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Replacing headlight bulbs, anyone try yet?


lilgdad
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I just got my Fusion Sport AWD, has roughly 148miles on it now. Really dislike he stock headlights. I took a quick look about replacing the bulbs and it looks like a PITA for the passanger side. Anyon try yet? Looks like you have to remove a whole bunch of crap to get to the rubber surronds for the bulbs.

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I just got my Fusion Sport AWD, has roughly 148miles on it now. Really dislike he stock headlights. I took a quick look about replacing the bulbs and it looks like a PITA for the passanger side. Anyon try yet? Looks like you have to remove a whole bunch of crap to get to the rubber surronds for the bulbs.

 

Hi lilgdad. :D As with most things involving our cars, the detailed instructions to remove and replace the headlight bulbs are in the Owners Manual (pages 63-67 in the 2010 model PDF version). For the passenger side, access to the bulbs is achieved through the front wheel-well, not above through the engine compartment (unless that is what you meant by having "to remove a whole bunch of crap").

 

Hope this information helps.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Edited by bbf2530
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Hi lilgdad. :D As with most things involving our cars, the detailed instructions to remove and replace the headlight bulbs are in the Owners Manual (pages 63-67 in the 2010 model PDF version). For the passenger side, access to the bulbs is achieved through the front wheel-well, not above through the engine compartment (if that is what you meant by having "to remove a whole bunch of crap".

 

Hope this information helps.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

 

Yes, replaced all four of mine. The driver's side bulbs are not bad. You need to drop the wheelwell liner on the passenger side to do the lowbeam, the passenger side highbeam is a bear. Hope you have small hands!

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lilgdad,

 

This is an exert from the fordfusionclub.com forum which I ran across doing research for my upgrade (still waiting on my Fusion to arrive from factory):

 

goingsking

Short Track Racer

 

Location: nj

Date Registered:March 09, 2009, 01:56:52 PM

Total Posts: 103

Site Posts: 103

Transaction Count: (0)

Car Make: Ford

Car Year: 2010

Car Model: Fusion Sport

 

 

 

Re: 2010 HID Upgrade?

« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2009, 01:02:29 PM »

Quote

Here are my instructions

 

 

 

 

Driver Side: Pop the hood and you have acces to the rubber boot covering the H11 bulb. Pull off the hood, take out the bulb and insert the HID bulb assembly. I picked up the bulb out cancellers so yo attach the wires from the kit and then the power wire from the oem headlight into the boc resister. A snap. Mounting on the driver side was easy. I just took some industrial strength velcro and put one piece on the metal strip just below the air box. on the back side of the ballast (I have the thin ones) the other side of the velcro and secured them together. for the wires and resister, I just zip tied them to another wire bundle. Cut a little slit in the rubber boot to let the wires come out and reinstall the boot. Total time, 15 minutes.

 

Passanger side: What a PIA! As I indicated, don't bother going thru the wheel, it doesn't really work. On my car the entire plastic liner would have to be disconnected and it isn't necessary. Fortunately my altima had a similar setup so I did the same thing on the fusion. Disconnect the small hose from the radiator to the overflow tank (just the front one. Then disconnect the tank with the nut and bolt along with the plastic attachment with a wire on it. (I believe the front and rear nuts are 10mm but you need a deep socket for the rear one. Unclip the two hoses from the a/c lines so you can lift the overflow bottle out of the way. There is a larger hose on the bottom don't disconnect that hose just the front one and keep it higher then the radiator or it will spill antifreeze on the motor. Now the fun part, take bungy cords and attach one from the hole on the rear of the overflow to the latch on the hood and the same with the front hole. Of course if you have a helper, they can just hold the overflow bottle out of the way. Snake your hand into the headlight area and remove the rubber bood and the connector from the existing H11 bulb. This is a pain because there isn't a lot of room in their. I did it with a long screwdriver popping the clips on the side and pulling them apart. Once the bulb is out, carefully install the HID bulb. I had to do this twice because I didn't get it to seat properly and the bulb was pointing to the driver side so make sure the bulb is seated correctly. It is a pain. I suggest you connect all the wires from the kit and turn it on to see if it is aimed properly before mounting the ballast and securing the other wires. I mounted the ballast using industrial velcro with the hard part of the velcro mounted just behind the headlight assembly on the inside of the fender. The ballast is then secured to the velcro on the fender. This allows you to zip ti the wires to the black piece of plasticthat attaches the radiator support. After I mounted everything I put a little slit in the boot and sealed it up. The passanger side took a little longer because I had to tried to go thru the wheel well, about a 20 minute waste of time. As I mentioed, I had to go back after everything was buttoned up and get the bulb mounted correctly. The second time I did it , it also took me about 15 minutes. I haven't had the opportunity to see how they work at night but they do light up the garage nicely."

 

 

Here is the link to the page it came from. There are some pictures on how his turned out: http://www.fordfusionclub.com/index.php?topic=154858.0

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Great thanks guys! Thinking of replacing them with a HID setup:-)

 

Well, I hope you realize that doing a HID installation is going to be a lot more complicated than just changing the bulbs.

 

Changing the bulbs isn't all that tough. I already put different bulbs in all 4 of mine. Took about 45 minutes. Be ready to have your hands and wrists come out all bruised and cut though! I don't think Mexico has ever heard of deburring parts. Lots of sharp edges in there!

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Well, I hope you realize that doing a HID installation is going to be a lot more complicated than just changing the bulbs.

 

Changing the bulbs isn't all that tough. I already put different bulbs in all 4 of mine. Took about 45 minutes. Be ready to have your hands and wrists come out all bruised and cut though! I don't think Mexico has ever heard of deburring parts. Lots of sharp edges in there!

Changing bulbs in a hybrid is a PITA because of the close clearances.

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I want to change the bulbs in my '08 sport se v6. I priced the silverstars for about $20 ea. I don't mind paying the $120 for all 6 if it really makes a big difference. I would like to go with hid, but that is more than I'm willing to pay. Any other ideas or suggestions? --thanx, craig

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Hi cmfusion- If your 08 is using the h11 bulbs for the low beams and fogs you could replace them with h9's. The h9's will need a slight mod to make them fit. You'll have less bulb life but about 60% more light from the h9. I did the lows on my 2010 Sport in about 15 minutes at a total cost of $27. Haven't done the fogs yet. Use this link for more info.

 

http://www.fordfusionclub.com/index.php?topic=66139.0

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Hi cmfusion- If your 08 is using the h11 bulbs for the low beams and fogs you could replace them with h9's. The h9's will need a slight mod to make them fit. You'll have less bulb life but about 60% more light from the h9. I did the lows on my 2010 Sport in about 15 minutes at a total cost of $27. Haven't done the fogs yet. Use this link for more info.

 

http://www.fordfusionclub.com/index.php?topic=66139.0

Thanks. Interesting read. Now am I missing something, or would it be just as simple to replace the h11 lows and fogs with h7 highs? :unsure:

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Used to replace the bulbs on my '04 Lincoln LS and '04 Mountaineer with those blue tinted / real white bulbs found on e-bay motors. They looked OK but were not true HID look. Hoen brand were the closest. Just remember to always get the higher rated wire harness or "pigtail" as they call them. The heat from the higher wattage / voltage will melt the OEM ones in a short time. They are usually for sale as an added option on the Hoen website or do a search for them. Have used PIAA but they were not as blueish as the Hoen brand bulbs. The Hoens were the closest to true HID.

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Thanks. Interesting read. Now am I missing something, or would it be just as simple to replace the h11 lows and fogs with h7 highs? :unsure:

 

Not sure but I would guess that the h7 base can't be modified to fit in the h11 socket as easy as the h9. The h9 is a 65 watt bulb but with 2100 lumen output. The h11 is only 1350 and 55 watts. The extra 10 watts will not overheat the socket. Don't use the very high wattage bulbs.

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  • 6 months later...

Just replaced the low beams on my 2010 Fusion Sport with regular H9 bulbs as nabazil mentioned. Best $20 i've ever spent. Big difference in reach, spread, and intensity of the beam. I can now see the road as well as i could with my BMW's Xenon HID's.

 

The driver's side is super easy. Assuming i modified the H9 bulbs ahead of time, It would take me maybe 5 minutes max to do the driver's side low beam. The passenger side is a different story... I went through the engine instead of the wheel well by following SGfusion's instructions on moving the coolant overflow tank on the fusion club forum. But once you figure it out (it always takes much longer the first time), it's not too bad either.

 

I don't think i would bother replacing the high beams. The passenger side high beam looks like it would be torture to replace... i don't think it would be worth it unless you use your high beams a lot. There's rarely a time i can use my high beams due to oncoming traffic, but i find that since the low beams are much better, it improves the view with the high beam too.

 

Highly recommended. Just make sure you're careful not to bend the metal prongs when you remove the small rib on the H9 bulb.

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