NEW | Morimoto XB Tail Lights | Now Available

[jsoa]

@nvbronco @jsoa I also am having the fast flash turn signal issue with my driver's Morimoto XB tail light. My Bronco is a '23 Black Diamond 2.3 Auto with the halogen tail lights and OEM non-signature head lights. The Morimoto XB tail lights (with resistors) worked perfectly when I first tested them until I noticed that the driver's brake light would not illuminate when the shifter was moved from Park to Drive or Reverse. Both resistors measured 10.2ohms. I tried swapping the resistors but the problem remained. Although I noticed that if I left the driver's resistor unplugged the issue went away (and plugging the resistor back in caused the brake light to go out.) I left the driver's resistor out for a day and then the fast flash turn signal problem appeared on the driver's side. When this happens, the turn signal stops functioning and the indicator on the dash flashes quickly to alert that a bulb is out.

I have been in contact with Adam @4x4TruckLEDs.com during this troubleshooting he has been very responsive to try and get to the issue resolved. He had Morimoto send me a replacement set. I installed the new driver's side light (with the known good resistor from the passenger side) and while this light didn't display the brake light Park-Drive issue, it did develop the fast flash problem a day later.

Other notes:
-Both times I installed the lights and tested them with the Bronco in park, everything worked fine. The first light (without the resistor) and the replacement light (with the resistor) worked fine for an entire evening (~60°F) of testing and driving only to have immediate fast flash problems the next morning (~43°F).
-I scanned the DTC codes for the BdyCM and it stored a Code - Left Rear Turn Indicator Circuit Short To Ground. I was able to reset this and the issue went away for an evening only for it to reappear when starting the Bronco the next morning.
-I wonder if it is related to temperature of the light or the cold start of the Bronco.
-I also was observing the battery voltage indicator and it seemed high voltage (>14V) would correlate with the fast flash at first. However, I did have the fast flash issue when the voltage was at a normal 13.2V.
-The turn signal issue is doesn't depend on if the headlights are on/off, high beams, fogs, etc.
-The passenger light has worked perfectly from day one with either resistor.
-I swapped back to my OEM halogen tails for now and they have been working perfectly.

My guess is that the Morimoto lights are drawing too much current during turn signal operation and they are tripping a protecting in the BdyCM circuitry/software.

So much for plug and play. I fee like a product tester. It's a bummer because I love the way they look both off and on and they are a huge improvement in brightness over the OEM halogens. Hopefully @morimoto can figure it out or give a refund.

good stuff, you do sound like a product tester heh. Sounds like morimoto needed you lol

I was about to swap the resistors to try that out but no need anymore

Sponsored

 

[Scott M]

*******
UPDATE 10/20/24: After testing yesterday afternoon and observing the tail lights all evening functioning correctly (~2 hrs of driving), the driver's stop/turn light failed again this morning. I noticed it would not illuminate when I hit the lock/ unlock button (even though the passenger side worked fine). I had my wife start the Bronco then back out and the driver's light stayed off. We took it for a short 10 minute drive then I got out when we pulled back in the driveway and the light was working again. I hooked up my laptop with FORSCAN and there was a DTC in the BdyCM for Circuit Shot to Ground for the Left Rear Turn Indicator (screenshot below). This is the first time I have seen this error without the resistor present in the circuit. This points to a potential intermittent fault with the driver's Morimoto tail light assembly. Interesting to note that I have not seen any issues in the afternoon/ evening, only in the morning - can't explain why that may be.

*******

*Disregard most of the original post below since the tail light still failed without the resistors installed. So while the failure is not entirely dependent on the resistor, it did seem to fail more frequently with the resistor installed*

10/19/24 After more troubleshooting of Morimoto XB Tail lights on our Bronco originally equipped with Halogen/non-signature lights, It's possible that Morimoto spec'd the wrong value for the add-on resistors resulting in the stop/turn lights drawing too much current and overloading the Bronco's tail light drive circuit. When this happens, the stop/turn light no longer illuminates and a DTC for short circuit shows up in the BdyCM and fast flash is indicated on the dash.

The Morimoto stop/turn lights are pulling ~2.1 A and Ford has rated the circuit for 1.9A. The OEM Halogen lights pull 1.75A

I think Morimoto needs to provide a resistor with a larger value to reduce the current draw. A value of around 15-20 ohms should put the current draw right near the OEM halogen light at about 1.7A.
(The intent of the provided resistors is to draw extra current in order to fool the OEM hardware into thinking an OEM tail light is installed)

For a workaround in the meantime using FORSCAN, scroll to the bottom.

Supplemental details:
Below is a screenshot of the Bronco Equipment Installation Guide that Ford puts out to aftermarket suppliers in order to properly design accessories. Page 24 of the 2023 guide lists the pinout and specs for the tail light connectors. Looking at the Tail Lamp Pinout table shows the max continuous current rating for the Stop/Turn lights is 1.9A at 12V.

It also lists the mating connector for the tail light harness as a Molex 33482-3602. Pulling up the data sheet gives the pinout below:

I used a bench power supply to apply 12V to pins 1 and 3 of the tail lamp connector to illuminate the Stop/Turn lamp on the Morimoto Light. With the resistor plugged in it measures 2.05A, over the max current rating of 1.9A (I understand that the circuit type is listed as PWM and would therefore see less current in operation as long as the duty cycle is less than 100, but the rating is at 12V continuous. Also there may be variability in the duty cycle during driving and different vehicle functions- which can also explain why the issues appear intermittently).
Without the resistor it measures .89A. OEM is 1.75A

Resistor 2.05A:

No resistor .89A:

OEM Halogen Light 1.75A:

I am assuming Ford is measuring current on the light driver circuit to trigger either a bulb out indication (with too low current) or a 'short circuit' error (with too much current) to protect the drive circuitry.

It seems likely that the resistor that Morimoto has included is too low of a value and the lights are drawing current at the upper end of the drive threshold, sometimes exceeding it and making the Bronco think the circuit is shorted- temporarily disabling the output to the light and triggering the fast flash indicator and storing the BdyCM DTC.

Behavior from what I have observed when incorrect current is sensed for the rear turn signal:
-Too little current draw: the dash indicator goes into fast flash mode, but the exterior turn signals flash at a normal interval.
-Too much current draw: the dash indicator goes into fast flash mode, the front signal flashes normally, but the rear turn signal does not illuminate. Also, a "Left Rear Turn Indicator Circuit Short To Ground" code is stored in the BdyCM.


Here is a potential work-around for those of us that originally had Halogen tail lights:
Run without the resistors and disable Rear Bulb Turn Outage in the BdyCM module in FORSCAN. This enables the lights to operate normally without tripping the fast flash indication. I just did this and confirmed the lights function as expected in every scenario that I ran them through. If you do try this, report back if you still see issues. Note that you will no longer get an indication on the dash (fast flash) if a stop/turn light fails completely on the Morimoto lights. UPDATE 10/20/24 While this does correct the fast flash indications, I still had a short circuit DTC show up the next morning even after doing this.

 

[Otis]

Installed today. Install was easier than I’d expected, and they look fantastic. So stealth/clean. A little bummed to see the trade in credit was gone, but still worth it (seemed a little too good to be true to be honest).

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Installed today. Install was easier than I’d expected, and they look fantastic. So stealth/clean. A little bummed to see the trade in credit was gone, but still worth it (seemed a little too good to be true to be honest).

You can make more selling your OEM tails yourself. Same with headlights. The buyback program didn't offer you that much as they were re-selling them on various sites.

It wasn't even Morimoto paying you. It was a 3rd party that was doing it.

 

[jsoa]

*******
UPDATE 10/20/24: After testing yesterday afternoon and observing the tail lights all evening functioning correctly (~2 hrs of driving), the driver's stop/turn light failed again this morning. I noticed it would not illuminate when I hit the lock/ unlock button (even though the passenger side worked fine). I had my wife start the Bronco then back out and the driver's light stayed off. We took it for a short 10 minute drive then I got out when we pulled back in the driveway and the light was working again. I hooked up my laptop with FORSCAN and there was a DTC in the BdyCM for Circuit Shot to Ground for the Left Rear Turn Indicator (screenshot below). This is the first time I have seen this error without the resistor present in the circuit. This points to an intermittent fault with the driver's Morimoto tail light assembly. Interesting to note that I have not seen any issues in the afternoon/ evening, only in the morning - can't explain why that may be.

*******

*Disregard most of the original post below since the conclusions about the resistor are most likely incorrect. But I'll leave it up since it still contains some useful information and some history of the tests I ran*
10/19/24 OK after more troubleshooting of Morimoto XB Tail lights on our Bronco originally equipped with Halogen/non-signature lights, It's possible that Morimoto spec'd the wrong value for the add-on resistors resulting in the stop/turn lights drawing too much current and overloading the Bronco's tail light drive circuit. When this happens, the stop/turn light no longer illuminates and a DTC for short circuit shows up in the BdyCM and fast flash is indicated on the dash.

The Morimoto stop/turn lights are pulling ~2.1 A and Ford has rated the circuit for 1.9A. The OEM Halogen lights pull 1.75A

I think Morimoto needs to provide a resistor with a larger value to reduce the current draw. A value of around 15-20 ohms should put the current draw right near the OEM halogen light at about 1.7A.
(The intent of the provided resistors is to draw extra current in order to fool the OEM hardware into thinking an OEM tail light is installed)

For a workaround in the meantime using FORSCAN, scroll to the bottom.

Supplemental details:
Below is a screenshot of the Bronco Equipment Installation Guide that Ford puts out to aftermarket suppliers in order to properly design accessories. Page 24 of the 2023 guide lists the pinout and specs for the tail light connectors. Looking at the Tail Lamp Pinout table shows the max continuous current rating for the Stop/Turn lights is 1.9A at 12V.

It also lists the mating connector for the tail light harness as a Molex 33482-3602. Pulling up the data sheet gives the pinout below:

I used a bench power supply to apply 12V to pins 1 and 3 of the tail lamp connector to illuminate the Stop/Turn lamp on the Morimoto Light. With the resistor plugged in it measures 2.05A, over the max current rating of 1.9A (I understand that the circuit type is listed as PWM and would therefore see less current in operation as long as the duty cycle is less than 100, but the rating is at 12V continuous. Also there may be variability in the duty cycle during driving and different vehicle functions- which can also explain why the issues appear intermittently).
Without the resistor it measures .89A. OEM is 1.75A

Resistor 2.05A:

No resistor .89A:

OEM Halogen Light 1.75A:

I am assuming Ford is measuring current on the light driver circuit to trigger either a bulb out indication (with too low current) or a 'short circuit' error (with too much current) to protect the drive circuitry.

It seems likely that the resistor that Morimoto has included is too low of a value and the lights are drawing current at the upper end of the drive threshold, sometimes exceeding it and making the Bronco think the circuit is shorted- temporarily disabling the output to the light and triggering the fast flash indicator and storing the BdyCM DTC.

Behavior from what I have observed when incorrect current is sensed for the rear turn signal:
-Too little current draw: the dash indicator goes into fast flash mode, but the exterior turn signals flash at a normal interval.
-Too much current draw: the dash indicator goes into fast flash mode, the front signal flashes normally, but the rear turn signal does not illuminate. Also, a "Left Rear Turn Indicator Circuit Short To Ground" code is stored in the BdyCM.


Here is a potential work-around for those of us that originally had Halogen tail lights:
Run without the resistors and disable Rear Bulb Turn Outage in the BdyCM module in FORSCAN. This enables the lights to operate normally without tripping the fast flash indication. I just did this and confirmed the lights function as expected in every scenario that I ran them through. If you do try this, report back if you still see issues. Note that you will no longer get an indication on the dash (fast flash) if a stop/turn light fails completely on the Morimoto lights. UPDATE 10/20/24 While this does correct the fast flash indications, I still had a short circuit DTC show up the next morning even after doing this.

good stuff

*******
UPDATE 10/20/24: After testing yesterday afternoon and observing the tail lights all evening functioning correctly (~2 hrs of driving), the driver's stop/turn light failed again this morning. I noticed it would not illuminate when I hit the lock/ unlock button (even though the passenger side worked fine). I had my wife start the Bronco then back out and the driver's light stayed off. We took it for a short 10 minute drive then I got out when we pulled back in the driveway and the light was working again. I hooked up my laptop with FORSCAN and there was a DTC in the BdyCM for Circuit Shot to Ground for the Left Rear Turn Indicator (screenshot below). This is the first time I have seen this error without the resistor present in the circuit. This points to a potential intermittent fault with the driver's Morimoto tail light assembly. Interesting to note that I have not seen any issues in the afternoon/ evening, only in the morning - can't explain why that may be.

*******

*Disregard most of the original post below since the tai light still failed without the resistors installed. So while not the failure is not entirely dependent on the resistor, it did seem to fail more frequently with the resistor installed*

10/19/24 After more troubleshooting of Morimoto XB Tail lights on our Bronco originally equipped with Halogen/non-signature lights, It's possible that Morimoto spec'd the wrong value for the add-on resistors resulting in the stop/turn lights drawing too much current and overloading the Bronco's tail light drive circuit. When this happens, the stop/turn light no longer illuminates and a DTC for short circuit shows up in the BdyCM and fast flash is indicated on the dash.

The Morimoto stop/turn lights are pulling ~2.1 A and Ford has rated the circuit for 1.9A. The OEM Halogen lights pull 1.75A

I think Morimoto needs to provide a resistor with a larger value to reduce the current draw. A value of around 15-20 ohms should put the current draw right near the OEM halogen light at about 1.7A.
(The intent of the provided resistors is to draw extra current in order to fool the OEM hardware into thinking an OEM tail light is installed)

For a workaround in the meantime using FORSCAN, scroll to the bottom.

Supplemental details:
Below is a screenshot of the Bronco Equipment Installation Guide that Ford puts out to aftermarket suppliers in order to properly design accessories. Page 24 of the 2023 guide lists the pinout and specs for the tail light connectors. Looking at the Tail Lamp Pinout table shows the max continuous current rating for the Stop/Turn lights is 1.9A at 12V.

It also lists the mating connector for the tail light harness as a Molex 33482-3602. Pulling up the data sheet gives the pinout below:

I used a bench power supply to apply 12V to pins 1 and 3 of the tail lamp connector to illuminate the Stop/Turn lamp on the Morimoto Light. With the resistor plugged in it measures 2.05A, over the max current rating of 1.9A (I understand that the circuit type is listed as PWM and would therefore see less current in operation as long as the duty cycle is less than 100, but the rating is at 12V continuous. Also there may be variability in the duty cycle during driving and different vehicle functions- which can also explain why the issues appear intermittently).
Without the resistor it measures .89A. OEM is 1.75A

Resistor 2.05A:

No resistor .89A:

OEM Halogen Light 1.75A:

I am assuming Ford is measuring current on the light driver circuit to trigger either a bulb out indication (with too low current) or a 'short circuit' error (with too much current) to protect the drive circuitry.

It seems likely that the resistor that Morimoto has included is too low of a value and the lights are drawing current at the upper end of the drive threshold, sometimes exceeding it and making the Bronco think the circuit is shorted- temporarily disabling the output to the light and triggering the fast flash indicator and storing the BdyCM DTC.

Behavior from what I have observed when incorrect current is sensed for the rear turn signal:
-Too little current draw: the dash indicator goes into fast flash mode, but the exterior turn signals flash at a normal interval.
-Too much current draw: the dash indicator goes into fast flash mode, the front signal flashes normally, but the rear turn signal does not illuminate. Also, a "Left Rear Turn Indicator Circuit Short To Ground" code is stored in the BdyCM.


Here is a potential work-around for those of us that originally had Halogen tail lights:
Run without the resistors and disable Rear Bulb Turn Outage in the BdyCM module in FORSCAN. This enables the lights to operate normally without tripping the fast flash indication. I just did this and confirmed the lights function as expected in every scenario that I ran them through. If you do try this, report back if you still see issues. Note that you will no longer get an indication on the dash (fast flash) if a stop/turn light fails completely on the Morimoto lights. UPDATE 10/20/24 While this does correct the fast flash indications, I still had a short circuit DTC show up the next morning even after doing this.

this is great stuff, nice work. Morimoto should be seeing this tbh

 

[jsoa]

@4x4TruckLEDs.com any updates from morimoto that you can share?

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

@4x4TruckLEDs.com any updates from morimoto that you can share?

We don't have any updates right now

 

[Scott M]

good stuff

this is great stuff, nice work. Morimoto should be seeing this tbh

After not hearing anything from @4x4TruckLEDs.com for a week, I called Morimoto tech support. The person I spoke with had no knowledge of the issue we have been experiencing with the faulty stop/turn lights when using the XB tails on an OEM halogen Bronco.

That doesn't give me a lot of confidence that a solution is in the works. Morimoto's website lists a 30 day refund period from the original order date. Luckily I am still within this period and have reached out to them for a refund.

I do not recommend anyone buy the Morimoto XB Tail Lights for your OEM Halogen/ Non-Signature Bronco until they address the stop/turn light issue.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

After not hearing anything from @4x4TruckLEDs.com for a week, I called Morimoto tech support. The person I spoke with had no knowledge of the issue we have been experiencing with the faulty stop/turn lights when using the XB tails on an OEM halogen Bronco.

That doesn't give me a lot of confidence that a solution is in the works. Morimoto's website lists a 30 day refund period from the original order date. Luckily I am still within this period and have reached out to them for a refund.

I do not recommend anyone buy the Morimoto XB Tail Lights for your OEM Halogen/ Non-Signature Bronco until they address the stop/turn light issue.

Morimotos tech support does not have access to our open cases. It's a completely separate department from the support team dealers work with. The consumer side of Morimoto actually operates under their retail division (The Retrofit Source) whereas dealers work with another company/team. Additionally, Morimoto has no knowledge of purchases we make as we don't purchase from Morimoto. We purchase from the company that owns Morimoto (Wheel Pros). Wheel Pros acquired Morimoto a few years back and started to move inventory from Morimotos warehouses into the WheelPros distribution network. That gave us more access to products as there is a distribution center down the road from us. So any tech issues we deal with are handled under a different "company" so to speak.

In fact, the RMA's we've been handling are still moving through the network actually. Some of them go to the Wheel Pros warehouse and then have to make their way down to Morimotos main HQ so they can inspect the lights/figure out what's going on. So things are still being passed around from warehouse to warehouse. Others may go directly to the Morimoto HQ for inspection/evaluation. But it's still too early to tell what's going on.

Any customers experiencing issues that purchased from us can continue to reach out to us for a resolution.

 

[Scott M]

Morimotos tech support does not have access to our open cases. It's a completely separate department from the support team dealers work with. The consumer side of Morimoto actually operates under their retail division (The Retrofit Source) whereas dealers work with another company/team. Additionally, Morimoto has no knowledge of purchases we make as we don't purchase from Morimoto. We purchase from the company that owns Morimoto (Wheel Pros). Wheel Pros acquired Morimoto a few years back and started to move inventory from Morimotos warehouses into the WheelPros distribution network. That gave us more access to products as there is a distribution center down the road from us. So any tech issues we deal with are handled under a different "company" so to speak.

In fact, the RMA's we've been handling are still moving through the network actually. Some of them go to the Wheel Pros warehouse and then have to make their way down to Morimotos main HQ so they can inspect the lights/figure out what's going on. So things are still being passed around from warehouse to warehouse. Others may go directly to the Morimoto HQ for inspection/evaluation. But it's still too early to tell what's going on.

Any customers experiencing issues that purchased from us can continue to reach out to us for a resolution.

Thanks for the update and explanation. On the consumer side, we don't have a lot of visibility for what goes on behind the scenes.

 

[jsoa]

After not hearing anything from @4x4TruckLEDs.com for a week, I called Morimoto tech support. The person I spoke with had no knowledge of the issue we have been experiencing with the faulty stop/turn lights when using the XB tails on an OEM halogen Bronco.

That doesn't give me a lot of confidence that a solution is in the works. Morimoto's website lists a 30 day refund period from the original order date. Luckily I am still within this period and have reached out to them for a refund.

I do not recommend anyone buy the Morimoto XB Tail Lights for your OEM Halogen/ Non-Signature Bronco until they address the stop/turn light issue.

Morimotos tech support does not have access to our open cases. It's a completely separate department from the support team dealers work with. The consumer side of Morimoto actually operates under their retail division (The Retrofit Source) whereas dealers work with another company/team. Additionally, Morimoto has no knowledge of purchases we make as we don't purchase from Morimoto. We purchase from the company that owns Morimoto (Wheel Pros). Wheel Pros acquired Morimoto a few years back and started to move inventory from Morimotos warehouses into the WheelPros distribution network. That gave us more access to products as there is a distribution center down the road from us. So any tech issues we deal with are handled under a different "company" so to speak.

In fact, the RMA's we've been handling are still moving through the network actually. Some of them go to the Wheel Pros warehouse and then have to make their way down to Morimotos main HQ so they can inspect the lights/figure out what's going on. So things are still being passed around from warehouse to warehouse. Others may go directly to the Morimoto HQ for inspection/evaluation. But it's still too early to tell what's going on.

Any customers experiencing issues that purchased from us can continue to reach out to us for a resolution.

Appreciate the response and insight into how things are progressing. I was offered a replacement from @4x4TruckLEDs.com but declined since the issue would probably still occur. I'm ok waiting for a fix as I really do like these lights and a fix doesn't seem terribly difficult. What would suck is if they take too long to fix it and I'm passed the return period.

 

[jsoa]

@4x4TruckLEDs.com any updates?

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

@4x4TruckLEDs.com any updates?

No sorry - no updates

 

[Chrisrose76]

I recently purchased the Morimoto XB LED taillights for my 2023 Black diamond tails from 4x4TruckLEDS.com I had OEM Halogens. I am also experiencing the same issues as everyone else 3 days after installation, I have not had the issue persist for over 3-5 minutes but I reached out to 4x4 for further advice they told me to contact Morimoto directly. I have now reached out to Morimoto and they responded stating that they want me to purchase a driver side tail light and send the other one back. I explained that multiple people are having the same issue and I'm not certain a new tail light will fix the issue. Is that what everyone else is getting from them or can anyone shed some light on what I should do? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

I recently purchased the Morimoto XB LED taillights for my 2023 Black diamond tails from 4x4TruckLEDS.com I had OEM Halogens. I am also experiencing the same issues as everyone else 3 days after installation, I have not had the issue persist for over 3-5 minutes but I reached out to 4x4 for further advice they told me to contact Morimoto directly. I have now reached out to Morimoto and they responded stating that they want me to purchase a driver side tail light and send the other one back. I explained that multiple people are having the same issue and I'm not certain a new tail light will fix the issue. Is that what everyone else is getting from them or can anyone shed some light on what I should do? Thanks in advance for any help!

This is the process. We used to handle this ourselves BUT it was SUCH A DELAY in handling refunds/etc... that our reps recommended we have the customers work directly with Morimoto. This way any refunds from the advance replacement are handled right away instead of US waiting on MULTIPLE warehouses to handle/process/re-ship the warranty.

So it's easier/quicker to have customers work directly with Morimoto if they are experiencing an issue.

As it stands now we're STILL waiting for 1-2 of our customers to get a refund WEEKS later, all because of the crazy way all the warehouses work.

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