[bullboy]

That is my plan now , I'll try the 90/100 ,and if the dome is not deteriorating further i'll change bot the domes. I suspect it will cost around 5k a pair.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by bullboy

That is my plan now , I'll try the 90/100 ,and if the dome is not deteriorating further i'll change bot the domes. I suspect it will cost around 5k a pair.

Non-motorised should cost less, but motorized one must cost more.

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Coming to the topic, you can safety use 90/100 bulbs. I know of numerous Swifts, which couldn't handle 130's running the 90/100 safely.
I use it in my ikon, even without a replay for about a year now.

Dhanush,
You use 90/100 without a relay ? and there's no issue at all ?
I had upgraded to 90/100 in March 2010, the first installer said only bulb upgrade is enough and didn't put any relay. He said it's not required.

But somehow, I was not convinced, I went to other installer and just asked him to put a relay.It took around 900 bucks.
Initially the light was fantastic, but these days i am noticing the lights are not that strong when I'd put it new.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

.... You use 90/100 without a relay ? and there's no issue at all ?
==========
but these days i am noticing the lights are not that strong when I'd put it new.

Yep, no issues at all. Friendly Ford SA mentioned that the OE relay and wiring is quite capable of handling 100/90. As per the SA, the only weak link in the lighting of 'our' model ikon's is the holder. 90/100 is fine, but it might melt on 100/130.

As for inadequate lighting, check if the glass is faded, and inspect closely if the reflectors are fine.

[bullboy]

Non-motorised should cost less, but motorized one must cost more.

Its motorized one :(

[condor]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Friendly Ford SA mentioned that the OE relay and wiring is quite capable of handling 100/90.

Ask him to show you the relay. The relay should be capable of handling 200W. Else you need the relay.

Replace the holders with ceramic holders. Should cost you about 75-80 each. Roots is one such, and should be available at accessories shops.

Do Not go for 100/130. It will generate too much heat & reflectors will be affected.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by condor

Ask him to show you the relay. The relay should be capable of handling 200W. Else you need the relay.

IIRC, he mentioned that the relay that does the job for all other electrical accesories, ie, horn et al is the same. Hence the tolerance.

Originally Posted by condor

Replace the holders with ceramic holders. Should cost you about 75-80 each. Roots is one such, and should be available at accessories shops.

Umm.. replacing the holders will mean the wires cut. It would void warranty. Well, for 100/90 I wouldn't suggest changing the holder. I have been running them on stock wiring and holders for about an year with absolutely no issues.

Originally Posted by condor

Do Not go for 100/130. It will generate too much heat & reflectors will be affected.

Mine, Benny's and Manish's OE headlights/reflectors are 'said' to be of slightly better quality and are 'meant' withstand 100/130 bulbs. The casing is glass for us, where newer ikons have fiber. Also, the SA had mentioned ikon's running 100/130 - with relay. The downside of a relay installation is we have to makes holes in the HL assembly, which in turn might cause fogging issues during heavy rains.

[condor]

@Dhanush, there is a reason for the rating a component has. The legal specs for lights are 55/60W, and the manufacturers will design components to meet this, and a little more margin. Not for higher ratings. Remember, when you flash your lights at nigh - you are using all four filaments together - which is twice the load even for a higher rated relay.

Reg the holders, many of us have been there. I myself have run for quite sometime on stock holders. The holders finally fused. It did not happen overnight, but it did. I have run my 90/100's far longer with ceramics than on stock holders.

Check the auto lighting thread for more information.

[bullboy]

It has been more than a year since I updated this thread.I know, sorry. My car hasn't run much in an year. Now it stands at 260xx kms
Did wheel alignment and balancing at New bharat tyres and costed 620rs
Things going ok .Given the car for service .Ford service is now really bad.Seems they aren't really interested in old customers neither is ford customer care.I had to go in and around and search an SA.
The car now started to rust that need to be patched.Ford ASC is quoting insane amount to fix a small patch. Need to find some place to do the job.
After a long wait finally she started to sing and thump.

[bullboy]

The car was delivred with a missing mat and other was fully muddy.Noticed this when i reached home
Total service amount was 3364 with 1100 for oil and 570 for filter.

[condor]

Originally Posted by bullboy

The car now started to rust that need to be patched.

Where is this happening ? Please post some pics too.

[bullboy]

Originally Posted by condor

Where is this happening ? Please post some pics too.

Its posted in the underbody antirust treatment thread
Though i started a spearate thread mods merged it into the above thread.http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post2662193

[condor]

@Bullboy, how much have you run now ? Did your car require any replacements ?

I have done only 35k, and my SA is saying that the ball joint & tie rods have become weak.

[bullboy]

Now a days I have company cab. So car is resting in porch apart for ocassional marriage function runs with the family. It has done around 28k.
No replacements yet.

ball joint and tie rods weak at 35k ?

[bullboy]

It started off initially to add a BT headunit. So I purchased a JBL Gto6x9's and JBL 608c about more than 1 year back.Didn't buy the HU as I was still researching on it. I went to many installers asking their help to fix the speakers without cutting the door and tray. Smaller shops didn't know any method other than cutting where as the biggies wheren't intrested enough , travelled upto kochi to seek help but didn't workout.
So i decided to do it myself and the biggest problem for me was the time. I'm being a novice and dont know much apart from some basic stuff this was real challenge.
Weekends were my work time , occassinal rains acted as villian and delayed my work as was other family functions.
With lot of calculations thoughts and research finally made a platform for 6x9's and this was installed.Angleing and fitting it was tedious but finally it was done (condor was inspiration here).

Then came installation of front speakers, I though I wont be able to install it without cutting the plastic speaker cover and adding Mdf spacers.
So the search went on and made many mdf prototype of spacers out of spacers and it didn't satisifed me.
Finally struck the idea of fiberglassing. The research went on and finally gave it a try. I made the speaker pods in FG and Mdf and wrapped it in Cf vinyl and installed it.
This took almost 6 months to finish and lot of sweat.

While researching for FG i saw people installing PC's in their cars with success ,so thought of giving it a try (read frankmehtha's and gigy's valueable input) .
Now needed some place to fit in the cpu and the dvd drive. My ikon being too small (compared to other sedans) I need to build a new center console to accomodate the dvd and usb's. Cpu is placed behind rear seat in a custom box.

So now the car is carupterised with config as below. The setup is running for almost more than 7 months with hiccups.

* Core i3 on Biostar
* 2 Gb Ram
* 500 gb laptop Hdd
* Asus Xonar Dx
* Lilliput 669GL
* External Dvd
* 2 usb hubs
* Globsat gps receiver
* Jbl 4 channel Amp
* Ligtning Audio mono amp
* Kicker cvr12 on custom FG enclosure.
Will upload pics shortley.