LED headlights vs. HID headlights

[Gladiator]

Are there any vendors on here who sell either LED or HID headlamps? My car currently has HIDs, but my passenger side headlight sometimes doesn't come on - and therefore I have to sit in a parking lot or my driveway turning my headlights on/off until both come on. The ballasts are filthy, the connections have grime all over them, no clue what the previous owner was doing - but I've tried cleaning everything as best I can, however this problem still arises.

So - new headlights for me! There's a company called Retro-Solutions that I've used before on my truck, and I've been pleased with the headlights; I bought HIDs for the truck. I'm thinking about trying LEDs for the car. What do you guys think? Any experience?

Here's what I'm looking at...
http://retro-solutions.net/product-info.php?LED_Head_Lamps-pid1210.html

H4/9003/HB2 is what I should be getting, correct? Thanks gents!

 

[HeX]

In regards to your intermittently functioning lamp, how have you tried to clean the ballast connections and have you tried using dielectric grease?

I dont know much about the new LED headlight bulbs except that theyre really pricey so far. I would think it's best to exhaust your efforts on the current HIDs to make sure that one works properly. It sounds like its either a connection issue or a ballast issue.

 

[mc360]

The issue with pnp hid kits is either of cheap quality or bad grounds, I used to have a dd tuning hid kit in stock headlight housings and always had one headlight not turning on, I now have morimoto d2s hid kit with morimoto mini d2s projectors and don't have the issue anymore so check your grounds.

Led vs hid - I would go with hid, leds are coming a l9ng way but are not yet ready to compete with hids, I had some really good guilty led h4 hi/low bulbs from eBay and they were decent but there just was not much difference in light output with the highs on vs the lows. Maybe a led within a projector housing would be nice but I can't say for sure.

 

[Gladiator]

In regards to your intermittently functioning lamp, how have you tried to clean the ballast connections and have you tried using dielectric grease?

I dont know much about the new LED headlight bulbs except that theyre really pricey so far. I would think it's best to exhaust your efforts on the current HIDs to make sure that one works properly. It sounds like its either a connection issue or a ballast issue.

I've cleaned the ballast connections by soaking them in vinegar and scrubbing any grime off that I can see. The grounds are good, and all the wiring seems fine. Connections are solid. I believe it's either a bulb issue or the ballast itself. The only reason I was really looking at the LEDs was that the hi-beams are instantaneous, unlike HID bulbs having to warm up. LEDs are on, instantly.

The issue with pnp hid kits is either of cheap quality or bad grounds, I used to have a dd tuning hid kit in stock headlight housings and always had one headlight not turning on, I now have morimoto d2s hid kit with morimoto mini d2s projectors and don't have the issue anymore so check your grounds.

Led vs hid - I would go with hid, leds are coming a l9ng way but are not yet ready to compete with hids, I had some really good guilty led h4 hi/low bulbs from eBay and they were decent but there just was not much difference in light output with the highs on vs the lows. Maybe a led within a projector housing would be nice but I can't say for sure.

Thank you, I'm going to look into the Morimoto d2s kit.

 

[mc360]

in a civic you only have one bulb which means on a hi/low kit they have a magnet that pulls the bulb in to switch to brights, this does not require the bulbs to "warm up" like a car with 2 bulbs per headlight. definitely get a nicer kit because sometimes the cheap quality causes your issues, also do it right and get a projector retrofit. the led "instant on" doesnt help at all, i owned a set that was really good quality but the high beam led is on top and when turned on you could barely tell the difference between high and low beams. with a proper hid projector and bulb your hid is always on full capacity (not half capacity like those leds with high on top and low beam on bottom) and the projector has a shield that flips down for low beams to cut out the upper light and give you that nice flat cutoff line.

 

[dancam]

The issue with the cheaper hid kits with hi/low in one bulb is that they either dont work with daytime running lights or they bounce around like mad when they are off and you go over any bump and destroy themselves.


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[mc360]

I never had an issue with the hi/low mechanism, not sure what problems you would have with Drl though?

 

[dancam]

I never had an issue with the hi/low mechanism, not sure what problems you would have with Drl though?

Yes, i had drl but i had to disable them because the ballasts cannot handle the low voltage and the lights would flicker real bad between hi/low and some solenoid would buzz loudly. If you wonder what happens to a bulb when you drive with the lights off take one in your hand and shake it real hard.


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