Headlight project from hell!

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Old 07-22-2013, 08:37 PM
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Lights came out great. It's hard to do those turn signals especially when taking the tape off since the chrome is extremely fragile. I would check inside and make sure the pigtail is securely plugged into the solenoid sometimes they do come unplugged. Otherwise you may have paint gunkying up the solenoid, but it looks pretty clean by that area so hopefully it's an easy fix.
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Old 07-22-2013, 09:16 PM
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damn. looks killer!
Old 07-22-2013, 09:25 PM
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Great job-they look excellent!
Old 07-22-2013, 10:39 PM
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Looks GREAT Chad....in for proper shots
Old 07-23-2013, 07:40 AM
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Originally Posted by nate_0022
Lights came out great. It's hard to do those turn signals especially when taking the tape off since the chrome is extremely fragile. I would check inside and make sure the pigtail is securely plugged into the solenoid sometimes they do come unplugged. Otherwise you may have paint gunkying up the solenoid, but it looks pretty clean by that area so hopefully it's an easy fix.
Yea man I just can't believe that I screwed it up with paint. As you can see with my pics, I taped everything off. The tape went about a third the way up the lever shield pieces arm. So there is no paint on the solenoid or at the joints at all. I was extremely careful with the projector pieces. Everything went back together properly. Hell I remember testing the arms once reassembled but before I put the zkw-rs on. No extra parts, pieces, or screws left over. I was very diligent.

It is possible, I guess, for it to be unplugged. But that doesn't explain to me how it could be stuck in the high beam mode.
  • Low beam is default, correct?
  • The solenoid has to have constant 12v power to keep it pushed down like that? Unless it's stuck...?
On the other hand wouldn't I hear it? Because I can hear the passenger side when I activate high beams. I hear absolutely nothing from the drivers side.

I checked all four 7.5a fuses under the hood. They looked good to me.
  • Are there relays on this system to activate the solenoid?
  • Is it the solenoid that makes the noise or is it the lever shield part being moved that makes the noise?
  • There isn't anything in there that it could physically get wedged on, is there?
The only thing I can really think of is me physically moving the lights once they were together... Not that I was tossing them around but I probably had them upside down a couple times.

Last edited by maharajamd; 07-23-2013 at 07:42 AM.
Old 07-23-2013, 10:01 AM
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Wow, that sounds super frustrating, Chad. Sorry to hear that, man...
You also just convinced me to never mess with that part of the light.
Old 07-23-2013, 10:07 AM
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Honestly I just think something got wedged while I was baking. I bet I can just stick a coat hanger in through the bulb spot and free it up.

There is nothing wrong, or overly hard, with messing with projectors. People do it ALL the time. Hell people are creating their own cut off shields and shit.

Actually doing this has made me want to buy a new set of lights and go all out 100% custom.

Last edited by maharajamd; 07-23-2013 at 10:17 AM.
Old 07-23-2013, 10:12 AM
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Looks great I'm diggin the halo's
Old 07-23-2013, 11:10 AM
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i didn't read to well, I didn't know you were stuck in high beam mode. like you said, just try and stick a coat hanger and yank the shield back. Just do it with as little preassure as possible so you don't bend that shield, otherwise you'll mess up that beautiful cutoff.
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Old 07-23-2013, 11:58 AM
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I see you
Old 07-23-2013, 01:34 PM
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I was a bit confused by all the "Demon Eyes" talk I was hearing, so I had to see for myself.

Interesting concept. Well executed. I just cant stand the way the halos look when they are off. Also not so sure about the colored bowls. I guess its one of those things you need to see in person.

Good job and nice write up, though!
Old 07-23-2013, 01:53 PM
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Here is a quick, poor quality video of the issue...

Sorry I can't get embedding to work. Can we embed FB videos here? AZ, did you update your templates?!?!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10101186007014445

FYI. I tried it with and without the fuse in there. Same thing. So I believe that implies it is physically stuck that way.
Old 07-23-2013, 01:58 PM
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Well if you're not even hearing a click...wouldn't that matter? No fuse made no difference? To me that implies teh opposite.

Well, obviously, only way to grow is to go through the hardship, so I can see why you'd be inspired but I've kept my headlight modding simple and even I'VE had to reopen to fix or adjust more times than I'd like to admit. I remember first time I was like, I'm taking my time and getting this right so I never have to open again...HA!
Old 07-23-2013, 02:06 PM
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Yes, I did say "hump" in this video. Before anyone says anything! LOL

J, the solenoid has to have power for it to be in high beam mode. As low beam is normal sitting position. Look at the actuating arms / cut off shield pics above. They are sitting up. So, if they absolutely don't have power, and are still in high beam mode, that pretty much leaves one option. I think...

I'll take it off and reopen. It's not that big of deal. I just don't want to.
Old 07-23-2013, 02:11 PM
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How did you go about wirring your angel eyes? Could it be possible that your soleniod is getting a constant 12 volts causing it to be in high beam mode all times. Maybe try disconnecting the power to your angel eyes and see if that works.
Old 07-23-2013, 02:16 PM
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The angel eyes are completely separate. I have them grounded by the headlights and then the power is ran to a relay that is powered off the fuse box. Then I have a toggle switch in the cabin. Completely independent.

Originally Posted by dwb993
I was a bit confused by all the "Demon Eyes" talk I was hearing, so I had to see for myself.

Interesting concept. Well executed. I just cant stand the way the halos look when they are off. Also not so sure about the colored bowls. I guess its one of those things you need to see in person.

Good job and nice write up, though!
Thanks man!

What do you mean the colored bowls? The demon eyes?

They look great in person. And to be honest they are barely noticeable.

Last edited by Steven Bell; 07-23-2013 at 10:37 PM. Reason: Merged Posts
Old 07-23-2013, 02:25 PM
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Gotcha...
I agree, trust me, I know it's doable. It's the last part of what you said that I agree with wholeheartedly. There are mods I embrace doing and redoing with open arms...dealing with gobs of fkn butyl and RTV isn't one of them.
Old 07-23-2013, 02:30 PM
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^Lol yup. At least this time it will be a lot easier with the proper butyl in there.

Plus, I hope I can fix this just by messing with in through the small d2s bulb opening.
Old 07-23-2013, 02:59 PM
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from the back?
Old 07-23-2013, 03:02 PM
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Looks awesome and amazing craftsmanship.
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Old 07-23-2013, 03:04 PM
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Originally Posted by rockstar143
from the back?
Sí. I'll have to take the light off but that's no biggie. Maybe I should order some tritons while I'm at it... Hmmm
Old 07-24-2013, 10:31 AM
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I have watched the triton vids but they seem so friggin bright...
plus, Austin had trouble with his twice already, although knowing him...probably install error.
Old 07-24-2013, 10:44 AM
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Lol you mean the one thing you didn't install has screwed up? No way!

When I look at my car with the parking lights and the angel eyes on, the parking lights look so dim comparatively. So I want to do something...

Finally have some sun today so maybe I'll drive my car somewhere on lunch and snap a pic or two.
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Old 07-24-2013, 01:14 PM
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Well said I would so I did. Was last minute though so kind of rushed it!









Old 07-24-2013, 04:37 PM
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Looks much better than halos
Reminds me Tron haha
Old 07-24-2013, 04:47 PM
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I agree. These morimotos are very "EL" looking.
Old 07-24-2013, 04:51 PM
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looks amazing so amazing
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Old 07-24-2013, 05:18 PM
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Much better than I originally thought based on the garage pics...nicely done, man.
I still am not a fan of halos due to the ring visibility thing, but if they're going to be on all the time...they look good. Also, yeah, you can do triton to make bright, but if you do switchback, I'll tell you ahead of time the white from most switchbacks behind the amber diffuser will look like green. Go with the amber tritons!
@ the Austin thing.
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Old 07-24-2013, 08:05 PM
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Excellent new shots, buddy!
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Old 07-24-2013, 08:42 PM
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Thanks youz guise
Old 07-24-2013, 08:45 PM
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Looks great! I knew I should've put the angel eyes on.

I thought someone was making diffusers for the halos or TRS is thinking of making diffusers for them.
Old 07-24-2013, 10:24 PM
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Looks great. I agree with J. Get amber Triton signals if you keep the amber diffuser in there. If not, the switchbacks are mega bright.
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Old 07-24-2013, 11:41 PM
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I'm definitely keeping the amber diffusers. And I thought you want the bulb to be the color of the plastic it's going through? For best results that is. So red for my rears, amber for my fronts...

With the amber diffusers in there, switchbacks are pointless, right?

nate: I read that somewhere over on HIDP but can't find it. Some guys are just retrofitting these into other angel eye diffusers. I like it just how it is...

BTW, did you guys all replace the stock silica gel bags in your lights? Mine was a solid chunk of silicia. I didn't show this in any of my pics for some reason. But not only was I able to put a much larger main bag in the stock spot, I was able to tuck a few other small bags in random places. I was pretty proud of myself for keeping multiple pairs of different size bags for the past few years just for that purpose. Lol

I'm really excited to do J's 'super reds' on my tails in the next week or two. I'm trying to think of some way to make them that 'stock but modded' look yet be a little different then J's design...
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Old 07-25-2013, 08:44 AM
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Wow, great write up and pictures, Chad, they came out very nice.

Excellent work!
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Old 07-25-2013, 08:56 AM
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beri lably.
Old 07-25-2013, 09:16 AM
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Out of curiosity, where'd you source the bigger bags? I've been saving all Betty's shoe silica for some time too!

Thanks man, and looking forward to what you come up with with the super reds.
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Old 07-25-2013, 09:36 AM
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^Lol I figured I wasn't the only one!

Ummm I think the huge main bags that I used came from my iMacs box. Since I had my original iMac replaced I ended up with two. Perfect! The rest were from shoes and other products like that. Maybe my receiver... I think you can order silica bags on Amazon.

I assume the stock silica bag wasn't suppose to be solid like that. Which meant it had done it's job and tapped out?

And this may sound crazy but I ended up putting adhesive velcro on all of them and then the housing. So if I pull it apart it again, I can just pull them off and put them back on and not have to wait for some type of glue to dry to hold my progress up!

As for super red ideas, man, I got nothing!

Austin: Thanks man!
Old 07-25-2013, 09:40 AM
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I'll tell yea what, if Roger can figure out how to do that corner diffuser LED mod I will gladly take my lights apart to do it. That looks CRAZY hot to me for some reason. Like it should have been that way from the factory.





Old 07-25-2013, 09:47 AM
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yeah, no doubt...
The base red does limit your ability really...you can do some sort of reflective vinyl over the reflector and some things with led's...but other than that, you're pretty limited.

PS...
you were right...
Amazon.com: 2 oz (Units) Desiccant - Performance Dry Silica Gel in Tyvek Packet - 5 pcs/bag: Everything Else Amazon.com: 2 oz (Units) Desiccant - Performance Dry Silica Gel in Tyvek Packet - 5 pcs/bag: Everything Else

My were hard too...I microwaved them to evaporate any trapped moisture and squeezed them to soften them back up. I had 1 that had a hole and the white powder fell into the lens (reason I had to redo that one recently) when it was off the car but normally, I don't really bother gluing it down since it lives behind everything.

I will say this though...running the hair dryer through, right before sealing up generally takes care of any condensation problem I've had...assuming no leaks, obvi. I actually was in a rush this last time I popped my lights back in and didn't bother with the hair dryer thinking maybe it didn't matter....yeah right, TOTAL condensation on the first time they saw rain...ran the dryer through while on the car, NADA and we've had a month solid of rain.

Last edited by rockstar143; 07-25-2013 at 09:50 AM.
Old 07-25-2013, 09:50 AM
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Is there a silica bag in the tails? And if not, is there any place to stuff one/two/as many as possible?


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