hids and cel

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
i recently upgraded to hid low beams and led side markers,turn signals and drls. today was the first time i drove for more then 30 minutes at night since i upgraded my headlights.while driving i received a quick BOW for passenger low beam. the warning light went out but i could see the lamp was out. so when i pulled in my driveway. i turned the light switch from auto to off then back on again. the BOW came back on along with a check engine light. i went and grabbed my ross tech cable and my laptop.the code was NOX sensor seems like a common fault with our cars but car was running fine.i removed faulty hid that was melted and reset codes. rescanned and for now it is gone. is it possible that a melted hid could effect the NOX sensor. i wondering if these aftermarket kits could effect other systems. TIA DAVE
 

jjblbi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2000
Location
lbi, nj
TDI
2014 Passat SEL TDI
Sorry I am unable to help. May I ask what HID kit you used? Was the failure a manufacturing defect or installation issue?

Good luck & thanks, John
 

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
thanks for the reply john. it was the deAutokey hid kit. seems like a faulty ballast maybe. i really dont know the base of the bulb and the wires connected to the bulb were melted. i contacted deautokey customer service at 2 am. and they responded right back . there going to replace the bulb ,ballast and wiring for the passenger side. when i originally asked what was the optimal voltage for the hids. i was told 13 volts by deAutokey. that what i had the headlights set for already. because i had the orsam upgraded halogen bulbs in already. but now there telling me to set them back to stock settings. i left the bulb life extender on, so i dont know how .02 volts can make a difference. i think my stock voltage for a 2013 passat was 12.8 V. can someone confirm please.TIA dave
 

gdengine

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
Location
Starkville, MS
TDI
2002 Jetta
>i left the bulb life extender on, so i dont know how .02 volts can make a difference.

You'd generally want to turn that feature off. The bulb life extender basically increases life span by turning on the bulb (stock halogen) more slowly and then not letting it get up to max power. It can cause problems with HID ballasts that sometimes will have issues starting with the lower voltage at startup or, will flicker at startup. Same thing for any DRL feature, which normally puts out lower power to the headlight by pulsating power on and of rapidly, which will not be well received by the ballast/bulb.

>Nox

I can't speak to that issue in particular, but I will say this. HID systems are pretty intensive in terms of power and especially grounding needs. Especially at startup where in order to strike the bulb they need a lot of power, if only for a brief moment to initially ignite the bulb. It's not unheard of for HID systems to cause problems with other systems if the two share common grounding points. That being said, I would just try a new ballast and see what happens. I've never heard of a HID ballast causing Nox sensor problems on these cars.
 

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
thank you for the info. i left the bulb life extender on. i just in creased voltage to 13v. which is the voltage it's been running at. since i upgraded to orsam bulbs 3 yrs ago. deAutokey wants me to set it back to factory settings. i just dont remember if it's 12.6v or 12.8 v. also they want me to leave the BLE on. it doesn't make sense that 13v would melt the bulb socket. and the metal base. hopefully just a defective ballast. the new one is coming today. so hopefully all will be good by tomorrow. thanks everyone for your input. i'll let you know how it goes. dave
 

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
The CEL is unrelated to your HIDs and other lights. NOx sensor codes are generally sporadic at first, finally settling into a constant check engine light. In your case, it's just a coincidence.
 

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
thanks veedub .this happened the day after i had the connector recall fixed. and from my understanding that connector is for the nox sensor. so hopefully is was just a glitch. tomorrow im having my heater core changed. lets see how that works out.
 

jjblbi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2000
Location
lbi, nj
TDI
2014 Passat SEL TDI
Good luck with the heater core replacement. For reference my was done FREE by Toms River VW. No issues, no cost and now I have heat!
 

dak503

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Location
northern nj
TDI
2013 passat se
thanks, just got the car back at no charge . the heat feels better. lets see how long it lasts. if it wasn't for this forum i wouldn't have know about the heater core problem. i always drive so the wife was complaining about being cold. i figured she's just complaining. then i remembered reading about the heater core failure. and the passenger side being cold. so for once she was right. lol
 
Top