop up after two weeks of working perfectly?

 

One thing I should note is, the truck still has the original battery and I’ve noticed in the last month or so, it’s been cranking over a little slow. It’s also been single to negative digit temps outside.

 

Any ideas? Should I replace the battery & see if that helps?

 

Apologies if this issue has been addressed before.

[Paintor]

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/167723-led-headlight-bulb-issues/

 

[Ryno12]

Thanks guys.
Why would the lights work fine for two weeks then start doing this? Wouldn’t the lights need those anti-flicker devices right from the get-go to work?

[Ryno12]

Just an update on my headlight problem...

First, as I suspected, the anti-flicker capacitors did not fix the problem. In fact, I couldn’t even get the LEDs to work with them at all. I do have a relay harness on order that I may try yet.

I did purchase a new battery & that seemed to greatly improve the problem. However, I am still able to induce the issue by basically flooring the accelerator. If I drive normal, the headlights works fine but if I gas it hard and the truck downshifts & gets the revs up, the lights will still flicker twice, then go out completely.

I had a set of OPT7 Fluxbeam X LEDs laying around so I swapped the drivers side out with the OPT7 & left the VLED on the passenger side. After driving around for awhile, I was able to induce the problem & again, only the VLED went out. The OPT7 stayed on just like the halogen did in my previous test.
This now leads me to believe there’s an issue with the drivers on the VLEDs. That or it’s in conjunction with the truck.
I have an email out to VLED to see if they have a solution but for now, I’ll swap back to the OPT7 Fluxbeams. I just don’t care for the 6k color of them.

[x219c]

I’ve not used aftermarket LEDs, but with HIDs, the relay kit would be the next step. Basically, all they do is hook your lights directly to the battery and use the original harness for a signal to turn them on. That should minimize your problem, I would think.

That said, I wonder how big of a voltage drop we’re talking about. And if it’s happening at the headlight harness, is it happening at the battery too? If it is, the harness may not help. Beyond the slower start with the old battery, did you notice any other symptoms? I would guess if you were running halogens, they would at least dim or something.




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[Ryno12]

I’ve not used aftermarket LEDs, but with HIDs, the relay kit would be the next step. Basically, all they do is hook your lights directly to the battery and use the original harness for a signal to turn them on. That should minimize your problem, I would think.

That said, I wonder how big of a voltage drop we’re talking about. And if it’s happening at the headlight harness, is it happening at the battery too? If it is, the harness may not help. Beyond the slower start with the old battery, did you notice any other symptoms? I would guess if you were running halogens, they would at least dim or something.




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Thanks for the reply.

My only hesitation with the relay harness is that if the problem is that the truck is not sensing a load & is shutting off the lights, the relay harness isn’t going to work. Or at least I assume it won’t.

As far as the battery goes, I probably could’ve gotten another year out of it. It was a tad slow cranking after sitting outside at work in single digit (or less) temps. I didn’t notice any other issues with the battery, such as dimming lights. I did get a low battery warning only after about 2 minutes with the key forward while sitting in my garage.
Being that it’s the original 2014 battery & that we’ve got a lot of winter left, I decided to just get a new battery now before it strands me. I was also curious if it’d have an impact on my headlight issue too.

[silveradosid]

these trucks use pwm to supply the voltage to the lights . pulse width modulation doesnt work well with leds,, try hooking up one of the vled to 12 volts directly and see if it stays on, hopefully the pwm hasnt damaged the driver. if the vled stays lit then the relay harness will fix your problem

[Ryno12]

these trucks use pwm to supply the voltage to the lights . pulse width modulation doesnt work well with leds,, try hooking up one of the vled to 12 volts directly and see if it stays on, hopefully the pwm hasnt damaged the driver. if the vled stays lit then the relay harness will fix your problem

Thanks but again, why would these headlights work great for two weeks before this problem arose? They work great 98% of the time right now again after the battery was changed. Other brand LEDs also work fine 100% of the time.
If it was related to PWM, wouldn’t the problem happen right from the get-go and with all LEDs?

I’m just trying to understand this.

[diyer2]

No experience with your situation.

I believe there is a problem with the VLED system.

[newdude]

I'm on month 4 with VLED Micros in my highs and lows on my 2016 Colorado.  Never had them go out yet.  No anti-flicker installed either because they sent the wrong ones at first, and I have the right ones just haven't bothered to put them in. 

 

Does it do this with the switch in the AUTO position or the ON position?

[Ryno12]

I'm on month 4 with VLED Micros in my highs and lows on my 2016 Colorado.  Never had them go out yet.  No anti-flicker installed either because they sent the wrong ones at first, and I have the right ones just haven't bothered to put them in. 
 
Does it do this with the switch in the AUTO position or the ON position?

I’ve only used them in the AUTO position. When they go out, I have to stop and put the truck in park, toggle the headlight switch to ON, then they come back on, then I switch it back to AUTO.

I’ve been driving around with the VLED in the drivers side & an OPT7 on the passenger side just because the output on the VLED is so much better, but if it goes out, at least I still have one headlight.

I haven’t heard back from VLED yet but I’m hoping to get this resolved since I like those LEDs the best so far.

Another thing that I noticed with the VLEDs is that they’re not sensitive to polarity. They work no matter which way the driver is plugged in. Not sure if that’s normal or not...

[silveradosid]

I had this problem when I switched our Volvo truck dash lights they would last 2to3 weeks and quit

[Sebastian Christopher Davis]

My 2014 GMC Sierra 1500 right headlight when out I put a new one in and still no power the fuse is good and the left side still works you can pull the fuse out the fuse panel #59 for the headlights and the left one is still working?  Is there a fuse or slow blow fuse for the right side where the headlight is? And the Dtl are working to for both sides