LED Headlight conversion/ replacement

[lsherlockl]

CURSE THIS PICTURE POSTING LIMIT, sorry upset at loosing most of my write up after fixing it all to pic qty limitations ill try again tomorrow but second half is there.

 

 

Before

 

After

 

Thanks to these guys!

 

 

Having seen the nice cool white illuminating the road of other cars passing by I wanted the same, and a brighter light! I became attached to the concept of LED's due to lifespan and lower power consumption as well as the temperature of light they put out. I chose the above model because it has no moving parts or in other words no fan to go bad over time. Also they are really simple to install no worries of ballast or relays, running extra wires around. Simply plug and play. (Turned out I needed to plug and play a resistor in there but still not bad its just click the led to resistor and resistor to harness)

 

 

Tools

· T25 torx driver

· Flat head screw driver

· Hex head screw driver/socket (size )

· Drill

· Drill Bits

Parts

· H11 Bulb, I used THIS fan-less LED model 30w

· 6ohm 50 watt Resistor harness I used THIS

· Thermal Grease *optional

· Sheet metal screws

 

Okay now my Issue (SOLVED)

After contact with manufacture and some electrical engineers one of which used to work for ford, confirmed and tested working all I needed was a resistor in there to trick the car into thinking the light is there basically because the led light dosnt pull enough itself

 

Write-up

 

Comp is being stupid and not letting me upload pics. I promise they are coming.

 

 

Step 1 Remove the bumper:

Alot of other tidbits on this elsewhere but figured I would cover it as well.

 

Pop the hood and Remove these screws

 

And these pushpins

 

In each wheel well there are these three twist pushpins, unscrew and pull out

 

Now look under the car remove these hex screws and 2 twist pushpins on each side, unscrew and pull out

 

Now you can remove the bumper starting here pull out near this seam once it pops out do the same on the other side

 

Now pull bumper outi set mine on some timbers so it wouldn’t just hang on the wire harness else you can undo all the wire harness just make sure to remember to re-hitch them all back up.

 

Now you have access to the headlight assemblies!

Edited June 23, 2015 by GrySql

[lsherlockl]

Step 2 Remove the Headlight Assembly:

 

The headlight mounts to like a ball and socket joint here, to remove the headlight pull straight out in relation to this, be forceful it is a tough fit but be careful too so you don’t bang anything up to snap off any parts.

 

Rotate the assembly down a bit and out.

 

Note on the driver side lamp you need to unplug and detach this wire harness here to get it out, don’t forget to re-attach when assembling again that the hood switch.

 

 

Step 3 Install the new lamps:

 

Remove old light bulb careful not to touch the glass oils in your hands can mess with them. Pack them away as spares.

 

Install your new led bulb, note there are 3 ways in can be inserted you want the “big tab” at the 10’oclock position if your ooking at the back of the headlamp assembly for both lamps. Set the lamp back and plug it in verify that the beam pattern is right

 

Wrong

 

Right!

 

 

See the difference between beam patterns ?

Right

 

Wrong

 

 

 

[lsherlockl]

Now to route the wires out slit the dust cover

 

Push the wires out through the slit and seat the cover back on, you want both the controller box and the original cable outside so you can attach it to the resistor.

 

now find a location to mount your resistor, i chose the metal beam right behind the headlights. hold the resistor in place and mark the holes on the beam with your center-punch and drill them out.

 

I applied some arctic silver five (computer thermal paste) or any thermal grease, will help transfer more of the heat to the car frame

 

Using a credit card blank (one of those that come in the annoying spam mail) to spread it more evenly before attaching and to make sure you don't have too much on

 

Now you can screw it to the frame with some sheet metal screws

 

 

Step 4 Put everything back together:

Set the headlamp assembly back in place and line up the ball pin guy with the little hole here, and push it in, this will take a bit of force too. Now you headlight is back in place

 

Just put everything back together in reverse order. Make sure all harness you unplugged are back in, and you hitch the led bulb to the resistor, and the resistor to the cable coming out of the headlight assembly that went to the original headlight bulb.

 

Step 5 Enjoy:

Your really awesome car just got even better ! and with led's you save half the power consumed by headlights so save even more energy :)

 

[acdii]

How much energy does the resistor draw? I take it that is there to fool the computer into thinking the lights are on. What about DRL, do they function with these?

[lsherlockl]

not sure on DRL's need to ask dealer to turn em on next time I take the car in. I updated first post text only to be accurate is a 50W 6ohm Resistor.

 

I assume they should work too because drop in voltage will still fire them due to the power converter box on the line into the headlight? But i would have to talk with torch-star reps to verify, ill try benching one of the lights if i get an opportunity.

 

All i have left the is incandescent is high beams (led sadly wont fit there heat sync runs into assembly body), backup lights, puds, and turn signals (which i don't think can support if a resistor is needed?) But puds and reverse are next on my list and then ill be happy :)

Edited February 4, 2015 by lsherlockl

[acdii]

So the LED saves 5 watts. The low beams are 55 watt bulbs. Doesn't really save energy, but if the light output is better, then worth it.

[lsherlockl]

So the LED saves 5 watts. The low beams are 55 watt bulbs. Doesn't really save energy, but if the light output is better, then worth it.

Yeah I kinda realized that, though any savings by headlights is kinda negligible like .05 mpg or something like that. I do believe that they in fact are brighter they certain, i can ask around i think i know someone with a light meter. But they are very much more enjoyable at night time than the stock solution. Only issue is the little yellow spot out at distance that i get with the high beams its just odd to have mixed color spectrum's out there. maybe Ill have to get some HID's or maybe a future LED lamp that will fit in the sort of offset high-beam opening

[acdii]

Thats what I was wondering, if the light output is better, then they would be worth it, but energy savings goes away when you have to add a resistor to trick the car computer.

[Automate]

So the LED saves 5 watts. The low beams are 55 watt bulbs. Doesn't really save energy, but if the light output is better, then worth it.

 

Actually it sounds like the bulb and resister are in parallel and both drawing power.

 

The bulb draws 30W

 

The resister is rated for 50W but this is the heat dissipation rating, which is over rated so you don't burn it up

 

Actual power is (Volts * Volts)/ Ohms so assuming your battery is 13 volts (typical for a 12V system) you use around 28 Watts for the resister

 

So total power for each bulb/resister is 30 + 28 = 58 Watts

 

According to the Amazon link the bulb puts out the equivalent light of a 90W halogen bulb.

[acdii]

Do they post Lumen output comparisons?

[securityguy]

Typical lumen output for these bulbs are 2500.

[lsherlockl]

My apologies for neglecting this thread, before there was hardly any interest.

 

Anyhow ill update some things. These bulbs do work with the daytime driving lights actually got some comments that they thought I had angel eyes which is cool.

 

Energy savings i do agree is hardly anything, but in my book that's what makes this car what it is a bunch of tiny energy savings If i can help that why not!

 

Comment on the lumens, they are stated at 3,000 each i believe standard halogen are around the 2500 mark, but how much can you trust either manufacturer to be accurate in that regard? meh maybe? But also consider aside of lumens the usefulness of the light, I find the white light to highlight alot more detail at range compared to the stock "yellow" also road signs and fire numbers and anything that's reflective pop like you wouldn't believe (though if you have HID's you know this) there is also the point that you don't need to have suns in your headlight housings that's actually bad for other drivers but lets not get into that.

 

Long story short i would say they are similar to HID's to me its a simpler installation, a longer life solution at a similar price-point that may be not quite as bright as a HID. I only wish there was a good LED HighBeam bulb for me to use that would fit.

[securityguy]

Have you checked here? http://xenondepot.com

Edited July 18, 2015 by securityguy

[Sortman]

Do you seal the dust cover at all?

[JAMESDUB40]

ANYONE EVER FIND A HIGH BEAM THAT WILL FIT?

[JAMESDUB40]

DID ANYONE EVER FIND A HIGH BEAM LED THAT WOULD FIT?

[ethermion]

9+ years on the original bulbs. Still fine. No reason to look.