HID Retrofit, High Beam not working.

[ph34r]

Ok, so I am in the process of doing some cosmetic work on the G50 and just got the HIDs installed. 9003 low and 9005 high. Bulbs and ballasts came from the same company. After installing everything I have crisp lows, but no highs. I switched ballasts to double check and when the high is plugged into the low connector they work fine. I know the ballasts are all good and the bulbs are all good.

Is there something I am missing that is required to attach a ballast to the high beam connector? Or should I just say f*** it and relay direct from the battery using the factory connector as the switching current?

A few pictures just for fun.


Low beam pattern

Low beams

Single high beam Pattern

High beam

[Q451990]

Did your high beams work with the original setup?

Without seeing the instructions that came with your HID kit, it's hard to tell you much. Are they online somewhere that you can link to?

Heath

[ph34r]

Yeah, the high beams work just fine with the standard bulbs.

The instructions state it should be plug and play. I wired the low beams and the high beams exactly the same. Even plugged the bulb back in right after this picture and it lit right up.

[qship96]

You will never get a safe,effective beam pattern from using a HID bulb in a halogen housing.You are wasting both your time and money on this silly project.


Sorry you took it that way....above is my first post in this thread.....instead of asking me why I felt you would not get a safe, effective beam pattern using HIDs in a halogen housing and showing an interest in gaining knowledge on the subject, you replied to the above post that I was a "troll",an "a**", and "worthless opinion" and you wanted a moderator to remove my "worthless post"

To your above rant, I provided you a link to valuable information on the topic.


Which one of us really took this to the gutter?

[ph34r]

Thanks qship96!

This thread was really a troll bait post for some a$$ like you to come in and throw your worthless opinion around.

If you can't stay on the topic of the thread then don't post in the thread.

I'll kindly ask a mod to remove your pointless post from my thread and make sure that you have actually read the rules of this forum.

[qship96]

Thanks qship96!

This thread was really a troll bait post.

maybe a moderator should remove the whole thread then?


Here is your homework assignment for the day, read this {twice if need be} and then post for us how the conversion back to halogen bulbs is going. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... sions.html

[ph34r]

Troll bait as in every troll loves to post in on threads that never asked for an opinion.

If you wanted to help troubleshoot the issue then I would accept your assistance. But you are injecting an unsolicited opinion into a thread that was for electrical troubleshooting.

Hence you are a troll.

As for your addition of a link to a site that has an opinion similar to yours, thanks for the link.

Does that mean that you are right, or more justified with threadjacking this post with your unwanted opinion?
No.

[qship96]

You did not do your homework assignment.....bad boy!

The answer to your question is you bought a cheaply made chinese kit, and got exactly what you paid for.I am sure you already knew that though.

[Q451990]

QShip is right about the HID retrofits not giving the same beam pattern, spread, and distance vs. the halogen bulbs. You have to decide if you (and the drivers coming toward you) can live with the result.

All of the aside, my guess is this. If the headlights are set up like the earlier Q, the high beams and low beams are never on at the same time. Your kit is probably using the input that feeds the old halogen bulb just as a switching mechanizm... e.g. when it sees voltage, it turns the balast on, but the balast is being fed by voltage from somewhere else - like directly from the battery through a fused connection.

If you happened to use the low beam voltage line to feed the low beam and high beam ballasts, you wouldn't be getting voltage to feed the balast. Try pulling your switch back instead of pushing it forward (like you're flashing the high beams) and see if both come on. On my Q, that's the only time the high and low beam light bulbs come on at the same time.

Heath

[ph34r]

Well I stood in front of my car after installing the cutoff and adjusting the beams and there is no glare or blinding above the cutoff. I adjusted as per factory spec and see no problem with the beam blinding anyone. The headlight housing actually focuses the light like a projector lens would. The cutoff is actually quite clear and prevents any errant light from blinding people. I'll post up some pictures from the road tonight when I am out to prove this.

As for the actual issue. I have 2 ballasts on each side. One for the low and one for the high. They each pull current from the factory plug for the specific bulb. I know the voltage is there because it will still power the halogen bulb. And I know the ballasts are good because I switched them on to the low beam and there was no issue.

As for using the factory socket to switch a relay directly powered from the battery, that is what I may end up doing to just get it working for now. Have a few relays left over from when I got the car.

[qship96]

Well I stood in front of my car after installing the cutoff and adjusting the beams and there is no glare or blinding above the cutoff. I adjusted as per factory spec and see no problem with the beam blinding anyone. The headlight housing actually focuses the light like a projector lens would. The cutoff is actually quite clear and prevents any errant light from blinding people. I'll post up some pictures from the road tonight when I am out to prove this.

Your subjective impressions and beliefs are not only fooling you, but physically 100% wrong. there is NO way a HID bulb will correctly work in a headlamp housing designed for a halogen bulb,simple fact. the entire headlamp reflector and fluting of the lens is specifically designed to produce a effective beam pattern BASED on the precise location,orientation,and parameters of the correct bulbs filament placement.....change the filament orientation {even my a few millimeters} and the whole beam pattern is compromised. Considering that a HID bulb HAS NO filament {it a burning arc of gas} and located in a different spot and orientation than the specced H4 bulb, you destroy beam formation and focus.....scientifically no way around it. You MAY WANT to believe it is ok, or even an upgrade with your hid kit {most people do after spending money on such stuff} but, it is not.

You really ought to read and understand the link I provided for you if you are truly seeking better performance from your lighting system VS just something to look "cool" and trendy.......Dan Stern is probably the top automotive lighting engineer in the USA, if not the world.

PS a simple 5 second look at the photo of your low beam pattern should prove to anyone with a trained eye how distorted it is compared to the correct specced bulb- take another photo with the correct bulb installed and study the difference side by side if need be- they do not look anywhere near the same,or even similar. Sure your hid photo shows it is "bright" but the light is in the wrong spots,and the pattern is FUBARED.

[Strangef8]

I've learned alot from this thread. After getting some other things squared away I was thinking of doing some stuff with the headlights, thanks for all the info you all.

Yes, ph34r, some night time picks would be cool, looking forward to it.

Wayne
(Strangef8)

[ph34r]

Perhaps you are correct.

But it does not detract from the fact that you come across like an arrogant, pompous, rude ***hole.
Just a bit of advice. There are two ways to approach people. They way you did it and the right way. I would figure that someone who claims to be in real estate would know how to talk to people to make them feel welcome.

People like you make other people who may not know as much about a particular topic shy away from being anything more than lurkers. Being around as long as you have on this site and with the wealth of information you posses on the topic (I googled your user name and found tomes of great information spanning across several sites.) I would have hoped that you were less an a$$ and more a friendly guru type.

As for the lights, I'll more than likely take and get a set of the clear lenses and retrofit projectors from a TSX like I did in my 240. I just thought that I might be able to cheat it since the lens was fluted.

But back on the actual topic. Still having that power issue...

[qship96]

Thanks qship96!

This thread was really a troll bait post for some a$$ like you to come in and throw your worthless opinion around.

If you can't stay on the topic of the thread then don't post in the thread.

I'll kindly ask a mod to remove your pointless post from my thread and make sure that you have actually read the rules of this forum.

Sorry you feel that way, yet the above quote is your initial response to my first post in the thread where I simply stated that you would not get a safe effective beam pattern from using a HID bulb in a halogen housing, when you could have just asked "why"?..........so who really drug this thread into the gutter? Simple to reread the entire thread and see who, no?

[ph34r]

...You are wasting both your time and money on this silly project.

Seems as if a simple "Perhaps you should read this before continuing" Would have sufficed... Inferring my wasting money and being silly is a bit aggressive.

Besides, at no point did I ask for anyone to give me input about the effectiveness of my attempted solution. I simply was looking for support on my electrical system. So, by classical definition you trolled the thread to call someone wasteful and silly.

Call it what you will, I responded in kine with your off color comment and stand by the level of intensity that I used when handling the situation.

[qship96]

Besides, at no point did I ask for anyone to give me input about the effectiveness of my attempted solution.

sorry, you cant pick and choose what information you want as far as responses go to your posts on a forum. If you really want to understand why I {and many other long standing members} choose to jump in and attempt to point out unsound practices/advice, you should consider investing the time to go back and read all the topics on this forum from its beginning, not only will you gain a vast amount of knowledge on your car{and save alot of time/money by learning what works/doesnt work}, but something will become crystal clear in doing so, and that is, unlike 99% of any other forum out there, this particular forum has always been top notch as far as containing sound advice and practices.....mainly because of the years of experience many of the owners had, and also because we have taken the time to chime into threads that contained unsound advice/practices and strived to make this forum a valuable ,accurate resource that a newer member can study and learn from.Some of us are still here doing that, not for our benefit, but for those who are new here so they can rely on this board for accurate information and sound advice, just like us old timers once did......it truly is a wealth of knowledge and probably the only accurate source of information regarding these old cars in the world. We are just trying to keep it that way.

[audtatious]

Guys, each of you have made your points and stabs at each other. Let's move on please

Thanks.