Converting HID Headlights to LED. Good or Bad?

Both sides? I think fixing is the best solution...

moto g(7) power ?

 

Converting from HID to LED you are essentially in the wild; a pioneer figuring it out from scratch.

All the kits I know of are intended for conversion from halogen lighting.

 

I found this thread. Seems like the best/first step is to replace the bulbs:

2007 Prius Intermittent Headlights | PriusChat

(Hope it links correctly).

moto g(7) power ?

 

@FreddieVee Good find re: wiring. I'd try that immediately.

 

I have never had a car with HID headlight. Is HID light bulb socket and electrical wiring any different than regular halogen bulb? I just changed halogen bulb headlights on my wife's Nissan and my son's Honda with those new LED lights. For both cars, the high beam was HB3, low beam was H11. LED replacements were essentially "plug-and-play". The process was just as changing a halogen bulb, but using LED lights instead which are more expensive and bulkier cord and a base with fan, but much much brighter (10000 lm).

 

Considerably. HIDs run on high voltage alternating current. Each lamp has its own small inverter (aka ballast) to provide the AC from the car's 12V. The ballast also houses some electronics for self-test, monitoring & communication with the rest of the car. This becomes important later.

HIDs are different from regular bulbs. They are fundamentally too bright to look at. So why do we have them on cars that could be pointed at people's eyes? Part of the deal for getting them legalized as headlights was to build in extra control mechanisms to make certain they never actually get pointed at people. The headlight assembly includes a motorized aim compensation system, and the car's suspension is equipped with sensors. The headlights must continuously track the suspension to keep the beams aimed properly. If the electronics in the headlight detect that the beam is not being controlled properly, the ballast is supposed to cut the power to the lamp and light up the maintenance indicator lamp on the dash.

Meanwhile, the burners themselves have a very different mounting base than any halogen headlight. This was specifically done to prevent anyone from installing HID burners in cars with halogen headlights. Guess what happened 15 minutes later? Yep, you guessed it. Somebody started re-packaging HID burners with bases meant for halogen bulbs so they would fit in old headlights.

But back to this situation: a Prius born with HIDs really ought to keep HIDs. If you were to intercept the 12v line feeding the ballasts and wire up some 3-pin sockets, you'd be able to physically install halogen headlight assemblies in place of the HID assemblies and then install halogen bulbs. But you'll be looking at that $#%# check-engine lamp 24/7 because the HID ballasts aren't there or aren't able to report normal operating conditions. You can find a few threads regarding this type of conversion right here on priuschat.

TL;DR: you won't have an easy time converting a Prius with native HIDs to anything else, because the headlights are tapped into the computer diagnostics.

 

There is at least one thread in the correct sub forum that covers most of what you're asking about : HID to LED conversion | PriusChat

Please continue to use the 'advanced search' function (when it works), and post in the appropriate sub.

 

Thanks for the explanation. Yeah, I must have read halogen to HID conversion stories somewhere and had an impression that the conversion of the halogen lights to brighter headlights are not an easy DIY task. That's why I have not attempted changing good old halogen bulb to anything else for all of my and my families cars until just recently. But after driving PRIME with Quad-LED projector headlights for two years, I found normal halogen lights are way too dim and somewhat dangerous in our local without much street lights. After doing some reading, I went ahead and ordered LED lights, and changed my wife's SUV. I was surprised to find out that it was so easy. Then I did the same for my son's car. They are super happy with brighter lights now.

 

Intermittent HID headlights is a common indicator that the HID bulbs are failing. Your best bet is to replace them with genuine HID bulbs from a reliable supplier. I bought a Philips bulb on amazon.com, but I verified that amazon was supplying the bulb rather than acting as the marketing arm of a third party vendor.