HID installation question

[LPSISRL]

My HID kit came in. I purchased this one off of Amazon.



After looking at the installation instructions, a couple questions came up in my mind based on what I've read in the forum. First, this is the correct kit, right? Single beam, etc.

Some in the forum have mentioned connecting their HIDs directly to the battery. This kit makes no mention of needing to do that or provides any way to it. You simply connect the existing headlight connector to the ballast and then the ballast to the HID bulb. There a couple other wires to connect as well but they've basically made it idiot proof. (we'll see about that... )

Some have mentioned a relay kit. From the directions, it sounds like you need a relay kit if you have dual filament lights.

We have DRLs but that seems to be a separate from the low beams. The low beams go on when 12 volts is sent to the connector. My logic says that these HIDs will work just fine as they will light when 12 volts is sent to the connector which will power the ballast which will then turn the HID bulbs on. Am I missing something?

So before I drill holes in assembly covers and such, can anyone enlighten me if I still need something additional?

Thanks for the help. Everyone in this forum is great!

[KuroNekko]

The kit should include everything you need for the HID installation for that particular kit.

All the talk you heard about relays that connect to the battery pertain to a different type if HID kit, specifically the Morimoto HID kit from TRS. This is the kit I have so you probably read about it from my posts.

The Kensun kit does not include a relay from what I understand. It has the more traditional design of just the HID bulbs, the ballasts, and the wiring (may have an external in-line ignitor module) that connect to the OE headlight's H7 harness. The headlight's H7 harness connects to the H7 harness of the ballasts. The ballasts then connect to the HID bulbs. The drilling of the dust caps come into play because the HID ballasts may not fit inside the headlight. Even if they do, they likely won't be secured from moving around. It's a good idea to drill the caps and mount them externally. The bulb wiring should come with dust seals for this purpose.

As for the dual filament/single beam issue: Yes, the kit should come with two separate bulbs that only function for the single beam purpose of whatever light you put them in. I am assuming you got these for the low beams in the projectors. These bulbs will only serve this purpose because the DRL and high beams are an entirely separate set of H7 bulbs. The only thing they have in common is that both the low and high beams use H7 bulbs. However, these are separate sets. Hence, after this installation, you will still have halogen DRL and high beams. This is also the reason why my DRL/high beams are LEDs while my low beams are HID. They are separate sets of H7 bulbs.

As for installation, remember to disconnect your battery prior to installation. The installation process should be relatively easy and you'll find yourself spending more time on the bumper removal and deciding on a place to mount the ballasts than the actual kit installation. I recommend getting some zip ties to tidy up the excess wiring and 3M double-sided mounting tape for the ballasts if you mount them to the underside of the headlight. Some kits like the Morimoto come with ballast mounting brackets so you can bolt them onto the car instead of using adhesives or zip ties.

The reason why I went with the more expensive Morimotos with the relay was for quality and but also for the relay which boosts reliability. The relay prevents flickering which is occasionally seen with HID kits. This is a result of low or inconsistent voltage to the ballasts. The relay helps to prevent that by using the battery to directly power the bulbs instead of just the headlight harnesses. Furthermore, capacitors also help stabilize the voltage to the bulbs. That being said, you may be just fine without these. However, for me, I have both the battery harness and the capacitors to maximize reliability and performance especially because I have other 12V accessories constantly running like a dual-USB phone charger and dash camera.

[LPSISRL]

Thanks, Kuro. It looks like I have everything I need but I didn't want to be in middle of it and then find out I need something else. As I said, I'm willing to invest $40 and if the quality is not up to par, spend more on a kit like yours. This kit did get mostly good reviews.

[KuroNekko]

Thanks, Kuro. It looks like I have everything I need but I didn't want to be in middle of it and then find out I need something else. As I said, I'm willing to invest $40 and if the quality is not up to par, spend more on a kit like yours. This kit did get mostly good reviews.

I'm sure the kit will work out well. I previously had a kit similar to the Kensun in set-up and it worked decently in my prior car. I just wanted to note that ever since the dash camera installation in the Kizashi, I noticed HID flickering at idle. The capacitors then cured it.

Good luck with the installation and let us know how it goes.

[LPSISRL]

Installation went pretty well today. Since once you have the bumper off the headlight assemblies come out so easy, I figured I'd just pull them out and work on them in my garage. I'm glad I did. It allowed me to mount the ballast on the bottom side of the headlight. Very nice. I was a little apprehensive about drilling holes in dust caps but no issues there. The instructions say to use a 1" hole cutter. Thought I had one but then couldn't find it. I only had 1-1/4. Too big. I did not want to run out and get one so I drilled a pilot hole and then used a 1" spade bit. I stopped before it went all the way through but far enough so I could see where it would. This allowed me to take a hacksaw and and make vertical cuts on the things you grab on to to twist the cover off. Not sure what to call them! Once the cuts were made, I finished with the spade bit. I cleaned up the holes with a box cutter so there were no jagged edges. I think the most challenging thing was actually mounting the lamps with the factory wire clips. When you put a bulb in, the wire clip flips over the bulb and you lock it down. Can't do that when there's wires coming out of the bulb! I had to disconnect part of the wire clip and then figure out how manipulate things around so that the new bulb was held in place like the H7s. Then I found a nice, flat recessed area on the bottom side of the light assembly. Perfect place to mount the ballast. So I used some 3M black double-sided foam tape to hold it in place. My dad actually worked for 3M for 45 years in research so he has a lot of that stuff around. He has the patent on the material for the space shuttle tile that keeps it from burning up on reentry. He also developed the coating on the rocket nozzles for sidewinder missiles so that they don't burn through. So when someone says to him, "it's not rocket science" he takes it a little differently that most. Anyway, I digress. After buttoning everything back up, it all worked perfectly. My only regret is that now my headlights are 6000K and my lower driving lights are still 4300K. One looks very bright whitish blue and the other definitely more yellow. I'm not sure if I want to make the effort to change the lower bulbs so that they match better. I'm still puzzled as to why I've never had to replace any of my H7s except for the driver's side at least 5 times and the passenger side twice. The stock lights suit me fine as far as brightness and how far down the road they go, but I'm a bit tired of them burning out so frequently. It took me about 2 hours total. The second one only about a quarter as long as the first.



You can see how nice the ballast fits on the bottom of the headlight assy. It was so easy to take out, in my opinion, it's the only way to go.



This is the headlight mounted. You can see how nice the ballast fits. I did cable tie that other smaller box to the wire seen right next to it. The passenger side was a bit more crowded with the washer bottle there so I could not attach it to anything.

UPDATE: My left front turn signal is not working. Don't know if it's that bulb or something else. Also, I didn't know that the HIDs actually ignite with a bright flash like from a camera before the continuous burning. Interesting.

[KuroNekko]

Nice. Looks like a clean installation. I also like mounting ballasts or drivers under the headlight. My ballasts came with mounts so I mounted them to the frame with bolts, but my LEDs have their drivers mounted like your ballasts with 3M tape. That stuff is excellent and I use them for my blind-spot mirrors too and never had an issue with them. They are impervious to moisture and heat, it seems.

Upload a picture of the car with the new HIDs and also a road shot at night. Let us know what you think of the modification. Also, why did you go with 6000K if you had other bulbs which were 4300K? 4300K is the Kelvin color temp for most OE HID systems and is considered an optimal Kelvin color temperature for road illumination. 6000K has the appeal of looking like a cooler white with a tinge of blue. Any higher and then the blue becomes more noticeable. Over 8000K are those stupid blue headlights that are actually darker in road illumination.
I personally like 5000K for the pure white output but these are harder to find.

[LPSISRL]

The truth as to why I got the 6000K was plain old ignorance. I thought the 6000K would be a match to what I had and was wrong. Since they are only $40, I simply may get another kit wth the 4300K. I'll have spare ballasts if any of the ones I have go bad. That actually could come in handy if the kits are no longer available in a couple years. Then I'd have spare parts. To tell you the truth, when I had it out last night (getting ice cream for the wife) I wasn't rally jazzed on the blue-ish tint to lights. The question is whether I'll get used to them or will they always bug me a bit. If they do, I'll have to get another kit.

[KuroNekko]

The truth as to why I got the 6000K was plain old ignorance. I thought the 6000K would be a match to what I had and was wrong. Since they are only $40, I simply may get another kit wth the 4300K. I'll have spare ballasts if any of the ones I have go bad. That actually could come in handy if the kits are no longer available in a couple years. Then I'd have spare parts. To tell you the truth, when I had it out last night (getting ice cream for the wire) I wasn't rally jazzed on the blue-ish tint to lights. The question is whether I'll get used to them or will they always bug me a bit. If they do, I'll have to get another kit.

I see. Well, here's a tip that may save you some money: The ballasts have nothing to do with output color (unless you go up in wattage). This means that you only have to replace the bulbs spec'ed to the desirable color. Most HID kits actually use the same bulb connectors so you don't have to necessarily get Kensun bulbs. For example, I got Morimoto bulbs for my fog lights despite them running on some generic brand ballasts. I got them because the original bulbs weren't that great and didn't match each other too well in color. The Morimoto bulbs are much better and brighter and I only paid for the bulbs themselves.

I suggest trying to find just replacement bulbs. A quick search showed that they are about $20 to $25 a pair for Kensun bulbs. Even Morimotos go for about $40 to $50 for a pair, allowing you to upgrade just the bulbs to something better if desired. By just replacing the bulbs, you can pay less but still have a back-up set of HID bulbs.

[LPSISRL]

Found out that my turn signal failure had nothing to do with the HID install itself. However, when I had the light assembly out, I took the turn signal bulb out just 'cuz I'm curious. The 12v and ground are picked up by the bulb holder from the socket and there are no wires. Checked for 12 volts and ground on the socket and they were there. However, when the bulb holder was plugged in, it didn't work. I swapped it for the right bulb holder and that didn't work either but the left bulb worked on the right side. Everything pointed to the socket on the light assembly. The only thing I could think of was that the connection for either the ground or 12 volts was not making contact but there was no way to test this. So the only thing I could think of to do was to bend the connections up ever so slightly. After making this slight bend, it works again.

[LPSISRL]

The truth as to why I got the 6000K was plain old ignorance. I thought the 6000K would be a match to what I had and was wrong. Since they are only $40, I simply may get another kit wth the 4300K. I'll have spare ballasts if any of the ones I have go bad. That actually could come in handy if the kits are no longer available in a couple years. Then I'd have spare parts. To tell you the truth, when I had it out last night (getting ice cream for the wire) I wasn't rally jazzed on the blue-ish tint to lights. The question is whether I'll get used to them or will they always bug me a bit. If they do, I'll have to get another kit.

I see. Well, here's a tip that may save you some money: The ballasts have nothing to do with output color (unless you go up in wattage). This means that you only have to replace the bulbs spec'ed to the desirable color. Most HID kits actually use the same bulb connectors so you don't have to necessarily get Kensun bulbs. For example, I got Morimoto bulbs for my fog lights despite them running on some generic brand ballasts. I got them because the original bulbs weren't that great and didn't match each other too well in color. The Morimoto bulbs are much better and brighter and I only paid for the bulbs themselves.

I suggest trying to find just replacement bulbs. A quick search showed that they are about $20 to $25 a pair for Kensun bulbs. Even Morimotos go for about $40 to $50 for a pair, allowing you to upgrade just the bulbs to something better if desired. By just replacing the bulbs, you can pay less but still have a back-up set of HID bulbs.

I was going to purchase another kit with 4300K bulbs, use only the bulbs from it and then return my "original" kit for a refund. Come to find out for some reason, the 6000K kits are $39.95 and all the others are $59.95. I guess if the new kit is going to cost $20 bucks more, I might just as well purchase the 4300K bulbs and I'll just have a set of extra bulbs. They are $19.95 so it will be exatly the same outlay as if I had purchased the 4300K to start with. I'll just had an extra set of bulbs. Not that I can really do anything with them as the color temps won't match...