Now before anyone mentions it. Yes, I searched the forums specifically for this problem and found several threads dated back to 2007 addressing this issue. I have found the answers on how to resolve this issue. I've decided what better time than to just upgrade my low beams to HID.

However, while scanning all the threads pertaining to this problem. It appears there isn't a direct replacement available that's just like the 2 wire harness. From the looks of it, most are using a generic 1 wire harness and rigging the ground to something more solid such as the frame or the outside of the bulb housing. But I did a little googling "2 wire H1 harness" I found this website here.

Now, the question is has anyone heard of/used this website before? Is it really that serious when the intentions are to convert to HID anyways? I know the HID kits for bulb specific come with the options of just plug and play to the factory harness along with all the other goodies that come with it, but from what it sounds like these factory harnesses have issues with connectivity, creating resistance, creating heat, and eventually melting the socket. My concern is actually cutting, doing the hardwiring and if something happens within warranty time, it wont be honored. BTW, the current vehicle is a 2003 X-Type AWD you guess it melted harness.

Thanks for any input on this. Who likes warranties anyways.

 

MrSublime, having done a few HID conversions, I can probably answer most of your questions that you may have now and in the future.

As for the 2 wire/1 wire aspect, you really only need the 1 wire from inside the headlight harness. You simply need to get the power back out of the headlight assembly. Sure, you can pull the ground from inside of the harness, but the issue comes that the factory HID system adds a second ground wire. This tells me that the factory wiring is not adequate to handle the starting surge of an HID light (can be up to 20 amps per bulb). So, using the ground wire inside the headlight housing would not be advisable. Yes, it will work. I am not arguing that fact. But, long term survivability may be put into question.

If someone questions the warrantee of the vehicle, ask them this one simple questions: "how does my headlight having HIDs installed cause the component in question to be not covered?". If you have an engine problem, having HID headlights has nothing to do with it and therefore the warrantee is still in effect on the engine. If the headlight harness melts, then ok, that might not be covered.

If you have any questions, let me know.

 

Thanks for the reply, the warranty I was referring to was the aftermarket hid equipment. I assume the best way to ground is by chasis just like any other electrical device you may decide to add to your ride. Being that I havent seen all harness wiring from an actual H1 kit personally, I wasnt sure if the hid harness that is suppose to plug into the factory is just a positive connection with a negative being a separate wire to ground. Ive read some just cut the socket off and hard wire/solder/shrinkwrap. Which seems to be a more solid connection than plug and play. Ive done plenty of clean mobile sound system in the past, so making a good connection wont be a challenge at all. Right now I am driving with a wink and my O.C.D. is pretty much going off the charts when I have to turn on the lights, plus cops being giving me that "sideeye" look. Lol. Think ill go to my local auto parts and get a generic socket for a quick fix, until I decide what brand kit to buy. Ive looked at the retrofitsource website and they have a h1 kit that looks solid. A lil bit more than what is on ebay/amazon. Ive had way too many "you get what you pay for" when it comes to electronics that have failed, so Im not looking to be a super cheapass. 😎

 

Why are you (and others) not looking at LED head lights? They look to be lower in price vs. HID. They take less power. They say they are bright.

Just asking as I am thinking of going LED on my high beams.

 

Larry, atleast from my experience with LEDs in my house, LEDs throw great light, but the amount of light that seems to make it back is very poor. Maybe in the automobile world it is different (I am hoping so). I want to see what the LED headlights are like before I make a final decision.

As for less power, I need to do more looking into that. Again, based on experience with house LEDs, for the amount of light, while they are better than halogens, HIDs are going to give them a run for their money I have a feeling. The other problem I see is that when you start getting into the high power LEDs, they need a good heat sink or they just are not going to last all that long. So, if you are retrofitting them into your factory headlight housing, you can plan on changing those bulbs quite often. HIDs are a lot more forgiving. YOu would end up changing the whole reflector and backing to allow a proper heat sink to be placed into the headlight assembly. I Played with four 10W LEDs for some home lighting. I had them on a CPU heatsink rated for 50W with a fan on the back of that. The LEDs still got too hot and after about 3 months, the LEDs started failing.