What I wish I had known before installing an HDWhat You Should Know Before Buying a X
What You Should Know Before Buying a Xenondepot HID Kit
I wanted to share my experiences with the Xenondepot H11 Extreme HID kit with the 4300k Phillips bulbs. This is a long story which spans several months, dozens of emails, and tens of hours. This is a popular kit for 4Runner owners and many seem happy with it but I found it strange no one has spoken of the sort of difficulties and frustrations I experienced. Hopefully this won’t get people to upset with me due to Xenondepot’s status as a vendor. I write this not to rant but rather to share what I wish I had know before buying this kit and doing these modifications to help other 4Runner owners with their own lighting decisions. I have been grateful to learn from what many others have shared on this forum and would like to try to give back.
For those who do not have time to read the full story, here is a quick summary, I will go into more detail below.
• The Kit:
o Bluntly: the kit has some serious problems
o Components are not branded and not likely to be from reputable suppliers
o Ballasts are extremely unreliable
o The bulb bases are of very low quality, made from plastic, I had two break while installed in the housing
o These lights can fail inconsistently
o Xenondepot did offer support but after three sets of replacement parts and many hours of testing and frustration from being left of the side of the road with faulty lights they would not offer a refund
• HID Realities:
o The kit is pretty easy to install
o Warm up times can be a little slow (15 seconds to usable light and 30-45 seconds to full intensity) , not a huge deal but a little annoying if you need to jump in and move a car out of the way quickly
o You will need to drill into your headlight dust covers, some reported leads after this however I did not have this problem
o You will need to aim the lights on a 2014+ 4Runner (Please do not use these on 2009-2013 models, you will blind people) nearly all the way down, this also decreases the range of the high-beams
o These HIDs will bounce when going over bumps at highway speed, this may not be a deal breaker but it is annoying once you notice it
o The bases of the bulbs are of very poor quality and the tabs tend to break after a while
o The 2014+ 4Runner flashes both the inner 9005 high beam bulbs and outer H11 low beam bulbs when you flash your high beams. Flashing HID bulbs decreases lifespan so be aware of that
• Xenondepot Kit Facts and Opinions
o I believe the light output is an excellent upgrade
o The Xtreme HID Kit is a one size fits all kit – it is not specifically designed or tested for the 4Runner
o The kit and parts are Xenondepot branded, or rather rebranded – they do not specify who their suppliers are. The bulb elements for the Phillips kit are provided by Phillips but the bases, wiring, connectors, ballasts, and relays are not
o The connectors, particularly the H9/H11/H16 connector are not as well fitting as I would hope
o The bulb bases are plastic and break easily
o In my case, one side proved to be unreliable with intermittent failures with three different ballasts and two different bulbs, stumping Xenondepot
o Xenondepot will NOT offer a refund for anything that has been opened, even after three sets of replacement parts and 20+ hours of your time is spent debugging the problem
o Xenondepot will NOT pay for return shipping to test any of their defective parts
Story Time:
So I bought a 2017 4Runner back in April of 2017. This is my first new vehicle so I was pretty excited. Pretty soon after picking up the 4Runner I learned what most of us 5th Gen owners know well: the factory halogen lights leave a lot to be desired. Not long after getting the truck home I was researching options for upgrades. Nearly a year later in March of 2018 I finally bit the bullet and ordered a set of the Xenondepot Xtreme HID kit with the Phillips bulbs.
Once the kit arrived I installed everything as recommended and even went the extra mile to be sure connectors and cables were tied down to prevent excess movement and the rather soft insulators of the provided wiring were in flexible conduit to prevent damage. I ordered extra dust covers incase I need to revert to halogen for inspection or problems were encountered (I was glad I did) and I sealed up the gaskets for the HID kit with RTV to prevent leaks. After about a half hour of headlight alignment I was in business and I will say the results were pretty amazing. They complemented the Phillips LED fog lamp bulbs I was using very well and the visibility was much improved. This was appreciated on the dark, deer ridden roads I commute on.
I was very happy with the kit for about a month, but then the excitement wore off as trouble began.
March:
In the end of March I noticed the bouncing you get from these bulbs, so I emailed Robert at Xenon Depot.
“Hello,
I recently purchases an Extreme HID H11 Kit for a 2017 Toyota 4Runner. I opted for the Philips bulbs. After the installation I noticed the light output appears to bounce or twitch frequently when driving on older or rough pavement. Is this expected behavior? The stock bulbs did not exhibit this behavior. It can be annoying, Is this normal? Will this get worse over time?
Thank you”
Robert responded quickly indicating that this was normal behavior but suggested swapping the bulb grommets to see if that helped. It didn’t but I decided to suck it up for the improved light.
April:
Over the next few weeks I noticed I was getting flashed occasionally. I thought this was weird because it was often on rainy days rather than at night and I had checked the alignment of the lights several times. One raining morning, when leaving for work, I noticed one light was out when backing away from the garage. This must be the reason people were flashing me during the day. I spent 20 minutes converting that side back to stock halogen to prevent getting ticked and ended up being late to work. I did some research online which pointed towards a defective ballast. I emailed Robert asking if this was the case and asked for a replacement ballast. Robert agreed and quickly had one shipped.
Me:
“I purchased and installed a set of H11 Xtreme HIDs back in March and I need some help. This morning when I turned my lights on, only one bulb illuminated. Upon closer inspection I found that when the light switch was flipped there was a loud, brief buzzing sound but no light was produced. The sound seemed to be coming from the ballast. Do I need a replacement ballast to fix this? Would you be able to send me one if so?
Thank you.”
Robert:
“Thanks for reaching out to us, but sorry to hear you are having issues with your HID Kit. Your kit has a 3 year warranty, but we have a few questions before we can proceed with a replacement:
(1) What is the year/make/model of vehicle you installed the kit in?
(2) Did you use the Relay Harnesses as part of your installation? (for powering the ballasts right from the battery) Or did you just use the bulbs and ballasts?
(3) Have you done any troubleshooting so far? Ex: checking connections, swapping components one at a time with the working side, etc.
(4) Please confirm your current Shipping Address. The one we have on file is from the most recent order, and it may need to be updated:”
“Robert:
Thanks for confirming with the part-swap. You should not need to use the relay harness on a newer Toyota, we just like to confirm what parts you have installed so we can have a better idea of how to assist you with troubleshooting.
I will get a replacement ballast shipped out for you later today.
Robert”
Me:
“Thank you very much for the help.
Out of curiosity, would using the relay harness improve warm up times? Without the relays they take about 10 - 15 Seconds to reach a usable brightness.”
Robert:
“Using or not using the relay harness will not make a difference for HID warm-up times. That is just a quirk of the technology, the lights need a little bit of time to fully warm up and settle in.
Robert”
I received the new ballast a little or a week later and installed it. I was happy to have the problem fixed and was back to enjoying my truck again. Unfortionaly during the swapping I discovered the bulb base had broken so I emailed Robert again.
Me:
“Thank you for your help. Replacing the ballast has restored the light output of my headlights back to their former glory! Unfortunately when I went to reinstall the bulb, I found the base to just be spinning in the slot. When I was able to remove it I found one of the plastic tabs had broken off. Please see the attacked photo. I'm worried this might cause the bulb to loosen up or bounce more in the housing. Would you be able to send a replacement bulb?
Thank you for your help”
Robert:
“I can send you out a replacement bulb, that will ship later today.
I would recommend being extra careful with insertion/rotation on the replacement - if you experienced any resistance the first time around (or even if you did not), it might be a good idea to swap out the spacer o-ring from our bulb with the one from your OEM bulb. Sometimes ours are a bit different for thickness, and this can affect how easily the bulb inserts/properly rotates into place, putting extra stress on it.
Robert”
So the lights appeared to work again for a while which was great!
May:
A few short weeks later I noticed that my problem was back. The driver’s side was again failing to start or going our while driving intermittently. So I emailed Robert again:
Me:
“I'm sorry to report that the replacement ballast sent to replace a defective one has since failed again with the same symptoms. I'm getting pretty frustrated with this system as this will be the second time I will need to convert the lights back to stock halogens and realign the headlights. Is there something else that could be wrong or a pervasive problem with these ballasts? I really don't want to keep replacing parts of this system as it takes hours due to access limitation on the vehicle. What would you suggest?”
Robert:
“Sorry to hear you are having more problems with your kit - this is definitely strange.
To clarify, the issue you are having with the light on this side is just that it does not always consistently fire up? Or are you ever having issues where it lights up fine and then shuts off while you are driving? The kit has a 3 year warranty, so if you got a bad replacement I can certainly send another, but I want to be sure of helping you to fix your issues for good.
(1) Were you able to swap bulb or ballast side-to-side to confirm which component the issue follows? When you swap, check the connection pins where the bulb is plugging into the vehicle’s OEM power - it is possible you have a pin misaligned/not far enough in, and this is creating an intermittent contact issue, which can affect power flow.
(2) You may want to try running the kit with the Relay Harness to see if your results are any different. They are not normally required for a newer 4Runner like yours, but at least that way you can be sure of drawing all the power you need directly from the battery.
Robert”
Me:
“I will try a different bulb on it but it is doing the same thing that happened last time. It makes a buzzing sound and does not light. I think it may have been going out while driving prior to failure. I should note, the other side has not had any issues so I'm doubtful the relay would make a difference but I can try to test that.”
Me again:
“Hello,
So today I went to test the lights and found them both to be working. I did not find any loose connections. What could cause the light to not start some of the time and the ballast to buzz?
Thank you”
Robert:
“What you are describing really sounds like a failure to consistently ignite. Usually that would be related to the Ballast (or Relay Harness, if in use), but I have seen cases where a bulb has a less-than-ideal connection into the vehicle’s wiring for power, which can cause intermittent issues like this.
Sometimes one of the connection pins is a bit misaligned, or one is further in/out than the other, which can cause intermittent issues like what you have been describing. This is why when we have issues like this, we ask you to test by swapping components, so we can confirm where the problem is coming from.
At this point since it is working, I would suggest keeping an eye on things. If you have further issues, take a look at how the bulbs are connected into the vehicle, and try swapping either Bulb or Ballast with the one from the working side. We can replace a faulty part for you under the kit’s warranty, but it is definitely unusual that you are having so many issues. Newer Toyotas (4Runners, Highlanders, etc) are basically the most popular vehicles we sell kits for these days, and issues are rare.
Robert”
Me:
“The new ballast has died since our last correspondence. I tried the relay kit as you suggested but the ballast makes the same buzzing sound and fails to ignite as with the last failure. With the relay kit installed in the other working light there was no noticeable difference. I checked all connections and nothing appears to be loose. What would be the next step for addressing this? Another ballast?
Thank You”
Robert:
“Sorry to hear you are having more problems with your kit. Thanks for trying the relay harnesses - it was an attempt, but it seems like it has not made a difference.
Are you saying that the replacement ballast we sent you is also having issues? Have you tried swapping bulbs or ballasts side-to-side to confirm the issue is always following that ballast?
Also, is the bulb we replaced on that Same side?
Robert”
Me:
“Yes, the replacement ballast on the same side has failed. I did not try swapping the bulbs. They way I have the wiring routed it is difficult do that. The replacement bulb was sent not due to a failure but rather because a clip on the base broke when I was doing this testing for the first failure. I can test with the new bulb to confirm. Could a defective bulb cause a ballast failure?”
Robert:
“The components are not really designed in such a way that one going bad should affect any others - the light should just stop working (or experience intermittent failures, depending on the component in question).
If you can test against another known working bulb, that would be good enough to at least rule out bulb or ballast in this case. You do not need to fully install the bulb in the housing in order to connect it to power and complete the circuit.
Is the issue manifesting the same way as before? Does it come on sometimes but not others? Any clarification you can provide on the symptoms you are experiencing will be helpful.
Let me know your findings and we can go from there,
Robert”
Me:
“I did some more testing today and there were some interesting developments. This is what I did:
1: removed current bulb and connected replacement bulb: this worked
2: reinstalled original bulb: also worked
3: test drove vehicle: no issues
4: cleaned up wiring ( wrapped with flexible conduit and tucked wiring to route around battery ) : light stopped working
5: tested connectors: found ballast input connector (connector with black and blue wires) would cause fault when under moderate tension
So if I leave the conduit off and allow the wiring to rest on the battery everything works. It seems that tension on the bulb side of that connector cause the tangs to shift and make poor contact. I do not have this issue on the other side because there is now battery to route around so the cables have a gentler arch and less tension on the connector.
I will test this setup for a while to see is the problem reoccurring and let you know if I have further issues.
Thank you”
Me again:
“I have swapped bulbs back and forth and was able to get the drivers side to work for a couple days but it's now back to working intermittently. Its becommong very frustrating and im worried about getting a ticket for a light out. I can't nail down a patter as to what might cause it but the ballast is the only consistent component.
Could you send abother ballast to give this one more try? The other side has been perfect and the kit has a good reputation so im hoping I just had some bad luck with ballasts so far.
Thank you”
Robert:
“I will have a ballast on the way to you later today. If you encounter further issues later on, it might be best to have the kit sent back to us for testing, but I am hopeful that this will be the end of your problems.
Have a great day”
Me:
“I installed the new ballast (the 3rd one) and replacement bulb on the driver's side so this was all new components. Almost immediately the problem returned with the light going out while driving. I decided to install the relay kits on both sides as well which appeared to resolve the problem for two days. On the third day the problem returned. The light goes out while driving and the ballast buzzes and fails to restart for a while.
I was suspicious something was causing the protection circuitry to trip which was the reason for installing the relay. This, as I said did not resolve the issue.
I think at this point I have to call it quits with this system. I have had to swap parts around and go back to the stock halogen on one side as much as three times a week and I'm lucky I have not gotten a ticket. I can't continue to waste time with a system that fails this regularly. This is especially disappointing in light of the awesome performance.
I would like to just return the system for a refund. Can you please help me set that up? I would be happy to label and return the components if you would like to do some analysis.
Thank you for your help.”
At this point it is late June and I have been dealing with this intermittent issue for nearly a month and a half. Robert at Xenondepot had tried to help but the diagnostic work and new parts they had provided had not gotten us anywhere and I was getting tired of the anxiety of not knowing if something as basic as my headlights working. So I responded to Robert again as you saw and thought it reasonable to ask for a refund and to send the parts labeled for them to analyze. This was the response:
Robert:
“I am sorry to hear you continue to have issues with your kit, and I can assure you that your experience is not typical. Newer 4Runners are probably the single most common vehicle we sell kits for these days, and the overwhelming majority of our customers simply install the kit and enjoy the improved lighting, without any further issues.
Our Returns Policy (
XenonDepot | Returns Policy) excludes items that have been Installed and Used in a vehicle, so at this point I cannot offer a refund, unfortunately.
That being said, as I mentioned below, if you want to send the kit back to us for Testing, we can look at that option. In cases like that, we send a prepaid UPS Return Shipping Label, you pack up the kit and send it back to us, and then we test the components (together and separately) on our equipment. Our goal there, however, is to identify any faulty parts, replace them, and send the kit back to you
If, however, all parts of the kit are found to be operational in our testing, there is a $20 handling fee for the Testing itself, and you would be responsible for shipping costs to have the kit returned to you.
If you would like to pursue this option we can, but to be honest I am a bit baffled by your results thus far. We have sent two replacement ballasts based on your troubleshooting always showing the problem following them, but the issues seem to persist.
(1) Has this Always been on the same side of the vehicle? If so, I might recommend you have your vehicle looked at for service, as there could be something going on with that side, electrically-speaking.
(2) You mentioned some difficulties with placement of wiring on the one side, which you think is having an effect on the connection being made into the vehicle. Have you looked at the Customer Reviews on our site to see if anyone has some suggestions on how to set things up?
LED Reviews | HID Reviews | HID and LED Comparison - organized by Manufacturer, then by HID/LED - there is a really good one for a 2018 4Runner (
H11 HID Headlight | 2009-2018 Toyota 4Runner HID Install Guide) that may be of help”
As you can see, XenonDepot was not going to budge on their return policy. I decided against paying to have Xenondeopt test all my parts. I felt it was not worth paying this company to do failure analysis on parts when there was clearly a quality problem. I know this won’t make me look good but intermittent electrical problems like this are notoriously difficult to reproduce. A problem like this which occurred while driving a vehicle is not likely reproduced on a bench. There are many things on a vehicle which could trigger this, vibrations, heat, cold, moisture, voltage variations and yes loose connectors (I checked these more times than I could keep track of). The fact is that if you want to sell a kit like this at a 100% markup with a 3 year warranty, you need it to be reliable in conditions found on a vehicle. Simply throwing parts are this is no way to treat a customer who has spent many hours beyond reasonable debugging. My suspicion is that these ballast/igniter components are intolerant of a voltage condition present on our 4Runners and a protection mode is tripped which takes at least 10 min to reset from. It could be that the voltage on the 4Runner dips too quickly after the rappid chare cycle on the battery is completed or that an occasional spike in voltage or noise triggers this. Either way I would not consider it reliable on 4Runners ast they claim after trying three ballasts and 3 bulbs.
Ultimately I ended up removing this kit and doing the H9 to H11 conversion. This was not nearly as much light as you would get from an HID kit but it was easy, in expensive and provided what I would say should have been the minimum lighting offered from the factory. This also meant I could adjust the lights back to the standard position and get full rang out of the high beams again. More info on this mode can be found here:
How To: Headlight Bulb Conversion (H11 to H9 & 9005 to 9011)
After running with the halogen low beams for a while I began to get the itch to go back to HIDs. A friend with a 3rd Gen Tacoma was trying to do the same thing and pointed me to a kit recommended on one of the Tacoma forums. He installed the “HYLUX A2088 FAST BRIGHT CN-LIGHT ROUND BALL BULB HID XENON HID Conversion Kit” from an ebay seller and installed it. I went with the H11b ball bulb in 4300k option. This kit comes straight from a supplier in China using relatively high end ballasts which are packaged similar to the Xenondepot kit.
The bulbs have an unusual “ball” design which seems to do a better job simulating the shape and light pattern of a halogen bulb. After installing the kit I checked the headlight adjustment and found they could be kept almost at stock height which is great for high beam performance. Better still the bases on these bulbs are much more robust and they do not bounce at all. These bulbs also warm to full brightness in about 15 seconds even in extreme cold. They have been 100% reliable since I installed them about 6 weeks ago and this being winter they have gotten a lot of use. The best part is that these are only about $80-$90. You do need a relay kit for these but that can be had for $10-$15. All in that’s only a little over half the cost of the Xenondepot kit.
This kit is not perfect though. Some of the connectors are a little flimsy, though still reliable. Also, perhaps due to the shape of these bulbs, the imperfections in the halogen projectors are little more noticeable that they were with the Xenondepot kit. All in all I find it’s worth it for their excellent light output and pattern, as well as their reliability.
So, that was a very long story. Thanks for sticking around to finish reading. I think I have finally finished upgrading the stock bulbs on my 4Runner (18 in all with the reverse, fogs, high beams, and interior lights) and have it where honestly Toyota should have shipped it for what they ask for these trucks. What you decide to do with your lights is your decision. I have tried to share this information in the hopes of helping other 4Runner owners with their decision and preventing some of the more frustrating things I experienced.
.. Go on.. Make a coherent argument for once...
