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Old 08-19-2005, 01:44 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Gen5 HID problem

I don't know if this happened to anyone. Recently, my MCCULOUch Hid conversion kit went psycho on me. When I turned on the headlights only one side is lit and the other one is not and sometimes vice versa. However, if i turn it off and turn it back on, both sides lit up. I changed the headlight fuses from 15A to 20A(ones that they provided w/ the kit) and even check all the connections. They turned out to be okay. So I am confused. Don't know what's up with it. PLEASE HELP!! Appreciated..
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Old 08-19-2005, 01:53 AM   #2 (permalink)
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something with your battery maybe?
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:00 AM   #3 (permalink)
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check all conections, check everything basically. sounds like something is loose.
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:08 AM   #4 (permalink)
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oh geez. I was just looking on ebay to replace my stock lights with brighter ones, but it didn't say I had to convert anything. I wanted to buy the HID lights you now the bright lights. It said I didnt have to convert, just replace the stock ones?? If so whats the conversion kit for?? do I nedd it??
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:17 AM   #5 (permalink)
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Thanks for the helpful inputs. I checked and double checked all the connection but there is nothing wrong. Maybe it 's time to replace a better quality one, like the philips or hella. Anyway, to help explain, the conversion kit is a "plug and play" which mean you buy the kit that compatable to your stock headlights and just plug and play. It's very simple and take a few minutes to hook it up.
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:24 AM   #6 (permalink)
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Get Hella... I've heard only bad things about McCulouch... and have you considered doing a projector retrofit? It'll lessen the glare of the HIDs, and it'll look better...
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:30 AM   #7 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Camrylvr
oh geez. I was just looking on ebay to replace my stock lights with brighter ones, but it didn't say I had to convert anything. I wanted to buy the HID lights you now the bright lights. It said I didnt have to convert, just replace the stock ones?? If so whats the conversion kit for?? do I nedd it??
I was asking the same question when I was thinking about purchasing some HIDs. I actually gave in and bought some HIDs from Ebay the other day and I love em. I didnt have to retrofit anything so all these Camry owners who are talking about retrofits, I dont know what kind of crazy and extremely bright lights they are buying but the ones I have are 5800K/55W and are bright as hell. They emit a subtle but noticable bluish-white tint. All I did was pop the hood, disconnect the the cables from the stock-headlights, took out the old lights, put in the HIDs, reconnected the cables to the HIDs, and closed the hood. Whuala! Everything works perfectly.
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:32 AM   #8 (permalink)
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Gen5

psst. lunar.....those were just xenon bulbs....not hids lol.
people just mistake them for HIDs because they're so bright.
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:34 AM   #9 (permalink)
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HID kits are illegal and and the glare they produce in halogen housings are dangerous. Read up on the forums at HIDplanet to learn how to do proper HID retrofits. People who put HIDs into their halogen housings without projectors need to be shot. Only complete HID retrofits should be done. I myself am currently in the process of retrofitting Bosch projectors into my headlights.

However, once you get the proper HID projectors in... McCulloch is trash. This is a known issue among HID enthusiasts. Get a Hella ballast and some proper D2S bulbs instead of whatever rebased bulbs you may be using.
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:37 AM   #10 (permalink)
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^ Yeah, what Super Kaioken said. The ones that just come with a blue tinted bulb a xenons. A cheap way to make it look like you have HIDs. If you spend more than 200dollars, then they're the real HID kits.
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:42 AM   #11 (permalink)
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this is my ride, you can check out the bmw x5 projector retro

http://cardomain.com/profile/168phat
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:42 AM   #12 (permalink)
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Don't EVER think those xenon wannabe bulbs will come close to HID. I have converted 9005 xenon bulbs in my low beams and I thought they were friggin' bright. Then I lined my car up next to my buddy's S4 w/ Valeo projectors and 4300K Philips bulbs. No comparison. He even said that it was a great way for him to feel better about himself to know how much worse my halogens were.

Oh and for anyone who tries to even bring this up, cars like the previous Acura TL/CL can pull off HIDs without projectors because they use D2R bulbs in specifically designed OEM housings. Using D2R bulbs in your halogen housings is useless because your housing wasn't designed for them. Just an F.Y.I.
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:45 AM   #13 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jchan
this is my ride, you can check out the bmw x5 projector retro

http://cardomain.com/profile/168phat
Lookin' good man.

Grrr these damn HID kits make me so damn mad. It's because of these fools that the general public comes to this misguided consensus that HIDs are bad because they see some damn non-projector HID car blinding them on the road.
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Old 08-19-2005, 02:46 AM   #14 (permalink)
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DarkMastyr, I'm not defending people who put HIDs into a halogen housing (cause it's inconsiderate of other drivers) but not everyone knows how, has the money(cause they used it on an HID kit )etc. to retrofit projectors into their headlamp housings. I would love to do it but I have no fucking clue where to begin or anything. But I completely agree with you on the whole putting HIDs into a halogen housing.
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Old 08-19-2005, 03:00 AM   #15 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HoboJoe
DarkMastyr, I'm not defending people who put HIDs into a halogen housing (cause it's inconsiderate of other drivers) but not everyone knows how, has the money(cause they used it on an HID kit )etc. to retrofit projectors into their headlamp housings. I would love to do it but I have no fucking clue where to begin or anything. But I completely agree with you on the whole putting HIDs into a halogen housing.
Retrofitting projectors takes a bit more work yes, but to be quite honest, I think it's the responsibility of the driver to do a proper retrofit. Simply put, people shouldn't put in HIDs if they're not prepared to do everything that goes along with it. HIDs are seriously dangerous if not done right.

If you'd like to know how to retrofit, it's not that complicated. The additional price of a retrofit is basically the projectors and that's it (you can build your own shrouds).

Typically here are the steps:

1. Take apart headlight
2. Black out the headlight (this reduces glare from the light escaping from the side of the projectors if the shrouds don't do their job properly). Sand down the area and use a can of high temp spray paint from Home Depot. This step is not necessary if you take care to make really good shrouds, but it's not a bad idea.
3. Use a dremel to cut apart a necessary portion of the headlight.
4. Screw projectors in.
5. Reassemble.

There are tutorials with pics all over the place. Go to the HIDplanet forums and search.

Oh and a tip if you're upgrading your headlights period (not necessary if you're using some 55W/65W replacement bulbs): Get a new wiring harness. This is especially true when you use some of those stupid 100W aftermarket xenon bulbs. Even though HIDs draw less current than halogens, the initial startup draws more, so that's why you need it for HIDs. You can build one yourself pretty easily.
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