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Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

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Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Wed Oct 13, 2021 8:55 pm

Anyone been there, done that? The current halogens on mine are yellow and dim. Anyone had any success moving to LEDs?
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby Mike » Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:06 pm

highroof wrote:Anyone been there, done that? The current halogens on mine are yellow and dim. Anyone had any success moving to LEDs?

That's still on reflector headlights rather than projectors?
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Wed Oct 13, 2021 10:06 pm

Mike wrote:
highroof wrote:Anyone been there, done that? The current halogens on mine are yellow and dim. Anyone had any success moving to LEDs?

That's still on reflector headlights rather than projectors?


Yeah, it's the halogen pre projector ones currently on mine. HIDS4U can supply canbus decoders and LED bulbs to replace high and dip at substantial cost. I'll pay it if they're worth having, just don't want to end up with something crap. The bulbs that are in from the factory are like something from the 70s though, so it's all relative.
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby Mike » Thu Oct 14, 2021 7:15 am

I tried the Philips ultinon LED bulbs in mine, the beam pattern wasn’t good enough tbh. I settled on Nightbreakers adjusted properly. I suspect that hid bulbs wouldn’t give a good enough pattern either.
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Thu Oct 14, 2021 4:37 pm

Mike wrote:I tried the Philips ultinon LED bulbs in mine, the beam pattern wasn’t good enough tbh. I settled on Nightbreakers adjusted properly. I suspect that hid bulbs wouldn’t give a good enough pattern either.


I had HIDs on my 2009, you're right, the beam pattern wasn't good enough. I've bitten the bullet and ordered a full LED kit for the front, including the decoders. I specifically asked about the length of the bulb compared to standard, and the distance from the base to the LED chip compared to standard and was told they were made to be the same and that the beam pattern had the same cutoff as standard.

If they're having me over I'll be on their doorstep returning them, I'm coincidentally working in Southampton next month very near the supplying outlet.
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Fri Oct 15, 2021 6:31 pm

Well, the problems you don't forsee!

My LED sidelight, high and low beam and foglight bulbs turned up today. All fitted except the foglights which will require more daylight than I have now. All working so far. Except that instead of turning on the DRLs when the van is started, the high beam comes on! You can only get rid of it by switching the lights on and off again, but the DRLs are gone completely then. There are no canbus errors on the dash.

I expected problems. Just not this! I'm assuming all the lights use the same ground and there's a voltage issue with the DRLs. But I've been wrong before!
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby Mike » Fri Oct 15, 2021 7:28 pm

highroof wrote:All working so far. Except that instead of turning on the DRLs when the van is started, the high beam comes on! You can only get rid of it by switching the lights on and off again, but the DRLs are gone completely then.

I did try some H15 led's briefly, they were shite, but worked as expected using the standard 3 way connector.
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Fri Oct 15, 2021 8:02 pm

I've sussed it I think. The sidelights need more resistance, the system's simply gone to the bulb with the highest resistance and turned that on. I'll confirm that's right tomorrow by refitting the original sidelight bulbs, and then get the resistors to suit the LEDs.
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Sat Oct 16, 2021 11:23 am

The plot thickens. Changed the sidelight bulbs back to standard and it's still turning on the high beam when started. I think it'll have to be a chat with HIDS4U on Monday.
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Sat Oct 16, 2021 3:01 pm

Ok, I appear to be officially a pillock. The high beam is twin filament and it doubles as a DRL. So there's nowt wrong with it. Going for beer now!
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby Mike » Sat Oct 16, 2021 3:49 pm

:lol:
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Sat Oct 16, 2021 4:17 pm

Mike wrote::lol:


Yeah, I know! :lol: The one thing I don't know whether is right or not is that the DRL comes on as it should when the van is started, but if you turn on the headlights and then turn them off again, the DRLs stay off and don't come back on until the van is turned off and re-started. I've genuinely no idea if that's normal or not. In all other respects, everything seems ok.
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby Mike » Sat Oct 16, 2021 5:22 pm

The drl’s should come on whenever the headlights are off. You’ve got the 3 wires connected correctly?
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Sun Oct 17, 2021 1:23 am

Mike wrote:The drl’s should come on whenever the headlights are off. You’ve got the 3 wires connected correctly?


Yeah, that's what I think. As things stand, I haven't got much choice, the bulbs are, on the face of it, plug and play, I didn't do any wiring. I just replaced the bulbs along with the decoders as required. It's my own fault, I didn't pay enough attention to the way things worked as standard before I waded in! I have a mate with a similar van, it was only after ringing him and have him describe what his lights did in different switched positions that I got as far as I did. :shock:

I think I'l give him another ring tomorrow and ask him if his DRLs stay off when he's turned the headlights on and off. It's the easiest way to find out if mine's having a tantrum.
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Re: Upgrading headlight bulbs on an early 2018 Connect.

Postby highroof » Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:57 pm

OK, so HIDs4U sent me Ford specific DRLs/high beam bulbs which arrived today. And they work! Miracles do happen. So I now have a fully functioning set of LEDs ( well, other than the foglights, which I still haven't got around to doing ). Happy days. I'll post some pics tomorrow if I remember.
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