Write-Up: HID Conversion

2000ws6transam wrote:

i had the same problem, flipped the plug over and hooked it up , upside down and it worked! lol
i think the germans dont know how to wire!! i got the phillips bulbs with forget the name of the balast makers and its so damn bright it hurts my eyes to drive the car!!!!!
Question thought how did you disable the day time running lights ? they said to not use them with the bulbs and balast,

95/96 Riv's didnt have DRL's

you suck lol i think my buddy said there was a white horseshoe shaped plug by the air box but i couldnt find it ....

2000ws6transam wrote:

you suck lol

Ready to see how long that'll take you to get an answer?

hopefully soon lol not a big deal useing the lights all the time i guess

IBx1 wrote:

2000ws6transam wrote:

you suck lol

Ready to see how long that'll take you to get an answer?

I could be wrong, but i dont think Steve meant any disrespect by it.

I normally turn my HID's on when driving during the day. I think the problem with the DRL's is they are half power high beams on most cars. I dont know how the riv is setup but if it is a problem im sure you will find a wiring workaround in either this thread or another one.

Might try looking at the thread that addresses how to make the high beams stay on with the low beams.

Alright yeah, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, I think Snowdog's thread had something about using HID's with DRL's, but if you put your HID's in the low beam and not the high beam socket, shouldn't there not be any problems?

humm yeah i was just messin with ya (lol) after it, but anyways i will have to check that out. My low beams were so bad i just assumed that they were the DRLs like on the vibe i was driving. That would be great if it was the high beams

The DRL's shouldn't be an issue if your HID's aren't on the high beams, but one thing I had problems with was the twilight sentinel system that automatically turns the headlights on when it gets dark. You're going to want to disable that if your lights start flashing like a strobe when you turn the car on at night. You'll hear a loud clicking sound from inside the cabin, too. Just push the slider all the way to the left and you'll have to deal with pulling the light switch manually.

After a certain year, they changed the function so you can't disable the automatic turn-on using the slider. Not sure of it's '97 or '98, but my car doesn't allow it.

yes , low beams only and the DRLs are on the high beams verified it today so thank goodness im in the clear. i was messing around with the slider last night too i do belive i can turn it off with that going all the way to the left.

Voltage @ batt. 12.45 car off

14.9 car on

Voltage @ Alt 15.1

HID will turn on with the car running and then shuts off randomly thinking about trying a direct wire via relay..... not totally sure how to do it. get a SPST, hook up the non post side to the wires @ the plug. Then run a new power wire for the batt. post to the switch side off the other switch side to the ballast then ground the outher side.. does that look right?

2000ws6transam wrote:

Voltage @ batt. 12.45 car off

14.9 car on

Voltage @ Alt 15.1

HID will turn on with the car running and then shuts off randomly thinking about trying a direct wire via relay..... not totally sure how to do it. get a SPST, hook up the non post side to the wires @ the plug. Then run a new power wire for the batt. post to the switch side off the other switch side to the ballast then ground the outher side.. does that look right?

are you sure this is not as simple as a bad ballast?

The company told me to hook up a direct power supply before i send it back in. they said some factory wiring wont support the ballast .... so i was gonna try this first. My guess would be bad ballest considering the other one works fine and this one also did for a few weeks

If you test voltage at the ballast input wiring, and it measures close to that of the rest of the system, you know the problem is with the equipment. If your wiring & connections are bad, you should see a voltage drop (similar to what you saw between alt and batt, but more-so). 14.9v running is very good.

Your wiring picture is correct. My experience is unless you have faulty wiring to start with, chances are the ballast is causing the problem. I had a less severe problem with my old ballast not wanting to ignite the first time and it progressively got worse to the point where it was dead more than it was on. I tried a couple things just to see - I did a rewire exactly how you have it pictured and it didn't help at all. I also tried adding an inline capacitor (the "code canceller" as they call it) to the ballast to see if it helped. It didn't. I wouldn't put it past the the factory wiring to be faulty. I lost power to one of my horns and my left parking lamp so far. Haven't traced the problem yet.

damn turtle that sucks, well it comes on and then goes out after a few min.. turn lights off then back on it will stay on for 10 sec then go out then again 3 sec then, well you get the picture. the more times i turn it on the less it stays on for. He (customer service guy) did tell me to direct wire it. More then likely they wont want the faulty unit back. So i will probably just cut the plug and heat shrink some leads and run direct power and see what happends. I have a feeling failure still but i have tried all the options and it will take out any doubt. BTW it was 14.7 V @ the plug.

i installed the 35watt 6000k Xenon H.I.D. Headlamps in my Riv, and i really am not Terribly impressed... first off, i made an Error when i ordered, i ended up with the 6000k instead of the 5000k or 4300k. these are pretty useless in the rain, and i just don't like how blue they are, they look like the "cheesy" fake ones. i'm also thinking i probably should have opted for the optional relays (Doh !) my "twilight sentinel" is not turning them off... the "battery saver" cuts them off after ten minutes i guess... because they do eventually go out. i'm just using the manual switch. they are not usefully any brighter than the Halogen lamps. i tried swapping to the 20 amp fuse, only a negligible difference, if any. so i switched back. i am DEFINITELY swapping to the 5000k, for some useful light.. i could give a rats patootie about looking cool, with Blue. just out of curiosity,...is anybody using the 65 watt Xenon lamps ? and if so, have you experienced any lens damage ? i know the arguments against them, but i might try anyway...... Thanks for any useful input...

I run 55watt 8000k and they are LESS blue than your 6000k 35watt lights.
I ordered them form ddm tuning. shipping takes awhile but they are cheap, have a great warranty and thus far have been working great.

Also i dont have the harness and have no problem with my lights turning off when i shut off the car and lock the doors. they even turn on EVERY time i unlock the car in the dark. with the previous ebay set i had, one of them would normally flicker on and then go out until i turned the car on and the voltage stabilized.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/Apexcone-Raptor-HID-Kit

$40 for a 55watt kit...just sayin

and here is the color comparison for 35w vs 55w

Thanks Matthew... i'm all over it ! 40 bucks is what i paid from Amazon for the Chinese produced lamps i havenow. they work ok but i really need more light. the deal you have, is the deal i'm gonna GIT ! and i'm guessing you have had no heat related issues with the lens housing then ?... Not too many folks flashing at you ?....

The DDM tuning lights do ship from chine but they seem to have pretty good quality balasts and with the warranty its not really a problem if one does go out.
No heat problems. been using HID's for years now. 99.9% of people dont flash me because i have my headlights aimed properly. if im on an incline across and intersection ill occasionally get flashed.

Also, please resize your signature picture.

Photobucket re-sized it for me... (who knew? )

i appreciate your help Matthew , have a better day.

I bought a kit for my Si from DDM, couldn't be happier. You will go over their price very quickly when you have to keep replacing the cheaper eBay ballasts. Lifetime replacement warranty sure comes in handy on 'wear' items!

well ILAN, that makes two positive reviews for DDM.... so i'll have to go with the general consensus and buy em.
i like your civic, it fits you perfect... sweet paint job....

Thanks Todd! What makes me very pleased with DDM is that my car has H4 style bulbs, which are dual-filament single units. The kit from DDM has a magnet actuator that shifts the bulbs back and forth to change the high and low beam pattern, but the important thing is that my kit came with a shield around the bulb that creates a very noticeable cutoff with no glare. I definitely recommend them.



You can see the cutoff here:



The Euro Yellow was a color only offered on the '02 model of my car, so it's rare, but a factory color! I bought her with 94k miles for $5,400 in August '10.

The Buick was the perfect car at the perfect time, while I was looking at Camaro's with the 3800. The Buick was the same price, had a lot more room, same engine, a lot more luxury, looked better, and turned out to be dirt cheap to insure. In my eyes the Riviera is the perfect first luxury car, and an Si is the perfect first manual car. Both just fun enough to teach you to be responsible while exploring your limits!