Morimoto hid xenon kit problems + morimoto recall

4 months ago I upgraded my halogen bulbs to hid xenon bulbs, with the first few months being perfect. The problem started when temps in my area dropped below 30 degrees Fahrenheit and caused the ballast to not fire on the first try. As time went on the ballasts seemed to fire the first time, but the bulbs began to flicker. I sent an email off to the retrofit source (who supplies the morimoto kit as well as others) and they informed me of the voluntary recall. I requested the replacement ballasts as well as a replacement bulb (as the problem with the flicker followed the bulb with either ballast), but they forgot to send it out. A few days the replacement ballast arrived and all looked well, until I found out that one of the replacement 5five dsp ballast was D.O.A. I hope the retrofit source makes this right by replacing the ballast and the defective bulb. The morimoto kit is one of the most expensive mainstream kits on the market and has a great reputation. Lately they seem to have made a ton of mistakes and need to track the issue with their products down.

[@frugalprepper]

Yeah, I had a headlight go out on my Hyundai while I was 200 miles away from home and I stopped at the Autozone and they were all like "These are brighter than the factory ones, so you have to replace them both or one will be brighter than the other" I was like "yeah just give me one, as long as it keeps the troopers from giving me a ticket and using it as and excuse to try to search my car, I am good." Then when the other one died, I was in town and I ended up getting a free used on from my friend that works at a junkyard so the other one is still brighter than the other. However I got two of the factory ones from my friend to keep in the trunk, so I will be set if that bright one finally blows! :)

[@BatteryGeekReviews]

The standard lights do last forever, I just have such a hard time seeing at night that I need really bright ones. Can't wait until led conversions for headlights become reliable and cheap!

[@corvettez06ss]

thanks for the info

[@gmdrummerboy]

Thanks for the upload. Do you think the problem is just from the extreme cold? I live in Texas. We don't normally get below 20. Lol. I thinking about getting the morimoto

[@BatteryGeekReviews]

It probably caused the issue to happen more often, but the issues also happened in 40-50 degree weather. I sent an email to them and their vice president is taking care of the issues for me. A set of their new dsp ballasts and the replacement 4300k bulb. They also tested them before they sent them out, I should have a vid uploaded soon on it.

[@M5RCY_]

You should just leave your ballasts dangling. They should be mounted securely.

[@BatteryGeekReviews]

They were only loose for video purposes, they are normally bolted down to the radiator frame.

[@SBFlashlightGuy]

Your spending way to much on HID's. Buy from ddm tuning there $30 and have been around for a really long time. Have them on both my accords and motorcycle and have been using them since 2004. Got friends and co workers using them too.

[@BatteryGeekReviews]

Agree, the morimoto kit cost more than $200 more than that kit and others that seem to do pretty good. Thinking about getting a truck next, will definitely consider DDM.

[@danwat1234]

Gotta love DDM's lifetime warranty but their bulbs aren't the best. With 55 watt ballasts I'm having to RMA a bulb every 18 months.

[@kemueljacob4866]

You really shouldn't be using HID's in a reflector housing.

[@BatteryGeekReviews]

I'll be retrofitting to projectors soon, but this kit is specifically designed to work with H4,H7 and 9006 halogen housings without the need for projectors. Mine honda odyssey has H4 bulbs with factory installed casper shields, ( a guy on here named eric the car guy covered this in his honda element HID instillation). Unlike a normal hid kit, these actually prevent blinding oncoming drivers. I even adjusted the headlights down a bit and had a friend drive in front of me to make sure they weren't blinding. From an oncoming perspective, they are no more glaring than a standard halogen headlight. You'd be surprised, but I am often blinded by stock cadillac CTS / ATS / STS headlights.....mercedes, audi, bmw and other manufactures seem to do a much better job with their projectors. Unless you have one of the 3 aforementioned halogen housings, I agree that you shouldn't install HID's without projectors.

[@DrKnowsMore]

+Battery Geek There is not such thing as a legal reflector HID kit. Without the cutoff and beam focusing that projectors provide, HID bulbs are illegal in all 50 states. The shields on your Honda probably help, but the set-up is still technically illegal.

[@johnbalderas1989]

+DrKnowsMore false my rx300 came with factory xenon auto leveling headlights and they are reflector type.

[@DrKnowsMore]

Johnathon Balderas Read carefully. I said there is (not was) no such thing as a legal reflector HID kit. Your factory "reflectors" were specifically designed for HID lights. That was 20 years ago though and they are no longer made because they suck. Putting HID bulbs in a reflector designed for halogen lights is illegal.

[@dcdetailing7792]

oh no, no no no, don't throw money away on xentec anything ! I have had a xentec ballast burn out within 1 day ! totally sucks

[@DHislife]

Your hids are performing shitty because you have halogen lenses or housing. You should really change that, its not the product, its the lens or housing that is causing product to be shitty.