Converting back to halogen from HID
Discussion
Not sure if this is the right forum but let's give it a go.
My Corvette C5 today failed its MOT under 4.1.4(c). I thought it was the garage being particularly picky but it looks like a new requirement as of August last year. I've owned the car for 5 years and at some point before my ownership it's had HID bulbs put in as an aftermarket job, possibly prior to being imported from Japan in 2014 . It looks like new electrics and bulbs put in but no change to the housing or anything else.
Does anybody here have any experience of resolving this? Any ideas if I'm better off going back to halogen and how much hassle that is likely to be or are there upgrades available to make the current setup compliant? Google tells me I probably need a self-levelling mechanism.... Any other ideas? On an absolute basis I'm relaxed about going back to halogens given I don't do that many miles in the car and only during the lighter months.
I assume I could take the dubious step of trying to find a more 'friendly' MOT garage but I assume they're likely check if its a recent fail as a matter of course.
My Corvette C5 today failed its MOT under 4.1.4(c). I thought it was the garage being particularly picky but it looks like a new requirement as of August last year. I've owned the car for 5 years and at some point before my ownership it's had HID bulbs put in as an aftermarket job, possibly prior to being imported from Japan in 2014 . It looks like new electrics and bulbs put in but no change to the housing or anything else.
Does anybody here have any experience of resolving this? Any ideas if I'm better off going back to halogen and how much hassle that is likely to be or are there upgrades available to make the current setup compliant? Google tells me I probably need a self-levelling mechanism.... Any other ideas? On an absolute basis I'm relaxed about going back to halogens given I don't do that many miles in the car and only during the lighter months.
I assume I could take the dubious step of trying to find a more 'friendly' MOT garage but I assume they're likely check if its a recent fail as a matter of course.
I get so angry when people start using the term "Friendly garage" as if that is a good thing.
You do understand that if they are willing to look away for you, they are also going to look away for the downright dangerous wrecks we also see on the road?
Sure, your ill fitted LED's and HID's are only temporarily blinding oncoming traffic - that wreck that could fall apart any second could actually kill the occupant.
....and relax, rant over.
You do understand that if they are willing to look away for you, they are also going to look away for the downright dangerous wrecks we also see on the road?
Sure, your ill fitted LED's and HID's are only temporarily blinding oncoming traffic - that wreck that could fall apart any second could actually kill the occupant.
....and relax, rant over.
It's pretty easy to remove an aftermarket HID kit. I've done it recently.
Most kits will have the HID bulb in the holder where the original bulb would go. Two wires will go from the HID bulb into a small black box, then from the other side of the black box will be two more wires which slide onto the old connector which would originally slide directly onto the back of the old halogen bulb.
Remove all the HID kit, fit a new halogen bulb into place and slide the old connector onto the back of the bulb.
Most kits will have the HID bulb in the holder where the original bulb would go. Two wires will go from the HID bulb into a small black box, then from the other side of the black box will be two more wires which slide onto the old connector which would originally slide directly onto the back of the old halogen bulb.
Remove all the HID kit, fit a new halogen bulb into place and slide the old connector onto the back of the bulb.
After market conversion kits were sold for upgrades but aren’t suitable for all headlamp types. Just fitting the bulb kit in the wrong lamp causes poor beam patterns. They can put out the wrong shape beam. The correct upgrade involves a complete lamp designed for HID bulbs to make sure the beam pattern is correct.
Not always cheap but they will pass an MOT as you then get a legal beam pattern.
Friendly MOT garage? Don’t be an idiot!
Not always cheap but they will pass an MOT as you then get a legal beam pattern.
Friendly MOT garage? Don’t be an idiot!
Stoofa said:
I get so angry when people start using the term "Friendly garage" as if that is a good thing.
You do understand that if they are willing to look away for you, they are also going to look away for the downright dangerous wrecks we also see on the road?
Sure, your ill fitted LED's and HID's are only temporarily blinding oncoming traffic - that wreck that could fall apart any second could actually kill the occupant.
....and relax, rant over.
No, a friendly garage would over look such pointless things as cat not being installed on a car that does naff all miles a year, not letting you get through with balljoints hanging outYou do understand that if they are willing to look away for you, they are also going to look away for the downright dangerous wrecks we also see on the road?
Sure, your ill fitted LED's and HID's are only temporarily blinding oncoming traffic - that wreck that could fall apart any second could actually kill the occupant.
....and relax, rant over.
Stoofa said:
I get so angry when people start using the term "Friendly garage" as if that is a good thing.
You do understand that if they are willing to look away for you, they are also going to look away for the downright dangerous wrecks we also see on the road?
Sure, your ill fitted LED's and HID's are only temporarily blinding oncoming traffic - that wreck that could fall apart any second could actually kill the occupant.
....and relax, rant over.
You do understand that if they are willing to look away for you, they are also going to look away for the downright dangerous wrecks we also see on the road?
Sure, your ill fitted LED's and HID's are only temporarily blinding oncoming traffic - that wreck that could fall apart any second could actually kill the occupant.
....and relax, rant over.
The fact that I can now see at night instead of having candles in jam jars I'll take maybe blinding the odd person there no worse than anyone elses factory fitted led's or hid's, the beam pattern is the same as the halogen just far brighter
& My friendy mot guy ain't letting me off anything dangerous I'll still get a fail
I'm probably wrong as I'm not familiar with the corvette but you say it's a Japanese import. Is it possible the HiDs are actually standard for the JDM version, I've certainly had a few late 90s early 00s JDM vehicles with xenon and reflector head lights.
There should be a marking on the lens, if it says DC, DCR or DR then the xenon is original.
My 2002 Mazda Bongo is JDM and that has original xenon's but reflector style lights. Mine pass the MOT because they're original.
There should be a marking on the lens, if it says DC, DCR or DR then the xenon is original.
My 2002 Mazda Bongo is JDM and that has original xenon's but reflector style lights. Mine pass the MOT because they're original.
KungFuPanda said:
It's pretty easy to remove an aftermarket HID kit. I've done it recently.
Most kits will have the HID bulb in the holder where the original bulb would go. Two wires will go from the HID bulb into a small black box, then from the other side of the black box will be two more wires which slide onto the old connector which would originally slide directly onto the back of the old halogen bulb.
Remove all the HID kit, fit a new halogen bulb into place and slide the old connector onto the back of the bulb.
This 100%. I swap out my HIDs for halagon every MOT. I leave the HID box in place, just swap to the original bulbs and wiring on a temporary basis. Most kits will have the HID bulb in the holder where the original bulb would go. Two wires will go from the HID bulb into a small black box, then from the other side of the black box will be two more wires which slide onto the old connector which would originally slide directly onto the back of the old halogen bulb.
Remove all the HID kit, fit a new halogen bulb into place and slide the old connector onto the back of the bulb.
Stoofa said:
I get so angry when people start using the term "Friendly garage" as if that is a good thing.
You do understand that if they are willing to look away for you, they are also going to look away for the downright dangerous wrecks we also see on the road?
Sure, your ill fitted LED's and HID's are only temporarily blinding oncoming traffic - that wreck that could fall apart any second could actually kill the occupant.
....and relax, rant over.
Why would they be I'll fitting? If you have good quality HID bulbs then the light source is in exactly the same place as previously and so the headlamp lens works the same way.You do understand that if they are willing to look away for you, they are also going to look away for the downright dangerous wrecks we also see on the road?
Sure, your ill fitted LED's and HID's are only temporarily blinding oncoming traffic - that wreck that could fall apart any second could actually kill the occupant.
....and relax, rant over.
Modern car lights are very bright and often blinding (from new). I found that I had to upgrade to HID in my older car as otherwise the contrast between my lights and modern lights is too great to drive safely.
Thanks all for the feedback. I've got in touch with a local specialist I've used before and the car is going to him on Monday to have halogens switched over. I'm sure it's an easy job but I don't have the tools, time or talent.
His immediate response was "get a better MOT tester" (his words, not mine) and went as far as kindly recommending such an establishment. I would have zero concerns that had I taken his advice I would be putting a death trap on the road. Indeed I took my Esprit out the other night with its halogens which served as reminder how poor they are. The family wagon (s-max) has auto-dipping headlights which I disabled after the first time I drove it in the dark as they're rubbish and either dont dip or dip about 10 seconds too late. Both those and the Esprit halogens probably pose more risk to myself and other drivers than the C5's HIDs but given I dont drive the Esprit or C5 much in the dark I'd rather have the halogens in and not have the stress when I take it for the next MOT.
To cover some other points raised the HIDs are definitely aftermarket and before this week I've not had any advisories or comments on them or the beam pattern etc etc in my 5 years of ownership. I cant fault the MOT tester, he's doing his job and doing it thoroughly and it's not on him to wave it through because it's not that bad, or because the car only does 250 miles a year. That said, I've had the Esprit for 15 years and only when I took it to this same garage for the first time this summer did I pick up a fail for an illegal number plate, the same number plate has been on the car for all of those 15 years so I guess I had be warned.
His immediate response was "get a better MOT tester" (his words, not mine) and went as far as kindly recommending such an establishment. I would have zero concerns that had I taken his advice I would be putting a death trap on the road. Indeed I took my Esprit out the other night with its halogens which served as reminder how poor they are. The family wagon (s-max) has auto-dipping headlights which I disabled after the first time I drove it in the dark as they're rubbish and either dont dip or dip about 10 seconds too late. Both those and the Esprit halogens probably pose more risk to myself and other drivers than the C5's HIDs but given I dont drive the Esprit or C5 much in the dark I'd rather have the halogens in and not have the stress when I take it for the next MOT.
To cover some other points raised the HIDs are definitely aftermarket and before this week I've not had any advisories or comments on them or the beam pattern etc etc in my 5 years of ownership. I cant fault the MOT tester, he's doing his job and doing it thoroughly and it's not on him to wave it through because it's not that bad, or because the car only does 250 miles a year. That said, I've had the Esprit for 15 years and only when I took it to this same garage for the first time this summer did I pick up a fail for an illegal number plate, the same number plate has been on the car for all of those 15 years so I guess I had be warned.
[quote=pits]
No, a friendly garage would over look such pointless things as cat not being installed on a car that does naff all miles a year, not letting you get through with balljoints hanging out
[/quote)
This^
A 'friendly ' mot establishment would overlook extremely minor details like number plate bsau number, tatty outer bodywork ect. No mot place who wants to keep their licence let's dangerous suspension components ect through. Why would anyone want their car passed with dangerous defects anyway...
No, a friendly garage would over look such pointless things as cat not being installed on a car that does naff all miles a year, not letting you get through with balljoints hanging out
[/quote)
This^
A 'friendly ' mot establishment would overlook extremely minor details like number plate bsau number, tatty outer bodywork ect. No mot place who wants to keep their licence let's dangerous suspension components ect through. Why would anyone want their car passed with dangerous defects anyway...
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