Converting headlight from halogen to LED

HANI MANSON

MEMBER
2017 HYUNDAI ELANTRA
2.0L
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC

Hi everyone.

I do not like the headlights output especially I drive often highway. What are the possible problems that may happen if converted headlight from halogen to LED? Without mention the beam pattern or distance or cut off (because I have found very good led's same halogen pattern) now the only matter thing for me is electricity system in the car. So the question is, what are the possible problems that may happen if converted headlight from halogen to LED?

7 Replies

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,029 POSTS

If you are in the US what you want to do is actually illegal under federal law and in states that do inspections it will not pass unless that car had an LED option and you change everything over to those headlights.
The biggest issue is that LEDs in a halogen housing will not match the correct light pattern and will cause a lot of glare to oncoming traffic. Another issue would be that on many newer vehicles like yours the computer monitors the current used by the lights to determine if one (or more) has failed. That will turn on the indicator or warning about a bad bulb(s) and can even set a code depending on the way the vehicle monitors the lighting.

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Tuesday, October 30th, 2018 AT 8:26 AM

HANI MANSON

MEMBER
4 POSTS

Thank you for reply.
First so sorry for the late reply.
Okay I will answer each question.
1- I am not from US and I am from Kuwait in Middle East
And and the second thing thing is the project pattern is matching the halogen exact the same in LED set that I chose so no worries. The third thing the car computer, what possibly happened?
Because I have electro meter I measure the oem h7 halogen and I got 55w and 2.6 amp and the LED I got 0.7 amp and 24W. So what I supposed to worry about?

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Wednesday, November 7th, 2018 AT 1:15 AM

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,029 POSTS

Okay, non US just check the local laws if any.
The issue with the computer is usually that the lower current draw of the LED units (in your case almost a 2 amp difference) can cause the system to think the headlamps have failed. If it does not have lamp failure indicators it may not matter. Not sure if the version of the Elantra you get there is the same as the US version.

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Wednesday, November 7th, 2018 AT 5:50 AM

HANI MANSON

MEMBER
4 POSTS

I think it is same as US version.
Okay, I got it so you tell that the computer will think there is no lamp installed since the low current amp.
Okay, other than that, no other damage? And thank much for keeping in reply.

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Wednesday, November 7th, 2018 AT 11:52 AM

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,029 POSTS

Should not cause an issue unless it has the lamp warning. For that there are resistors you can get that can be installed to make the computer think it is the correct bulb. Install the LED's and see if you get a warning. No warning you are all set.