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2013 Limited Headlights

Kberg43

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November 27, 2018
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City, State
Chicago, Illinois
Year, Model & Trim Level
2013 Explorer Limited
Hey guys,

Brand new here. Just bought a 2013 Explorer Limited with 29k miles on it for my wife this past week.

After driving it a couple times now, I’ve noticed the head lights seem incredibly dim. I drive a 2013 F150 Platinum with HID lamps that blow these out of the water.

From what I’ve read, Limited explorers come standard with HID. These are certainly not on the same level as the 150 if that’s the case.

Would this simply be old bulbs that’s need replaced? Or is there some way that these are standard halogen despite being a Limited?

Any help would be appreciated!
 



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As far as I know, they didn't come with hid's. They're just halogens in a projector housing. I've been contemplating a retrofit myself, but I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger yet. A lot of guys say to go with hid, while others will say that led is better. I'm still weighing the options before I decide.
 






The Limited comes Standard with HID Light.
You can check your VIN on www.etis.ford.com (free account needed). When you expand the Minor Features, you have to search for "High Intensity Discharge Headlamp".
Furthermore you could check on your vehicle.
The Headlamp has a sticker on it, with two printed triangles (one with a high voltage lightning another with an exclamation mark) and a owners manual. It is placed under the sidemarker socket.
Or you could "feel" under your headlight housing, if you have a aluminum control unit at the bottom.

If you have HIDs you should replace them with quality (Osram or Philips) D3S HID Bulbs. For this job, you have to remove the front bumper.
 






The Limited comes Standard with HID Light.
You can check your VIN on www.etis.ford.com (free account needed). When you expand the Minor Features, you have to search for "High Intensity Discharge Headlamp".
Furthermore you could check on your vehicle.
The Headlamp has a sticker on it, with two printed triangles (one with a high voltage lightning another with an exclamation mark) and a owners manual. It is placed under the sidemarker socket.
Or you could "feel" under your headlight housing, if you have a aluminum control unit at the bottom.

If you have HIDs you should replace them with quality (Osram or Philips) D3S HID Bulbs. For this job, you have to remove the front bumper.

Thanks for the reply. I already had an account there so that made this easier.

From the looks of it, it very well may not have HID. I’ll have to check when she gets back home from work.

Per etis, it states “Halogen headlamps less adjustment”. It does not state anything anywhere about HID or high intensity. I’m assuming this means this feature was dropped from this car, for reasons unknown to me.
 






Thanks for the reply. I already had an account there so that made this easier.

From the looks of it, it very well may not have HID. I’ll have to check when she gets back home from work.

Per etis, it states “Halogen headlamps less adjustment”. It does not state anything anywhere about HID or high intensity. I’m assuming this means this feature was dropped from this car, for reasons unknown to me.
Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
HID headlamps were only standard on the Canadian market Limited. There are several threads on converting the halogen to HID but also keep in mind that the housings are specifically designed for the factory install bulbs. While putting HID in a halogen housing will give you more light, it will not be possible to get an exact focus due to the different housings. In fact, in many cases the HID kits come with a statement that they are for off road use only and are not DOT approved.

Peter
 






When replacing the OEM bulbs with different stuff like LED or HID, I would give only the Philips XTreme Ultinon H7 LED a try.
This bulb is almost legal in Europe
 






2013 Limiteds only had HIDs from factory if it had the 302A or 303A package.
 






Late, but, it's only two cents.

I can concur that the Limited did NOT have HID standard (in 2013 at least). I just replaced both headlight bulbs for $25 with Silvania halogen 9005 Extra Visions (3200K) and couldn't be happier about it. Took maybe 7-8 minutes total. Don't know about the HIDs, but the halogens have a rubber cap on the back of the assembly (about the diameter of a baseball). Pop it off and look at the bulb. Should be obvious at that point.
 






FYI, you can go with 9011 bulbs which are brighter. You just have to trim the tabs slightly to make them fit in the 9005 socket. I made this change and saw a good amount of additional brightness.

Best halogen headlight bulbs, 9005 or 9011?
 






Late, but, it's only two cents.

I can concur that the Limited did NOT have HID standard (in 2013 at least). I just replaced both headlight bulbs for $25 with Silvania halogen 9005 Extra Visions (3200K) and couldn't be happier about it. Took maybe 7-8 minutes total. Don't know about the HIDs, but the halogens have a rubber cap on the back of the assembly (about the diameter of a baseball). Pop it off and look at the bulb. Should be obvious at that point.

Are they definitely brighter/better view than the stock? My stock halogens are awful at night. I've been wanted to stick with halogens but want a better brighter view.
 






Are they definitely brighter/better view than the stock? My stock halogens are awful at night. I've been wanted to stick with halogens but want a better brighter view.

Any bulb replacement is going to be brighter as the bulbs grow dim with age anyway. If you buy OEM style bulbs, the Kelvin will be 2800. These are slightly higher at 3200K and do make a difference. I've seen the 4100K ones and they add glare for me. I like the aypanthony suggestion above and will try them out on the next go around for the higher lumen, comparable color temperature and 4x the bulb life rating.
 






FYI, you can go with 9011 bulbs which are brighter. You just have to trim the tabs slightly to make them fit in the 9005 socket. I made this change and saw a good amount of additional brightness.

Best halogen headlight bulbs, 9005 or 9011?

I just did this myself. I recently had a headlight bulb burn out and decided to replace them both with the 9011 bulbs. It took a grand total of about 15 minutes to swap the bulbs, and that includes the time spend trimming the top tab. The 9011 bulbs are quite a bit brighter than the stock bulbs and provide a noticeable difference on the road. In my opinion it's a very inexpensive and worthwhile upgrade for anyone not pleased with the light output of the factory 9005 bulbs.
 






2013 Limiteds only had HIDs from factory if it had the 302A or 303A package.

I can confirm this. The Limited's in the U.S. came factory with Halogens unless it had the 302A/303A option group even through 2015 MY. My EX has the HID's (302A Option group). Shortly after I got it, my company run up to Vegas for a trade show. We had a 2015 EX Limited 300A as a rental and it had Halogens (I was actually able to download the window sticker for it). The few time I drove it at night, I remember I kept checking to see if the lights were actually "on" because they seemed so dim compared to my HID's on my EX. I know there is a another topic here on the forum that discusses replacing the bulbs/housings to upgrade to HID or LED. As PeterK9 as pointed out, there seems to be different lenses in the Halogen vs. HID housings as on TASCO.com the housings have different part numbers depending on which bulb is being used. And, in some places, it is actually against the law to put HID's in a housing designed for a halogen bulb. I would recommend replacing the housings when updating to HID's. I have read that there are some LED's that have the same or similar light pattern as halogens, but I haven't personal installed any, so I can't say I know that for sure. My 2 cents for what its worth.....
 


















I can confirm this. The Limited's in the U.S. came factory with Halogens unless it had the 302A/303A option group even through 2015 MY. My EX has the HID's (302A Option group). Shortly after I got it, my company run up to Vegas for a trade show. We had a 2015 EX Limited 300A as a rental and it had Halogens (I was actually able to download the window sticker for it). The few time I drove it at night, I remember I kept checking to see if the lights were actually "on" because they seemed so dim compared to my HID's on my EX. I know there is a another topic here on the forum that discusses replacing the bulbs/housings to upgrade to HID or LED. As PeterK9 as pointed out, there seems to be different lenses in the Halogen vs. HID housings as on TASCO.com the housings have different part numbers depending on which bulb is being used. And, in some places, it is actually against the law to put HID's in a housing designed for a halogen bulb. I would recommend replacing the housings when updating to HID's. I have read that there are some LED's that have the same or similar light pattern as halogens, but I haven't personal installed any, so I can't say I know that for sure. My 2 cents for what its worth.....

Yeah I got a rental Explorer as well when the hood had to be repainted. The factory Halogens are awful when compared to the OEM HID.

Differences I know in the housings are: cutout in the bottom for wiring from the ballast to pass through, pinouts are different, and the projector is different.

HID projectors and Halogen ones have different focal points because the bulb geometer differs. Shine a light though a magnifying glass until the light pattern is crisp on the wall. Now pull the light back a few inches and see how out of focus it is. That's what putting HID bulbs in Halogen projectors looks like.
 






Yeah I got a rental Explorer as well when the hood had to be repainted. The factory Halogens are awful when compared to the OEM HID.

Differences I know in the housings are: cutout in the bottom for wiring from the ballast to pass through, pinouts are different, and the projector is different.

HID projectors and Halogen ones have different focal points because the bulb geometer differs. Shine a light though a magnifying glass until the light pattern is crisp on the wall. Now pull the light back a few inches and see how out of focus it is. That's what putting HID bulbs in Halogen projectors looks like.


So, What about LEDs in a Halogen projector? I bought hightly rated bright 6000K LEDs to replace the stock halogens and they are horrible. Even in the projector the light goes everywhere but the road.

Any thoughts? TIA
 






I believe in general that OEM LED headlights use a reflector. The LED bulbs you bought emit light it a different way compared to a halogen bulb. I believe that is why your light beam cannot be properly focused. Your projector housing wasn't designed for anything except a halogen bulb.

Peter
 






The only LED bulb replacement I know which works quite good are the Philips Xtreme Ultinon.
But they are quite costly. I assume the development of the bulbs was it too. They are almost as good as to be road legal in Europe.
 



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The only LED bulb replacement I know which works quite good are the Philips Xtreme Ultinon.
But they are quite costly. I assume the development of the bulbs was it too. They are almost as good as to be road legal in Europe.
They aren't road legal though and LEDs are not a suitable replacement for halogens in a projector housing.
Would be far better to get whiter halogens instead.
 






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