H4 Cree LED replacements?
 

Has anyone tried the new 2014 Cree H4 LED replacements? They seem to be the latest design with only heatsink (no fans), 2400 Lumen output (probably closer to 1200 on lowbeam). And no bulky driver/ballast needed. There's a few ebay sellers for about $70 for a pair, but not sure if it works well in the GE8 Fit. It looks like the front 2 lowbeam emitters go sideways, with a shield on the bottom, but it doesn't look like it matches precisely with a regular H4 bulb's low-beam filament (also bottom shield, top half of light is for reflector). If anyone has tried these, or willing to try them for $70 a pair, please let us know here whether it works well, thanks. Search for "H4 Cree LED" on ebay for sellers.


https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/28...536/8d9c25.jpghttps://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/28...536/de4cd4.jpghttps://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/28...540/c89c2b.jpghttp://imageshack.com/a/img905/9804/72abc3.gif

There are a few members on 9thgencivic that are using those. Well, LEDs for the low beams, and they have had moderate success with them and their output. The cutoff looks a little bit better than stock, but not much.

Can you give a specific link to the thread or people who talked about it? I tried going to that website's forums under lighting and all 5 pages didn't have anything titled "LED" or "Cree" showing up.

BTW 9th gen civic uses 9006 bulb (1 filamet), which is different than the H4 (9003) in the Fit (2 filaments), so the cutoff and projector pattern won't apply as much to our cars. Brightness, color temperature, reliability may still apply.

It was hidden under the "Exterior" sub-forum here: High power LED HB3, HB4 bulbs installed! and did not have "Cree" but did have "LED" in the title. It also contains some links to other bulbs.


I am aware that the Fit (at least GDs and GEs) and the 2012+ Civic use different bulbs as I have both vehicles but the cutoff still applies for every vehicle no matter the make or model. For example, HIDs in halogen reflector bowls just scatters light everywhere, whereas the halogen bulbs for which the reflector bowls were made would focus light where the engineers who designed the headlights intended it to go.

Thanks for the link. The reason I mention the cutoff may not apply in the Fit is because the H4 bulb depends on the lower shield that's not present in the 9006 model. From my past experience trying to get an HID kit in, the shield prevents light leaking into the lower part of the reflector, which reflects it above the cutoff line and can blind oncoming traffic. I tried a few different HID bulb kits, and because they would be off by a few mm, the projected pattern is off, and not what it was designed to do. The 9006 bulbs don't have the shield, so as long as its placement is exactly in the expected spot, the housing reflects all light correctly. The H4 bulbs depend on reflector AND the shield, because the high-beam filament (extra LED emitters) are all on the same stem, so there's more requirement for BOTH to be precise, otherwise the low beam gets into the high-beam filament territory.

Also the regular H4 bulb high-beam filament is positioned to NOT be blocked by the lower shield, whereas this LED H4 model has high beam also blocked by the lower shield, so not sure how well that works in the reflector.

Here you answer

I installed these ones in my FIT

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/28...536/8d9c25.jpg

1.- Very, very, very difficult to install, but finally i did it, the rubber cap, the clip and the small space in the back of the headlights doesn't allow an easy installation

2.- Low patttern (the light will concentrated in the center, but if you have fog ligths is OK)

3.- Hi pattern (the light will disperse, as a result you will have a poor HI light)

For me is OK, is rare to use the HIGH lights

Luis

P.D. The white light of those LEDs is awesone....

I think the 4th Generation CREE LEDs are more easy to install and you can get better results

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...AL._SY300_.jpg

Luis, is there anything you haven't done?!?!

LOL hehehe

Here you're my list

- Lowering
- Rear wipe mod
- Independent fogs
- KN Intake filter
- Mugen Front & Rear bumpers
- Mugen double muffler
....

Luis

The 4th generation you recommend has a fan built-in, which seems like it won't be as reliable. But the emitters seem to be better placed, it is directed upward towards the reflectors, instead of the 2 on each sideways, and a lower shield that basically blocks and wastes some of the light output.

Back to the one I posted originally, I assume wrapping the clip around the neck first, before trying to install is recommend. I had already cut the rubber seal when attempting HID kit, which also had a bulky magnet in the back for mechanically moving the HID bulb.

Did you have to disable the DRL by pulling out the fuse? Or does DRL work with the lower voltage going to the high beams just like a regular bulb?

Is it brighter than stock bulbs?

Hi

1.- 4th Gen CREE LEDs with Fan built-in may be will works fine in the headlights because that zone is not so humide at all, may be the dust can affect, but the Fog lights zone get wet all the time, so my recommendation is:
- Headlights (4th GEN CREE LEDs)
- Fog lights (3rd GEN CREE LEDs)

2.- To install the 3rd GEN here the steps if you didn't cut the back rubber cover and don't want to do that
- Remove the reflector from the led bulb
- Insert the bulb into the rubber (difficult to do but is possible) be carefull to do not break the bulb
- Back in place the reflector to the led bulb
- Insert the bulb with the rubber cover already installed into the headlight assembly
- Try to place the clip around the led bulb (this is the worst part)
(If you find a better way to do that please share with us)

3.- The DRL function will works with the LEDs, the only one issue is in your board a small indicator DRL light will go ON (flash then get solid, flash then get solid....) depens on You if can live with. (The small indicator gets ON due to small consumption of the LED so the systems assume there are no bulbs installed and DRL as a security device must be informed to the driver)

4.- Yeah is brigther than the stock bulbs, not as HID but works fine, the only issue is both lights concentrate in the middle and i dont know if we can do something to get it fixed

In my case I remove the DRL Fuse because I use my front turn lights as a DRL, replacing the single filament stock bulbs (1156) by Switchback Led Bulbs (1157)

Hope this helps

Luis

P.D. Be careful when you buy something in Aliexpress, if you have issues the Customer Support is not good at all, I have opened a case for a defective product more than 30 days ago and until now I have no answers, I contacted CS but they didn't give me a solution, I have to wait..... sometimes the same item is in eBay or Amazon and for 10 dollars more is preferable to do business with them, this is from my personal experience.

Thank you for the detailed posts. I'm leaning towards getting the "4th generation" version you mentioned, it seems to be designed from the start for H4 low/high beam, whereas the one I posted originally was designed for a reflector that doesn't require a shield (like a 9006 type bulb), and the shield was just added as a "hack" to use as a H4 substitute. I think the reason for the concentrated light pattern in the center is because the 2 emitters on both sides are more separate, which means they reflect off the back of the housing from 2 distant points, instead of 1 concentrated point like the stock H4 bulb was designed for, to evenly distribute the light.

The only concern I have left is the reliability of the fans, a quick search on fans and MTBF (Mean time before failure) rate, has it at 10k hours minimum, which translates to more than 10 yrs. Maybe the fan adds a bit more resistance to the LED circuit and won't trigger the DRL warning light, or maybe just pull the fuse as last resort.

As for installing the "3rd generation" (actually I don't think they're from the same design line), I've already cut one slit from edge to center of the rubber seal, after install, use some tape to seal it up again to keep the dust out, this is what worked with a bulky HID kit from before, which I since ripped out because it didn't have a working high-beam, and the light pattern wasn't very good.

If I were to buy a set, I'd go with ebay, and sellers with 99% & above ratings, some of the 97% & 98% pay for good ratings, so they cover up a lot worse records.

Review
 

I went ahead and ordered the "4th generation" LED set on ebay for about $70 (good seller 'mtfansclub'). Installation was fairly easy, since the locking mechanism can be detached, unlike many other H4 substitutes (HID & LED). No extra ballast or wiring needed, the plug goes straight to socket from the Car.

Pros:

+ Good color temperature
+ Brighter than stock
+ Decent low-beam cutoff minimizing glare above
+ Easy installation

Cons:

- Hotspots too close to the car & concentrated
- Not sure about longevity of built-in fan

The cutoff is ok (not much glare above the cutoff like some HID kits), but because the LED emitters are arranged in such a way to give most of its light in the UP direction, so the housing reflects more intense light directly down, closer to the car. *IF* they had designed the LED emitters to be at an angle, so the light can be bounced off the reflector at a lower angle to send it forward more (like stock), then the more intense hotspots can be directed farther forward, which is more usable light on the road. One thing I had to be careful was to not adjust the headlight up so much that the hotspot would light be further forward, such a setting resulted in the cutoff line way above horizontal level and would blind oncoming traffic.

Compared to stock on right:
http://i58.tinypic.com/sqs2mc.jpg

Low-beam cutoff:
http://i61.tinypic.com/29m9gue.jpg

High-beam:
http://i59.tinypic.com/vxevpi.jpg

Light pattern:
http://i59.tinypic.com/2jb5m3p.jpg

Interestingly the DRL also worked just like a regular bulb at lower brightness, but I pulled the fuse anyway since I wasn't sure if the PWM signal that lowers the voltage to a regular stock bulb would do damage to the LED and fan long-term.

Thanks for the info, I think I'll move my 3rd Gen CREE LED to my fogs (when my HID burns out, I think i have one year more) and install a 4th Gen CREE LED in my headlights.

As you confirm the DRL works fine and with the 4th Gen seems work better than the 3rd Gen as the 4th Gen have the FAN built-in the RESISTANCE is higher so you dont have the problem with the DRL light in the board.

Nice and enjoy your LEDs, thanks again for the info!

Luis