Upgrade SEL original halogens with better halogens?
- Thread starter HudsonKona
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dndrich
Member
Yeah, it does work. Just a bit tricky. I suspect the more expensive plug and play ones I linked would be easier.
dheatherly
New Member
Maybe too tricky for me. I spent another hour trying to get it to go. No luck. Worked through the wheel well port as well. I assembled the bulb holder and adapter as shown in the video. It just doesn't want to fit. I even sanded tabs. Still no go. I seriously can't imagine why this isn't working for me. It just seems like the adapter is just too big after attaching to the bulb holder. I'm sure I'll give it another go at some point. Look forward to a few more success stories.
dndrich
Member
Hmm. Maybe you should send them back to Amazon and get the ones I posted the link for that are supposed to fit without modification. More expensive, but probably worth it.
dndrich
Member
OK, I am happy to report that I drove tonight on country roads with no moon in our area, and these inexpensive LED's are substantially better than the stock halogen lights. Much better. So, it is worth it to try to improve the situation. The standard halogen lights are among the most anemic I have seen. They are really not good.
dheatherly
New Member
ok - let's work on the high beams now...
dheatherly
New Member
I finally got the adapter/holder installed. A couple of points. Noise. These LEDs do make a noise I can hear inside the cabin while parked in my quiet garage. Outside the car - the noise (from the fans) is obvious. And second would be color temp. I realize that these LEDs are a different color than the halogens - but the difference is quite glaring (pardon the pun) in a lit up garage. I wonder how weird/odd it will look to oncoming traffic?
dndrich
Member
So glad you finally got that in there. I will listen for the noise. I found my car quite quiet, and I have the VESS disabled also. As for the color, yes, the halogens are much more yellow, and these are really white. They match the eyebrow LED running lights pretty well, so I think it will be fine for oncoming cars. The higher trimlines have LED's too, so it should be fine.
Not included with N.A. Kona EVs
KiwiME
Well-Known Member
Ok, it seems to be an EU requirement and this Kona was made for the Irish market. It will be handy for temporary adjustment if the LEDs don't have a sharp cut-off. If that's an issue I might have to put the halogens back in just for the govt inspection in two years as they always set the knob to zero for the test and will fail me if the cutoff is not sharp.
GPM432
Active Member
I'm sure you can do some sort of manual adjustment in the headlite area as well.
Maybe refer to this document for adjustment?
https://www.hkona.com/head_lamp_leveling_switch_repair_procedures-1514.html
NRH
Active Member
I've installed the parts from post #9. For about $40 I'm happy with it, but it certainly should be easier.
I didn't make a video because: a) it was a pain in the butt, and I was too occupied with figuring out the problems, and b) it's all too tight to really film what's going on. Also, once you've seen how the adaptor assembles, the rest of the arrangement is easy to understand.
The first side took me about an hour, because I had to diagnose a couple fitment problems, and then devise the solutions. The second side took me 10 minutes, because I already knew what the problems were, and could just make the adjustments before my fingers were crammed into the wheel well with a flashlight in my teeth.
Modifications I had to make:
2) The diameter of the plastic adaptor was too big to get past the metal housing that it needs to clip into. Taking this piece to the bench grinder, I took a 1/16 off the diameter (basically a 1/32" pass all the way around). I also made the tabs slightly narrower, particularly the wide one, and shortened them by 1/32" while I was at it. (It's the thickness of the tabs that secures them in place so reducing the other dimensions just made it easier to get things in place without compromising the fit.)
1) The orientation of the LEDs was such that the bulb could either be locked into place, or oriented vertically as it should be, but not both. To fix this, I removed the small Philips screw just above the fat o-ring on the bulb. This allows the plastic collar with the small tabs to rotate on the bulb. One one bulb I was able to rotate the collar 45 degrees and retighten the screw in it's original hole. On the second bulb I had to remove the collar, drill a new hole for the screw 45 degrees from the original, and reinstall it using the new hole. This may not be the case for all bulbs, since it doesn't sound like the others had this problem.
The end result is good. (lights are bright, cutoff is really sharp, light distribution is much wider than stock so side visibility is way better, with very evenly spread light pattern, visually, the low beams now match the DRLs, which was one of my main peeves)
However, there's no reason this project should be this complicated. Would I do it again? Not if I could pay $100 for a direct-fit version (like the Lasfit kit linked above) and get back an hour of my time. But if I knew exactly what the problems and solutions were, and had the means to fix them (as you might after reading this thread), I'd probably save $50 and get this mickey-mouse arrangement again. If you know what fixes to make before you start, it's a 20-30 minute job.
I didn't make a video because: a) it was a pain in the butt, and I was too occupied with figuring out the problems, and b) it's all too tight to really film what's going on. Also, once you've seen how the adaptor assembles, the rest of the arrangement is easy to understand.
The first side took me about an hour, because I had to diagnose a couple fitment problems, and then devise the solutions. The second side took me 10 minutes, because I already knew what the problems were, and could just make the adjustments before my fingers were crammed into the wheel well with a flashlight in my teeth.
Modifications I had to make:
2) The diameter of the plastic adaptor was too big to get past the metal housing that it needs to clip into. Taking this piece to the bench grinder, I took a 1/16 off the diameter (basically a 1/32" pass all the way around). I also made the tabs slightly narrower, particularly the wide one, and shortened them by 1/32" while I was at it. (It's the thickness of the tabs that secures them in place so reducing the other dimensions just made it easier to get things in place without compromising the fit.)
1) The orientation of the LEDs was such that the bulb could either be locked into place, or oriented vertically as it should be, but not both. To fix this, I removed the small Philips screw just above the fat o-ring on the bulb. This allows the plastic collar with the small tabs to rotate on the bulb. One one bulb I was able to rotate the collar 45 degrees and retighten the screw in it's original hole. On the second bulb I had to remove the collar, drill a new hole for the screw 45 degrees from the original, and reinstall it using the new hole. This may not be the case for all bulbs, since it doesn't sound like the others had this problem.
The end result is good. (lights are bright, cutoff is really sharp, light distribution is much wider than stock so side visibility is way better, with very evenly spread light pattern, visually, the low beams now match the DRLs, which was one of my main peeves)
However, there's no reason this project should be this complicated. Would I do it again? Not if I could pay $100 for a direct-fit version (like the Lasfit kit linked above) and get back an hour of my time. But if I knew exactly what the problems and solutions were, and had the means to fix them (as you might after reading this thread), I'd probably save $50 and get this mickey-mouse arrangement again. If you know what fixes to make before you start, it's a 20-30 minute job.
KiwiME
Well-Known Member
Noting that the OEM LED setup has an external heat sink for the LED driver, the only remaining question in my mind is whether there will be any heat build-up issues after an hour plus of use in hot weather. My LED bulbs will arrive during the hottest time of year, potentially 35°C, so I will consider myself on the hook for answering that question!
dheatherly
New Member
I ended up sending back the LEDs and instead purchased the set from msg #41 - already configured to fit the Kona. Replacement was super easy - and to me a bit more stable - less wiggle at least for me compared to using the adapter/LED combo. Light is brighter (and whiter) than stock halogens and the cut off is nice and oncoming traffic friendly.
GPM432
Active Member
Sometimes it's worth the extra for a piece of mind plus no hassle install.