Technostalgia taillights flashing randomly when car is off and locked. What the hell.

[TCAT]

So, just a few minutes ago, I received a call from my family telling me that my taillights are flashing out of control and won't stop. Oh joy, what a fun feeling being at worked knowing my battery is being drained to all hell. My family doesn't know anything about cars, so I certainly am not going to ask them to disconnect the battery, nor do I trust that it could be done correctly.

A few months ago, I go to start up my car, and it was almost completely dead. There was only a 10 minutes max of battery life left for some accessories, and it quickly got worse as time went on, and then it completely died. As the car kept draining battery life, the taillights went flashing like crazy, so this is very ironic that it's doing this now as well. Now, at first, I thought my battery dead at that time because of a few prior car shows that I kept my LED's activated on the car using battery power. I thought that maybe there was too much drain for the battery to handle, even though it wasn't for crazy amounts of time, nor was it more than a few shows. So, now I'm thinking it was these taillights that have been draining my battery when I'm not home and I never knew it. The car gets driven on the weekends only, but it starts up fine and the taillights were perfect while the car is running. So, I doubt there is any faulty wiring that I did when I installed it. I don't know why the lights would be flashing out of control like this.

Anyone have any idea as to why the taillights would be flashing like crazy when the car is off and locked??

The only thing I can think of is that the show mode wire (that is disconnected and tied up is being activated somehow. Am I wrong for thinking that the purple "show mode" wire could be activated if it's touching any metal of some sort? I really tried to make sure it couldn't contact any metal for any reason so this type of situation couldn't occur. Ugh, this is frustrating.


Update: So, after starting this thread, we now have multiple people experiencing the same problem. I have now started a list that we will keep adding to with every member who has experienced the same problem, which is a dead battery after installation of these taillights (but you must as close to certain as possible that the taillights are to blame). If you have experienced the same thing, please add your name to the list by copying and pasting the list and adding your name, then posting it, and I'll update this first post with you included.

List of individuals with inoperable batteries due to Technistalgia taillight installation:

1.) TCAT
2.) Christianmotox
3.) Tom D
4.) KARLOR
5.) SSMOKN
6.) FOXCARLO
7.) ZL600 FK
8.) Ekow
9.) freefallin2005
10.) Cmlloveless
11.) Camaroowner77
12.) Frankbarb
13.) Midniteoiler
14.) bpoole38
15.) SSMOKN
16.) The 2010 Sin
17.) Cybercoaster
18.) a_tucker1979
19.) dmiotti
20.) SSaint
21.) Wantconvertible
22.) OKCwhiteKnight
23.) Drakin

[christianmotox]

I have the same issue, but only when i my battery is about to die.

There was another guy here that had a similar issue, and he said that he was going to contact Technostalgia about it, but i don't think he ever posted an update.

Here:
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...=202028&page=3

[GunnyG]

Damn bro! Probably a faulty wire somewhere. When I came back from Vegas after 4 days, my battery was dead too. what the heck happened.

[TCAT]

Originally Posted by christianmotox

I have the same issue, but only when i my battery is about to die.

There was another guy here that had a similar issue, and he said that he was going to contact Technostalgia about it, but i don't think he ever posted an update.

Here:
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...=202028&page=3

Awe damn, that's not a good sign. That happened to me last time when the battery was about to die. Now, I can't help but question why the hell my SECOND NEW battery is about to die if these lights flash when the battery is getting low. Something is draining my battery life. This never happened with my stock taillights. If these taillights turn out to be the cullprit, I am asking for technostalgia for a new $200 battery. I alsready replaced my battery once and I don't plan to do it again for a long time, but it may be happening sooner than I'd like because of this.

Originally Posted by GunnyG

Damn bro! Probably a faulty wire somewhere. When I came back from Vegas after 4 days, my battery was dead too. what the heck happened.

Damn it! These taillights are starting to piss me off.

[buzzy56]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.So glad I waited.Wanted these bad but after reading so many post's about burned out lites I became wary .Too bad so many have expierenced issues with this product.Hopefull the bugs get worked out soon.Good luck those batteries are not cheap!

[TCAT]

Thanks a ton. I would definitely not recommend them now. The lights look nice when they are on and luckily I haven't had any of the LED's fail on me......yet, ha-ha. However, the "look" is just not worth all the bullshit that a person has to go through during ownership. This is frustrating, and now that's 2 batteries the taillights have likely cost me, which is over $400. I sure as hell hope I hear from a technostalgia rep soon just to hear their thoughts on the matter. They'll likely come on here and say, "I'm sorry for the troubles you're experiencing with our taillights, and the inconvenience they may have caused. If you would like please send them to us to have them inspected." No way in hell is this worth the trouble. I shouldn't have to install and uninstall taillights multiple times a year, or for manyyyyy years, period. Many members have sent them back for troubleshooting and fixes, they get them back, and bam, another problem occurs. Now, I am fully aware that there are likely many owners that have had these taillights working properly for a while, but with the reputation technostalgia has created for faulty components in their taillights on such a large scale, they certainly don't have "isolated" issues.

However, I won't jump to conclusions until I get home. I will try to find a solution to the problem and hope it's fixed easily, and one that doesn't removing all the taillights. It's more important that these lights actually work properly, and not just look good. If my battery is dead for the second time when I get home, I am definitely going to be pissed.

[Demon ZL1]

Originally Posted by TCAT

So, just a few minutes ago, I received a call from my family telling me that my taillights are flashing out of control and won't stop. .....

Who installed them? There is a "SHOW MODE" that is initiated by grounding one wire (purple I believe) near the wires that connect to the battery. Anytime this wire grounds, it will put the lights in "SHOW MODE".

Is it possible this wire was left loose and occasionally grounds?

[TCAT]

Originally Posted by Demon ZL1

Who installed them? There is a "SHOW MODE" that is initiated by grounding one wire (purple I believe) near the wires that connect to the battery. Anytime this wire grounds, it will put the lights in "SHOW MODE".

Is it possible this wire was left loose and occasionally grounds?

That's funny you say that because that's exactlyyyyy what I thought . When I installed the lights, I tied the wire up in a manner that the show mode wire wouldn't ground to activate accidentally. However, now I'm thinking that purple wire may come undone and could be floating around in the trunk and grounded itself. I am eagerly waiting to get off of work so I can check. I don't get home for another 3 hours. I hope my battery isn't dead. I just wonder how long the flickering has been occurring. Who knows, maybe it's been happening since last weekend and I didn't know it since I don't drive it during the week.

[TCAT]

Lucky me, my car is now dead. I got home, went into the garage to see the lights and they were still flashing. So, I hit the door unlock button, and the car doesn't have enough battery power to open the door, or show any dash lights. So, I used my key and opened it manually, and I had to crawl in the back seat after folding it down to use the emergency trunk release latch to open the trunk lid. Now that I was finally able to check the battery and wiring, I looked to see if that purple wire (the show mode activation wire) was touching, and it IS NOT. Now THAT made me worried because now I have no damn idea as to why the car is drawing power, and it must be enough power to make the battery die. Something is seriously wrong, and I need to troubleshoot it fast. This is the second damn battery I'll have to purchase in the last 2.5 months because I came home to a dead or barely functioning battery.

How can I pinpoint where exactly what part of the car is draining all the battery power? It's like the life is being sucked out of it when it's not being driven. I can't have this happen again. This situation neverrrrr occured until I installed these taillights. So, there is no way I could ever blame any of my LED's that I've had installed for a long time. These lights have to go if I have to deal with this bullcrap again.

[Synerbee]

Damn tcat sorry to hear about that. I definitely don't want those tail lights killing my battery I guess 2SSRS will be getting my money when I upgrade tail lights.

[TCAT]

Thanks man. This really gets on my nerves. Spend your money on different taillights for sure, whether that be Ofers or the new SJM auto taillights that are about to be released. I can't believe I have to go to the parts store tomorrow and spend over $200 for a damn battery when the one I had was freaking brand new.

Technostalgia better get their act together, as subpar automotive parts will break a business in a heartbeat. These taillights in my opinion are beyond subpar if that's what's causing my battery draining issues. It makes sense that my car worked absolutely flawless without the taillights on. After I install them, I have purchased two batteries within 2.5 months. Something is majorly wrong.

[lscamaro]

Originally Posted by TCAT

Thanks man. This really gets on my nerves. Spend your money on different taillights for sure, whether that be Ofers or the new SJM auto taillights that are about to be released. I can't believe I have to go to the parts store tomorrow and spend over $200 for a damn battery when the one I had was freaking brand new.

Technostalgia better get their act together, as subpar automotive parts will break a business in a heartbeat. These taillights in my opinion are beyond subpar if that's what's causing my battery draining issues. It makes sense that my car worked absolutely flawless without the taillights on. After I install them, I have purchased two batteries within 2.5 months. Something is majorly wrong.

I know you probably don't want to do this but I'd highly suggest just removing them all together. I'd ask for a refund from technostalgia and be done with it. I've had my fair share of faulty electronics and even when "fixed", you go around with this "what if it happens" again mentality. If you don't want to do that, then just remove them and maybe try another style of lights if you still want the afterburner look?

I just removed what I knew caused the problem and replaced it with something better or stock and went on my way

[TCAT]

I completely agree. It's horrible to have to do that, but it may be the right thing. Who knows if this would happen to someone else as well on their car with my lights, but right now I'm seeing these lights as the culprit. It's not worth all the trouble to own.

[christianmotox]

I was gona do a battery draw test, but I need to get a volt meter, if you have one you can start with that. That will tell you for sure what is draining the battery.