kreativ

Any '90-'92 LS owners switch their light bulbs to aftermarket ones such as the Sylvania XtraVision or the Sylvania SilverStar?

Was there any improvement?

BHC

i dont have a 90-92....i have a 93 and went thru a bunch of light modifications. Silverstars arent bad for a regular halogen bulb. I've also tried PIAA xtreme whites, which are pretty nice also. But if you want the ULTIMATE in light upgrade, get an HID kit. Although halgen light bulbs cost around 50 bux a pair while and HID kit costs 400-500, the HIDs are soo much more worth it. You get up to 3X the amount of light output and they have a useful life that can outlast 8 to 10 pairs of halgen bulbs. If you do the math, 8 X 50 = 400. Might as well go for it hehe You can read more about my recent HID upgrade to McCullochs in this thread https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=53718

Just FYI 9004 is your bulb size application.

kreativ

There are a lot of McCulloch distributors in our area (SoCal). I'll give them a call tomorrow and ask about getting them installed.

The headlight bulbs haven't been changed since we got the car in '91. How long are OEM bulbs supposed to last? They're still working okay after 10+ years. What blows is the 9004 headlights that the '90-92 LS uses. The headlights in your '93 (9006?) are far better.

Did you find the SilverStars to be any better than your OEM bulbs?

BHC

regardless of what the different bulb companies market their lights as, nothing beats OEM stock halogens in terms of brightness. Think about it this way, all halogens are 55W...using anything higher is gonna melt ur stock wiring harness. Aftermarket bulbs usually have a blue coating on the bulbs to make the light output appear white. Psychologically and also to our eyes, the light "appears" brighter, since the light on the ground is whiter and more different to what we are used to seeing. However, useable light (lumens) decrease. That's why OEM bulbs that are clear with no coating will be the brightest.

In terms of looks, heck yea, the silverstars and the Xtreme whites look much better than the fugly OEM yellowish orange bulbs. BTW, 93 up uses H4 bulbs.

kreativ

On my way home today, I dropped by Kragen and they had a pair of SilverStars on sale for $30. So I picked those up and put them in tonight. Should've known better than to buy hyped-up blue-coated bulbs, but yah, the white light does look better than stock yellow. The beam pattern seems to have changed after making the light bulb swap. How is headlight aim adjusted? I didn't figure that out.

PS With the headlamp assembly out, I was looking for places where an HID ballast could be mounted. But there doesn't seem to be enough space anywhere for it, unless I've misjudged the actual size of these ballasts from the pictures.

BHC

If you pop the hood, look straight down at the headlamp unit. There should be a grey screw on towards the side on top of each headlamp unit...this is the aiming screw. Turning clockwise will aim it higher, turning counter-clockwise will aim it lower.

As far as the HIDs go, For the right headlamp you would need to take out the airbox/MAF/tube assembly and mount the ballast under that as far away from the engine as possible.

For the left side, take out the battery and mount the ballast on the side of the engine bay near the washer fluid reservoir. The LS doesnt really give you much room to work with under the hood, i know. I would love to snap some pictures for you but i just lost my digital camera...so i hope those descriptions help.

kreativ

Thanks for the headlight aiming and HID install tips.

I like your before and after pix when you did the Philips HID install. Your lights are so much better even before the HIDs! In the before pix, I noticed that your fog lights made a big difference in lighting up the road (vs. just the PIAA headlights alone).

I'm not sure how the H3 55w fog light type in my '91 compares to the H3c in your '93, but maybe I can make up for the pathetic 9004 headlights i have by replacing the orange fog lights with some bright white lights. Mind if I ask what brand you went with for your fog lights?

Looking forward to pix of your LS with the McCulloch HIDs!

epineffreen

i have never installed bulbs before in an LS400, it sure is a lot different than any honda. what would i have to do to replace the bulbs.

# of screws?
parts that get in the way?
precautions?
anything else?

thanks
-g

kreativ

All the info you need is on one or two pages in the owner's manual. It's simple and involves the removal of 3-4 screws and 1 screw nut.

You need to take out the parking light to get to the main headlight. The parking light takes quite a bit of pulling to pop it off. I felt the whole car rocking when I was trying to pull it out.

epineffreen

thanks kreativ. now i have to get me an owners manual.

i think i can figure it out now.