pdxgen2

Hello all!

After wanting one since 2008, I finally picked up a "new-to-me" 2014 absolute red xb2 with only 20362 miles on it today...woo hoo!

Problem being, the previous owner installed HIDs, and being an "intelligent" individual, he/she picked the blue light output, which basically means I cant see the damn road when the headlights are on...so, in the next day or two I am going to be going in and ripping out the HIDs and hopefully they are plug and play, and I can return to the stock low beam bulbs...

here's the question...stock low beam bulbs are H11, 55w low beam only bulbs, correct?

and there is no way those HIDs are factory, are they? Scion never offered HIDs in the XB2, correct?

one more stupid question...when i open the passenger/driver doors, the interior lights above the dash doesn't come on, and i dont see a button to toggle them to come on when the door is opened, so what's the trick to getting the lights to come on when I open the doors?

Thanks all, I'll post pics in the next month or so after my lowering springs are installed, the rear wing is purchased and installed, and the new 18" wheels and tires are on the car...I can't stand driving it around stock...lol!

TheotherBMan

If you don't like the blue you can replace the bulbs with 4.5k like OEMs use. If you go back to halogen bulbs you will need to remove the ballasts and hopefully previous owner didn't cut/splice the install. If you are talking about the map lights you press the lens to turn on, they are not connected to door switches.

midtowndesi

1) Scion never offered an HID option from the factory

2) As stated, those map lights are not wired into the door switch. Only the dome light is wired to the door switch and will come on when your door is open only if the dome light switch is set to the 'door' setting. I've seen people put in brighter/led bulbs here which makes the interior nice and bright when you open the door at night.

I also found the interior to be super dark so i installed 2 sets of cathodes - 1 pair above the driver/passenger foot areas, and the other set under the rear seats. I also put 2 super bright LEDs in the cupholders.

pdxgen2

thanks for the help guys...found out that the lamps right above the drivers and passengers seat weren't the interior lamps I was thinking of...found the dome lamp back farther and it was switched off, simple fix...but yeah, the lighting is pretty weak....

and after reading this quote below on another car forum, I will definitely be switching back to halogen, but I will be relaying the low beams of course to achieve maximum light output....

"#1 H.I.D.'s "burn" Hotter. (As in- the temperature within the headlight housing will be greater).

#2 H.I.D.'s have a greater amperage draw. (The simple math formula of watts/amps/volts= more watts/same volts= greater current draw).

This is the simple part- package on new bulb says 80w. Old bulb says 55w. That's an increase of almost 50%. All cars are made for profit- all wiring is the smallest gauge possible to save cost, they're not large enough for anything larger than "factory".

Go through a parking lot and look at Chevy pickup truck 3rd brake lights. I guarantee you will find some that are melted from having a 15w bulb installed instead of a 12w.

They (HIDs) can melt your headlights.
They can melt the plugs in your harness (typical spot where resistance is greater, thus excessive heat).
They can melt your wiring to the point of shorting and causing a fire.
I have seen this on friend's cars."

Greg S

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't worry too much about the HID melting the headlight assembly. I've run mine for 8 years now and never had an issue with it. It sounds like whoever had the car before you probably used 8000K temp bulbs which are blue and suck for visibility. You can just swap to a 4300K-5000K temperature 35 watt bulb and you'll gain the better light output of the HID without the worry of overheating anything in the housing. Or you can swap back to halogens if you want.

pdxgen2

Yup, just swapped in some 5000k bulbs not 15 minutes ago...MUCH better! I'll see how much better they are when I drive home from work tonight, i mean, i KNOW theyll be better, but i cant wait to see just how much.....those 8000k bulbs are such crapp!! You cant see a damn thing! lol!

pdxgen2

wow, drove home after working swing shift last night...amazing what the correct light bulb can do...i could actually see!! lol!

pdxgen2

well boys and girls, i removed the HID kit today and went back to halogen....the new bulbs i bought off ebay for cheap were nice and bright and white for a few days, then they began getting dimmer and dimmer each night on my drive home from work...so yeah, I would probably need to buy expensive HID bulbs, but there is no way i am paying $30 and up for friggin headlight bulbs....I will be relaying the oem h11 bulbs in the next day or two and I'll be seeing really well with the halogens from now on....