HID headlights

[Ron Sircar]

Hello all

I came across some factory HID headlights on a 2003 LS at the junk yard, are they plug and play to a 2003 LS that had the regular headlights or do they require a specific wiring harness? does a car with HID's from the factory require a higher amp alternator than normal?

Please let me know

Thanks

Ron

P.S. just curious are headlights interchangeable across all years of Lincoln LS's? and is there any HID fog lights available?

 

[joegr]

They are nearly plug-n-play. There's a keying tab that you will have to file off to get them to plug in. LSes with factory HIDs do have slightly different wiring, including an external headlight relay. However, reportedly this is not really needed, and they should work just fine when you plug them into your LS.

Why would the factory HIDs require a bigger alternator? The halogen headlights take 50W each, so 100 Watts total. The factory HIDs take 35W each, so 70 Watts total. (This is for low beams only, add another 100W if the high beams are on, and of course a few more watts for running lights. The point being that HIDs take less power than the normal headlights.)

Headlights between the two generations (2000-2002, and 2003-2006) do not fit perfectly. You could make it work if you swapped a few other parts too.

There were no factory HID foglights.

 

[Ron Sircar]

Thank you once again for the valuable information, I bought them for $25 each however the yard could not
verify if they still work or not, they do appear undamaged visually at least

Could you please tell me what parts would need to be swapped in order to use HID factory headlights from a 2nd gen car onto a 1st gen? reason being as I do not need to cannibalize my 2001 V8 LS for parts I want to fix and modify it as a new DD, the same yard where I got parts for my 2003 also has a 1st gen LSE (unsure if the LSE has HID lights or not) and another second gen car with HIDs I could buy inexpensively

They are nearly plug-n-play. There's a keying tab that you will have to file off to get them to plug in. LSes with factory HIDs do have slightly different wiring, including an external headlight relay. However, reportedly this is not really needed, and they should work just fine when you plug them into your LS.

Why would the factory HIDs require a bigger alternator? The halogen headlights take 50W each, so 100 Watts total. The factory HIDs take 35W each, so 70 Watts total. (This is for low beams only, add another 100W if the high beams are on, and of course a few more watts for running lights. The point being that HIDs take less power than the normal headlights.)

Headlights between the two generations (2000-2002, and 2003-2006) do not fit perfectly. You could make it work if you swapped a few other parts too.

There were no factory HID foglights.

 

[joegr]

Use Google site search and you should find all the info you need on it.

BTW, Halogen headlights sometimes get sold as HID, since HID is molded into the plastic housings. Your real HID headlights should have yellow warning stickers on them and should have the ballasts installed.

 

[Ron Sircar]

Use Google site search and you should find all the info you need on it.

BTW, Halogen headlights sometimes get sold as HID, since HID is molded into the plastic housings. Your real HID headlights should have yellow warning stickers on them and should have the ballasts installed.

Thanks, yes these had the yellow warning stickers on housings which is how I identified them

 

[Andrizzle]

$50 for a pair of factory HIDs on this car is a good get. They are now almost impossible to find, and have always been extremely expensive. Now losing a factory HID headlight or both in an accident can easily total some LSes.

 

[Ron Sircar]

$50 for a pair of factory HIDs on this car is a good get. They are now almost impossible to find, and have always been extremely expensive. Now losing a factory HID headlight or both in an accident can easily total some LSes.

There is at least one more set at the yard I got these from, do the first gen LSE cars come with them standard or was it an option? I did see a 2002 LSE that was intact there, I'm going back for the front and rear bumpers and side skirts and to check if that car had HID lights

 

[joegr]

There were no factory HIDs on the 1st gen LS (2000-2002). HIDs were an option on 2003 to 2006 LS. I don't know of any relation between HIDs and LSE.

 

[BrianDye]

Man sounds like you found a gold mine. Easy money if you pull those parts and sell them. Judging by the fact the cars are still intact, that lot doesn't know how valuable those parts are. (Most will strip that stuff, sell it online)

I would love an LSE front bumper, but I refuse to get a second mortgage to get one!

 

[FDR]

and is there any HID fog lights available?

There were no factory HID foglights.

I don't think I've ever heard of factory HID fogs on any production car. It looks like most manufacturers could care less about fog lights and just half-ass them to keep customers happy. LEDs are picking up, though.

LSes with factory HIDs do have slightly different wiring, including an external headlight relay. However, reportedly this is not really needed, and they should work just fine when you plug them into your LS.

What did it do? I'm guessing it keeps the low beams on all the time to reduce startup wear on the bulb and avoid the startup delay on the HIDs. IIRC Gen 2s keep the lows on for flash-to-pass, but turn off when locked. But maybe I'm wrong. My Gen 1 turns off the lows any time the highs are on. Fogs too, I think.

Why would the factory HIDs require a bigger alternator? The halogen headlights take 50W each, so 100 Watts total. The factory HIDs take 35W each, so 70 Watts total.

I see a lot of misinformation and confusion about HIDs. Some people automatically correlate more light with more power consumption. Many people also worry about the higher temps of HIDs. While they have higher surface temps, HIDs give off much less radiation heat. A typical 35w HID bulb will produce about 50% more light with about 35% less power consumption than a 55w halogen. They also don't defrost lenses in winter.

Could you please tell me what parts would need to be swapped in order to use HID factory headlights from a 2nd gen car onto a 1st gen?

If you're just swapping the lights, I think it just takes the header panel, which is what the lights bolt into. I'm not sure if the bumper is necessary. Then again, there are people out there who just swap the lights or just the bumper and call it a [gappy] day

 

[joegr]

...What did it do? I'm guessing it keeps the low beams on all the time to reduce startup wear on the bulb and avoid the startup delay on the HIDs. IIRC Gen 2s keep the lows on for flash-to-pass, but turn off when locked. But maybe I'm wrong. My Gen 1 turns off the lows any time the highs are on. Fogs too, I think...

Gen II keeps the low beams on all the time the headlights are on, even with the high beams on. This is true for both halogen and HID. I suspect the added relay is there to stop the small leakage current from the halogen bulb out warning check circuit.

 

[LSinYourLS]

When I added the factory HID to my 2000 I created plug and play wiring for the headlamps. Please note, this is for the DRIVER'S headlamp, the Passenger's is similar, but a few of the wire colors are different. The large 8-pin connecter on the left is where the original Gen1 headlamp harness plugs in, the 2 connectors on the right are from the 2003+ headlamps. You'll need to splice the turn signals together in order to keep the LED Parking light in the headlamp.

As well as a harness to keep the high and low beam on at the same time:

 

[LunaEros]

As well as a harness to keep the high and low beam on at the same time:

View attachment 828565406

Could someone label and explain the black relay circuit to keep the high beams on with the low? I'd like to use it to keep my high beams on in my 02.