HID Retrofit Log 99 Explorer *LOTS OF PICS*

[Cue]

Well finally had time to install them today. Got them all in and working great, high beams and low beams. There was plenty of room to fit them in after doing the solenoid mod. I painted the shrouds silver and they look pretty good with the chrome lens which I decided not to paint.

 

[Afboy143]

pics?????

 

[Bill Kemp]

Sounds real good....Lets see em....Maby a write up for the Elite forum?

 

[Afboy143]

im actually really jealous u got high beams to work !

 

[Cue]

Ill get some pics tomorrow.

 

[Cue]

Here are a couple pictures.

 

[Afboy143]

very nice !

You might want to paint the reflective housing black because you will notice a lot of stray light at night.

 

[Cue]

I thought about it but I like the looks of the chrome better. Plus I was worried about the paint sticking to the smooth chrome after a while, a year from now it might chip off.

 

[Wagonized]

looks good guys. this thread has been very helpful

im gathering parts right now for a retrofit in my 97. planning on using the same e46 projectors that both you used and 8000k bulbs probably. Unless I like the 4300k that much which will save money in the end.

Its definitely a bit of a pain trying to find the xenon shrouds though.

 

[Cue]

looks good guys. this thread has been very helpful

im gathering parts right now for a retrofit in my 97. planning on using the same e46 projectors that both you used and 8000k bulbs probably. Unless I like the 4300k that much which will save money in the end.

Its definitely a bit of a pain trying to find the xenon shrouds though.

Why would you use 8000k bulbs? That is just alot less light output. The E46 projectors weren't designed to work with the aftermarket HID kits you get on Ebay, they can cause alot more glare.
The purple look comes from the cutoff in the projector so the 4300k bulbs do look purple when coming down the road until you get closer to them. I also did a color mod to mine to make the color band wider, which was just putting a couple of washers behind the bottom of the projector.

Most factory HID's are 4300k.

I found those shrouds easily, just that everyone wanted $100 for them and I was going to cut them and paint them anyway. I finally found a set that had the chrome peeled off for $50.

Post some pics of your retro when you get to working on it.

 

[Creatve]

I just purchased most of the parts to do the retrofit, still looking for the shrouds, but how do you replace the xenon bulbs when they go out? do you have to heat the headlamp assembly again in the oven with the projectors in them?

Oh and is it suggested to upgrade the headlight wiring harness? Thanks

 

[Cue]

From what I hear the bulbs don't burn out very often but you just replace them from the back just like a regular bulb. If you use the high beams you will have to put 2 diodes in the circuit and use a relay wired to the factory harness.

 

[Creatve]

From what I hear the bulbs don't burn out very often but you just replace them from the back just like a regular bulb. If you use the high beams you will have to put 2 diodes in the circuit and use a relay wired to the factory harness.

Yeah i want to use the high beams, what kind of diodes and relay will I need? And can you tell me how im going to wire those up? Im not really knowledgeable in electronics(dont even know what diodes do). Thanks

 

[Cue]

Just 2 small diodes from Radio shack and a regular 12 volt relay you can get at any auto parts store. The diode just go in line with the power from the headlight factory harness and the high beam signal wire from the harness as normally when you turn on the high beams it shuts off the low beams which you don't want.
The relay is there to handle the higher current of the HID ballasts instead of using the stock wiring harness.

 

[Bill Kemp]

What a great and informative diagram.
I gotta find a way to save this.
Thanks, Cue.

 

[Creatve]

Cue, what amp were the diodes you used? Will a 6amp diode work or is it too low and will burn out? Thanks for the diagram, that really clarifies things alot

 

[Cue]

They would work fine, I think the ones I used were 1 amp.

 

[Creatve]

I finally finished my headlight wiring harness using 2 relays, 3 6amp rectifiers, 2 9006 headlamp female sockets (which will connect to the ballast) and 2 15amp fuses.

I havent received my hid's yet so i tested my wiring harness with a 9006 lightbulb connected and a multimeter connected to the solenoid wires.

The 9006 lightbulb lights up correctly and stays on when I hit the highbeams but as soon as I turn on the headlights the highbeam indicator light is dimly lit. When I turn the highbeams on, the highbeam indicator lights up to its normal brightness.

The solenoid wiring part shows weird results(or I could be wrong) on the multimeter when I turn the headlights on. When the headlights are on, the multimeter registers about 10volts(which i think it shouldnt be registering any voltage) and when the highbeams are on it reads about 12 volts. I think thats why when I turn on my headlights, the highbeam indicator comes on dimly and fully lit when i have my highbeams on.

My question is there something wrong with the way I wired my harness based on the diagram i attached? rectifiers mounted the wrong way, wrong wires...etc. help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Cue]

I did not use the "diode c" as shown in the pictures. You only need 2 diodes and one relay, try removing the C diode and only using one relay like in the original schematic.

 

[Creatve]

ok i removed diode c and its working normally now but the lowbeams still shut off when i push the arm to keep the highbeams engaged. Pulling and holding the highbeam arm keeps the lowbeams and highbeams.

Cue, when u push the highbeam arm that keeps the highbeams on, does yours shut off the lowbeams?