stevea26 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 (edited) Ok very long story made short. I bought a 2010 Fusion Sport with every option about 4 months ago. Love it hate that I could not order HID's from the factory. So since it already has projector headlights an HID kit was an easy mod. Round 1 installed kit lasted a month then right side went out. Chalked it up to a bad balest. Ordered another kit from a differant vender. same thing lasted a month and one side gone. Called that vender up and they sent out another balest. Works for 2 hours and out again. Got so pissed I sware off HID kits and buy a pair of Silverstar. Work great no bulb out problems (had them in a few days). Miss the cool blueish look so I order a set of 5500K normal bulbs and put the silverstars in the wifes Taurus X. The 5500K bulbs last a few hours and right side goes out then tonight its working again. So I pulled them out tonight to PUT THE STOCK BULBS back in only to find out that the plug from the car is all melted!! My car is almost up in smoke and I didnt even know it!!! So I put the factory bulbs in and they are working and there was no smoke or anything. Sooooooo what the heck happened? Do the bulbs that are rated at 5500K burn hotter then the stock 3500K bulbs? Hot enough to ment the harness? I had them in my old Fusion with no problem but the old Fusion did not have projector lights maybe that matters? I dont know but it seems like I had a close one!!! Edited October 24, 2009 by stevea26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerdude20 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 (edited) Ok very long story made short. I bought a 2010 Fusion Sport with every option about 4 months ago. Love it hate that I could not order HID's from the factory. So since it already has projector headlights an HID kit was an easy mod. Round 1 installed kit lasted a month then right side went out. Chalked it up to a bad balest. Ordered another kit from a differant vender. same thing lasted a month and one side gone. Called that vender up and they sent out another balest. Works for 2 hours and out again. Got so pissed I sware off HID kits and buy a pair of Silverstar. Work great no bulb out problems (had them in a few days). Miss the cool blueish look so I order a set of 5500K normal bulbs and put the silverstars in the wifes Taurus X. The 5500K bulbs last a few hours and right side goes out then tonight its working again. So I pulled them out tonight to PUT THE STOCK BULBS back in only to find out that the plug from the car is all melted!! My car is almost up in smoke and I didnt even know it!!! So I put the factory bulbs in and they are working and there was no smoke or anything. Sooooooo what the heck happened? Do the bulbs that are rated at 5500K burn hotter then the stock 3500K bulbs? Hot enough to ment the harness? I had them in my old Fusion with no problem but the old Fusion did not have projector lights maybe that matters? I dont know but it seems like I had a close one!!! hids run much cooler then halogens, they also use less power after the initial charge. the only thing i can think of that would cause this is using just the stock harness for power to the ballasts. hids use a lot of power when you first turn them on. the stock wires have a hard time providing all that power and can melt from the amount of power running through them. did your kits use a battery harness wire? it will connect from the ballasts directly to the battery terminals make sure to use a reputable hid provider, made in USA or japan are usually good bets. the kits from china and Thailand don't have such good records. as far as fixing this, keep the stock bulbs in and hope that the dealer thinks its a factory problem. i don't want to spam the board so PM me if you want a link to a really good brand, they give discounts to fusion owners actually. Edited October 24, 2009 by blazerdude20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron W. Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 First guess, excessive amperage draw, while working at a Ford dealer I saw this happen on a Ranger that the owner had "upgraded" the headlamps. Owner was insisting on warranty (Ford) paying the bill, didn't happen you modify the vehicle you accept the consequences for said modification. My advise -- Leave it stock -- at least until your warranty is up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 as far as fixing this, keep the stock bulbs in and hope that the dealer thinks its a factory problem. Nothing like a little fraud to get something you broke fixed, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 as far as fixing this, keep the stock bulbs in and hope that the dealer thinks its a factory problem. or, seeing as he already modified the vehicle, he could just go and order some new sockets and install 'em himself...he already messed with the design of the vehicle and now you would propose that Ford repair it for free so he can do it again...better hope his insurance company doesn't find out when the car catches fire due to inferior product being added to the car.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevea26 Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 First of all fellas I work at t he dealer and was not or would not try to get this repaired under warranty. Second the wires didnt melt it was the plug itself. Thats what was so wierd. Not even the whole plug but part around the forks. Totally wierd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Not even the whole plug but part around the forks. Totally wierd. If you mean the part where the bulb plugs into the plug, then that makes perfect sense. More amperage through a wire/part that is designed to only handle what Ford designed it for would cause heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron W. Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 First of all fellas I work at t he dealer Then check with parts to see if Ford offers a Ford approved accessories kit, if they do and it's installed within "X" number of miles of the new vehicle purchase it will become part of your factory warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixt9coug Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 next time use a relay kit when you put in the headlights. It will take the strain off of the factory harness and the sockets. Just buy a new harness from the headlights to the firewall. It shouldnt be that big of a pain to install and you wont have to worry about being a problem. Its a new car, dont cheap out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blazerdude20 Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Nothing like a little fraud to get something you broke fixed, I guess. meant for that to be a winky face at the end. lol. you take your own chances if you try and defraud the dealer. i've broken a few things on my fusion while trying mods, thats why i have a pass to the junk yard. :shades: the same reasoning applies for why the plug melted as would have for the wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevea26 Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 meant for that to be a winky face at the end. lol. you take your own chances if you try and defraud the dealer. i've broken a few things on my fusion while trying mods, thats why i have a pass to the junk yard. :shades: the same reasoning applies for why the plug melted as would have for the wire. Thanks guys. I think Im gona just leave the stockers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7upMustang Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 One other issue could be the connection being made to the aftermarket set-ups. Even if there is not excessive current draw, if the factory harness does not make a tight connection to the aftermarket connector, that will build up a tremendous amount of heat. It sounds to me like the sockets in the factory harness were a little bigger than the plugs in the new equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggoodin Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Miss the cool blueish look so I order a set of 5500K normal bulbs You guys are blasting him for HID's and he clearly said normal bulbs. I would imagine the bulbs are like 85w or something insane because with tinted glass on a halogen bulb they have to be that bright to overcome the tint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pioneer Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 You guys are blasting him for HID's and he clearly said normal bulbs. I would imagine the bulbs are like 85w or something insane because with tinted glass on a halogen bulb they have to be that bright to overcome the tint. Did you read the first half of the post? Ok very long story made short. I bought a 2010 Fusion Sport with every option about 4 months ago. Love it hate that I could not order HID's from the factory. So since it already has projector headlights an HID kit was an easy mod. Round 1 installed kit lasted a month then right side went out. Chalked it up to a bad balest. Ordered another kit from a differant vender. same thing lasted a month and one side gone. Called that vender up and they sent out another balest. Works for 2 hours and out again. Got so pissed I sware off HID kits and buy a pair of Silverstar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusioneh Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 There is one thing you have overlooked. The more powerful the bulb (higher wattage) the hotter it gets when it is on. You said; "so I order a set of 5500K normal bulbs and put the silverstars in the wifes Taurus X" I'll bet these bulbs are the problem because they run too hot. If you go to various aftermarket bulb vendors' websites (including Hoen) you will see that some of them sell adapters for high wattage bulbs. These adapters have a high melting point socket (ceramic or whatever) for the end that attaches to the bulb and a regular material plug for the end that attaches to the original wiring socket. I would not go any more powerful than Silver Stars (in an incandescent bulb) without using these. This is a physical remedy for heat melting components. Relays are used to deal with another problem associated with high powered bulbs. They draw much more current than the original light switch/relay was intended to handle. These keep you from melting the wiring/switch/original relay from passing too much electrical current through them. These are two solutions for two totally different problems caused by wanting to do one thing (running more powerful lights). Just out of curiosity what were the 5500K normal bulbs rated at wattage wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggoodin Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Did you read the first half of the post? Yes, and the melting had not happened yet. The only time I have seen HID's melt anything is when the tip of the HID bulb is too close to the lens. That was on a Pontiac G8's fog lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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