FricFrac Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 Are you posting a technical thread (since it's in the tech section) or are you trying to turn it into a rally cry for your political views? I suggest if you want to get it TS'd keep going; they adhere to the rules pretty closely. You had a good thread going... Lol - my political views... I was simply stating not to overlook an HID kit because its made in China. Totaly relevant to the thread and nothing to do with my political views. In fact here's my political view - not interested in politics, fighting, arguing, etc. I am interested in helping people out and contributing. That's what this thread is about. If you have something to contribute please do. Otherwise you are simply trolling The intent of this thread is to provide an HID solution that is affordable, works every time, easily obtainable, safe, easily repeatable and easy to install. If someone can find an H4 HID kit that is cheaper than the one I found and works just as well isn't it a no brainer to use it instead? If everyone is looking and ignoring stuff because its made in China then we don't gain a more affordable alternative. My statement was simply to help us find viable alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators RTz Posted October 10, 2009 Administrators Share Posted October 10, 2009 not interested in politics, fighting, arguing, etc. You're contradicting yourself. Your last post is an act of defense after I asked to put it back on track. Last warning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 So I received my shipment from vvme today. For clarity I ordered 1 x Digital Slim H4-3(9003) Bi-Xenon HID Kit Color Temperature 4300K. The kit was $86.99 and DHL shipping was $18.35 for a total of $105.34. Below are the pic’s of the package (clearly showing it shipped from China), the box with “designed in Germany†written on it, the contents, and the ballast placed where I’m thinking of installing it. It looks good and the ballast is very compact at approx. 3†x 2.5†x .5â€. I’ll post up more pic’s of the actual install and the output after installation is complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FricFrac Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 Looking good. I don't know about the bulbs but the ballast looks like the Phillips designed ones like I have and they are using the water proof connectors as well which is very good. It also looks like the relay is a solid state one which means less current draw and no mechanical contacts to wear out. This one is looking hopeful! I guess time will tell on the bulbs (although the whole kit is the price of a single HID replacement bulb....). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 So I started the installation process. I removed the existing halogen bulbs and installed the xenon bulbs. Below you can see the new bulbs next to my Autopal MSR housings with the halogen bulbs still in place. The xenon bulbs fit in easily, but in order to install the waterproof membrane I had to remove the housing from the bulb and then put it back together. Now I had to install the housings with the halogen bulb back into the metal headlight housing. The new bulb and housing was just a little bit to big to fir, so I had to make room. I haven't decide what to do about this opening yet. I have the waterproof membrane below, but do I need to make this waterproof as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 They do get water in the can from the front side anyways. Don't you have the plastic upper under fender splash guards? Those should cover the back side of your light can. What I did was use clear silicone, and attach a piece of plastic baggie over the hole I had to open up for mine to fit in the can. The splash guard should keep any water from the tires off of it. Those bulbs are trippie..... Does the hi/lo shield move on the bulb? That's very ingenious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FricFrac Posted October 14, 2009 Author Share Posted October 14, 2009 I used a step bit to make the hole in the back larger which also keeps the edge from becoming jagged. After the hole is sized I put a grommet in the back large enough for the waterproof connector to go through. Since the lens assembly is waterproof and the connectors are waterproof there is no need to waterproof the bucket itself and as J Soileau mentioned water comes in the front of the bucket anyhow. The hi/lo is accomplished by moving the bulb itself with a solenoid in and out of the shielded area. It works well because there is no fillament that is susceptable to vibrational damage - its just an arc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 ...Don't you have the plastic upper under fender splash guards? Those should cover the back side of your light can...No, did those come on 240's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 i believe the plastic fender liners only came on the 76 and later z's. i know they did not come on the 240z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 No, did those come on 240's? i believe the plastic fender liners only came on the 76 and later z's. i know they did not come on the 240z. Hmmm.. Bummer, my early 260 has them, so that's when they started I recon. They sure are needed on these cars. Too bad they didn't start from the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 The installation moves on. It's hard to imagine the wiring being much better or easier to install. It includes nice weatherpacks and looming and they appear to really only connect one way. The length won't allow my ballast to go behind the radiator support so I'll probably just keep them in front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexicoker Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 This is really awesome. I'm excited to see what your light pattern looks like, Bartman. If its close to what FricFrac achieved... I think I'm going to have to find some money to do this myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Installation is complete and the lights are working. I'll try to take output pic's tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FricFrac Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 The installation moves on. It's hard to imagine the wiring being much better or easier to install. It includes nice weatherpacks and looming and they appear to really only connect one way. The length won't allow my ballast to go behind the radiator support so I'll probably just keep them in front. That's the exact same place I installed my ballast. The big advantage to this set up is that it also eliminates the need for a relay kit (since it has its own relay) and if this HID kit works its much less than a relay kit to upgrade the stock wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 So here's a shot of the beam pattern: Unfortunately it appears that the high beams are always on. It doesn't look any different when the high beams are actually turned on. It appears that the low beam pattern shows up for a second when I turn the lights off. Here's a frame from a small movie I took showing what looks like the low beams: So I've contacted customer support and we'll see how that goes. Anyone have any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FricFrac Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 The high/low beams are controlled with a solenoid. It sounds like your solenoid interface isn't working somehow. There is a large water proof plug for the H4 HID bulb and a smaller plug to control the light (solenoid). Both of these go to the HID bulb. It sounds like both of these are plugged in because the relay does operate when the lights are turned off. The relay harness also has a plug that plugs into either of your two headlights via an H4 plug (mating plug on the back of the old sealed beam bulb). You just plug the harness into the end of the original harness that passes through the headlight bucket. You can use either the left or right hand side but it only uses one. That's what the relay uses as its input signal for high or low beams. Try swapping the input for the other side and see if that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 So I tried to chat with customer service, but after I told them about my problem they told me to send and email. I did and here's their response: "After getting the lights to turn on you can test again the polarity with the Hid harness plug that attaches to the factory headlight plug and found the problem there. Please switch the blue and white wires on the HID harness and tested. The high/low beams work." So I was thinking that the plug that connects the HID system to the stock system would be a logical place to start debugging since that's the trigger for turning on low and high beams. FricFrac also pointed me in this direction - so I'll try to debug this today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiggy6581 Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I vouch for the retrosolutions kit as well. I used a set from them on my Subaru with great results. Would gladly use a set again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Debug update. I switched the power for high with low with the same results. I also tried connecting just the low, and high beam is on when the switch is in low, and the lights are off when high beam is switched on. The high beams are turned on with an electromagnet, can the metal housing being so close to the bulb housing be a problem? I sent a reply to customer service, so I'll see what they say. shiggy6581 - did you mean to respond to the other HID thread ordering the projector lens kit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FricFrac Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 It sounds like the solenoid is working because the low beam comes on when you switch them off. Check the output of your old light harness that plugs into the new harness and see if you are getting a signal for low/high and tell us what the voltage is on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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