Retro fit 90/130W Headlight bulbs

[Bob Weir]

In another forum, a member mentioned previously owning a Scorpio and retro fitting 90/130W Headlight bulbs Phillips halogen bulbs with aftermarket ceramic sockets and relays. When I asked if they were Euro spec glass assemblies, he said his were OEM US spec.
I've presented a few more questions to him, but he's not an active participant.
Has anybody tried his or similar upgrade?

[brokencase]

I did acquire some "off road only" 100w Halogen bulbs for the fog lights (which are normally 55w).

But I have not installed them. Worried they might melt the wires! But heck - they only were 99 cents from Ollies (Good stuff cheap!)

Maybe someday. Low priority project. I don't often drive the Scorpio at night or in the fog.

[Ed Lijewski]

I did acquire some "off road only" 100w Halogen bulbs for the fog lights (which are normally 55w).

But I have not installed them. Worried they might melt the wires! But heck - they only were 99 cents from Ollies (Good stuff cheap!)

Exacto mundo mi amigo.

I did basically that years ago on my '88. Didn't drive much or far at night, but on a few short jaunts I illuminated the higher wattage fogs. Noticed improved light pattern. Some time later on a hunch I removed the lenses and immediately detected that unforgettable odor of insulation subjected to heating above design spec.

So I reinstalled the OE spec bulbs.

YMMV

[my8950]

I did acquire some "off road only" 100w Halogen bulbs for the fog lights (which are normally 55w).

But I have not installed them. Worried they might melt the wires! But heck - they only were 99 cents from Ollies (Good stuff cheap!)

Maybe someday. Low priority project. I don't often drive the Scorpio at night or in the fog.

I did this on another car a while back, 89 Escort GT.
New wiring a relay for fog lights, it helped, but running the high watt halogen bulbs, they burned out probably once a month.

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,

As you may know the XR has a headlight bulb that is 45w on low and 65w on high. Driving on low beam is like driving by Braille.. (9004 bulb)

I bought Hella off road racing bulbs and installed those. They are 70w on low and 100w on high and they transformed the lights in the car. I did the same thing in a '99 Taurus with the same good results. (Different bulb but same good result.)

Some folks in here were very worried about the power consumption or heat related aspects of using the bulbs. The after market high temp sockets from Standard were my solution to that heat issue and they just plug in as a jumper extension to the stock wires and have no trouble with the extra heat. The stock wiring worked fine with the bulbs and choosing to upgrade with external added relays is not much trouble if wished.

I should point out that the low beam light output upgrade was what I was after and it was a great improvement. As for power consumption (P=EI) the low beam is using about 5.8 amps now and the previous high beam was about 5.4 amps so worrying about stock wiring is over thinking the install.

YMMV

Cheers

[brokencase]

I did this on another car a while back, 89 Escort GT.
New wiring a relay for fog lights, it helped, but running the high watt halogen bulbs, they burned out probably once a month.

I once had a 88 Escort GT. It was the car I had before my first Scorpio.
I really enjoyed the Escort GT. I actually miss the automatic passive restraint seat belt.

I drove it for a couple years and sold it for the same amount I paid for it.

[my8950]

I did this on another car a while back, 89 Escort GT.
New wiring a relay for fog lights, it helped, but running the high watt halogen bulbs, they burned out probably once a month.

I once had a 88 Escort GT. It was the car I had before my first Scorpio.
I really enjoyed the Escort GT. I actually miss the automatic passive restraint seat belt.

I drove it for a couple years and sold it for the same amount I paid for it.

Yeah, it was my first car pretty much that was "mine". A lot of experiences, it was good for the time, but also pretty blah. There was a group at school and about 4 of us had these in various model years.

[brokencase]

It seems that low mileage examples can go for descent money these days.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-ford-escort-2/

[my8950]

That's insane, I don't think they were even that much new...
Mine was an 88.5 as well, interesting to see this however.
If I knew then what I know now, it would have been a more interesting car possibly.
As mentioned, I learned a lot, but I've gained more hands on experience over the years.
One of the things I recall with these is, they sag in the rear quite ridiculous, probably changing to heavier springs would alleviate that issue.

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,

Given the advances in LED bulbs and the large variety of LED bulbs available recently that are very bright, has anyone used the newer ones in their car yet?

I have used the bulbs for rear lights and side marker lights but not a headlight yet. It seems that the ones with built in fans and Canbus circuits could be interesting, maybe?

Just thoughts about options. It would be very good in one respect in that they are super efficient and the current draw for them would be less than stock bulbs. No excessive load on old wires..

Thoughts?

Cheers

[my8950]

Hi all,

Given the advances in LED bulbs and the large variety of LED bulbs available recently that are very bright, has anyone used the newer ones in their car yet?

I have used the bulbs for rear lights and side marker lights but not a headlight yet. It seems that the ones with built in fans and Canbus circuits could be interesting, maybe?

Just thoughts about options. It would be very good in one respect in that they are super efficient and the current draw for them would be less than stock bulbs. No excessive load on old wires..

Thoughts?

Cheers

Negative about using new LED bulbs in Old headlight housings, they are diffused, which just makes a bright, unfocused ray of light shining out from the front of the car. No focus, no good, but yes more efficient and less load on wiring.

[my8950]

In a previous post, you mentioned about Hella bulbs which are higher power output.
I did order a set of those bulbs, my plan was to basically assemble a new headlight harness with new wire, add a relay for normal, and a second for high beam...Bulbs showed up the other day.

[zxr250cc]

Hi all,

I have used those in a Taurus and in the XR and like them a lot. Hella make good stuff.

I just was wondering about the LED bulbs as an update. I bought a travel trailer this year and changed it from normal bulbs to LED and the result was very good. Less power consumption and more light. It had 32 bulbs at 21 watts each and the replacements were brighter and 4 watts each at 4000 degree light color (white) which is brighter than the old normal bulbs which were around 3000 degrees color temp (yellow) or so. It is nice to have daylight temp bulbs. I changed 32 bulbs and all of them add up to less that 6 of the old bulbs for power consumption.

Just wondering.

Cheers