Ducati Monster Forum

The headlights on my Accord aren't that great, even with the bulb upgrade I did.

I ran across these:

Link (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-SETS-HID-03-07-HONDA-ACCORD-HALO-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-/360298045175?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AHonda|Model%3AAccord|Year%3A2004&hash=item53e36fdef7)

Link (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/03-07-HONDA-ACCORD-HALO-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-LED-STRIPE-/290470122623?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AHonda|Model%3AAccord|Year%3A2004&hash=item43a15e547f)

Link (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/03-07-HONDA-ACCORD-HALO-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-JDM-BLACK-/230529224328?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3AHonda|Model%3AAccord|Year%3A2004&hash=item35ac9cce88)

The car's black and any of these would look pretty cool, but I'm not gonna buy garbage.

What's the difference between HID - projector - xenon and all that stuff?

Don't true HID setups cost a lot more than these do?

These things are all over ebay for just about any vehicle made in the last 10 years.

Im interested, but wary.

fyi..... when working at delerships in the service dept..... we saw lots of fried headlight wiring because of people switching out headlights.

That was another thing I was wondering about

a) extra heat

b) current draw

[thumbsup]   can't believe Joel actually has something constructive and relative to add to the conversation and that I agree with him. Wtf?

I fried the headlight multi-stalk switch in my '08 Ford Falcon (yes 2000 and 8  :P) in an ultimately temporary attempt to improve the shite stock lighting.  All I did was fit 'em blue looking aftermarket bulbs... same wattage...  Worked great.  Big improvement.  Right up until I couldnt turn em on at all.  The Ford tech ripped em out and said polite words to me which really meant "dont try that again, Dick Head". 

But as I'm a slow learner..... I'd like to know more about HIDs too....

 [popcorn]

same wattage maybe...but not the same resistance...hence why these headlight wiring harness or pigtails are frying when people do things like this...some people delay the inevitable with this process by packing the connector full of dielectric grease...but ulimately it will still cook...

on HID's and conversion...some of the various seemingly inexpensive kits out there have results that may be marginally better than stock, but that is because they are using all the energy of the bulb(which is more lumens, generally speaking, than your stock halogens) but is doing so without the benefit of the proper refraction...nowadays the manufacturers are very good at designing these heavily polyagonal reflector/refractors in the headlight to spread the beam in a very specific way....they heavily account for the spacing, not only of the bulb, but for the placement in the bulb of the filiment for to get the maximum effect...alot of the inserted HID kits that are just a bulb and ballast and relay with wiring, do not exactly account for this and you may not get the best effect...some cars might be more amenable to the modification or with headlight adjustment get closer to the objective, but unless you are doing the reflector to accompany the bulb, I think it is somewhat of a lost modification for your time...this is before even looking at which range of gas discharge rated bulb even comes into the picture...then things can get really funky when you think about 4000, 6000, 8000, or which suits your wants best and your driving conditions...

^^ [clap]

Holy crap!

What do you think I should do to get more output?

depends on the year/make/model as to what advice I would/could offer...

every so often a blind squirrel finds a nut..... I be that nut  8)

2004 Accord EX-L v6/6spd

Just put a couple of 1.21 jigwatt bulbs in there and be happy. ;D

Wire in a couple of relays to get full power to your headlights.  You'd be amazed at the voltage drop you'll get through the factory harness.

This will 'splain everything:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html (http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html)

Unless your headlights now are a projector beam style, I would not mess around with the drop-in HID kits.

and I assume you have already inspected and tried making sure the lenses are clear and done something like a headlight wet sanding and buffing restoration kind of thing right?...and put in just regular new bulbs, since the tungsten filiments do have a lifespan where as they burn do naturally get somewhat dimmer over time...

just checking on the obvious 1st...

The lenses are good. One is as clear as new, the other is starting to haze a little in one spot but it's not bad.

The bulbs are factory replacements I put in maybe four months ago.

why is this?

A projector beam headlight will focus the light output as well as give it a defined cut-off so as not to blind oncoming traffic.  With a reflector beam light, you'll just be shooting ultra-bright light forward in all directions; it's annoying and unsafe for other people on the road.

I guess there are HID kits now that are made for reflector headlights; the bulbs have a black collar on them that is supposed to curtail some of the light output, but I have no FHE.

Seriously, consider wiring in relays; I guarantee that you'll be pleased with the result.  An added benefit is that you can run a hotter standard bulb since you're taking all the load away from the stock harness/switch.

Buy an old '60s car with non-halogen sealed beams. Then you'll have something to whine about.

[cheeky]

to further expand on Staggerlee in a short direct exampled kind of way

(http://www.fd3s.net/lights/hella1.jpg)

left side is a projector style light...right side is a reflector beam headlight...

reflector beams use the "reflection" of a mirror or mirrors to redirect the light out to the roadway/surface/etc...

projector beams use a honed glass to more or less shoot the beam out in a specific spread pattern...this is done alot moreso with HID lights due to the number of lumens/output of the gas discharge bulbs...

Screw HIDs.  Get LED headlamps.  Less heat, last longer, use less energy.

Of course, I don't believe that they are as readily available yet. 

Truth.

Took the 356 out for a bit tonight, since I finally got the brake lights working again. With brights going it's almost like non-bright headlights on something made in the past twenty years... :P

????      [popcorn]

(http://www.worthpoint.com/pmimages/images1/1/1007/31/1_55b3adcadd871bea581ded4bdabe7cf9.jpg)

like this you mean? ;D

hardy har...

Not quite that bad. More like "916 headlights on a car" bad.

So... how do you know if you're getting the projector vs the reflectors? It looked like the ebay listings that ML posted were the projector ones. Theoretically since it's a whole headlight unit and not just a new bulb they could potentially have the correct geometry as you were talking about, yes? So then the last problem is frying the harness? How do you handle that?

I take it that the same concepts apply to motorcycles and just getting an HID bulb and dropping it into your stock bucket, yes?

Just replace you headlight lenses with some 5th order Fresnel lenses.  That should do the trick ~

JM

They'd look sweet hanging off the front of my car [laugh]

also, +1 to erk's post

So yeah, all three of the housings that the OP linked to appear to be projector beam headlights.  If you're going to to convert to HID's those would be what you'd want.  If you're not sure what you've got, compare it to the pics that zooom posted; the projector beam is on the left. 

If you're concerned with frying your headlight harness, just wire in a load reduction relay per the diagram I posted earlier.

And yes, the same concepts will apply to your motorcycle headlight as well.

 

My car does not have projectors in it now.

How would I know if the lights I linked to would cook the oem harness?

If they are equal or less wattage the answer is no, it will not cook the harness.  A "projector" housing does not solve the beam problem.  Every lens/reflector is designed for a bulb of a particular focal length and filament.  HIDs have a different focal length and the arc For all practical purposes) runs vertical instead of horizontal.

Have you considered auxiliary lighting?  Fogs for side coverage and driving for distance.

Of the three, only the first one looks like it includes HID's.  The other two look like they just include standard halogen bulbs, if at all.  There's no reason you couldn't add a drop in HID kit to them though.

HID's only draw about 35 watts (less than most halogen bulbs); they need 20K plus volts to light off, but as long as you can get 12V to the ballasts, they'll take care of the rest.  In all likelihood, you'll have no issues with the factory harness.

I'm running aftermarket HID's in both my cars and I didn't do anything more than wire them into the factory harness; they've been going strong for 6 years with no problems.  Like I said though, if you're worried about letting the smoke out of your factory harness or switch, wiring in a couple load reduction relays is an easy way to eliminate the possibility.  

You mentioned you already did a bulb upgrade; what did that entail?

Car has factory fog lights.

They help, but my wife's CRV destroys my car as far as light output goes.