Sooner

I got my HID kit from Vertex & am attempting the install. Everything is plug & play, my issue is wire length. The wire & connecter that runs from the Back of the headlight to the ballast is too short.

I have the front wheels off & wheel liners removed so I can see, but the wires just aren't long enough. Anyone else run into this?

Can the ballast be mounted in the wheel wells, behind the liner?

InTheAir

Brian, with the Vertex version, can you mount the ballast in the cargo compartment/front bonnet/trunk or whatever we're calling that thing. ???

Sooner

That's where I am trying to mount them, but the wires are WAY too short. I can just barely get it through the hole, & that's with the headlight all the way in & stretched pretty tight. If I did manage to pulg it in, I wouldn't be able to remove the headlights.

I may just have to return the kit or at least put the car back together w/ mthe old lights so I can drive to work tomorrow.

jcoll1

Sooner, I had the same problem with the Kit. The power leads were not long enough to allow removal of the headlight housing. My solution was to splice in a 4" section of wire on the black and red power wires. I figure that the leads only run to the spade terminals in the housing. As long as the wire is the same size I shouldn't have a problem. Not sure about warranty issues with the kit but for $255 I can live with it. I have had it installed for about a week with no problems.

I'll try and get a picture of the install.

jcoll1

I hope this pic uploads,

Sooner

Thanks Jason. I was thinking of doing that, but it realy irritates me, the kit was advertised as plug & play.

I am going to give Charles at Vertex a call tomorrow & see what he want's to do. If Vertex can send me an adapter with longer wires, I'll keep them. Otherwise they are going back.

Sooner

I have put my stock bulbs back in & now the low beams don't work. Any suggestions? I have checked all the connections & the fuses.

This is getting really frustrating . I may need to go for a drive to remind me why I love this car so much!

jcoll1

Brian let me know what you find out when you talk with Vertex. If the power lead can be made as long as the lamp leads it would be perfect.
I guess it would be plug and play if you could find a way to mount the ballast on the headlight housing somehow. I wonder how Arena993 mounted his?

kkim

Check both the plug and connector that mate when the headlight is slid back in. Sometimes a pin gets pushed back in to the connector/plug when things aren't lined up exactly right. I had some issues with my right headlight and was fixed by carefully examining the pins. Found one that was pushed back slightly that would cause me an intermittent low light.

Good luck

Sooner

Thanks for the suggestion Kelly, I'll check that out. This 45 min job has turned into 3.5 hours so far Uhh.

Sooner

I've checked all my connections & they are good (fuses too). I used my multi meter to check everything for continuity as well. All I can think of now, is that I somehow damaged the bulbs, but on both lights?

Maybe I should just reinstall the HIDS & make my own extension cable. Anyone ever driven with Fogs instead of headlights (just for a day or so, all the other lights work).

kkim

You can check if it's the bulbs by swapping out the hi and low bulb positions ... they are both H1 bulbs. Hope you didn't touch the glass portion of the bulbs while handling.

I'm assuming your hi lights are working... true?

Sooner

Yep, Hi beams work. So I can just put the hi beam bulb in the low position?

kkim

Yes

Sooner

Fixed. I switched the bulbs, and now the low beams work & hi beams are out. I have no idea how I ruined both low beam bulbs, but at least that's an easy fix.

Thanks a lot for your help Kelly! Once again a Rennlister has saved my bacon!

Now I just have to get the HID kit figured out.