Changing the 194's in the headlights

[blackmagik_13]

Beforehand, if you're interested, you can get these bulbs at 2 places:

www.superbrightleds.com

OR

www.autolumination.com

ON to the how to! :D

Ok, this morning, I changed my 194 bulbs in the headlights to LED's. Before I did this though, I asked around, got directions on how to, and attempted it. Which resluted in the following set of instructions I am posting for anyone else that wants proper knowledge before attempting. :D .....and if anyone here is like me, I myself like to understand what I'm doing before I do it.....!!!

1) Open your hood......:sarc.....obviously......



2) And locate the two covering on the back of the headlight housings.



3) Don't forget to disconnect your battery to avoid any electrical problems....



4) Remove the cover of the housing. There is a clip on the top of it that you need to press down on. Just press down on and pull out ....!!!! BE VERY CAREFUL, the clip is made of a soft plastic, and breaks very easily, as I found out. !!!! Use a flat head screw driver if you can't get it out with just your hands....but again, be very careful.



The cover looks like this alone, just to give you guys a better understanding of how it fits on there.....



5) The inside of the back of the headlight looks like this......the 194 holder is in the upper right of this picture.



6) The red in this picture highlights where the 194 bulb holder is located. I used some needle nosed pliers to grab this one out b/c it's a little hard to get to, but if you do use pliers, be sure to only grab hold of the black plastic part, and NOT THE WIRES!!! *one could possibly use tweezers even, but DO NOT GRAB THE WIRES!!!
Just pull back and the holder will come right out. Pull straight back and as soon as enough clearance is available for the light, lift it up for easier access.



7) Lift the light up after pulling it out.



8) In my case, I'm replacing it with a hyper white LED. Be sure not to touch the end of the LED, and whenever you replace it, be sure to reconnect the battery and turn on the lights to make sure that the LED is correctly inserted.



Make sure it works by reconnecting the battery and turning on the parking lights.....




Put the light back in, and make sure it's all the way in, so it doesn't come loose with all the vibrations of the vehicle. Get the plastic covering and make sure there are no wires sticking out when attempting to snap it back on. Insert the two tabs on the bottom of the cover into the inserts and then push the clip back in on the top. Basically, just do everything in reverse. Then do the other side.

The passenger side is a little more difficult. I actually could have used some tweezers to get the 194 holder and light out, but I just used my hands because I didn't want to accidentally pull any wires out. It's hard to get a descent grip on the holder. On the passenger side, you don't need to remove anything besides the cover, although it is a tight squeez between the cover and the washer fluid. I did it, so it's possible. Do the exact same thing as the drivers side, and you should be good. Be careful again, with all the wiring........

Hope this helps :D

P.S. I'll have some pics up tonight of what the white LED's look like at night......currently, i notice that they give off this purplish/blue hue....

[first mazda]

Why can't you touch the ends of the LEDs?

[blackmagik_13]

B/c each bulb is sodered onto the base, each light individually,...so, they're really fragile, and if you touch them you run the risk of messing them up, like breaking the connection. I accidentally did it with one of them, so I just thought I'd give a heads up so nobody else waste's their money.....:D

ALSO.......can't get the pics tonight of the white's from far away, it's raining. :(

[blackmagik_13]

Allright, finally got around to taking the pics. Sorry, couldn't that night.....it was raining. But , HERE THEY ARE!!! :D :D ........IMO, I think they look kick ass!









:D:D:D

What do you guys think? Si o No?

[diesel5599]

I think the color is totally sweet, but I do prefer the stock angel eyes look better. Most people seem to be going for the inverted 194 to keep this effect, the problem with the inverted 194 is that the biggest you can get is a 1LED.

What I am thinking about doing is replacing the stock 194 with a superbright Xenon 194 or a Chromax 194, at least that way it will be whiter, but keep the angel eyes look. The problem with the LED's is that they are focused....the light only comes out the front, and does not reflect off the edges of the housing like the monofilament bulb does.

It still looks sweet though.

[blackmagik_13]

Let me know how it goes with the bulbs you plan on getting. Or, if you have any links to where I could find them, it'd be great. I also thought these were a little too direct, and if they made the housing a little brighter, it'd be cool. Let me know :D

[diesel5599]

Below is a link to the ones I am thinking about getting. I am kinda torn though, because I am not sure if the Chromax coating takes away from the intensity of the bulb. I cannot find any comparisons between the coated bulb and the uncoated one. I am definitely getting Chromax's for my turn signals.

http://www.midnightmoose.com/194.htm

I found another site that was offering some revotionary new bulb thats coated in a special coating that makes it turn blue when its off, but yellow, red, or white when its on, but I have looked all over the web and cannot find the site again. If anyone has these or knows what I'm talking about let me know.

I'm either going to try the chromax's or I am going to get the superwhite Xenon 194's from: http://autolumination.com

Great instructions on the install by the way, I'm going to use those to install my first HID kit when it gets here next week.

[blackmagik_13]

Dude, where do those chromax come from, they have like, chinese writing all over them??? :huh



As for the HID's, the instructions will help you only so far with those, b/c I know it's alot more complicated than installing the 194's. Or at least I think it is, haven't looked into it really. Thanks for rating the instructions well, now only if they'd make it a sticky.......I looked all over for something like this trying to figure out how to do it....:D

[dawei213]

black_magik: looks very nice, though not as bright as I might like it but nice indeed. Where did you get the LEDs?

Diesel: for this "revolutionary" new bulb, are you talking about the something like the Silverstar 1156A Signal bulb?

[blackmagik_13]

dawei213, the LED's come from autolumination.com ......you could use the hyperlink diesel posted, or just type it in. I think they're like, $5/bulb. And on top of that, they have great customer service and respond to email very quickly.