Gracias OE! Can't wait to get HID installed!

 

Add me to the list of HCH and Pilot (05) owners!

 

I put some Philips re-based D2R lights with Osram ballasts (gotta love eBay) in mine. I had my first problem the other day. I went to flip them on to make sure my tortoise wasn't hiding under my car before I pulled out of the side of my house and they came on and after maybe a second I lost them. They blew the two ten amp fuses under the dash. Now I think the problem is my 12 volt battery is dying a premature death and the low voltage caused them to pull more amps, but be careful.

Now the kicker, these cars do not use a standard fuse. They use "low profile mini" fuses. They look like a standard miniature automotive fuse with the pins broken off and they are very difficult to find. There was one extra in the under hood fuse box. I tried several auto parts stores and they didn't have them, nor had they seen them before. I figured "forget it, they can't be that expensive at the Honda dealer" so I went. They didn't show any in their system. The parts manager, who I know, went over to the service department and asked the service manager and they had 1 extra 10 amp sitting there, they gave it to me so I had both fuses replaced. They said they had to get the fuses from NAPA because Honda parts hasn't sent them any yet. I tried one NAPA which didn't have them, but found them in their book, all the others around my area have them in stock supposedly so I am going to try another for some spares.

 

The older OSRAM electomagnetic ballasts that are out there, have a very high start-up current draw. This is why your fuse blew. These types of ballasts can draw 35-40 amps at start-up.

Make sure that if you purchase a HID retrofit kit for you HCH II that you get one that uses a microprocessor based ballast. These types of ballasts have a 6-7 amp start-up current and will not compromise your cars electrical system.

 

I got some of these today. I will install them over labor day weekend and post pix and let everyone know how they are. I assume they will be great, because i got the same ones OE did.

 

Hey all. I installed my 4300K Xenon lights last weekend. They are the Klight brand and I got them from the same eBayer that OE did. The install went great. Here are some pix from the install. Just click to enlarge.


This is where I put the ignitor/ballast for the left headlight. It is a perfect fit. (any yes... that's my laptop in the background opened to this page)


The left is the OEM headlight and the right is the Xenon.
(note: the bumper does not need to come off for installation, I had it off for other modifications)



The OEM headlights from the front

The Xenon headlights from the front


The view down my street with the OEM headlights

The view down my street with the Xenon headlights.


Thanks OE for making this guide! It really helped.

PS: In the 1st two pix, you can see my new Hella Supertone Dual tone horns. They're great. With these new horns and headlights, I feel much safer.

 

Giving your installation the total respect that it deserves, but you have positioned your ballast in a way that may compromise their reliability.

The proper positioning for a ballast is oriented so that the electrical connector points Down.

This is to prevent moisture for collecting in the connector shell, and eventually compromising the connector pins and possibly getting moisture and contaminants into the ballast causing it to fail.

This is why you will not find any electrical connectors in the engine compartment that are pointing up. They are always pointing down or to the side.

Here is an updated copy of my HID DIY install procedure with some very important info on ballast placement. This includes a discussion on where not to install the ballasts.

Otherwise, great work. Aren't HIDs great?

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I will fix them this weekend. Should I keep them mounted in the same place and just flip them over? Or should I mount them another way?
Thanks a lot! I would never have known it was wrong. (However, I was smart enough not to mount it in front of the airbag sensor ).

 

You are probably fine in just flipping the ballasts over in the bracket so they are pointing down.

 

I was gonna say, nice horns and then you beat me to it at the bottom of your post