Results of new hid bulbs install

[amilliems6]

Okay guys.... I'm having somewhat of a major light output and cutoff issue with my new hid bulbs that i installed today.

Here's the story.

About a year and half ago, i decided to change out my stock OEM hid bulbs to a different color (10,000k). Here are some pics of how they turned out.

A year flew by with no problem and about 4 months ago, both of my hid bulbs began to flicker so I swapped the old OEM bulbs back in while i get new ones.

Here's where the problem began.

So after i installed my stock again, i noticed that both the light output and light cutoff were really bad. I figured, well maybe I'm not used to the stock ones which is making me think that it looks bad or i could have damaged them when i first replaced them.

Anyways...

So finally months later, i bought new 10,000k hid bulbs which i installed today. Driving home from work tonight, i noticed the exact same problem with the new ones. I haven't had the time to take any pictures tonight but i will update this thread tomorrow with new pictures. In the mean time, i will try my best to describe my problem.

First of all......
The light output is really terrible... Meaning my lights barley reach 20ft in front of my car. I tried to adjust it up but it barley even makes a difference. There is more light on the side then there is in front of my car.

Second.....
The cutoff is also terrible. It basically looks like a retarded squiggly line, actually it doesn't even look like a line.

So now I'm trying to figure out if either the bulbs that i bought are cheap which is what's causing the bad light output?

OR

Maybe i ****** up during install and didn't putting them in correctly....but i don't think that could be it since they were perfectly fine during the first install.

I don't even know what to think anymore which is why i need some of peoples opinions on my issue. My bad for the long thread.

So what do you guys think??



******************************UPDATED***************************

Here's a crappy cell phone pic from last night. As you can see, its all over the place. I will post better quality pics tonight

 

[Sinister_MS6]

Seems like i have the same problem. I have that squiggly line also! Wonder what's up with that(uhm)

 

[njaremka]

did you get pics of the "crappy" light output of the newer bulbs? that might help diagnose.

my first inclination is that you got some cheap aftermarket bulbs. that, and 10,000k is SUPER blue, and i cant imagine the output would be good regardless.

 

[amilliems6]

did you get pics of the "crappy" light output of the newer bulbs? that might help diagnose.

my first inclination is that you got some cheap aftermarket bulbs. that, and 10,000k is SUPER blue, and i cant imagine the output would be good regardless.

right.

but did you see the pictures? how my cutoff is near perfect and how far my light output goes with my old 10,000k lights. I'm not talking about visibility, I'm talking about the light output.

Not sure if you read correctly but this isnt my first experience with 10,000k lights.

 

[njaremka]

right.

but did you see the pictures? how my cutoff is near perfect and how far my light output goes with my old 10,000k lights. I'm not talking about visibility, I'm talking about the light output.

Not sure if you read correctly but this isnt my first experience with 10,000k lights.

yeah, but without a comparison with the new bulbs, i dont think anyone will be able to give you a satisfactory solution. my two solutions are (1) cheap bulbs or (2) your ballasts are going bad.

 

[amilliems6]

yeah, but without a comparison with the new bulbs, i dont think anyone will be able to give you a satisfactory solution. my two solutions are (1) cheap bulbs or (2) your ballasts are going bad.

the ballast could be a possibility and pictures will be posted later on tonight when it gets dark

 

[amilliems6]

updated with one picture

 

[njaremka]

that looks like the bulb is not seated correctly in the projector. i would go back in there, and double check that the slots on the bulb match exactly with the tabs on the projector.

 

[batou079]

10k light output will dim overall output to begin with.

HID cut-off is mostly due to projector lenses. The stock lenses have pretty bad cutoff to begin with and has two pronounced bumps/high points on each side as well as uneven level.

Your output and lighting spread looks more like a bulb or ballast specific problem.
like njaremka said, check to make sure the bulb is seated correctly in the housing.
If anything the ballast could be dying already... i havent found very many aftermarket HID kids to be necessarily "reliable" yet. Everything from DDM to Ebay brand kits have reports of both 2+ year lasting, to lasting barely a few months.

Lastly, dont expect your 10k HID output to EVER give you good visibility OR output.
that is purely for looks.

 

[amilliems6]

anyways

i re installed the lights last night and its still the same thing.

so only 2 options left, cheap bulbs or bad ballast.

 

[BoostedSpd6]

hmm i changed mine out for some 6000k's and they have the same cutoff as stock and work just fine.. as mentioned before its most likely just a bad set of bulbs which can happen..

 

[amilliems6]

hmm i changed mine out for some 6000k's and they have the same cutoff as stock and work just fine.. as mentioned before its most likely just a bad set of bulbs which can happen..

yea im going to purchase a new set of bulbs and if that doesnt work then its most likely the ballast which i have never came across anyone whos had a problem with their oem ballast.

The first 10k bulbs that i purchased worked really well and those is spent around $40 on... these new ones i purchased from ebay for like $20 which back fired now since they work like s***. Hopefully its the bulbs

i dont know if you guys have any other ideas or opinions then post em.



I also wanted to let the people that are going to replace their headlights in the future know that from personal experience, taking off the front bumper doesnt make much of a difference.

i have installed my lights all 4 times through my wheel well by just taking off couple of small clips and turning the tire in. Last night i did it without the bumper and like i said, there isnt really a big difference.

 

[obylium]

Do a projector retrofit and call it a day or night... that's my plan whenever funds roll into my bank account.

As for the picture, something is definitely not right. I am willing to bet its the bulb since the ballast isn't likely to cause something like this. Your original problem of flickering sounds more ballast related then this. It could also be alignment related.. maybe you hit something upon install and screwed up the alignment of the lights. Either way, I don't think my stock hids look that bad.

 

[amilliems6]

Do a projector retrofit and call it a day or night... that's my plan whenever funds roll into my bank account.

As for the picture, something is definitely not right. I am willing to bet its the bulb since the ballast isn't likely to cause something like this. Your original problem of flickering sounds more ballast related then this. It could also be alignment related.. maybe you hit something upon install and screwed up the alignment of the lights. Either way, I don't think my stock hids look that bad.

yes ive been wanting to do a projector retrofit but i dont have the experience to do it nor anyone near me that does.

and my original problem with flickering was the bulbs not the ballast.

ive went through the whole alignment process, re installed them twice now... still the same issue

 

[obylium]

yes ive been wanting to do a projector retrofit but i dont have the experience to do it nor anyone near me that does.

and my original problem with flickering was the bulbs not the ballast.

ive went through the whole alignment process, re installed them twice now... still the same issue

Experience... what is that? (couch)


I don't have experience either but i'm doing it anyway. Looking back at the how to thread it really doesn't seem that hard. Honestly I think the aiming them will be the most difficult step.

Regardless, I hope your problem is the bulbs then otherwise I am at a loss of words.

 

[dougefresh_]

Could there possibly be a loose connection somewhere, not where the bulbs go in, but with the wire assemblely in there? It could be a bad ground. I forgot to tighten the neg all the way a couple weeks back after doing a bunch of crap... everything worked fine except my boost control solenoid, which I checked, and was getting 12V with NP. I then saw the neg wasn't tightened, so I tightened it, and the ebcs fired right up. I thought it was so strange that I checked the wiring to the ebcs w/ a multimeter, and it was fine, but my slightly loose neg battery terminal was causing some weird s***, despite it "getting 12V." Not saying it's your battery, but a loose ground somewhere around where you've been poking. I'm no electrical guy, but just a thought...

 

[Tungsten6]

why would you do a projector retrofit on a car that has good projectors in them??? just get a clear lens and call it a day.

oh and wtf 10k's??? why?