View Full Version : HID installation questions ... Help!
Rather than PM'ing a few people ... i thought id open this up to everyone.
Firstly, im a noob when it comes to anything electrical under the bonnet --- apart from stereo stuff -- thats kiddy stuff.
My Bosch HID kit didnt come with instructions of anykind, and different kits seem to be installed differently, and no-one can give me a direct answer. People have told me i have to run a relay, and hack into some factory wiring cos it wont be plug and play. :mad:
Rupey told me only last week "If Canadians haven't done a DIY, Americans havent got a clue", and ive found this to be the case on EVO-M. They can't understand why i dont have DRL's (Daytime Running Lights).... grrr ... they are soooo annoying sometimes. :rolleyes:
See picture below ...
From what i can see, the relay + fuses are build into the loom that comes with the kit.
Where should i be plugging the male connector into ??? --- or should this be spliced into the factory loom somewhere near the switch box? Ive looked at my workshop manuals for my car, but it dont tell me jack (or im looking int he wrong place) ... and people in the US simply arent replying cos they probably dont know.
Now i know i should be putting positive terminal to battery, but should i ground the negative terminal to battery, or to the body of the car ?
Im eager to get these in, but dont wanna cut corners ... so i'll be ripping the front bumper off this weekend and mounting the ballasts nice and securely . Im just trying to suss out exactly what needs to go where before i do it.
I know Black200 got a similar kit as well, but being an IS200, and not a mitsu ... obviously things underbonnet are going to be totally different, but some guidance would be greatly appreciated! ... Cheers :)
http://www.sp33dy.com/stuff/hid_help_needed.jpg
steve-b
23-05-07, 10:26 AM
Hey Sp33dy,
does this help ......
http://www.jrtlighting.com/howto2.htm
steve-b
23-05-07, 10:27 AM
agreed its not too easy to follow, but i think it answers afew of your questions.
Yeah .. was hoping i coudl keep it all factory looking by using the supplied male connector somewhere into an oem factory connector, instead of splicing into factory wiring . not to worry . Cheers :)
rupewrecht
23-05-07, 11:03 AM
Maybe go buy some OEM connectors and replace the supplied ones with the OEM ones?
Then it'd just be plug and play to remove/swap.
I think ive figured it out ....
The pictured male connector is a H4 connector, same as whats used on a normal H4 bulb. ..... there is only ONE of these male connectors on the HID loom .... not 2 for each headlight. Unless i just need to plug it into ONE of the factory headlight connectors to get a signal ... and the little box pictured above (which i listed as the relay which is wrong) splits up the signal into two seperate looms for each ballast / hid globe.
If all goes bad, i might blow a fuse at worst .... ? lol
black200
24-05-07, 11:02 AM
mine was a snap to install. Everything was plug and play :S
Did u just plug the male connector into one of the headlight connectors? And left the other one dangle connected to nothing ? or was the loom it came with different to yours ?
Im 99% sure what i will do will be fine ... and will test it tonight :)
MrThanh
24-05-07, 11:38 AM
Did u just plug the male connector into one of the headlight connectors? And left the other one dangle connected to nothing ? or was the loom it came with different to yours ?
Im 99% sure what i will do will be fine ... and will test it tonight :)
that is correct!
hehe mine is wired up the same way, requiring the connector from just 1 side to be plugged in. the HID draws power from the battery through the relay, and that 1 plug is all thats required to trigger/switch over the relay. I taped off the contacts on the other side though to be sure that it wont short out on something.
hehe mine is wired up the same way, requiring the connector from just 1 side to be plugged in. the HID draws power from the battery through the relay, and that 1 plug is all thats required to trigger/switch over the relay. I taped off the contacts on the other side though to be sure that it wont short out on something.
OK.. this is pissing me off ... i didnt bolt it down or anything .. but somethings wierd.
I connected it all up as i thought i should (temporarily) ........ switched the car on, turned on parkers .. then headlights . And NOTHING. You could hear the 'click' of the OEM loom switching on and off, but nothing was happening.. Odd. Very odd :S
I then reconnected normal headlights -- all working fine. No fuses were gone on the HID loom -- all in tact, and no fuses went funny on the car loom stuff. So im guessing it was A) not working for some reason B) not earthed well enough, even though it was directly to the battery's negative terminal, as opposed to chassis, so im thinking thats possible what was wrong. However, if it wasnt grounded properly, and positive was sending current -- wouldnt a fuse of blown? If thats the case ... then they werent getting power correctly.
HELP!! Calling all backyard wannabe autoelecs . lol
I just was thinking again .... The headlights themselves were resting externally, Do I need to put them into the housings --- does that ground them somehow for them to work ? im thinking this is possibly where i went wrong . ?? F%$K! !!!
black200
24-05-07, 08:36 PM
this happened to me aswell speedy. Turns out i had the turn the plugs 180 degrees.
i.e. you've got pos/neg and neg/pos connected instead of pos/pos neg/neg
that will fix it i guarantee. i got the big click/ding as well :D
i found that of all the different possibilities there are of plugging the headlights in, only ONE combination worked.
left: pos/neg right:pos/neg nothing
left: pos/neg right:pos/pos nothing
left: pos/neg right:pos/pos nothing
left: pos/pos right:pos/neg nothing
left: pos/pos right:neg/neg worked
YOu will come up with the answer through trial and error
i'm no backyard mechanic sparky neither, i managed to give myself a nasty shock long the way as well. That was even before i tried installing the HIDs
FUCK im stooopid .. .lol .. Had one main plug around the wrong way on the ballast ..... them is bright :D
Thnx for the troubleshooting black200 . lol
Hmm. i was on a mission. so ripped off the bumpers and mounted the ballasts on the front support bar and all that ........ took it fro a test drive though down, no one high beamed me which was good -- they dont appear to be pointup upwards anymore than the oem globes did.
However ..... is it normal to hear a CLUNK when i put the high beams on ? (they're a HI-LOW kit) . Only the right headlight will highbeam, the left one doesnt. I dont think ive done anything wrong, have i ? Hmmm ..
black200
24-05-07, 11:57 PM
Hmm. i was on a mission. so ripped off the bumpers and mounted the ballasts on the front support bar and all that ........ took it fro a test drive though down, no one high beamed me which was good -- they dont appear to be pointup upwards anymore than the oem globes did.
However ..... is it normal to hear a CLUNK when i put the high beams on ? (they're a HI-LOW kit) . Only the right headlight will highbeam, the left one doesnt. I dont think ive done anything wrong, have i ? Hmmm ..
ha you did it properly, i just screwed one on top of the fuse box and the other is just screwed onto the powersteering fluid resevior
i haven't been highbeamed in 4 nights, and they seem to point down on my car too. Would you concur that its probably some of the best money you've spent on your car speedy?
For around 300bux .... yes, its made a HUGE difference at night. I only drove around for 10 mins before, so the true test will be going to work in them morning. Even driving around town for 10 mins made me realise just how bright they are compared to other cars --- every other cars lights look sooooo yellow in comparison!
A few problems though.
- Im not happy with how i mounted them --- i used too many zipties. lol ... am I'll redo it when i can be bothered.
- I have a VERY slight noise though speakers.. can only hear it mainly on idle ,.. and it's only when headlights are on. Im probably dropping voltage or something. lol
- Am pissed about one of the headlights not high beaming though... but i probably will rarely use the highbeams anyway . lol Im not sure if it's the ballast or the globe itself that i might of damaged :(
MrThanh
25-05-07, 02:37 AM
make sure that you mount the ballasts and relay somewhere where it wont get any water splashing onto it. can seriously screw things up.
Yep .. well hidden in the front bumper underneath each headlight .. Not a chance of anything getting in there :) All went well driving to work this morning .... no highbeaming me from other cars --- although the cutoff is NOTHING like ud get in proper HID kits, it's still mostly flat and doesnt hit other cars windows at all.
VERY happy .... will try and get some pics over the weekend.
Pics of HIDs installed here : http://forum.jdmstyletuning.com/showpost.php?p=66866&postcount=1237
nice white lights.... i have 10k so its a cool blue....
yeah my lights are positioned a bit high and iv been mingling with the positioning for ages cause i have new head lights so when they came they were all wonkey so its the best i can get them...sorry for anyone who finds it blinds them...
but had the hid lights proffessionally installed and it only took them like only 45mins...good job doing them yourself!!
Cheers..... took me nearlly 2hours ... was 45mins alone to figure out how to get the bumper off.... 2 clips wouldnt budge so i busted em in half and replaced them with zipties. lol .. Only took 5-10mins to put the bumper and everything back together.
DIY FTW.
Just installed mine yesterday and they're a bit bright.. bright enough to get me 3or4 hi beams on the first night and to attract the attention of a policeman who just happened to be oncoming just as I turned outta my street just tonight hehe defect? yup! not for the lights though but any other time i've passed a cop car they usually just leave me alone.. coincidence? maybe.
Just wondering if you guys have any tips on headlight beam adjustment. I know how to adjust my lights but how do you know what angle to set it at. Can you get it adjusted professionally?
Just wondering if you guys have any tips on headlight beam adjustment. I know how to adjust my lights but how do you know what angle to set it at. Can you get it adjusted professionally?
I'd say not coincidence :P
Find a big white wall at night, and go adjust them yourself so they point downwards if they;re pointing up too much.
Post pics of your car mate! :)
I think at 25 feet..... the beam should be like 1.5 inches below the globe......!?!?
If that makes any sense!?!?
This is correct for HID's with projectors anyway!
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