Headlights and Keeping Fog Lights on All the Time

[Howie411]

I've come to the conclusion the FFH headlights stink, or at least compared to the last 2 cars I've owned. Lately I just keep my fog lights on all the time to give that extra bit of light. Is this bad? Has anyone switched out the headlights?

[FFHdriver]

I've come to the conclusion the FFH headlights stink, or at least compared to the last 2 cars I've owned. Lately I just keep my fog lights on all the time to give that extra bit of light. Is this bad? Has anyone switched out the headlights?

Check the aiming on the lights. I had to raise mine and it made a great difference. My fogs are still too low though.

Edited March 13, 2010 by FFHdriver

[oldschool1962]

There was a discussion about this a few months ago...........the aiming of the lights can be part of the issue but the standard H11 bulb just sucks. Most places I went to look at bulbs.....it's listed as a DRL or Fog Lamp bulb so I changed out to Silverstar and not had any issues. They also did improve my ability to see more clearly and further down the road. When things settle down regarding other"issues", I plan on looking into a HID lights to really improve the effectiveness.

[Blue Oval]

I totally agree about the factory headlights on the new Ford Fusion...back when I was a young lad my Schwinn bicycle's headlight had a brighter light pattern!

 

When I complained to the Ford dealer, the tech confirmed that the low-beams were aimed too low so he raised them and it helped somewhat but they are still weak. By the way, I too always use my fog lamps to provide some extra light.

 

Oldschool, how hard was it to replace the low beams with Silverstar bulbs? Did you do the high-beams too or just the low-beams? Should I just skip the Silverstars and go for the HID lights instead?

Edited March 12, 2010 by Blue Oval

[Scott A320]

My last car had Xenon adaptive headlights (swivel in the direction of turn) so the FFH was a definite letdown. However, they seem adequate and IMHO no worse than traditional vehicles.

[oldschool1962]

I totally agree about the factory headlights on the new Ford Fusion...back when I was a young lad my Schwinn bicycle's headlight had a brighter light pattern!

 

When I complained to the Ford dealer, the tech confirmed that the low-beams were aimed too low so he raised them and it helped somewhat but they are still weak. By the way, I too always use my fog lamps to provide some extra light.

 

Oldschool, how hard was it to replace the low beams with Silverstar bulbs? Did you do the high-beams too or just the low-beams? Should I just skip the Silverstars and go for the HID lights instead?

 

See post #25 in http://www.fordfusionforum.com/index.php?/topic/2809-headlight-issue/

 

I don't have the Hybrid at home right now and I think I put what I did in this post. It was easy if I remember.

[ralteredstates]

My last car had Xenon adaptive headlights (swivel in the direction of turn) so the FFH was a definite letdown. However, they seem adequate and IMHO no worse than traditional vehicles.

 

 

I agree with Scott. My last car had HID's that are brighter but the cut-off of the light is so sharp, it is a problem on its own. The low beams on the FFH are adequate and the high beams are more than adequate. A cop friend of mine reminded me when we were riding together..."use your high beams...that's why they put them in." If you are in so much traffic that you can't use the high beams, then you also don't need them! BTW, putting HID's into the FFH may be a foolish idea since they pull a tremendous amount of power. You should upgrade all wiring to handle the current. More than a few melt-downs/fires have happened to people who use original wiring with a HID refit. Also, I strongly disagree with changing the bulbs to any other brand. It makes NO difference. I have been down that road many times with no improvement. Only HID would give you more light. Don't you think Ford checks output with different bulbs? This is an aftermarket ripoff. You can, however, change the color of the output (and make it even harder to see) with blue or yellow spectrum bulbs. Silly idea.

[SailCar]

putting HID's into the FFH may be a foolish idea since they pull a tremendous amount of power.

 

This isn't completely true. HIDs produce more light with less wattage than a traditional halogen bulb.

 

(unless you're only referring to the pwr and wiring needs of the ballast, and not in relation to overall power consumption?)

Edited March 19, 2010 by SailCar

[Oman]

I've done the conversion and I used an aux harness. Both incandescent and HID pull a lot of current initially. HIDs will pull it for up to 3 seconds while incandescent bulbs pull it for less than a second. After they are started up the HIDs pull about 1/3 less current and put out about 50% more light. The reason I used an aux power harness is twofold... first off I didn't want to fry the headlight wiring because of the longer high-current draw time. The FFH uses an electronic switch for the headlights vs. a straight relay. They do this because of the DRL option. The second reason was because of possible CAN bus interference. The HID ballasts can put out noise and the 12V line is filtered. By using the aux harness with a relay I keep the ballasts isolated from the electronic headlight switch and thus all the other electronics in the car. It was pretty easy to install.

 

Jon

 

 

This isn't completely true. HIDs produce more light with less wattage than a traditional halogen bulb.

 

(unless you're only referring to the pwr and wiring needs of the ballast, and not in relation to overall power consumption?)