CCFL AE Light-up question...

[mam4.6]

Got a question about the AE's I got. U probly know I got the black housing headlights with Evo-XR projectors, and the CCFL AE's they came with. I only installed these lights since the cold weather descended on us here in Ohio. I love these as far as color goes, but am having a bit of a problem with light up. I do know that really cold weather probably doesn't help me much, but it seems the first time in the day I start them up, only the two outside one (low beam AE's) come on, and the inside ones come on dimly. The seconf time I start them up, usually outer and inner start up. I wired them up to the running light wire in the LCM. Question is, do I have a voltage problem, do they need a voltage spike to get started up? Or are the AE's failing already. They look nreally great once started, and usually work great any other time I fire them up after the first time. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated in advance... Thanks.....

[Ricky Bobby]

Hey Matt,

As long as your connections are good, it's either one of two things.

-the cold weather
-CCFL ballasts or rings themselves

When you first strike the rings at startup and give them a few minutes, do eventually all 4 come on and warm up to full brightness? If they so, then you know it's the cold weather.

If you drive for 15 mins or so and the rings haven't all lit up or warmed up entirely then it may be a power issue from the CCFL inverter (ballast).

For what its worth, I have found an LED replacement set of rings for your headlights that can replace the CCFL if they ever fail you (and as well if someone wants to upgrade a set of lights I make them).

[TerminatorX5]

the issue is the ballasts - I've had a CCFL on my 4.6 for several years, from tropical weather to some really cold weather... the CCFL rings can fail but not as often as the ballasts - in 6 years i've had the CCFL installed, I replaced the ballasts about 15-18 times... I had it down to a science with my install... lol... first couple of times i was dumbfounded, as the lights would not come on, or would be dim... when checked the ballast, it had swollen, as it swallowed a mouse... replaced... the next one was cracked in the epoxy... the next one was swollen again... as a matter of fact, most of them were swollen when they failed, a few were just cracked on the epoxy, couple were just plain dead with no visual clues... i could not find a better quality ballasts, and found a source for the same ballasts where they were relatively cheap, and just stocked up on them - chalked it up as a highly consumable maintenance item for the car...

[tmv]

The ballast.

[Ricky Bobby]

Matt for what its worth, and I pretty much agree with tmv and Terminator that the ccfl inverter is probably going on one or both lights. Not sure how you wired everything up, but you can leave the "dead ballasts" inside the headlight, and see if you can fish the connections out of the middle of the headlight, and mount a new set of CCFL inverters externally, as its not going to be fun to be opening the headlights for replacement again.

If I recall correctly on your lights, the two ring connections had white wires and were run somewhere in the area of the self level motors, so with a small pick or flat head you can probably fish those out, there should be a small grommet in the middle of the headlight which isn't being used. The other input to the CCFL is the power input which came out of that weird looking plug above the high beam.

The way it works is this, both ring connections plug in one side of the inverter and then the power connection comes out of one input on the other side.

Shouldn't be too tough and the CCFL inverters are cheap to replace:

CCFL Inverters for BMW Mazda Lexus Infiniti CCFL Halo Angel Eyes Kit 1 Pair | eBay

[TerminatorX5]

I am not endorsing these inverters, as these are THE ones that i was replacing every other month... but, given the reliability of the more expensive ones, these ones maybe more price friendly - "Halo" and "Angel Eye" headlight dual ccfl inverters $4.50ea

[mam4.6]

Thanks for the info, I kinda thot it would be the ballasts. The first time I start my X in the morning, usually the two outer rings ignite and warm up nicely, and no matter how long I drive, the rest don't come on. Once I've driven around a bit, kill them for at least 10 minutes, and start them up again, they'll all come on. Kinda funny tho, i can't ever just start the X and light them up for 10 minutes, kill them for 10, and light them up again, hasn't ever worked to light all 4. Seems for some reason I need to drive around some before trying again, before they all light up. Because of this, I thot it mite be a voltage problem, with driving around causing the alternator to run faster, thus giving me a bit more voltage. Haven't checked actual voltage yet, guess I should throw a tester on this eve.

Ricky Bobby - Yeah, no kidding, I wasn't looking forward to baking my lights open again, but from what I saw when I was installing them, it shouldn't be to hard to fish the wires out. I think I'll try that. Thanks for the link...

TerminatorX - Thanks for the link to the ballasts, I'll probably give them a go and see what happens... Also, i saw somewhere on the forum that you had shipped your X to Russia, and elsewhere. I do a bit of traveling to Ukraine, and was just wondering what all is involved in shipping a vehicle over there, and what time-frame is expected?

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by mam4.6

Thanks for the info, I kinda thot it would be the ballasts. The first time I start my X in the morning, usually the two outer rings ignite and warm up nicely, and no matter how long I drive, the rest don't come on. Once I've driven around a bit, kill them for at least 10 minutes, and start them up again, they'll all come on. Kinda funny tho, i can't ever just start the X and light them up for 10 minutes, kill them for 10, and light them up again, hasn't ever worked to light all 4. Seems for some reason I need to drive around some before trying again, before they all light up. Because of this, I thot it mite be a voltage problem, with driving around causing the alternator to run faster, thus giving me a bit more voltage. Haven't checked actual voltage yet, guess I should throw a tester on this eve.

Ricky Bobby - Yeah, no kidding, I wasn't looking forward to baking my lights open again, but from what I saw when I was installing them, it shouldn't be to hard to fish the wires out. I think I'll try that. Thanks for the link...

TerminatorX - Thanks for the link to the ballasts, I'll probably give them a go and see what happens... Also, i saw somewhere on the forum that you had shipped your X to Russia, and elsewhere. I do a bit of traveling to Ukraine, and was just wondering what all is involved in shipping a vehicle over there, and what time-frame is expected?

No sweat man, definitely check the connections though and voltage when you start them up first, but I'd get a spare set of inverters. It's funny, I thought it would be better for them to be enclosed in the headlight, protected from the elements, etc, than being exposed in the engine bay.

I'll do some searching, maybe there is a heavier duty version available now of the inverters that would work better in cold weather/extreme temps? CCFL angel eyes aren't exactly new technology. Good luck man and let us know how you do, if I find a better inverter for you I'll let you know.

[mam4.6]

I'm finally back again. Been crazy busy at work, don't have much time for anything much except browse every now and then. I ordered 4 new ccfl ballasts, none of them lit up both of my AE's, each side only lit the lowbeam ring, no high beam ring. Anyway, I think it's my rings, I'm tired of messing with these, so I'm gonna be installing led rings. From tbe research I did, looks like I need 120 and 140mm rings. Are the Morimoto xb's from trs the best out there right now, or what should I get? I'm looking to stay as close to the color of my ccfl's as I can. Suggestions, please...

[Ojai5]

Sorry for the thread jack, Kind of on topic
I searched and could not find an answer to - can AE be added to stock 2003 lights?
It looks like everyone upgrades to projectors?