Doing the install in the AM. I've read & reread all posts. Doing 9006, 6000k, low beams only. Still have 6 questions for clarification:

1) Should I mount ballasts on rail or under brake duct?
2) Does this require a fuse upgrade? If so, 15 or 20A?
3) Should I disconnect the neg battery terminal? If so, what needs to be reset?
4) Instructions talk about an optional harness with neg & pos terminals. Is this required?
5) The only markings on the bulbs state HID35W 9006-B. How do I know these are 6000k (other than the blue tint after installation)?
6) The top part of the power plug on the ballast has a little angled catch. The bottom of the power plug has a larger square protrusion. Heard of problems reversing the power connection. Any recommendations?

Thx

 

ttt...help

 

I mounted mine under the headlights, on the inside of the splash guards, located here they are close to the lights and are easily mounted. I have changed out NONE of my Fuses and have had the HID kit in for right at a year now...no problems so far.

If you disconnect the negative battery terminal(always a good idea when messing with wiring stuff) you'll lose the memory settings on the radio, the clock etc...I don't believe it affected my oil life monitor...off hand the radio is all I recall having to reset.

If these are 6000k there really should not be alot of 'blue' tint...6000k is almost a pure white. you are not going to be able to BELIEVE the difference will make to how you see at night.
You will also need to readjust the settings on where the bulbs are aimed, I just found a flat concrete wall behind a store and made sure the side to side vision was maxamized, and the up/down settings will come with the cars flashing you if they are too high.

If you have power reversed they will not ignite...I did one, checked it before moving to the next one.

Also, this will help you a LOT...once you remove the factory light covers, you will see a mount bracket the cover was attached to...BEFORE removing that cover use a scratcher of some sort and mark ALL the edges before removing THAT mounting bracket...It will need to be removed, BUT,you will need it returned to that position when you are closing up or the covers will be out of adjustments. I found out the hard way. This is NOT a complicated kit to install...mine took about 3 hours total and thats ONLY because I was doing a lot of other little things at the same time...if this is the only project it should honestly take about an hour a side...Just look at how things go, and recheck to make sure everything is sealed right...connections covered and tight,e tc...I had to go back in 1-2 times because i was not paying attention the 1st time.

This sounds like one of the eBay kits with the 'optional' wiring harness...that is only needed if you don't want to cut any wires, as far as I'm concerned, it SHOULD have been included, the kit I bought off the forum was 100% plug and go...no wire cutting needed.

~Maverick

 

First I've heard about the light covers and cutting wires. Can you please elaborate if possible?

 

ttt

 

Ok...the 1st step is to remove the covers so you can start getting to the bulbs and install the ballast...two screws on the left and 2 on the right side...this will allow you to remove the light cover off the light assembly..lift it off...under that you will see the bracket that it was mounted to...you'll have to remove that as well...but, before you do, you want to mark it so you can get it back into the exact same position...if this is off, the covers will be off, when you put everything back together...once you get started you'll see what I'm talking about.

I'm not sure if you will have to cut the wires or not...some kits are plug and go with the proper sockets so that everything just plugs into the factory wires and nothing needs to be cut....however, some of the eBay Kits are not so complete and their wires don't all have the proper plugs to plug into the factory wiring...they want you to cut the wires and then splice them into the ends of the 'kit'...you'll know if in your kit there are any wires that don't have socket type plugs that look like they will just plug into something somewhere...Look at the picture below: if you have all wires that end like the two on the right then it's all plug and go..it's those two wires on the left that allow things to be plugged into the wrong socket...on some kits there are not even those plugs like on the left...it's just bare wires, and you cut your factory wires and splice them together...I don't cut factory plugs on my cars, but I've installed these for friends that said go ahead (they had bought the cheap eBay kits)

In the pic below the wires on the far right are wires that come out of the ballast, those are designed so that they will only plug in one way to those wires in the middle...you'll notice that each has a male and a female plug...you can't mess up on those ...however, the wires on the left side of the pic.....the end you cannot see has a plug on it that will only plug into the ballast in one way...it's the red and black you see that have those 'spade' type plugs, these will plug into the factory plug on your car....if you put them in wrong way the lights will not fire up. What I HATE about that type plug is that it is NOT secure, it can slide out or somehow touch the other wire next to it....if you have this type plug on your kit then I recommend you plug them in and reconnect the battery..make sure the bulbs are firing up and then disconnect battery again...take some electrical tape and make sure those exposed spades are totally covered up and can't touch anything. Hope this helps

Most of the better kits DO NOT have wires like on the left...they have plugs that will connect securely to your factory plug.

Also, as an aside to these...HID's are VERY Voltage dependant...make sure the car is running when you turn the headlights on, otherwise they may start 'strobbing' if the voltage is just slightly low...if the car is running befire you turn the headlights on it will stop this from happening..
Also, sometimes when you turn the lights on, they may or may not pop up..just turn them off and back on really quick, they will pop up usually then...same goes for if one lights up and the other don't...there are a FEW little quirks to these HID kits...but you'll quickly get used to those quirks and the difference between these and the stockers will be worth it about 3000 times over. Like I said, I've had mine for right at a year and almost NEVER have any problems with them, and I've had them long enought to know a 1 sec. fix for the RARE instances where one don't fire, etc...

DON'T let any of this scare you, it is NOT rocket science and I can GURANTEE you will love the difference this will make...I KNOW I was a little nervous and when I got the kit, I let the box sit there for almost a month before I decided to just do it...WOW, I was soooo mad I had waited even just a month! You'll never want the high beams again, and when you DO turn them on you'll notice how sickly yellowish they are..

~Maverick

 

Thx Maverick...appreciate you taking the time to give specific details. Will be working this first thing in the AM after I get over another Rockies loss. Don't think I could of sat any mod to the side for more than a week let alone a month.

Again Thanks

 

Not a problem! Thats what this forum is all about...tips and ideas and things that may help someone either, do something right, or stop them from a mistake the 1st time around...

I originally let mine sit so long not because I was scared, rather that I was in the middle of a whole lot of mods going on with the engine and just being lazy... I actually have a HID kit in the other room for my Fog lights so I'll be going back in on mine again in the next few weekends...Good luck to you, and let me know how it turns out when you're done..

~Maverick

 

WOW...what a difference. Thanks to all the great posts with installation advice, made this an easy experience.

Lights come up good. Going down have to go to highs to make assembly go down. Not a big deal knowing what steps to take.

I noted after reassembling everything that the right side was humming with everything off. Sounded like it was coming from the ballast area. For now the fix action was to start the car and play with the lights again. Don't know if this will occur again. Any thoughts on what caused this???

Maverick...it was not necessary for me to remove the bracket.

Thx...Dave

 

That humming is from the ballast, they will quiten up after the lights are on a few minutes...I never even hear mine anymore. Glad you like the lights...if you're anything like me you just HAD to go out for a drive just to check them out. The only people that don't like this 'mod' are those that have not done it yet, it makes THAT much of difference!

~Maverick

 

The humming actually occurred after the install and after shutting everything down for the night. Went to the neighbors to return tools and talk about the humming, gone for awhile, came back and it was still humming. I was going to disconnect the battery but instead decided to crank the engine and lights one more time. Humming stopped for the time being. Don't know if this will happen again. This humming is not when the lights are on but after and for a long period of time. Thoughts?

 

Thats new to me...mine used to humm just a bit on start up, but never heard them humming afterwards...it is still the ballasts doing it though, it's the only thing that hums that you added, I used to hear old overhead flourescent lights humm like this, is it that kinda humming? Hopefully yours will be just like mine and just need a brief break in period...I used to have a few little glitches, but to be honest, they work flawlessly now, can't remember the last time I had to tweak them..(Knocking on wooden table!)

~Maverick

 

i love the sound of the ballasts firing up! especially when you turn the lows and fogs on all together.

 

I put just the drivers side HID in because it was getting dark, and I wanted to check it out before doing the other side. It is really a big big improvement. However, now when I turn the lights on, the lights come on but about every other time they don't pop up! I see ~Maverick has that happen, and yes if you turn them all the way off (not just to parking lights) and right back on, up they come. Frankly, I'm not that crazy about that... I'm glad to see I am not alone with this problem, but, anyone know a fix?? Is it because the ballast pulls so much power on start up that the relay for the openers doesn't switch on? There must be a way to delay either the ballast or the opener a fraction of second. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

 

It is because the HID's pull so much less current than the reguar bulbs, mine used to to that a bit more often, but as time has gone on it has become less and less of an occurance. The ballasts will tend to do that even more so when you only have half the system set up with one in and the other stock...I have yet to meet ANYONE that found the few little quirks were enough that they took the HID's out and went back to just stock bulbs. Like I said in either this thread earlier, or perhaps in a different one...when I decide to take the C4 to work EVERY TIME I turn the lights on my 1st impression is that something muct be wrong because the lights are soooo dim...then, I remember that that car still has the 'old' lights...

~Maverick

 

Same thing happens to mine. It's because of the low current pull on the bulbs. They draw so little that the module thinks there is a bulb out. Doesn't do it if you flip the switch to high beams BEFORE turning on the lights. A small PIA, but the improvement in lighting makes it more than tolerable.

 

[QUOTE= Like I said in either this thread earlier, or perhaps in a different one...when I decide to take the C4 to work EVERY TIME I turn the lights on my 1st impression is that something muct be wrong because the lights are soooo dim...then, I remember that that car still has the 'old' lights...

~Maverick[/QUOTE]

You want dim, jump in my Mark VIII, you would think you had two flashlights attatched to your hood! I've looked everywhere for an affordable HID kit for it, no luck.

 

It is because the HID's pull so much less current than the regular bulbs

Wondering.......if the problems like lights refusing to go down are really caused by the low current draw..perhaps someone should try an inline resistor like many use with LEDs that strobe.......to "fool" the computer into thinking the HIDs are Halogens ?

Any thoughts on this?

jdmvette, you are our light expert........your thoughts ?

 

Mine had wires like those on the left BUT included the correct connector as well so that the installer could match the Red power wire on the HID harness to the power wire on the car and then insert the HID wires in the proper order so that power went to power. Seemed like a good idea to me. All the other connectors were assembled as shown in the other pics. But take care NOT to put stress on these connectors as the spades can pull free of the wires.........ask me how I know

BTW, those pictured look EXACTLY like my wires and plugs.........the shinny insulation and silver colored tags......makes one wonder if all these are made at the same factory ?

[/QUOTE]