HID main Beams for a Vantage,
Discussion
Following 8tech's informative report on replacing the halogen H9 bulbs in his DB9 with a Xenon HId kit I decided to do the same.
Started off well, jacked up, wheel off, panel in wheel liner off....aha! Not the same!
So, undo the two brass screws at the bottom of the plastic cover and hinge out and down to remove from the slots at the top.
The new type ballast for the dip beams is the shiny square box on the right. Ok so no room for an additional ballast in there!
Had a poke around and thought about removing the liner but realised that it goes forward under the splitter in one piece. Too much hassle for that. I then found that by removing two of the torx bolts securing the liner, I could yank it back enough to get a hand down behind it, below the light unit, so I decided to mount the ballast there and fix it to the liner with a zip tie.
Next snag was that the holes in the ballast were too small to get a tie through, so I drilled them out to 4mm.
Next was to drill 2 4mm holes in the liner to line up with the ballast fixing holes and feed one of the zip ties that came with the kit through.
The ballast was threaded onto the tie and fed down behind the liner while tightening the tie. It's a bit of a fiiddle.
Next was to make a hole in the plastic cover for the cable entry. A 22mm hole saw did the trick and I also filed a nick just big enough for the twin cable plug to go through and I wanted to keep the hole as small as possible so the grommet would have a good seal.
The remaining cables are fed through the hole and the grommet eased into place
Then it was just a case of removing the halogen bulb by rotating about 25deg anticlockwise and unplugging the lead. The red and black supply cables to the ballast are plugged into the empty connector previously connected to the halogen bulb thus providing power to the ballast. Remover the Xennon bulb from its protection and fit into the lense. Tuck the cables away from the edges and replace the plastic cover by engaging the lugs in the slots at the top and screw the brass screws home. Plug the remaining 3 plugs in to join up to the ballast wires poking up from behind the liner.
Tuck the cables and the black component behind the liner and refit the inspection hatch. Finally I sealed the holes where the zip tie penetrated the liner with black silicone sealer.
Finished! Can see where I'm going now!!
Started off well, jacked up, wheel off, panel in wheel liner off....aha! Not the same!
So, undo the two brass screws at the bottom of the plastic cover and hinge out and down to remove from the slots at the top.
The new type ballast for the dip beams is the shiny square box on the right. Ok so no room for an additional ballast in there!
Had a poke around and thought about removing the liner but realised that it goes forward under the splitter in one piece. Too much hassle for that. I then found that by removing two of the torx bolts securing the liner, I could yank it back enough to get a hand down behind it, below the light unit, so I decided to mount the ballast there and fix it to the liner with a zip tie.
Next snag was that the holes in the ballast were too small to get a tie through, so I drilled them out to 4mm.
Next was to drill 2 4mm holes in the liner to line up with the ballast fixing holes and feed one of the zip ties that came with the kit through.
The ballast was threaded onto the tie and fed down behind the liner while tightening the tie. It's a bit of a fiiddle.
Next was to make a hole in the plastic cover for the cable entry. A 22mm hole saw did the trick and I also filed a nick just big enough for the twin cable plug to go through and I wanted to keep the hole as small as possible so the grommet would have a good seal.
The remaining cables are fed through the hole and the grommet eased into place
Then it was just a case of removing the halogen bulb by rotating about 25deg anticlockwise and unplugging the lead. The red and black supply cables to the ballast are plugged into the empty connector previously connected to the halogen bulb thus providing power to the ballast. Remover the Xennon bulb from its protection and fit into the lense. Tuck the cables away from the edges and replace the plastic cover by engaging the lugs in the slots at the top and screw the brass screws home. Plug the remaining 3 plugs in to join up to the ballast wires poking up from behind the liner.
Tuck the cables and the black component behind the liner and refit the inspection hatch. Finally I sealed the holes where the zip tie penetrated the liner with black silicone sealer.
Finished! Can see where I'm going now!!
great work, just hope the MOT testing station you use interprets the test guide in the appropriate manner...its a bit contentious and confusing. I have read of a couple of guys on Lotus forums that have had MOT fails with their HID kits
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120606...
I have fitted my own kits to a couple of cars in the past and driven for over 100K miles/8 years with them in and never had any bother...so its real bad luck if anyone notices, particularly in a car that many will assume had them from new anyway, and has washers/leveller on the dip beam
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120606...
I have fitted my own kits to a couple of cars in the past and driven for over 100K miles/8 years with them in and never had any bother...so its real bad luck if anyone notices, particularly in a car that many will assume had them from new anyway, and has washers/leveller on the dip beam
L0TT0 said:
bogie said:
great work, just hope the MOT testing station you use interprets the test guide in the appropriate manner...its a bit contentious and confusing.
Not an issue - dipped beam alignment only is inspected. Main beam function (ie does it work) is all that needs to be checked./goes off to fit HIDs
L0TT0 said:
bogie said:
great work, just hope the MOT testing station you use interprets the test guide in the appropriate manner...its a bit contentious and confusing.
Not an issue - dipped beam alignment only is inspected. Main beam function (ie does it work) is all that needs to be checked.
L0TT0 said:
bogie said:
great work, just hope the MOT testing station you use interprets the test guide in the appropriate manner...its a bit contentious and confusing.
Not an issue - dipped beam alignment only is inspected. Main beam function (ie does it work) is all that needs to be checked.Bincenzo said:
L0TT0 said:
bogie said:
great work, just hope the MOT testing station you use interprets the test guide in the appropriate manner...its a bit contentious and confusing.
Not an issue - dipped beam alignment only is inspected. Main beam function (ie does it work) is all that needs to be checked.
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