Installing Halos

[ngwylie]

Hi,

I just came across this site and it seems extremely knowledgable and awesome! A lot of these threads across the forum will help me learn more about my 8g and cars altogether.

I ran into some problems the other day. I went to my auto shop to have some Halo lights installed, without really doing any research about how they can or should be installed. I put complete trust into my mechanic.

Well, here is what happened.

I went in the early morning and shows him the lights. He looked them over and told me "The only way I can make these Halos work is to drill a switch into your dash (which ended up being very hokey and ugly) and wire them to it. It's the only way and it will be about an extra $250 (Making the total $350).

Well, since he said it was the only way, I said I guess I better just bite the bullet and get them installed. I was pretty upset about it, because I bought the lights as *not needing modifications*. I had them installed, went home. I contacted the manufacturer of the lights asking what is up with having a whole new switch drilled into my dash to get these lights to even work. They explained to me a new switch is not required and that the lights could have been simply wired to my parking lights which would be quicker and cheaper.

I went back to my mechanic. Confronted him about it, asking why he did not mention this at all. He said "they are illegal to install without there being a seperate switch" (which he also did not mention any legalities to me until after it was done). I asked for proof of this law against halos. He said he couldn't even provide me with any. I went back home, did some more research, found that the Department of Transportation certifies Halos as being legal. I also looked up a lot of YouTube videos of people installing Halos and wiring them to the parking lights in literally 30 minutes or less.

I spoke with my mechanic again and he basically said that isn't true and that he charged me the correct amount to install halo headlights and the switch was still required to make the Halos work. I feel like he completely scammed me, and withheld information from me. I guess that I learned my lesson about trusting my mechanic (which my girlfriend had been going to for over 10 years).

Bad thing is, the mechanic is also the manager, and the owner is the manager's father. They wouldn't recompensate me for the entire custom switch bs (which shows that it took them 2.5 hours to install on my invoice!). They only offered me store credit which ofcourse I do not want because I'm not going there anymore! I have opened up a ticket with BBB since they are accredited with them. The manager still believes that my halos are completely illegal and that a seperate switch has to be used to make them work.

This is their facebook page, which is really new. It shows my post of feedback which is quite long, but it kind of goes more into detail, and shows that there were even more problems while they were working on my car.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Colora...32301670139627

Feel free to leave bad feedback... Also please let me know what you guys think of this situation...

[jubeiaire]

Print out the DOT regulation showing that OE replacement heads with halos are legal. Take your cell phone and record you showing the manager/mechanic the rules in print.
This should get you a refund, if not go home make a COPY of the recording keeping the original on your phone. email them a copy and tell them you are taking it to a lawer and civil court
Also ask him to show you the Hourly rate guide he used to come up with $125.00 per hour to drill one hole and run two/three wires (depending on switch type). Hell going to the dealer its regulated at $85.00hr.

To have custom settings done for my entire suspension is only $75.00Hr at a shop that only works on track/modified cars and im in NY, home of the overpriced.

After all this id suggest you go to sears and get a mechanics tool set, it will have the tools you need to do all basic work on your car covered in the Haynes repair manual.

[ngwylie]

The hourly rate is 80$/hr there. On the invoice it says they took 4 hours to install them. Is it realistic to take 4 hours to install head lights with a switch?? And wouldn't it take a lot shorter if they didn't do a custom switch?

[02redgalant]

Unfortunately this happens to everyone at least once; take it as a lesson learned and learn how to do it yourself to avoid this....especially mechanics... example being some shops charge 2 hrs of labor to do brakes but have you out in 45 mins...does that mean mechanic gets shorted 1 1/4 of labor because he does it so much he can do it faster then the alotted 2 hrs for the job?...if that was the case mechanics would take 4 hrs to do simple stuff just to get payed

fyi it really takes about 20 mins a soldering iron and heat shrink to wire halos up...and about 10 mins to remove 4 bolts offa each head lights......which you can easily learn and practice in a day or 2... of course there's plenty of risk by modifying a stock wiring to a vehicle
'
from a shop perspective
what they did technically is a legit way of installing halo's by adding a switch nothing wrong with it at all; and reduces possible risk to you and your vehicles wiring harness...modifying electrical wiring is a pretty risky business especially when its a factory harness and your adding modifying wiring to it incorrectly done easily means a vehicle fire or shorts RISKs they don't want to take ..theres really no need to go placing slanderish remarks all over the web when they did something correct

[ngwylie]

This is what I have found about Halogen Bulbs (My Halogen bulbs are H1).

The first halogen bulb for vehicle use, the H1, was introduced in 1962 by a consortium of European bulb and headlamp makers. This bulb has a single axial filament that consumes 55 watts at 12.0 volts, and produces 1550 lumens ±15% when operated at 13.2 V. H2 (55 W @ 12.0 V, 1820 lm @ 13.2 V) followed in 1964, and the transverse-filament H3 (55 W @ 12.0 V, 1450 lm ±15%) in 1966. H1 still sees wide use in low beams, high beams and auxiliary foglamp and driving lamps, as does H3. The H2 does not see wide use any more because it requires an intricate bulb holder interface to the lamp, has a short life and is difficult to handle. For those reasons, H2 was withdrawn from ECE Regulation 37 for use in new lamp designs (though H2 bulbs are still manufactured for replacement purposes in existing lamps). The use of H1 and H3 bulbs was legalised in the United States in 1997. More recent single-filament bulb designs include the H7 (55 W @ 12.0 V, 1500 lm ±10% @ 13.2 V), H8 (35 W @ 12.0 V, 800 lm ±15% @ 13.2 V), H9 (65 W @ 12.0 V, 2100 lm ±10% @ 13.2 V), and H11 (55 W @ 12.0 V, 1350 lm ±10% @ 13.2 V). 24-volt versions of many bulb types are available for use in trucks, buses, and other commercial and military vehicles.

[jubeiaire]

Yeah i feel you red but lets be real. It doesent take moe than 20 min to change our headlight housing and thats including pulling the cr into the shop and bck out again. 4hrs to change housings and wire a switch,,,max would be two hours.....15 minutes to change the housing and 72 minutes to run the wires properly with supporting brackets soldering connections and installing rubber gromets in the fire wall to prevent knicking the wires.

End result the OP got riped off. its up to him to fight, but im with you 100% do all your simple work yourself.

[Corey2kG]

Thats fucked up big time time sorry bro

[ngwylie]

I'll be calling the auto shop tomorrow and sending them information about H1 bulbs. One big problem is that the Owner's son is the manager (the manager is who I've been fighting with) and when I tried to speak with the owner, he didn't even talk to me and he just agreed with his son.

[jubeiaire]

well that makes it easier to sue them both

[johnygezony]

Was the Mechanic a double amputee ? thats about the only reason it would take that long to do all that work. Echoing what everyone else has said, Get a decent set of tools and dig in, you will be amazed at the amount of money you will have saved at the end of the year, Hell I do my own breaks and i replaced my radiator last winter and to my surprise it was all a piece of cake, and I'm only 18 years old. Also when you work on your own car you get a sense of attachment to it, and you learn even more about what transports you safely from place to place.

[ngwylie]

I am already extremely attached to my galant haha. I really want to get more into the technical side of cars so I think I will try to self-teach myself about it. There's so many resources on the internet, anyone should be able to do simple maintenance.

[ngwylie]

Long post of everything I have found out about bulbs in case if anyone has the same problem I have in the future...


The first halogen bulb for vehicle use, the H1, was introduced in 1962 by a consortium of European bulb and headlamp makers. This bulb has a single axial filament that consumes 55 watts at 12.0 volts, and produces 1550 lumens ±15% when operated at 13.2*V. H2 (55*W @ 12.0*V, 1820*lm @ 13.2*V) followed in 1964, and the transverse-filament H3 (55*W @ 12.0*V, 1450*lm ±15%) in 1966. H1 still sees wide use in low beams, high beams and auxiliary foglamp and driving lamps, as does H3. The H2 does not see wide use any more because it requires an intricate bulb holder interface to the lamp, has a short life and is difficult to handle. For those reasons, H2 was withdrawn from ECE Regulation 37 for use in new lamp designs (though H2 bulbs are still manufactured for replacement purposes in existing lamps). The use of H1 and H3 bulbs was legalised in the United States in 1997. More recent single-filament bulb designs include the H7 (55*W @ 12.0*V, 1500*lm ±10% @ 13.2*V), H8 (35*W @ 12.0*V, 800*lm ±15% @ 13.2*V), H9 (65*W @ 12.0*V, 2100*lm ±10% @ 13.2*V), and H11 (55*W @ 12.0*V, 1350*lm ±10% @ 13.2*V). 24-volt versions of many bulb types are available for use in trucks, buses, and other commercial and military vehicles.




From manufacturer -


Hi,

The bulbs are H1 and you need to go back to the shop and ask them why they charge you so much. The plug is already there for you to plug in to the stock wires, also you only need to wire the the halogens to your parking light, it does not need another switch for it. The shop you brought it to has done a lot of unnecessary work.
Thank you




ECE Regulations


Under ECE Regulation 37, which governs automotive filament lamps in most of the world, the H1 lamp's nominal rating is 55 watts at 12 volts, and its test rating is 68w (maximum) and 1550 ±15% lumens at 13.2v. R37 also contains provisions for 6-volt, 55-watt and 24-volt, 70-watt H1 lamps.[1]. The United States government doesn't recognise ECE regulations, but rather applies its own regulations. Under these, the H1 is rated 65w (maximum) and 1410 lumens ±15% at 12.8v.[2] Despite the two different sets of specified voltages and test protocols, the lamps themselves are the same; with few exceptions, 12-volt H1 lamps are generally manufactured and tested to comply with both regulations.
Under ECE regulations, H1 lamps are required to emit white or selective yellow light.[1] U.S. regulations require H1 lamps to emit white light.[2] Under both ECE and U.S. specifications, the allowable range of white light is quite large; some H1 lamps have a slight blue or yellow tint to the glass yet still produce light legally acceptable under the requirement for white light.
(Mine are 5900k which is a slight tint of blue and is legally acceptable as white, and are also 55w)
This page gives you information on, why these Blue Headlight Bulbs are illegal, the possible dangers, and why they should not be used. Don't confuse the bulbs we are talking about here with the legal blue ones which we also supply that merely offer a gentle blue tint, such as the Osram "Cool Blues" or our own brand of Cobalt bulbs. See LEGAL OPTIONS HERE (under legal options, they have H1 55w blue tint bulb). The fact is these illegal "off road only" bulbs reduce headlamp performance while increasing dangerous glare. These Bulbs reduce road safety, for you and other drivers.
The output of normal filament bulbs includes a great deal of red, orange, yellow and green light, but very little blue or violet light. (Though the human eye only sees it as white) The illegal Blue bulbs we are talking about here have coloured glass (or a filter coating applied to clear glass) that allows only the blue light through the filter — this is why the bulbs appear blue. Because very little blue light is produced by a normal halogen or xenon bulbs in the first place, it is only this very small percentage of the total amount of light produced by the filament, that ever gets projected on to the road.
A standard H1 headlight (or blue Tint legal one) will run off your cars normal 12v 55w output. The illegal H1 runs at 12v 100w. (again, mine are H1 55w bulbs)

Tons and tons more information available simply by searching it on any search engine.

If you really need to know I have been driving at night time every night since having my car back, in plain sight of police, at the police station, right in front of them, showing my lights and not getting pulled over.

[johnygezony]

I think if you want anyone to read that your going to need to paraphrase it

[ngwylie]

Yeah haha sorry... I originally have the most important stuff bold and underlines but it didn't paste the same way. It is now fixed above.