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Diode Dynamics Mustang S550 DRL Tri Bar RGBW/A - Important Information Before Install!

RalfTech

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Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum and I'm glad to meet all of you.

I know that this thread is long but please read it regardless as it will save you potentially so much time and future issues with your RGBW or RGBWA kits from Diode Dynamics. I had to remove my front bumper 5+ times to diagnose these issues.

First of all, I'd like to mention that the Diode Dynamics Kit comes with a wiring guide that isn't accurate. The kit that I bought from DD was an RGBWA kit and the wiring color code was wrong for the drivers side in the guide. Do not connect drivers side yellow turn signal wire to the Lime Green/Orange wire! Instead, connect it to Lime Green & Blue wire. Secondly, the t-clamps should be thrown out and never touched. I can't emphasize this enough but please do not use the t-clamps that the kit comes with!
You may ask why? Well since I have the RGBWA kit and as I'm writing this thread my turn signals went out after I hit a bump on the way to Starbucks and I bet you they will turn back on once I hit another bump. I twisted my wires together on the left side and the turn signal works perfectly. I'll head back home and redo all the wiring for the right side. (Tip: if your turn signal sound has changed something is wrong with your turn signal wiring if you have the RGBWA kit) <- DD should add that in their guide!

Funny fact, both of my DRL lights would have gone out temporarily if I had used t-clamps for ground on each driver.

Attach your ground wires to the bottom bracket screw underneath your light. That screw is what holds your light in place and works perfectly for ground! So just strip the tip/cut end of the black ground wire and remove the screw and place the wire there and just tighten the screw and done! You now have perfect grounding! You might touch the bolt and nothing will happen. Just try again because it actually works!

P.s Wish I got paid for all the time wasted in labor due to DD bad guides and terrible testing before release of their product. At least, they are the only ones from what I know that make quality DRL boards for Mustangs. Everything else is just unacceptable in that kit and not worth $200+

In total I wasted $692 in labor costs not to mention the kit.

If you read this you could install your lights in 1 day if you're a beginner. Don't use YouTube as you won't find many tutorials on wiring. Just be creative! Like I did with grounding + don't use anything that comes with DD kit not even the guide except the boards and drivers and controllers.

Headlight Sealant Used: Morimoto Retrofit
Kit: Diode Dynamics RGBWA (for amber turn signals!)

Cheers!
Hope I have helped some of you View attachment 358743
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emericA243

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Thanks for the detailed write up. However I have a few questions. Why did you not fully test everything before reassembling your bumper\car? Not sure why you would drop the whole thing 5 times let along once or maybe twice before fully validating the functionality. Also, Ive had my kit installed for close to a year now with zero issues on any of the boards going out or losing connection and i used the provided wire taps. Obviously soldering is the best way to go, but the T Taps work. My methodology is always least intrusive, definitely whne touching OEM car wiring harness' on a vehicle thats under warranty. Not sure why your connections were so insecure or un-stable.

Also im pretty sure my wiring is diagram\colors is the same as yours(I will verify later today) and all my functions worked as expected(I have a 2016). You were looking at the wiring colors on the TURN SIGNAL plug correct? Not the headlight harness plug. I specifically used a voltmeter to verify each wire was the correct wire to be tapping into when functions were executed as expected. That's how I validated the appropriate wires myself aligned with their instructions.

I also wired my sequential gill turn signals in with quick disconnect t-taps so i can reach down and easily unplug them in 10 seconds on each light If I dont want to run that turn signal function one day. Sucks you had so much trouble, but thanks again for the detailed contribution and overview for future mod'ers!


PS. Its probably also worth noting that not all cars are created equal. Its been mentioned before that even with the sequential turn signals from DD, Opt7, Raxiom etc, on one mustang it could work flawlessly, on another, it can exhibit hyper flash. Makes no sense, but electronics and engineering are demons.
 
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RalfTech

RalfTech

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Thanks for the detailed write up. However I have a few questions. Why did you not fully test everything before reassembling your bumper\car? Not sure why you would drop the whole thing 5 times let along once or maybe twice before fully validating the functionality. Also, Ive had my kit installed for close to a year now with zero issues on any of the boards going out or losing connection and i used the provided wire taps. Obviously soldering is the best way to go, but the T Taps work. My methodology is always least intrusive, definitely whne touching OEM car wiring harness' on a vehicle thats under warranty. Not sure why your connections were so insecure or un-stable.

Also im pretty sure my wiring is diagram\colors is the same as yours(I will verify later today) and all my functions worked as expected(I have a 2016). You were looking at the wiring colors on the TURN SIGNAL plug correct? Not the headlight harness plug. I specifically used a voltmeter to verify each wire was the correct wire to be tapping into when functions were executed as expected. That's how I validated the appropriate wires myself aligned with their instructions.

I also wired my sequential gill turn signals in with quick disconnect t-taps so i can reach down and easily unplug them in 10 seconds on each light If I dont want to run that turn signal function one day. Sucks you had so much trouble, but thanks again for the detailed contribution and overview for future mod'ers!


PS. Its probably also worth noting that not all cars are created equal. Its been mentioned before that even with the sequential turn signals from DD, Opt7, Raxiom etc, on one mustang it could work flawlessly, on another, it can exhibit hyper flash. Makes no sense, but electronics and engineering are demons.
I wired everything up with the provided t-taps and used the guide that was provided to me by Diode Dynamics. The t-taps don’t cut through the wires very well to make a good connection. Secondly, I would never drive my car without my front bumper on and at the time when I was putting the front bumper back together everything worked and I tested all of the connections with a voltmeter and it was perfect. That’s until I started driving the car and after a few bumps on the road the lights stopped working due to the t-taps that came with the DD kit. I have all my wires soldered now and everything works perfectly. Also, you can see the attached picture above and you can clearly see that the wiring color code for the turn signals is wrong on the drivers side for people that have RGBWA kits.

I’m glad it worked for you. However, I’ve spoke to a multitude of DD authorized install shops and they all said that some customers would come back due to the t-taps so I’m not sure what kind of magical t-taps you got in your kit @emericA243
 
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RalfTech

RalfTech

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@emericA243 Did you connect your red controller wire to drl or parking? I’m asking this because my drls are not working during the day if set to Auto in the car. I’d prefer to have everything happen automatically.

P.s keep in mind that’s a Bluetooth controller if that matters.

Cheers!
 

emericA243

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No magical t-taps, just real muscles . To be honest o don't remember I'll have to check my documentation and pics when I did the install. My guess is DRL since whenever the car is unlocked/running/accessory power the gills trigger and turn. I utilize the by controller as well tapped I to that DRL wire so it gains power at that point again when the cars accessory power is triggered. What's nice is at that point I can turn them off too if I wanted to run incognito!
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Bushranger

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I second the advice to solder the joints as one of my T-taps failed after a month of driving. The Diode Dynamics kit is working well after 2 years otherwise.
 
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RalfTech

RalfTech

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I second the advice to solder the joints as one of my T-taps failed after a month of driving. The Diode Dynamics kit is working well after 2 years otherwise.
Mine failed same day.

@emericA243 That looks sick! What underglow is that?
 

Aaron0321

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Has anyone received a wire diagram to be able to run the gills and demon eye while the vehicle is off? I received a response that stated to tap into a 12v power source but im not really sure how that would be done. In response to some of the other posts on this thread I would agree that the T taps do suck and the wires often fall right out. I got some bad drivers from DD too, ill call them on monday to see about replacing them but the drivers in mine have made it so the colors are ever so slightly off.
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