How to install HID's through the wheel well. (DIY w/pics)

[rjdmmfl1]

Eric,one thing.. on the Xentek HID kit i put in my wife's Sedan, that white cylinder thingies that the power and negative wires got to on the plug came disconnected. This allowed me to plug them in the correct way before the install.. afterwards, I taped everything together with electrical tape to ensure a strong connection...

[generic808]

I almost did the same thing, but I decided on soldering it so I wouldn't have to worry about it falling apart. Of course, the chances of it falling off after splicing and taping are pretty slim, but I didn't want to take that chance.

[wrigler31]

Thanks generic, I just got my AC 2.5 two weeks ago after considering the Mazda 6, AC, and (please don't laugh) Mini Cooper S. It's a no brainer that the AC is the way to go. About the harness deal, from what you've described, the Xlight HID should light up if I reverse the end that connect to the factory harness without rewiring, right? I did that last night and it still didn't light up. I was worrying that I might have a defected set. Neither that or I might have hook up the wire a little differently. In your tutorial, you mention "Connect harness to new bulb," and "Now connect bulbs to ballasts," but the new bulb is already connect to the ballast, so I just connect the harness to the ballast at one end and to the factory harness at the other end. So please tell me I'm mechanically inclined and that's the reason why it didn't work cuz I've connected the wired wrong!

[rjdmmfl1]

Wrigler, if you check earlier in the post, I think Eric stated that just reversing the plug will not work, apparently you don't get full contact that way... that's why Eric cut, rewired and soldered it... that way it'll plug in the original way, and the wires are in the correct orientation. Does that sound right Eric?

[skiski329]

Thank you soooooooo much it is because of your how to do guides that i am not scared to take appart my car. you got major respect with me:buttrock

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Thank you soooooooo much it is because of your how to do guides that i am not scared to take appart my car. you got major respect with me:buttrock

We have some good folks around here!

[wrigler31]

Hopefully this is what you meant earlier. I cut the end that connects to the factory harness and reverse the wire so that it's red-to-black and black-to-red. It is tape up and pretty sturdy now, but I'll ask my friend to solder it tomorrow. Don't want any chances of the lights going off in the middle of the freeway doing 100mhp.




Modified by wrigler31 at 7:10 PM 12/6/2007

[skiski329]

Shift, you can go to autozone or discount auto parts, or Kragen, or Wal-Mart for that matter and get a 2-ton car jack lift system for about 50.00! I think these are a must have for any car enthusiast!

BAD DEAL i got a 2 ton jack and 2 2ton stand from NAPPA for $35.00.

[generic808]

On the male end of the harness, did you remove the yellow squishy thing? I noticed that the harness will not make full contact with the squishy thing in place. That has to come off first. If it doesn't work, you could always cut the clips on the female OEM harness; the one that the male hooks over which prevents the harness from pushing all the way in. Does this make sense?

I have pics in my cam I think. I'll get it from my car and try to post them tonight. Maybe pics will better help describe what I'm saying.

[generic808]

Hopefully this is what you meant earlier. I cut the end that connects to the factory harness and reverse the wire so that it's red-to-black and black-to-red. It is tape up and pretty sturdy now, but I'll ask my friend to solder it tomorrow. Don't want any chances of the lights going off in the middle of the freeway doing 100mhp.



Modified by wrigler31 at 7:10 PM 12/6/2007

Did you try firing it up this way? It should work. The only reason I see it not working is if you're not making contact on both ends.

[generic808]

Sorry, these were the only pics of the wires I had in my cam. If you haven't heard, we just had a storm here yesterday so it's craziness everywhere. The rain has been nonstop for quite some time now. When it clears up, I'll go back in my wells and show you everything, if you haven't figured it out by then.

This is the yellow squishy thing that has to be removed for proper fitment

This is the clip which actually has to lift and go over the larger clip on the female side of the harness. It looks like it won't fit, but trust me, it will. You have to actually kind of pry at it and pull it up to fit it over the larger bump on the female end, not the smaller one.

I hope these pics helped you get an idea.

[wrigler31]

I am utterly confused!!! It still doesn't work!!! OK, I have a pic of the Xlight harness with the male end on the left and the female end on right.

The male end connect to the Ballast with the clip facing the outside as such, right?

And the female end connects to the factory harness (that used to connect to the factory halogen).From what I understand, it's the female end that doesn't make the proper contact with the factory harness, so you cut that end and reconnect the wire red-to-black the black-to-red? This would reverse the orientation of the female clip and help it fit properly with the factory harness. I did just that and the Xlight still woudn't fire up!!! argh... I'm sorry I don't get what you meant in your last post. Man, this is harder than I thought.

[generic808]

Is ^ that clip preventing the full engagement of the harness? I noticed that the clip gets in the way, and at first glance, it seems that the harness is hooked up properly, but it's not. What I want you to try is actually connecting the harness to ballast the opposite of what you "think" is right (I thought the same too). It seems like it won't fit, but I think this clip is the reason for your hardship. Hook everything up as per normal and take this clip it and pull it over the little retainer clip on the opposite end and see if it fits.

[wrigler31]

Is this what you mean? With the clip now facing the inside?

It seems to fit fine. I've done that earlier when I was toying around with the wire, but the Xlight still didn't work. So it's this end (the harness connecting to the ballast) that give us problem, not the other end??? Thanks generic for keeping up with this frustration!

[generic808]

Yes, that is what I was talking about. It still doesn't fire up? Ok, we'll try to diagnose this from the very beginning. Not to make you sound stupid, I'm just trying to help. Did you reconnect the battery when you test fired? I know it may sound funny, but I forgot to do that once when I was trying to figure it out. I felt stupid

Is the plugs located inside the harness lined up correctly? I noticed that one of mine went a little crooked so I straightened it out with with a flat-head. They have to be lined up exactly right to plug in correctly and make contact.

Did you happen to blow a fuse? Is all your factory lights working fine?

Since you reveresed the wiring, have you tried plugging in the harness in reverse and vice versa? Did you try the original wiring set-up and reversing the harness. This is where I got a little confused at first because of the misleading retaining clip on the female side of the ballast.

Let's start from those simple things. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we're doing that we miss the simple little things. I know I do on ocassion. I was frustrated at first, but all worked out fine. I'm sure your X-Light isn't a dud, it's just something with the wiring. We'll eventually figure it out.

[wrigler31]

I only worked on the driver side, and the battery was connected to test the lights. Upon turning on the switch, only the passenger side halogen light worked while the Xlight played dead. I think the fuse is fine since my car is running with the factory lights on both side (for now, I really like to see how the HID would look if I could somehow make them work) "Since you reveresed the wiring, have you tried plugging in the harness in reverse and vice versa? Did you try the original wiring set-up and reversing the harness. This is where I got a little confused at first because of the misleading retaining clip on the female side of the ballast." -->> I tried all four possible combination of reversing the connectors on both end, but no such luck. I'll take the HID to my friend's place tomorrow. He knows more about car than I do. Just hope I didn't get a defected set because the guy who sold it on Ebay is no longer a registered Ebayer.

[rjdmmfl1]

I only worked on the driver side, and the battery was connected to test the lights. Upon turning on the switch, only the passenger side halogen light worked while the Xlight played dead. I think the fuse is fine since my car is running with the factory lights on both side (for now, I really like to see how the HID would look if I could somehow make them work) "Since you reveresed the wiring, have you tried plugging in the harness in reverse and vice versa? Did you try the original wiring set-up and reversing the harness. This is where I got a little confused at first because of the misleading retaining clip on the female side of the ballast." -->> I tried all four possible combination of reversing the connectors on both end, but no such luck. I'll take the HID to my friend's place tomorrow. He knows more about car than I do. Just hope I didn't get a defected set because the guy who sold it on Ebay is no longer a registered Ebayer.

Wrigler, you may ( or may not) have gotten a defective set! In any case, I think this is too much work for an HID kit. If you decide to get another kit, don't go with the X light again. In a true plug and play system, you shouldn't have to cut, rewire, solder any wires! The Xentek HID kit works great!

[generic808]

The guy had very good feedback on a very high volume of sales. 99.8% I believe it was, and the feedback left was all positive. I doubt the guy would sell a defective set purposely, but who knows.

You tried all possible connection routes? If so, I really don't know what it could be. Mine were just reveresed and once I flipped it around, it fired up. I had the same problem with only the factory side lighting up, but it all worked out in the end. Hopefully your friend can help you out. If I was in your neighborhood, I would drop by; unfortunately, I'm an ocean away

[wrigler31]

Thanks guys, I'll keep yah posted with the whole ordeal. If it turned out that I got the Xlight set from hell, I'll try the Xentek HID next. Although the Pacific Ocean separates us geographically, our enthusiasm in fine automotive is what bond us. I've heard the 2050 AC model is amphibious, so by then generic you could drive your AC here and feel the southern hospitality

[zenki07]

awesome play by play on the installation generic. I'd suggest removing the wheels too just for the fact that my forearms got all scratched up while installing HIDs in my fogs.

I got the XLights kit as well, and they perform above and beyond for such a "cheap" priced kit.

[SHIFT_2.5S]

I am now desperately looking for a good HID kit. The guy on eBay (MCMotoring) is no longer selling X-Lights so I'm out of luck in that department. I did find some German Helligkeit HIDs for the same price, but they only come in 6000K or 4300K. If I'm going to get that kit, which should I get - 6000 or 4300? I want bright, white light.

Or perhaps someone can point me in the right direction for good HIDs (under $100). Thanks.

Found XenTec 5000K on Amazon for $140 shipped. How good are those?

EDIT: Found XenTec on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

Seller has them for $75 shipped but he called them XenTech, not XenTec.

[generic808]

Robert ended up with the xentec. I know a guy who had xentec's on his car and he never had any complaints about them. And I'd personally go with 5000K because it does look factory. If I had to choose between only the 4300K and 6000K, I'd go 4300K.

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Robert ended up with the xentec. I know a guy who had xentec's on his car and he never had any complaints about them. And I'd personally go with 5000K because it does look factory. If I had to choose between only the 4300K and 6000K, I'd go 4300K.

I found some 5000K H11 XenTec on Amazon for $140 shipped. Now I just need to know that these are reliable before I actually place my order. Don't want to spend $140 and then regret it later on.

[generic808]

Why not just order them from ebay for around half the price? If they suck, just order a different $75 set. I'm sure they won't be that bad though. Robert had no problems and I know a guy who never complained about them.

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Why not just order them from ebay for around half the price? If they suck, just order a different $75 set. I'm sure they won't be that bad though. Robert had no problems and I know a guy who never complained about them.

I found a set on eBay from this guy:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

The problem is that his description has them misspelled as "XenTech." Furthermore, he says many different types of HIDs and they all have that XenTec picture, even though they're clearly not the XenTec brand. I'm just very skeptical of spending $75 and getting poor quality. At least when I spend $140 on Amazon, I know that I am getting true XenTec.

[wrigler31]

After hell week of final exams, I was able to have some free time to install the Xlight HID once and for all. To make sure that the set wasn't defected, I had an auto shop mechanic run a battery through the set, and bam... it lit up brilliantly. So I figured that it was the connection that somehow didn't make the proper contact. Listening to eric's advice, I noticed that the prongs in the female end of the Xlight harness were loose, so I taped up that sucker pretty good with electrical tape so that it wouldn't move around. Surprisingly, that resolved the problem! The XLight HID now work like a charm, and 5000K is exactly the color I was looking for! Thanks guys!

[LongBeachCoupe]

Im a little confused... will all HID installs need this "tape" or mod to make it fit properly? or is this on certain kits?

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Im a little confused... will all HID installs need this "tape" or mod to make it fit properly? or is this on certain kits?

Only some because of their pre-wiring.

[generic808]

Im a little confused... will all HID installs need this "tape" or mod to make it fit properly? or is this on certain kits?

No, it just depends on the kit I guess. I read a lot about guys having reversed wiring on their kits. Unfortunately, mine were too, but it's a simple fix.

Wrigler, glad you finally got it up and running. Now tell me the 5000K isn't sweet? I honestly do think they are THE nicest color HID's out. You'll find yourself constantly comparing your car to others on the road. And when you get the time, line up next to a factory HID car and tell me yours aren't better looking.

[rjdmmfl1]

No, it just depends on the kit I guess. I read a lot about guys having reversed wiring on their kits. Unfortunately, mine were too, but it's a simple fix.

Wrigler, glad you finally got it up and running. Now tell me the 5000K isn't sweet? I honestly do think they are THE nicest color HID's out. You'll find yourself constantly comparing your car to others on the road. And when you get the time, line up next to a factory HID car and tell me yours aren't better looking.

One thing I've realized, although the 5000K is beautiful, I have seen situations where it doesn't perform up to par. In regards to pavements, a lot of the newer pavements are a very deep black color. The 5000K color reflects beautifully off of road markers, the white paint in the road, pretty much anything with a hint of white color.In this regards, it surpasses factory HID. However, I've noticed that the 5000K color does not reflect as well off of deep black pavements as it does off of pavements that are more grey, i.e. older pavements that have been run down.

This was very apparent the other day. While driving in the rain in my wife's sedan, she actually asked me "are the [car] lights on?".. It was really that bad!! Then we hit a spot of old pavement, and it lit up like a christmas tree.

I know you guys think I'm off my rockers, but it is something that is pretty obvious to me when traveling on a new. black pavement road with no side markers and no street lights.

Just my .02