Midwest Light Creations- HID Headlights and Retrofit Kits (Headlights by Jeff)

turbovan+tdi

turbovan+tdi

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Location
Abbotsford, BC.
TDI
2003 TDI 2.0L ALH, auto, silver wagon, lowered, Colt stage 2 cam, ported head,205 injectors, 1756 turbo, Malone 2.0, 3" exhaust, 18" BBS RC GLI rims. 2004 blue GSW TDI, 5 speed, lowered, GLI BBS wheels painted black, Malone stage 2, Aerotur
Just bought a MkIV Jetta, these are on my to buy list. Great job.
 
VeeDubTDI

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
vili19 said:
Hey, I've red a lot of reviews where the HID bulbs will actually melt the plastic lenses??
Click to expand...
Melt the plastic lenses or burn the metallic coating off of the reflector bowl? I have never heard of anyone melting the lenses.
 
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freakwithracket

Vendor
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
Melt the headlight lenses?? No, never heard of that. I think what you may have heard, but are misunderstanding, is when people put HID bulbs in some halogen projectors that used plastic lenses on the projectors themselves. There are projectors designed for HID bulb and those designed for halogen bulbs. The HID projectors always have glass lenses. Some of the cheaper halogen projectors have plastic lenses and those have been known to melt/warp under high heat. But the headlight lens?? Never.

Headlight housings have too much room and too much air capable of absorbing the heat from an HID bulb for the lenses to melt. In addition to thermal resistance, the headlight lenses themselves are essentially air cooled while driving..so in all no, the HIDs won't melt the plastic headlight lenses. It is also worth noting that there are plenty of factory HID headlights that come stock with plastic lenses..
 
T

TCsWhiteKnight

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Location
Twin Cities, Minnesota
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS MK4
I'm talking with Jeff right now about getting these for my car. My issue is I did a HID retrofit kit that uses the stock 9007 housing. They made a world of difference with brightness, but not with range or field of vision. Oncoming traffic doesn't agree with them either. The biggest problem I have is on rainy days the inside of my lens condenses moisture and creates a fogging effect reducing my 55W HID's to the effectiveness of candles. I am wondering if anyone who has the Jetta 1.75 or 2.0 setup has experienced this. Please give your input when used in the rain thanks. I don't want to get OEM, they don't look that good and way too expensive.
 
VeeDubTDI

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
Jeff's setups work great in the rain and snow. No internal fogging or water condensation whatsoever.
 
VeeDubTDI

VeeDubTDI

Wanderluster, Traveler, TDIClub Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2000
Location
Springfield, VA
TDI
‘18 Tesla Model 3D+, ‘14 Cadillac ELR, ‘13 Fiat 500e
Jason just installed Jeff's new 55 watt ballasts on our Mk4... we weren't totally satisfied with the original 35 watt ballasts due to poor output and very blue color temperature.

I will let the pictures speak for themselves... all pics are direct comparisons with one light with a 35 watt ballast and the other with a 55 watt ballasts. I took the pictures with AE lock on and the camera focused at a white box top approximately 3 feet in front of the headlights. What you see below is the way it really is... no exposure gimmicks or white balance adjustments.

Low beam 35 watt


Low beam 55 watt


High beam 35 watt


High beam 55 watt


Wow! Can't wait to take it for a drive once it gets dark out. :cool:
 
F

freakwithracket

Vendor
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
2014 Passat: A challenging retrofit to be sure. Wiring was fun. The LED strips in particular were difficult to mount, but after giving it some thought and 40 minutes in the hardware store I made it happen. In the end though they came out great. The LED strip is actually rather impressive and the amber turn feature on it is neat.




 
cevans

cevans

TDIClub Enthusiast, TDI Parts Ninja Vendor , w/Bus
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Location
Hingham, MA
TDI
2015 Beetle Conv. TDI 6-Speed & 2006 E320 CDI
freakwithracket said:
2014 Passat: A challenging retrofit to be sure. Wiring was fun. The LED strips in particular were difficult to mount, but after giving it some thought and 40 minutes in the hardware store I made it happen. In the end though they came out great. The LED strip is actually rather impressive and the amber turn feature on it is neat.



Click to expand...
^OE lights or aftermarket?
 
cevans

cevans

TDIClub Enthusiast, TDI Parts Ninja Vendor , w/Bus
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Location
Hingham, MA
TDI
2015 Beetle Conv. TDI 6-Speed & 2006 E320 CDI
Wow, sweet! Sent you a PM too.
 
P

Psymos

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Western PA
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
ok, so i have a headlight question for you guru's! :)

my headlights from jeff have been working AMAZING up until a couple weeks or so ago. (completely unrelated to his design/workmanship!)

so i was driving to work in the morning in a crappy sleet/rain storm and my low beams starting flickering for a couple minutes and ultimately failed completely a few minutes later. High beams work perfect with no flickering or any other defects.

Yesterday I finally got around to be able to tinker with them and found out that it blew a low beam fuse so i replaced it and received no change...no low beams still. So i thought maybe my wiring rubbed or broke somewhere causing a short to blow the fuse. I traced all the wiring and found no defects.

So I did some research and found people giving the same type of failure description i received and saying the remedy was the turn signal stalk. But what has me confused is, if it is indeed the stalk why did i blow a fuse? and i also swapped the wires on the relay (so that low beam on the stalk = high beam and high beam = low beam) if it were the stalk the low beam portion of the stalk would still not operate correctly right?

for example:

NORMAL
STALK
LOW BEAM - not working
HIGH BEAM - working
------------------------------------------
SWITCHED RELAY WIRING
STALK
LOW BEAM - Works - Shows high beams
HIGH BEAM - not working - should show low beams right?


sorry if it this is explained badly. im in between classes and dont have much time to proof read. I can explain stuff in more detail later.
 
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freakwithracket

Vendor
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
When you say that you switched the wires on the relay, where exactly are you talking about? Did you switch the low and high wires at the connection point between the HID harness and the headlight? Also, which fuse blew, the one inside the car, or the one on the HID harness? When you hit the high beams the HIDs come on and work without any flickering, etc? Do the high beams work if you push the stalk forward as well as pulling it back?
 
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Psymos

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Western PA
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
freakwithracket said:
When you say that you switched the wires on the relay, where exactly are you talking about? Did you switch the low and high wires at the connection point between the HID harness and the headlight? Also, which fuse blew, the one inside the car, or the one on the HID harness? When you hit the high beams the HIDs come on and work without any flickering, etc? Do the high beams work if you push the stalk forward as well as pulling it back?
Click to expand...
when im talking about the relay, im referring to the 3 prong connector. I was fiddling around and being as though they werent working to begin with, i tried switching the wires just for ****s and giggles.

the fuse in the car blew, the one thats connected to the HID harness/battery is still good (at least it looks good, i can try replacing it just in case its bad, but im assuming that because the high beams work, the fuse is good?)

and yes the high beams work perfect, no flickering. and the high beams DO work when i push the stalk forward and when i pull it back!

thanks for the help jeff. I didnt want to email you because maybe it was something stupid or dumb that i was overlooking and didnt want to look like an idiot like last time i emailed you! :eek::eek:
 
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freakwithracket

Vendor
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
Not a problem, and while I don't recall our last conversation, I also don't recall anyone ever looking like an "idiot"..all questions are welcome as far as I am concerned.

Under the stock/normal setup with the wiring of the three pins, if activating the high beams makes the ballasts and bulbs come on, then you can obviously rule out any issue with the ballasts and bulbs. The harness and relay is TBD, more on this in a moment.

If indeed the issue was the turn signal stalk, you would have blown a fuse because all the wiring for the low and high beams goes through there. I have read a lot about metal shavings and whatnot causing arching and shorting in there. It is just something that happens with age. Say something was shorting out the low beam power, then it would likely blow the fuse, and you'd get the issues that you have. On that note, you might want to check that fuse again and see if it blew a second time..

It is possible that whatever blew the fuse in the car also partially blew the relay. Do you have an electrical meter? You need to disconnect that connector and take the + probe and touch the low beam wire (yellow) while taking the - probe and touching it to the battery - or some other body metal. Do that with the low beams on and see if you get voltage. If you do not, there is something wrong with the car's internal wiring. If you get your normal 12V, then there is something wrong with the relay. If you don't have an electrical meter, you can just pop an H4 bulb in that socket if you happen to have one.
 
P

Psymos

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Western PA
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
freakwithracket said:
Not a problem, and while I don't recall our last conversation, I also don't recall anyone ever looking like an "idiot"..all questions are welcome as far as I am concerned.

Under the stock/normal setup with the wiring of the three pins, if activating the high beams makes the ballasts and bulbs come on, then you can obviously rule out any issue with the ballasts and bulbs. The harness and relay is TBD, more on this in a moment.

If indeed the issue was the turn signal stalk, you would have blown a fuse because all the wiring for the low and high beams goes through there. I have read a lot about metal shavings and whatnot causing arching and shorting in there. It is just something that happens with age. Say something was shorting out the low beam power, then it would likely blow the fuse, and you'd get the issues that you have. On that note, you might want to check that fuse again and see if it blew a second time..

It is possible that whatever blew the fuse in the car also partially blew the relay. Do you have an electrical meter? You need to disconnect that connector and take the + probe and touch the low beam wire (yellow) while taking the - probe and touching it to the battery - or some other body metal. Do that with the low beams on and see if you get voltage. If you do not, there is something wrong with the car's internal wiring. If you get your normal 12V, then there is something wrong with the relay. If you don't have an electrical meter, you can just pop an H4 bulb in that socket if you happen to have one.
Click to expand...
i actually do have a meter, ill check it out before my next class and report back.

So im going to assume it is most likely the stock, ive been meaning to replace it for a while because of the "turn signal click" its been doing for a couple years. Maybe this is a good time to upgrade to an r32 wheel also :D:p

our last convo was about me asking you about the turn signals being in the wrong spot, then i realized i had 2 different lights next to each other ;) :p
 
D

drywaller

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Location
USA
TDI
VDUBS
That happened with mine when I first had them installed. Turned out one of the pigtails was not seated correctly. Perhaps yours has to to with the daytime running g lights feature?
 
P

Psymos

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Western PA
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
Just checked it. And they yellow wire is showing 12v. I'll go over my connections again maybe they wiggled loose from our awesome roads here in NEPA.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
F

freakwithracket

Vendor
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
Looking at the female connector from the back of it, it should be yellow on top, brown on left, and white on right. Make sure what when you put them back in the connector that they are click back into place. To make that happen, make sure that you bend/push the tiny fish hooks back on each of the three terminals.

If you are getting 12V on that female connector, then your stock wiring is working at this point, temporary at least. There must be either something wrong with the relay or the connector is not seating correctly. How this happened: my guess is that you have a faulty turn signal stalk. The issue as you have read in other threads, is that the switch wears down, and dirt and whatnot gets in there and causes connections to occur that should not (as indicated by things such as the clicking). In this case I think the switch was either not holding the circuit for a few seconds or was arching for a few seconds. Either way, I think it was sending power to the relay in an rapid on/off/on/off fashion hence the flickering and likely burnt out the low beam trigger on the relay.

The other reasoning would be to say that the relay is what was faulty and somehow shorted out causing the fuse to blow. This would certainly be a plausible explanation, however given the know issue with the turn signal switch, it is hard to over look that in favor of this. Either way, the best way to approach it at this point is to go with a new turn signal stalk and new relay, assuming you check your connections and they seem to seat correctly.

A test you could do to verify a bad relay would be to remove the relay from the harness. With the H4 connector plugged in and the low beams on, you can color match the low beam wire to the connector and test for voltage up at the relay connector. That will pretty much isolate the problem to the relay if you do get voltage up there. Let me know if that explanation was confusing. The idea is that if you get voltage all the way up to the point where the power goes into the relay box, and we know the bulbs and ballasts are good, then the issue must be the relay box itself.
 
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Psymos

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Western PA
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
freakwithracket said:
Looking at the female connector from the back of it, it should be yellow on top, brown on left, and white on right. Make sure what when you put them back in the connector that they are click back into place. To make that happen, make sure that you bend/push the tiny fish hooks back on each of the three terminals.

If you are getting 12V on that female connector, then your stock wiring is working at this point, temporary at least. There must be either something wrong with the relay or the connector is not seating correctly. How this happened: my guess is that you have a faulty turn signal stalk. The issue as you have read in other threads, is that the switch wears down, and dirt and whatnot gets in there and causes connections to occur that should not (as indicated by things such as the clicking). In this case I think the switch was either not holding the circuit for a few seconds or was arching for a few seconds. Either way, I think it was sending power to the relay in an rapid on/off/on/off fashion hence the flickering and likely burnt out the low beam trigger on the relay.

The other reasoning would be to say that the relay is what was faulty and somehow shorted out causing the fuse to blow. This would certainly be a plausible explanation, however given the know issue with the turn signal switch, it is hard to over look that in favor of this. Either way, the best way to approach it at this point is to go with a new turn signal stalk and new relay, assuming you check your connections and they seem to seat correctly.

A test you could do to verify a bad relay would be to remove the relay from the harness. With the H4 connector plugged in and the low beams on, you can color match the low beam wire to the connector and test for voltage up at the relay connector. That will pretty much isolate the problem to the relay if you do get voltage up there. Let me know if that explanation was confusing. The idea is that if you get voltage all the way up to the point where the power goes into the relay box, and we know the bulbs and ballasts are good, then the issue must be the relay box itself.
Click to expand...
I checked over all of my connections and they were good. I notice when I flip from my low beams (which aren't working) to high beams you can hear them click on. but i can hear nothing at all when flipping just the low beams on via the head light switch. I tried replacing the headlight switch just in case and no change.

Sorry, but im a little confused by what you mean. You are saying trace that yellow wire to the H4 (the thing where all the wires come together)? or the 3-prong connector, which is where i already tested for power?

Either way, I am definitely replacing the stalk, ordering it tomorrow and replacing it as soon as I get it in.
 
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freakwithracket

Vendor
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
Don't worry about doing that other test, it is not really important at this point. The fact that you switched the high beam and low beam wires and nothing changed pretty much narrows it down to the relay harness. The test would have singled out the relay as the problem, rather than say the wiring inside the harness, but that is moot because we'll just replace the whole harness.

I'm going to send you a replacement. I would wait until you replace that turn signal stalk before installing the new harness, or you may just blow the new harness as well.

Please PM me with your address and I'll get it out to you in the morning.

Jeff
 
H

Hellfire

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Location
Edmonton, AB
TDI
'14 Jetta TDI Highline
Going to be sending off some headlights for retrofitting by Jeff this week, he has been extremely helpful in answering all my (likely silly) questions. I'm looking forward to seeing his work first hand :)
 
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Psymos

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2012
Location
Western PA
TDI
2002 Jetta TDI
Jeff,

Just letting you know I replaced my turn signal stalk and there was no change. However when I replaced the part you sent me (after replacing and testing the new stalk) it worked like a charm!! So maybe like you said, the stalk failed cause the connector to burn out? Thank you again for all of your help! I really appreciate it!

Thanks again!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
carbonbl

carbonbl

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Joined
Jan 8, 2014
Location
###
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS Wagon
A review...

I purchased a set of lights for my Jetta from Jeff a couple months ago and have been very satisfied with them. I went with the GLI style housings, which at first I thought looked a little too "modified" but they have grown on me. I had a small issue soon after installing them with a high beam not working, which disappeared after I disconnected and reconnected some wires. I contacted Jeff and he replied very quickly and was helpful in providing ways to diagnose the issue, even though it ended up basically solving itself. Other than that they have been trouble free. Install was easy, although I did have to space the bottom of the passenger side light out about 3/4" with some large washers. I also put XPEL headlight film on to prevent lens clouding.

Light quality is a big improvement over stock, especially in low beam where I spend the most time during my commute. High beam is not as good as HID lights in other cars I have driven, still better than stock US halogens though. This is understandable because of the inherent limitations of a single projector design like this, as activating high beam just reveals the upper part of the same bulb's light pattern. I have yet to wire up the fogs but plan to do so soon. I would also like to clean up the wiring a bit when I have some time, as it looks a little chaotic without removing excess length and wrapping wires together.

Overall, recommended!
 
boertje

boertje

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Location
Coeur d'Alene, ID
TDI
'01, '01, '03, ‘06 NB - TDIs all.
Carbonbl, which ballast are you using? I trashed the original 35w DC ballast Jeff first sent out and got some 55w AC type. Wow, major difference. They are now as good overall as my bug with OEM HID.
Jeff now has the better ballast if you don't have them already.
 
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