SVA TEST

[beefcake191176]

HI,
JUST GOT MY CAR THIS WEEK,REALLY HAPPY WITH IT,BOOKED THE SVA,ITS IN DUBLIN TEST CENTER,THEY ARE DOING THE TEST FOR 500 pounds all in to get it pass,but my car comes with (HID) lights as stantard,THEY SAY I HAVE TO DO THIS PART MY SELF,I DONT KNOW WAT TO DO?
IS IT A SIMPLY JOB OF JUST CHANGING THE BULB TO HALAGON BULBS OF DO I HAVE TO CHANGE THE WHOLE HEAD LIGHT UNITS,I HEARD THE WIRING IS DIFFERENT TO,PLEASE HELP
THANKS

 

[nattcharles]

I had to do the same thing myself 4 weeks ago. Asked several times on these forums for advice on how to do it and just got vague answers that didn't really help. In the end me and a mate figured it out ourselves. To answer you question YES you do just put halogens in instead of the HID lamps and heres how you do it. First dissconect you battery, then you will need to remove the front bumper. This is done by removing the bolts and screws under the front of it. I think there is 6 in total. There is also a screw in the front of each wheel arch holding it in. You will also need to remove the gril. Pop your bonnet and remove the 6 trim clips holding the grill in. It should then just slide out. Once thats done you will be able to remove the bumper. It has clip type things holding it on around the sides near the wings, gently pop them off. You bumper should be free of the car now. To remove the head lights there is a bolt on the side, a screw on the top and another bolt underneath that you will need an extention bar to get too. Once you have removed those you should be able to pull the light forward. Do this gently until you have enough room to get your hand behind it so you can unplug all the connectors going to the different bulbs. You will also need to unplug the cable going to the amplifier that powers the HID's. The amplifer is attatched to the underside of each head lamp and has a 2 pin plug connector. Once you have the lamp free you will see a grey circular cover on the back held on with a security screw. A pair of pliers will get this out. With the screw out turn the grey cover to unlock it and carefully lift it off store it for later as you will not need it untill you convert the lights back. Undo the spring holding the lamp in and remove the bulb. Store this somewhere safe. I used H1 single filament lamps from Halfords in mine but also had to use 2 large metal washers to hold the bulb in place and stop it from falling inside the lamp. (The hole in the lamp is about inch and a half across and the base of an H1 is smaller than this) if you do it the same way you may need to file a small groove in the washer to get it to sit flush inside the lamp as there is a small bump inside it. Once the lamp and the washers are in place lock them down with the spring catch. The plug connector that was on the HID will need to be covered in insulation tape for now to protect it. Your light is almost ready to go back in. Now all you have to do is attach a length of cable (about half a meter) to the earth point on the back of the headlight and also a length to the positive connector on the lamp (use insulated spade terminals) these then have to be joined to the positive a negative feeds on the cable connector that was plugged into the HID amplifier. You will need to reconnect your battery and use a test lamp to work out which is the positive and which is the negative cable going into the connector. Once you have figured this out disconnect your battery again and connect the 2 wires off the back of your headlamp to the positive and negative wires going into the plug connector for the HID amp. I used scotch locks for this. Reconnect you battery and hopefully when you turn your lights on the halogen bulb should illuminate. Do this all again for the other lamp. Test it to make sure its working and then refit both head lights reconnecting all the other plugs appart from the amplifier plug. Tidy up any loose cables and insulate any connectors where necessary. Re-fit bumper and grill and hey presto job done! Once you car has passed the SVA do the whole process in reverse and put the HID's back in. The job will probably take you a few hours. Hope this helps. If you are unsure get a motor electrician to do it but if I can do it I'm sure you can too.

Good luck, Nat.