• Sign Up! To view all forums and unlock additional cool features

    Welcome to the #1 Ford Fiesta Forum and Ford Fiesta community dedicated to Ford Fiesta owners and enthusiasts. Register for an account, it's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the Ford Fiesta Forum today!


LED headlights

Messages
148
Likes
138
City
St Louis
State
MO
Country
United States
What I Drive
'14 SE Sedan
#1
I have HID low beams but want the spread LED gives with my brights. Is it a simple plug and play or more to it than that?
 

scotman

Well-Liked Member
Premium Account
Messages
1,813
Likes
1,508
City
Grass Lake
State
MI
Country
United States
What I Drive
2011 Fiesta SE hbk Blue
#5
It seems to be a tremendous amount of work. Especially when it comes to aiming or "synchronizing" the individual LEDs. A former colleague did a conversion on his 2004 focus after his HID conversion failed for the third time. It's certainly way less voltage than the HID!
I don't think that it's really needed if we can just add a couple of the very affordable aftermarket LED driving lamps that are readily available today.
My friend did fix me up with his recommendation for LED strobes for my Fiesta Jolly project. Those have made it easier for me to get the car compliant to LSV conspicuity regulations for gated communities!
I installed some new Sylvania Brite star headlight bulbs and that has been a big improvement. I would be onboard for a LED headlamp upgrade if i could just purchase the entire capsules and then "plug and play". 20210124_155859.jpg
 
Last edited:

econoboxrocks

Well-Liked Member
Premium Account
Messages
755
Likes
606
City
Elkhart
State
IN
Country
United States
What I Drive
'17 ST
#6
The lights pictured just go where the regular low beams go. The end caps allow the fans to fit. The driver's side cap can remain stock. I haven't done the high beams, and I don't really know what LEDs to use for that.
 

econoboxrocks

Well-Liked Member
Premium Account
Messages
755
Likes
606
City
Elkhart
State
IN
Country
United States
What I Drive
'17 ST
OP
Rowdy09
Messages
148
Likes
138
City
St Louis
State
MO
Country
United States
What I Drive
'14 SE Sedan

LionsTooth

Well-Liked Member
Premium Account
Messages
735
Likes
955
City
Northern
State
CA
Country
United States
What I Drive
2015 Fiesta SE HB Magnetic
#10
Another option is 100w halogens. H1 & H11. This will be my route going forward. Plug & play.
 
Messages
39
Likes
30
City
Gt
State
Non-US
Country
Guatemala
What I Drive
2014 ford fiesta
#13
Do you have first-hand experience with that happening?
in a '97 ford ranger, I installed a 75 watt bulbs, they were too hot to the touch after 1 hour, the connector behind was cracked and 1 wire burned... so I had to reinstall the old ones
 

Handy Andy

Well-Liked Member
Premium Account
Messages
1,455
Likes
1,140
City
Grand Rapids
State
MI
Country
United States
What I Drive
2018 Ford Fiesta SE HB
#14
Another factor of the high-heat - even if only LED, the fans provide Ventilation - which is necessary - not for just heat, but when the LED gets up to operation temperature - the LED itself can emit a "stench" of hot epoxy plastic from being hot. The color they emit does take it's toll on the Epoxy used to seal it from the environment.

Same effects for running DUAL - Element High/Low beam single lamp Filament assembly. On vehicles, unless the Lamp holder assembly is thick gauge metal - they can't run dual filament on at once - it heats up the base to a point it will melt. It's why some vehicles use 9003 metal base versus the H9004 - the Plastic connector - and why many vehicles can only run so many watts of light thru their systems based upon the tungsten (Filament) 45 or 65 watts. The amps running thru the system can heat up the connector to a point where it melts.

The heat from the bulb can easily smoke stain the inside of a headlight housing rendering it's ability to offer a focused beam - totally useless due to the excessive heat smoking the inside of the lens and chrome plated plastic - unless it has a way to vent - that bulb will fog the inside of the housing making the headlamp less and less effective in producing a beam, more like a SoftWhite Light bulb of general illumination. It's worse in a Lexan plastic housing than the older Headlamp glass they used to operate with.

LED spectrum to give you this wattage level of brightness (Kelvin in Color temperature) is in the high energy Blue, Indigo and UV, which other coatings used as part of the reflector/sand grain housing - (Cathode end) are placed in the same "cup" they absorb then re-emit light in Red and Green to form Amber - which combines with the Blue main color and looks more Cyan. That is the phosphor - like RGB - in older TV's and currently in CFL's (that phosphor coating) - only nowadays they also use (additional) an Amber coating to help with full - color rendering - but that conversion comes at a price of heat lost - it has to go somewhere.

1612043738250.png
 
Messages
1
Likes
1
City
phenix
State
AL
Country
United Kingdom
What I Drive
bmw
#15
As for the Led headlights, these lamps are presented for the emission of low and high beams. When using these lamps, it is worth considering the design of the use of additional lenses. This will allow you to correctly adjust the luminous flux. For example, I bought LED lamps for my car at https://lightingandsupplies.com/specialty/hazardous-location-lights/. After replacing old car lamps (halogen, incandescent) with new LEDs, you can see a noticeable difference in the brightness of the glow. And this, in turn, is the main advantage in safe and comfortable movement in the dark. And the installation is quite simple, just like you said it is basically plug and play.
 
Last edited:


Top