Pajero Sport LED Headlights Upgrade

[Litlos]

I have an October 2018 PJS with LED headlights which are pathetic. I have asked around locally (near Pattaya) about upgrade lamps, got offered upgraded fog lights instead.  I am pretty sure there are upgrades available for the headlights, but I cannot find any details of what I have installed already, or how to get them out to check.  Found one video on YouTube, in Indian and did not make sense.

 

Anyone have an tips, tricks, ideas or experiences on upgrading the headlights?

 

Cheers

[transam]

Look at this bloke/companies videos, there are lots. One for starters....

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/HeadlightRevolution

 

 

[fredob43]

Don't understand why your LED headlights are not good. There must be a problem??? Some of the LEDs not working maybe.

 

I have LED on my Tuna and they are first class. Almost as good 98+% as Xenon without any delay that you get from those. Suggest you get them checked. They might work better if you replaced the bulbs who knows.

 

Hopefully someone with a PJS will have the answer.

 

First off would suggest you take the bulbs out and see what's been fitted and if they are working OK. I do know that some cheaper models don't have LED as standard. Might be that your unlucky and they have fitted standard bulbs???

Edited November 2, 2019 by fredob43

[NanLaew]

50 minutes ago, fredob43 said:

Don't understand why your LED headlights are not good. There must be a problem??? Some of the LEDs not working maybe.

 

I have LED on my Tuna and they are first class. Almost as good 98+% as Xenon without any delay that you get from those. Suggest you get them checked. They might work better if you replaced the bulbs who knows.

 

Hopefully someone with a PJS will have the answer. First off would suggest you take the bulbs out and see what's been fitted and if they are working OK. I do know that some cheaper models don't have LED as standard. Might be that your unlucky and they have fitted standard bulbs???

If that's the OEM headlights in the OP's Pajero, then despite being described as "projector lens Bi-LED headlights", maybe they are just too small. The surface area is really small compared with a Fortuner and other LED-lit SUV's. Not sure if fitting any quality after-market LEDs will improve things. Cheap, after market LEDs are to be avoided. I never found any quality LEDs around the traps when I lived in Pattaya and I reckon most quality, custom stuff is found in Bangkok.

 

The OEM LEDs on newish Tunas and Revo's are excellent, made in Japan and paeng mahk! I've seen them for near US$350 a pair on eBay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Koito-LED-bulb-white-beam-H4-2-pieces-6500K-P214KWT-New-F-S-from-Japan-1000/283085053260

 

If the OP can get in behind and find out what type of actual connector is on the LED, maybe that will narrow the search for quality after market alternatives.

 

The Fortuner's use H4 base connector which is quite an old standard but is the same as I have on my PX Ranger. I upgraded mine to LED's ages ago since Ford's OEM filament bulbs are really poor. I worry that Mitsubishi may have gone for a much smaller base fitting which may limit what's available after market.

 

Edit: This link looks interesting. Does the OP's PJS have auto-leveling headlight as standard. Maybe that's the issue?

https://www.facebook.com/420860627955255/posts/1261819620526014/

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by NanLaew

[Litlos]

18 hours ago, transam said:

Look at this bloke/companies videos, there are lots. One for starters....

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/HeadlightRevolution

 

 

Great link, though a bit long winded.  Short answer is not all LED headlight bulbs are created equal.

The PJS has H4 HB2 9003 types with Hi/lo beam, so it is possible to upgrade the bulb and not need to do the fog lights. Interesting the guy I asked about upgrading said Isuzu have the same problem. The PJS does not have auto leveling lights as best I can tell.

So I think I will ask at Mitsubishi what the standard one is, then find an upgrade based on what is installed.

 

Cheers

 

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Litlos said:

Great link, though a bit long winded.  Short answer is not all LED headlight bulbs are created equal.

The PJS has H4 HB2 9003 types with Hi/lo beam, so it is possible to upgrade the bulb and not need to do the fog lights. Interesting the guy I asked about upgrading said Isuzu have the same problem. The PJS does not have auto leveling lights as best I can tell.

So I think I will ask at Mitsubishi what the standard one is, then find an upgrade based on what is installed.

 

Cheers

 

H4 HB3 9003 is a single type of 3-pin headlight connector, ie. hi-beam, lo-beam and ground. Yes, the fog lights are completely separate.

 

The expensive Koito LED's I linked to in my earlier post will fit. If the OP is mates with a new Fortuner owner, he could see if he's amenable to letting him try his headlight LEDs and compare. This could eliminate any possible limitations of the projector lens.

 

However, there are plenty of cheaper H4 hi/lo LED's on the market but the majority of them are poorly designed and made in China.

 

I bought mine from amazon in the US for about US$200 a pair and in my experience, anything less than US$100 bucks a pair should be avoided. I never saw any H4 LEDs in Thailand that tried to match the location and spacing of H4 filaments which is critical for effective lighting while NOT blinding oncoming traffic. Since the PJS appears to have projector lenses instead of the old fashioned mirrored reflectors and larger, lensed glass, this light scattering may not be such an issue.

 

Good luck.

Edited November 3, 2019 by NanLaew

[fredob43]

I wouldn't bother with the spots upgrade. I have LED spots on my tuna as standard, and they don't help in anyway with forward vision. I only turned them on once to see how good they were and have never put them on again.

 

We have a good car lighting shop near us I'll ask there if they know of any upgrade for PJS. You might have to wait a day or so till I can catch the peeps that speaks English.

[Litlos]

22 hours ago, fredob43 said:

I wouldn't bother with the spots upgrade. I have LED spots on my tuna as standard, and they don't help in anyway with forward vision. I only turned them on once to see how good they were and have never put them on again.

 

We have a good car lighting shop near us I'll ask there if they know of any upgrade for PJS. You might have to wait a day or so till I can catch the peeps that speaks English.

Thanks for that, what area is this in?  I live down past Pattaya, but have to drive up to Bangkok next trip home which will be late December.  So a reasonable amount of options for area. If there is somewhere they have upgraded lamps and can fit, will be even better. I hate working on modern cars, to fiddly and lots of sharp edges is my experience.

 

Cheers

[fredob43]

1 hour ago, Litlos said:

Thanks for that, what area is this in?  I live down past Pattaya, but have to drive up to Bangkok next trip home which will be late December.  So a reasonable amount of options for area. If there is somewhere they have upgraded lamps and can fit, will be even better. I hate working on modern cars, to fiddly and lots of sharp edges is my experience.

 

Cheers

Glad to say I don't live anywhere near Patts. I live in Kamphaeng Phet some 5+ hours north of there 3.5 from BKK. So it won't be any good to you. Haven't had time yet to get to local shop (They don't open on Sunday) Will have a go today going to Makro so will call in after that.

 

Only hope that the English lady is there as all the rest only speak Thai and my technical Thai is rubbish. Tomorrow I'm off to Nakhon Sawan to get Passports for the family. Whatever will give it a go in the next few days.

 

In the mean time you can always get someone to walk in front of you with a Red flag.

[DavisH]

How do the look when not looking through the windscreen? It the tinting is too dark , this certainly affects vision. Maybe a high quality lighter tint will help. My leds on the crv are OK, but think the tint I have cute vision quite a bit. I've driven a pjs also, and found the headlights to be adequate. 

[Litlos]

46 minutes ago, fredob43 said:

Glad to say I don't live anywhere near Patts. I live in Kamphaeng Phet some 5+ hours north of there 3.5 from BKK. So it won't be any good to you. Haven't had time yet to get to local shop (They don't open on Sunday) Will have a go today going to Makro so will call in after that.

 

Only hope that the English lady is there as all the rest only speak Thai and my technical Thai is rubbish. Tomorrow I'm off to Nakhon Sawan to get Passports for the family. Whatever will give it a go in the next few days.

 

In the mean time you can always get someone to walk in front of you with a Red flag.

I am about 20km out of Patts, my neighbors are mostly cows and chickens. If we see a tourist out here, they are badly lost.  Luckily I do not drive at night to often, so will just have to be doubly vigilant for motorcycles etc without any lights. So when you get a chance will be great.

 

Cheers

 

 

Cheers 

[Litlos]

5 minutes ago, DavisH said:

How do the look when not looking through the windscreen? It the tinting is too dark , this certainly affects vision. Maybe a high quality lighter tint will help. My leds on the crv are OK, but think the tint I have cute vision quite a bit. I've driven a pjs also, and found the headlights to be adequate. 

My older PJS had HID lights and no problems, the LED are pretty dull. There is a video from the Philippines with a guy showing original and upgrades and how much you can improve, but points back to his shop.  I hired an Mitsubishi Eclipse in Australia recently, same problem very dull. Went out in my friends new Ranger and much brighter, no tinting the windscreen in Australia. So it looks like Mitsubishi have got it wrong with the LEDs.

 

Cheers

[fredob43]

1 hour ago, Litlos said:

My older PJS had HID lights and no problems, the LED are pretty dull. There is a video from the Philippines with a guy showing original and upgrades and how much you can improve, but points back to his shop.  I hired an Mitsubishi Eclipse in Australia recently, same problem very dull. Went out in my friends new Ranger and much brighter, no tinting the windscreen in Australia. So it looks like Mitsubishi have got it wrong with the LEDs.

 

Cheers

Right at great expense a couple of hundred MT. I have been into the shop I use. They didn't have in stock but recommended up to LED 80/60w to fit your car. If you wanted to get the brightest light. I think standard for most cars from what I could glean is 60/55w. But I could be wrong on that. What PJS fit haven't a clue.

 

They wanted me to bring the car in (as I expected) and they would try different ones to see what was the best.

 

They all seemed to be rather cheap Philips H4 12342DW 5,000K ultimate 60/55w bright white diamond vision, made in Poland? well that's what it said on the pack of two, were 2.300k+ but you do get a 10% discount. Bringing them down to 2,110BHT or near about "that's fitted" All had a guarantee of 1 year or more.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited November 4, 2019 by fredob43

[Apiwan2]

On 11/4/2019 at 12:42 PM, Litlos said:

My older PJS had HID lights and no problems, the LED are pretty dull. There is a video from the Philippines with a guy showing original and upgrades and how much you can improve, but points back to his shop.  I hired an Mitsubishi Eclipse in Australia recently, same problem very dull. Went out in my friends new Ranger and much brighter, no tinting the windscreen in Australia. So it looks like Mitsubishi have got it wrong with the LEDs.

 

Cheers

My 2012 PJS has Zenon I believe for headlights and halogen for main beam.

 

If driving at night they are superb especially in a road with no street lights or badly lit.

 

I was thinking of getting a new PJS last year then saw headlightmag vion YouTube and decided to keep mine has it has been a truly great car.

 

The new PJS in black looks like a hearse to me.

 

Check your film is not too dark like the other fella said .

 

Good luck