Whats up folks?
Im currently on my 3rd Evo, and my 2nd X. I love all of them. At present, ive got a pretty heavily modded 2010 GSR, and i couldnt be happier with the performance. However ive been fighting electrical quarks since day one. ive managed to diagnose and fix all of them, except this headlight cluster F.
I bought the car with OEM bi xenon headlights, including the leveling dial on the dash. At the time i figured it was all factory to the car. I ended up having someone pull the VIN info, and i discovered it was a standard halogen car from the factory. i checked the headlights and the wiring thoroughly, and they are definitely oem bi xenon housings. The first time i attempted to drive the car at night, i discovered i had no headlight illumination. Now, my previous evo gsr had the halogens, so i know how they share the low beam/DRL with the same bulb, and the high beam is separate. im also aware of the issues encountered in trying to run aftermarket hids. Anyway, i did some on the spot testing, and the issue is as follows:

All the wiring from the headlights to the fuse/relay box in the engine bay, seem to be present for a car that is factory equipped with the bi xenon system. Im getting normal operation on the tailights, turn signals, and hazzards. When the stalk switch for the headlights is turned to any position, i get nothing. The HIDs dont fire up, nor do the DRLs or parking lights up front. When the switch is in the AUTO, or ON position, the fog light ring will activate the fogs and light them up. When in the ON/Auto position, i also get the normal green indicators on the cluster. When i switch to the parking light position i get nothing from the headlights. When the switch is in the ON/Auto, and i flick the stalk for the HB's, I can hear the relay click and observe the gate inside the projector lens, flip down or up, just no light. Itll even kill the fogs when set to HBs on, then theyll turn back on again, upon returning to low beams, just as intended.

So far ive checked all the blade fuses and relays and found nothing defective. I probed the wires on each main harness going into both headlights and found only one wire going hot in the on position, and cold in the off. i bench tested both ballasts and bulbs and they all worked. i also checked the drl bulbs and got the same result. ive tried tracing the harness, and checking grounds. ive visually inspected the etcas and the under dash fuse panel and found nothing abnormal. Finally, i resulted to drastic measures and employed a set of 35w denso ballasts off my is300, designed and made up a harness. i pulled power off the battery junction block under the hood, ran two separate inline fuses, continuing on to a 5 pin relay for each light. i spliced into the one wire in the headlight harness on each one, that was going hot upon switch on, and used it for my trigger. it sends 12v to the relay, which closes the gate, and sends direct battery pwr to the denso ballats im running. i just plugged the D2S/R connector off each ballast to the 4300k's bulbs, mounted inside the headlights. So now when i turn the headlight switch to parking, on, or auto, the relays are triggered and the bulbs fire up. Since the physical gate inside the projector lens was working properly, ive also got normally operating HB's. However, i have no parking light mode, no DRLs, the height leveling dial does nothing, and the auto position does nothing but activate the denso setup in the headlights.

So, at least i have reliable working headlights, that operate "sort of" like the factory intended way. I cant for the life of me figure out what the deal is. All my instrument and dash lights illuminate when the switch is on, along with the rest of the lights. Even the inner amber signals in the headlights work normally. Both housings have the electric motor tied into the manual adjuster box, with connectors and a harness, tied off the main connector. There are no signs of hackery or splicing going on with any thing related to the headlights, that ive found. Its even got a relay in the main panel for something headlight related, with a few built in heat sink fins, which wasnt present on my last gsr w/oem halogens. i just cant figure this one out. i have no clue where to look next. Its such a stupid, weird problem to have, but i would like to fix it, so itll works as intended. My only lead, is that the etacs is responsible. It just doesnt seem right because, the fogs work, the bi xenons switch to HB mode, the signals work, the fender markers and tailights work, and im not getting any MIL for anything. Im relatively sure the switch goes into the etacs, then to the main relay box, and out to the lights, so why would the bi xenon gates activate, along with the signals and fogs? Not to mention, the fuel pump relay recall was done twice, along with the etacs bulletin, and the rear diff pump has been replaced under the TSB. It almost looks like the whole bi xenon headlamps, leveling dial, auto function etc., were installed after delivery at some point, by a mitsubishi dealership. BTW, it doesnt appear to have the sensor for the auto-on headlights either. i believe its normally located in the center of the dash, at the base of the windshield, but im not certain.

So if anyone has any thoughts, opinions, or experiences, relating to my ridiculous problem, id love to read them! I know this is a long post, but it was the only way to describe the problem. Ive searched here, on the evox forums, and on the web in general, and i cant seem to find any similar issues or information on how the system actually works. Id love to know if anyone else has ever attempted to convert a halogen evo x, to a bi xenon evo x, using oem parts, and successfully got it to operate. before my experiences w/this car, i didnt even think a conversion of this type was possible, given how the DRL system functions with canbus, on the halogen cars.

Thanks for taking time to read all this. Hope everyone gets a chance to put a few lengths out in front, on some cocky STI drivers soon! PEACE!!

-WILL, Baltimore, MD

 

It sounds like someone half-attempted a retrofit and gave up. I would guess that you cannot use an auto headlight switch without the auto sensor and corresponding harnesses. I would try getting a used headlight switch and see if it resolves your issue unless you get someone who's done the swap to chime in.

 

Yea its tough to say, I was able to find some wiring diagrams for the CZ4A written in russian, but i could still look at the diagram. It seems like everything headlight related goes through the etacs, prior to going out to the relay box in the engine bay. I considered the actual switch being the problem and id like to find a way to test it. im sure a replacement stalk isnt cheap, and id hate to throw parts at it, hoping one fixes it. I just cant understand why someone would go to the trouble of swapping in projector headlights/ballasts/bulbs/auto stalk/level dial etc, only to give up and not have the actual lights come on. Unfortunately im clueless on how the chassis canbus system works. Having the green lamp indicators on the cluster illuminate and work correctly, the bi xenon high beam gate activating normally, the rear taillights, fogs, and turn signals all working, but not get any headlight bulbs to light or get any response from that leveling dial, is such a ignorant, random problem.

Initially, after i decided to run the lexus denso ballasts, i attempted to use that one wire going into the main plug in rear of the headlights, to supply the 12v pwr to the ballasts. i checked both with a multi meter and it showed 12v on each one with the HL switch on. After i finished wiring them, i couldnt get both headlghts to come on at the same time. They would alternate side to side, going on and off, for a good minute. I could tell they were fighting for voltage and couldnt get enough btwn the both ballasts to fire up simultaneously. Thats why i ended up using two 5 blade relays and running direct power to the ballasts. Ive been running that setup for about three months now, and its worked reliably. Its just having that leveling dial and drls not working drives me nuts.I think my next move is gonna be to probe the wiring connector that plugs into the leveling dial and see what kind of voltages its working with.

Anyway, I appreciate you reading the first post and taking time to respond. I think i will pull the column trim and probe the stalk too. Maybe i can try powering an output wire coming from the stalk itself and see if im getting anything up at the headlights. Of course, the output wire is probably a ground trigger or it operates at some crazy low voltage. I encountered that issue trying to find a reliable 12v reverse signal wire to tap for a backup camera. All the usual suspects that went hot with the trans in reverse, ran voltages way lower than 12. Well, it is what it is...Thanks again bro. -WILL

 

So, looking at the diagram, there's a "column ECU" so it's quite possible you'll need to reprogram that for discharge type lights! <eek>

Here are some good links for the service manual, with wiring diagrams (in English!)
https://www.evoscan.com/vehicle-manualsGR00000300-90

Good luck Will!

 

So i was able to obtain a bunch of wiring a circuit diagrams recently.

Come to find out the car wasnt originally equipped with bi xenon headlights, auto on/off hl's, or beam level manual adjust, even though it has all those components now.

Using the manual, i was able to locate the relays responsible for triggering the low beams and the drls. There was no functionality from either of them when i rotated the switch to auto, parking lights, low beams, or off.

I used wire to jump the relays and they worked. So obviously, my issues is with etacs, the switch, or the column ecu. Even though it has the auto switch installed, the light sensor needed for operation, isnt there. It does however display the correct status lights on the gauge cluster, indicating which lights are on. It will properly move the gate inside the bi xenon projector to engage the high beams. In addition, the fog light switch operates correctly and they still shut off when switching to HB. Im just not getting ballast activation, front parking lights, or DRLs.

That leads me to believe its a etacs programming issue or a column ecu issue.

The thing that confuses me, is why all the other stuff works. According to the manual, the halogen system uses a field effect transistor to step down the voltage going to the low beams, for the DRL function. Upon switching the low beams on, it triggers the low beam relay, sending full voltage to the bulb.

The discharge system uses the same relays in the exact same position, except the field effect transistor is not utilized, seeing as theres a separate bulb for the DRL. So i would think that even though the car didnt come with discharge headlighs, it will still trigger the low beam relay with the switch, and id get flickering from the hid. Also, i would expect to see function from the DRL relay with the low beams off.

Instead, im seeing power to the trigger side of each relay, as well as to the gate, but they dont trigger, even with different, known good, relays installed. Only when i jump the gate terminals, will the associated light activate.

It looks to me, like the etacs uses a ground trigger to open the relays. Supposedly that is accomplished with a single wire, coming from the etacs, which is used for multiple systems other than the headlight circuit. Currently, I havent came across any other electrical malfunctions.

I doubt anyone knows what the hell is going on with this thing. I suspect its not a problem that anyone comes across. Mainly because most people arent dumb enough to swap their halogen based evo, to discharge headlights, auto light switch, and beam level dial, without doing the light sensor, relay swap, and etacs reprogramming. Unfortunately, thats exactly what i have to work with.

If anybody has any thoughts on this situation, or cares to speculate, im eager to indulge you.

Also, Thank you splattj for providing the link and the tip about the existence of the column ecu.