a2zed

 

I have, installed the XenonDepot 9012 LEDs 4 days ago, the ones that a2zed linked to. My thoughts:

• They can be installed so they line up at 3 & 9. The tab openings for the 9012 base are such that the bulb will go in oriented at 2 and 8, if that makes sense. I then rotated the bulb base slightly clockwise to align it at 3 and 9 and the bulb is secure even though I didn't rotate it to full lock.
• No Canbus connector is needed. I have a 2013 model that was formerly a rental vehicle which was ordered with the headlight DRLs, same spec as the Canadian models. I ordered the Canbus connectors from XD but took a gamble and didn't install them. The LED bulbs come on just fine, no flickering at DRL or full brightness. The bulbs dim slightly when I have the headlamp control set to auto and it is daylight and the DRL function is active. They come on full brightness at night, no issues.
• Until I started reading the hidplanet.com forums I had no idea what foreground illumination was. These do have more foreground than the halogens and I'm not sure whether that bothers me yet but the prevailing opinion on hidplanet is that it is not a good thing.
• Color is great, much better than the crappy HIR2 halogens.
• Wish they threw more light farther down the road, whether they are brighter than the old halogens I can't say. They do light up road signs better than the halogens though and they have better peripheral illumination to the side of the road.
• The design of the heat sinks means you can stuff the connector wires, controller and the heat sink in the open areas behind the reflector/lens and still put the dust cap on. This is the way the heat sinks are supposed to be installed according to XD and so far I have not had any issues with overheating (but it is winter).

I'm going to give these a few months before rendering a final verdict. I'll be interested to see what others think of them in the Edge.

I should have posted earlier but was trying to figure out how to seat the 9012 LED properly... then it got cold.

Malard, my LED bulb goes in at aprox 3&9 then rotates and seats at 2&8. Thats how the original 9012 LL bulb goes in the housing; The connector faces up at 12 then rotates to the right to 2&8. The 13 headlight housing should be the same as the 11.

I need some help here. What am I missing?

In Canada here so I have the DRLs and in my case needed the Canbus adaptor. One LED would not fire without the Canbus in line. Don't know why.

Yes, the color is great but as far as not throwing light further down the road I would have to look into that. They do appear to me more scattered as you suggest. XD support says that the LED light is more concentrated forward than immediately in front. Front light dispersion greatly improves with the LED at 3&9.

WWWPerfA_ZN0W has an earlier explanation in this thread about light dispersion in the Fresnel lens that would apply here as well with the dimpled glass giving off a "wider (flood) beam spread".

Anyway, the reason I went with the XD LED kit was that I wanted the Philips diode for one, and this kit was ~$120 + tax cheaper than the Pudco kit. My dealer recommended (or at least suggested) the Pudco LED at $265 + tax CDN.

Comments from anyone that installed Pudco LED kit would be appreciated. They have different optics and I believe the diodes lock in seated at 12&6 by design.

As a side-note, XD offered their HID extreme kit for an additional $50 because of the alignment problems I encountered, [also because I already had the Canbus].

I had tried the V-LEDs VX3 Gen 2.0 kits in my Mustang projectors but had two concerns about them... they weren't quite as bright as the HID kit I was replacing but more importantly they have no fan and the airspace behind my headlights is quite cramped causing concerns about sufficient cooling. So I upgraded to their LMZ Platinum LED kit and couldn't be happier. The LMZ kit produces a claimed 4500 lumens per bulb (I know that is exaggerated but even so it's still more than HID), has fan cooling and an adjustable mounting collar that allows some flexibility in changing the depth and alignment of the LEDs in the housing. They have all the advantages of LED - low current consumption, instant on, accurate color that doesn't change over time, and a life expectancy of more than the car. I don't have to worry about using the flash-to-pass feature (HIDs don't like that) and the beam pattern is as sharply defined as with the original H9 halogen bulbs that came with the lamps... despite some claims to the contrary. It's like going from conventional oil to synthetic.

Just noticed that your LMZ Platinum LED bulb has 4 diode chips per bulb -thats impressive. 2 LMZ diodes are rated at 2500 lumens so ya.. I can see them claiming 4500.

Also, they're not using silica light tubes for dispersion.

Totally_Ripped.. Can you also update your experience with the Michelin swap?

Yes, canbus for DRL's is reccommended, at least for LMZ diodes.

Nice design on the bulb stem. That probably helps with light dispersion. I like the Philips Luxeon MZ diodes.

Whats this about their note? "Not for use in low voltage high/low beam DRL applications."

Perhaps a canbus is required in those cases?

Just to elaborate. Looks like the JTR lighting kit went into a reflector housing. "We recently had an opportunity to install new 7×6 headlight housings and high power LED headlight bulbs into a 1995 Toyota Tacoma. This truck originally used H6054 sealed beam rectangular headlight housing".

From the folks at betterautomotivelighting.com. The pic below shows the firing positions of the diodes.

After looking at this.. I see your point about casings or tubes. Impressive; The dsipersion is solid.

Too bad these have fans on them. I'm sticking to the copper braid heatsick application.

In my case with the 11Edge, I'm inserting the diodes [into the headlighthousing] at the 3 and 9 positions, then rotating aprox. 45 deg to lock in place.

A dark spot appears on the driver side. I can eliminaate that by rotating the diodes further another 45 deg. That would mean they too will be firing in the up and down positions.

I have to figure out how to rotate the lock ring on the headlight casing. The beam pattern will improve immediately in front of the vehicle and eliminate the dark spot.

Does the product have a bulb-like casing around the emitters, or are they "naked"? vLEDs use a casing to improve dispersion, should help even with projector headlights.

Have a look here: http://www.xenondepo...9012-led-hl.htm They are naked. Cree LED's have a bulb like casing.

On the halogens, some tab trimming would have helped change orientation (essentially increasing flexibility).

Don't know about the halogens but the LED light dispersion [in front of the vehicle] is terrible. There is a dark spot cast on the driver side.

Either the bulbs are not seated or the diode orientation has to be 3 and 9.

Just installed the passenger side LED with canbus and stopped there as the diodes were offset 30 deg from 12 oclock. Information I have says they should be oriented to 3 and 9 positions. I'm not sure if that matters here but will check with customer service. Here are 2 pics from about 15 ft.

Different light dispersion, definitely brighter. The OEM Phillips HIR2 are 1800 lumen vs 2500.

Some notes:

Newer HIR3 bulbs are rated 2400 lumen, almost as bright as these LED's.

The driver side install has less room but once the bulb assembly lock ring tabs are oriented -in line at the housing, they will click in/turn in place easily. Be patient.

High beams are incredible. Just got dark so I'm off for a run around the block.

Customer service not much help in positioning these to 3 and 9. At present, I do not know how to change the orientation.

So you took a hot knife to both HID and Halogen headlights. Opened them up. Unbolted the projectors out then unscrewed the projector from the bowls to confirm this? I haven't seen an Edge HID in person but in pics the lens appears slimmer which is why they HID lens has a shroud around it. Also, why would you buy an oem HID to retrofit? Theres way better projectors on the market. My 2015 HIDs suck compared to whats on the retrofit market

I bought an HID headlight to replace the halogen assembly - just one. My Ford parts dealer convinced me that the wiring option would not work because of some BCM or lighting control module issues. I went with upgrading the HIR2 bulb (in the original headlight housing) to LED.

But no, I'm looking at this hid headlight assembly I have here. No need to take it apart. I'm really not be interested in going that route to retrofit either with projectors.

I presume you're talking about aftermaket 2015 HID's?

 

It's actually a great analogy cause, both are oils, one for engine, one for transmission and not meant for the opposite. All 3 are light sources (Halogen/HID/LED) all meant for their own reflective bowls. No plug in play LED kit is going to have better output than an OEM HID kit. Come on, theirs guys buying brand new Corolla that come factory with LEDs and retrofitting them back to HIDs!

No one is saying LED is better than HID - just more efficient.

Correction.. I did mention better previously. Perhaps thats an overstatement.

 

you can't compare a LED that was manufactured for a specific bowl, to an off the shelf plug n play LED in a generic bowl meant for HID/Halogens. You can go all day on HID planet in the compare thread and see that OEM LED projector lights are still a tad behind HID technology and all these plug and play LED kits are worthless currently.

 

To answer your PM, the HID Edge lights in 11-14 and Halogens are totally different, which is why the Halogen has a dimpled lens and the HID does not, let alone the prices are 2-400 more for OEM HID Headlights on ebay.

 

11-14 HID

 

11-14 Halogen

Yes, the lens is different - nothing else.

Yes. I had them partially installed but while testing one canbus was doa. The replacement arrived late today.

Just an observation on canbus resisters. XenonDepot says you should install canbus with DRL's but I'm not so sure according to this post:http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/15157-retrofitsource-hid-system-with-canbus-and-drl/

HID's use the identical canbus adaptor as LED.. and yes, I had to pull and reverse the wire polarity, so do check them when plugging. No big deal.

Testing the setup, one LED was intermittent when connected directly (without canbus) but stabalized with canbus inline (the other was fine). Tech support said that was expected and would not replace the LED unless the canbus was installed with the same problem. That did not happen.

Although the 2011 Edge may not be a canbus vehicle, an LED retrofit may require the constant voltage supplied by the canbus adaptor to operate properly with DRL's.

Specs are based for LED reflectors. Not Halogen/HID. This is like putting transmission fluid in your engine cause they both say oil

Wrong. A very bad analogy. You have been told before.

LED's in projector housings have equal to if not better light dispersion than HID and especially true with the LMZ diode in Ford projectors.

Hello everyone. I have had aftermarket HID lamps in my 13 SEL since I bought it. It was a big improvement over the stock halogens.

 

Looking to move to LED. Has anyone used this type of lamp in their Edge? This model looks like many that are advertised online and in local stores. Probably all made in the same factory anyway.

 

 

http://absolutehid.ca

 

 

 

I'm going with these and installing tommorrow on 20011 Edge.. http://www.xenondepot.com/9012-LED-headlight-kit-p/9012-led-hl.htm

Way better specs, not made in China, Korea I believe. Another difference is XenonDepot uses the Philips LMZ chip.

Thanks teknowiz, waldo and akirby.

teknowiz.. your tsb 13-1-13 posting may have been superseded by tsb 14-0038, at least here in Canada. The wording is somewhat the same.

The issue was that the Auto function would always turn on the AC, no matter what the internal temperature settings were set to. Also, if I turned off the AC in Auto mode, the Auto function would turn itself off.

When you have the [Remote Auto Start] in [Vehicle Settings] set to Auto and use the Remote Auto Start feature, this may affect you as it screws with and resets the Climate Control Auto function.

Reprograming the HVAC according to tsb 14-0038 fixed the issue!

As I posted earlier, I can now for eg. set the internal temp to 24 deg with outside ambient temp at 16 deg with CC in Auto mode without the AC turning on.

Anyone with this issue should apply tsb 14-0038, described as Inconsistent Climate Control Function when using Remote Start - built on or before 1/31/2013.

Thanks again. Not one service advisor or tech bothered to check for outstanding tsb's and continued telling me on two occasions the CC was working normally because it wasn't throwing any codes. Go figure..

Noticed the same thing recently after the brakes were serviced (mandatory under warranty). Brakes were previously fine - after service I get the grinding noise may times on first start.

Can this be a brake pad issue, pins perhaps rather than rust? No issues before service..

The service guy tells me they probably won't ever be the same. WTF?

Don't know if this is normal [my vehicle was May 2011 production]

Cycle CC off/on --> Auto - on, AC usually on depending on set temp. Auto will always come on when Climate control is cycled.

AC off --> Auto - on, AC should stay off.. at least the AC light will remain off

Auto - off, after manual selection --> AC will stay off

Turn off/restart the engine --> CC - on, no other lights. AC on --> Auto should stay off

The only way to get to a CC one light condition from Auto [and maintain that after engine shutdown] is to turn AC off and then go manual as pointed out by Waldo.

Didn't make sense at first Waldo.. but does now because I would always cycle the CC and then wonder why Auto was always coming on. It just does.

Can't wait to see the QNX version of MFT.. maybe more logical alternative to Microsoft.

Ok.. got it.

What I don't understand is that when I turn Auto off with a manual selection, then turn the A/C off - I'm in manual mode. Should stay that way right?

Nope. When Climate Control is turned off/on.. Auto and A/C come back on. It wants to stay in Auto mode (not that that's a bad thing).

I seem to recall that wasn't the case earlier. I could turn CC off/on without engaging the Auto function. Anyone had this experience?

The tech checked the system again and said no codes were thrown and the system is normal. Once Auto is selected, it cannot be turned off unless an Auto function is manually set, ie. fan speed or vent upper lower etc.

In my case at the above temps.. there was no sunload, just UV. I still haven't seen the AC turn off in Auto mode but have had it come on when required.

Are you referring to the Auto controller? Seem to recall that I could turn the Auto feature off, but now its on all the time.

Just had maintenance last day of warranty today. The Service advisor used to be a mechanic and knows everything?

I'm using the Auto Climate Control feature [which I used to be able to turn off.. but stays on and cannot be turned off] and have the cabin temp at 24c with outside ambient temp at 16c.

The AC comes on and will not turn off. I'm actually asking for a little heat yet get cold air. The guy tells me to turn the AC off. Ok, got that part but where's the Auto feature?

The manual - Climate Control Auto will adjust the cabin temp to whatever temp is set by turning the AC on or off as required. Am I missing something?

Just new to the forum today, but have browsed topics before. I must say, this is a great place for Edge owners.

Thanks for your input.

-z