Explorer's Poor Headlights

[peterk9]

My questions are:

1. Are the main lights that come with the 2013 Sport considered HID's?

2. If not, is there an HID kit for the mains and fogs?

3. What temperature are the stock mains and fogs?

4. Whats the difference between Xenon and HID?

1. No they are not HID they are Halogen.
2. There are aftermarket HID kits available. There are threads in the Modified section of this Forum regarding that. If you want the fogs to operate as intended, you would not want HID lighting since it would be too bright. If you want to buy the Ford HID lamps I believe you're looking at well over $1000 each.
3. Not sure on that one. I assume you are talking about the HID lamps on the Limited. The brightest light from HID's is in the 4300 K range.
The higher the temp the more blue it appears and produces less light.
4. Xenon/Halogen uses a filament and gas to produce light while HID uses a high voltage to produce an arc that provides the light.

Much of this info can be found on the Internet.

Peter

 

[CobraJohn]

Lights

Great info Peter. Thanks

 

[waynea]

I have a problem seeing the road with the head lights on my Explorer, the peripheral vision is terrible, no light out to the sides. Turning on the fog lights help. Is there anything that can be done to improve this?

Thanks
Dale

I also feel that the peripheral lighting is extremely poor to non-existent on my 2013 Explorer and is a safety issue. At my last service visit I asked the service manager about it to see if there could be some kind of problem with the lights. He reported back to me that the lights checked out fine and I was the first person he had heard of that had thought side lighting was a problem. In my experience it is about impossible to safely drive down a rural or mountain road at night with numerous curves or switchbacks as you are constantly turning into an extremely close black hole. Even traveling as low as 15-20 mph it is a concern. In a city setting with street lights this is not a noticeable issue. I have not (yet) tried turning on the fog lights to see if that helps.

 

[hosedagain]

I also feel that the peripheral lighting is extremely poor to non-existent on my 2013 Explorer and is a safety issue. At my last service visit I asked the service manager about it to see if there could be some kind of problem with the lights. He reported back to me that the lights checked out fine and I was the first person he had heard of that had thought side lighting was a problem. In my experience it is about impossible to safely drive down a rural or mountain road at night with numerous curves or switchbacks as you are constantly turning into an extremely close black hole. Even traveling as low as 15-20 mph it is a concern. In a city setting with street lights this is not a noticeable issue. I have not (yet) tried turning on the fog lights to see if that helps.

Its not the bulbs its the system, projector headlights, I had a Mazda with the projector headlights and they sucked on a dark rural road, wouldn't even illuminate signs on low beam. Had them checked and was told they are aimed correctly by the dealer. The heck with safety, style-looks is more important.

 

[peterk9]

Its not the bulbs its the system, projector headlights, I had a Mazda with the projector headlights and they sucked on a dark rural road, wouldn't even illuminate signs on low beam. Had them checked and was told they are aimed correctly by the dealer. The heck with safety, style-looks is more important.

I had projectors in the '09 Highlander I had. Changed the OEM bulbs with Halogen Philips X-treme Power Bulbs and it made all the difference in the world. Great with distance lighting. I live in a small town in the country and drive unlit roads often. I think they were also better than the HID's I have in my Limited. One of the first things I change in any new vehicle, my Explorer excluded, is upgrade the head light bulbs.

Peter

 

[edub]

what type of halogen bulbs are in the 2013 explorer? 9006, 9007, etc.

 

[FordService]

what type of halogen bulbs are in the 2013 explorer? 9006, 9007, etc.

Hi edub,

There's a bulb specification chart on page 356 and 357 of the 3rd Printing of the Owner's Manual, available for download here: https://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/OwnerGuidePage. I don't see halogens specifically listed, but they do indicate trade numbers of each replacement bulb.

Crystal

 

[harlenm]

what type of halogen bulbs are in the 2013 explorer? 9006, 9007, etc.

Off the top of my head, I think they are 9005.

Fog lights are H11

HID are D3S(which sucks because they aren't as bright as D2S and there aren't many choices in replacement bulbs)

 

[hosedagain]

I had projectors in the '09 Highlander I had. Changed the OEM bulbs with Halogen Philips X-treme Power Bulbs and it made all the difference in the world. Great with distance lighting. I live in a small town in the country and drive unlit roads often. I think they were also better than the HID's I have in my Limited. One of the first things I change in any new vehicle, my Explorer excluded, is upgrade the head light bulbs.

Peter

from what I read after market bulbs will not last as long as OEM, maybe not even a year, my Mazda I installed after market bulbs and only got 8 to 9 months on a set.

 

[Cougar XR7]

I do not like the way these head lights distribute its light. Its bright in spots and shadowy in others and completely black in the ones you need. My Lincoln Aviator was WAY better with its HID headlights on low or high beam. These lights on low beam are next to pathetic. From what I'm reading on here I need to add a push bar and put on my own headlights. I also talked with ford when I bought this vehilce and could not believe this does not have DRL as standard equipment. We have a new ford truck and it has DRL. GM has had DRL for years. The back-up camera is a great feature. I also want to install LED lights as DRL but have no clue where to get ACC. power from???

 

[peterk9]

from what I read after market bulbs will not last as long as OEM, maybe not even a year, my Mazda I installed after market bulbs and only got 8 to 9 months on a set.

That could be because they are brighter. I had one of the Philips bulbs die after 1 1/2 years.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

I do not like the way these head lights distribute its light. Its bright in spots and shadowy in others and completely black in the ones you need. My Lincoln Aviator was WAY better with its HID headlights on low or high beam. These lights on low beam are next to pathetic. From what I'm reading on here I need to add a push bar and put on my own headlights. I also talked with ford when I bought this vehilce and could not believe this does not have DRL as standard equipment. We have a new ford truck and it has DRL. GM has had DRL for years. The back-up camera is a great feature. I also want to install LED lights as DRL but have no clue where to get ACC. power from???

You can have the DRL enabled by the dealer.

Peter

 

[NEWPORTNJ]

Peter, the only daylight running lamps that can be activated on the explorer made for north america are the amber light not the main head light unless the light is stamped drl, if not only the amber light, i had them activated there is a thread that give the procedure.

 

[broken strut]

Not sure what you guys are talking about. I have the HID lamps. Let me tell ya something. They are bright. I can see for miles with these headlights. As for periphreal lighting? I have no problems seeing the side of the road. Anyone else happy with the headlamps? I think they are awesome. Depends on what type you had before buying I guess. I'm use to the old chev and hyundai POS headlamps. These are a 1000 times better than any headlamp I've used before.....

 

[peterk9]

Peter, the only daylight running lamps that can be activated on the explorer made for north america are the amber light not the main head light unless the light is stamped drl, if not only the amber light, i had them activated there is a thread that give the procedure.

In Canada only the Limited has the amber DRL because they all have the HID headlamps. The base and XLT have the DRL on the headlamps.

Peter

 

[Cougar XR7]

I would be happy to have the parking lights lit for DRL. I am sorry this is one of the Limiteds that does not have the HID and instead has the projector headlights. The projector seems to throw a lot of shadow. I think it has a little to do with the front design, pointy front end that creates some of the shadowing. I don't know I'm still learning. Maybe brighter bulbs would help? On low beam these lights only go so far and then its like it hits a perverbually black wall, no scattered light at all. Thats my biggest problem.

 

[NEWPORTNJ]

in canada only the limited has the amber drl because they all have the hid headlamps. The base and xlt have the drl on the headlamps.

Peter

you are correct, but here its not the law yet to have the drl's but you must have the lights on when the wipers or on, so with auto sensing wipers the lights will come on!

 

[Cougar XR7]

Well I tried the sylvania silverstar ultra for night vision 9005( on sale at advance auto). I installed them in the garage and they didn't appear to be any different so I adjusted them up about an inch. I tested them yesterday and they are really better than stock but I adjusted them to high. Lots of high beams so I adjusted them back a half of an inch and I will tests again. Overall they are better light but it looks like a BAT signal in front of the explorer. Shadows from what I'm not sure but will continue to try and figure out. Thanks for everyones help and merry christmas to all.

 

[peterk9]

Well I tried the sylvania silverstar ultra for night vision 9005( on sale at advance auto). I installed them in the garage and they didn't appear to be any different so I adjusted them up about an inch. I tested them yesterday and they are really better than stock but I adjusted them to high. Lots of high beams so I adjusted them back a half of an inch and I will tests again. Overall they are better light but it looks like a BAT signal in front of the explorer. Shadows from what I'm not sure but will continue to try and figure out. Thanks for everyones help and merry christmas to all.

The January issue of CR carries a piece on Halogen headlight bulbs. After testing 8 bulbs from various manufacturers such as GE, Hella, Philips, PIAA and Sylvania, their conclusion was that although these 'premium' bulbs in some cases delivered a 19% increase in brightness, none actually extended the range of the light pattern.
If you check the manual, you will see that both the Halogen and HID lamps have a distinctive cut-off pattern. I think that no matter what you do with the bulbs, the light pattern is predetermined by the headlight fixture in which they are mounted.

Peter

 

[jumpervb]

The January issue of CR carries a piece on Halogen headlight bulbs. After testing 8 bulbs from various manufacturers such as GE, Hella, Philips, PIAA and Sylvania, their conclusion was that although these 'premium' bulbs in some cases delivered a 19% increase in brightness, none actually extended the range of the light pattern.
If you check the manual, you will see that both the Halogen and HID lamps have a distinctive cut-off pattern. I think that no matter what you do with the bulbs, the light pattern is predetermined by the headlight fixture in which they are mounted.

Peter

I have the distinctive cut off and I do not like it, guess I'd better get used to it though. It's just really aggravating that you're looking out the windshield and it seems like you're gonna run off a cliff or you can't see a curve coming up until you're right on top of it because of the lmited distance......