[CaptainUnderpants]

I read a lot about potential compatibility issues with OEM halogen bulbs being swapped out into reflective housings. One issue is beam scatter causing an unfocused beam resulting in glare to oncoming traffic and/or less light actually on the road. The second issue was light bulb out warning from the Ford computer requiring a ForScan setting change. Neither of these items seems to be the case.

I intentionally installed only one side first so I could compare. Below is a photo of my van with the LED low beams on the passenger side and the OEM halogens on the driver side. I have already installed Rigid fog lights. The whiter light of the LED's is much preferred to me. I love the color temp of the Rigid fogs and the yellow OEM halogen's are really unattractive, and not nearly as effective in illumination relative to the Rigid fogs.

Below is a comparison of the low beams. To me it appears that the beam pattern is pretty much identical for the Halogens on the left and the LED on the right. Most importantly the cut off is still very strong.

Side note: My Rigid fog lights have an exceptionally good cut off. I run these ALL of the time and have never been flashed. They are a nice supplement to the low beams.

Below are the high beams. Again no discernable difference in beam pattern.

And finally LED's on both sides. It is a little darker out and the low beams show a very solid cutoff.

Kudos to the Ford engineers for design regarding how easy it is to remove the headlight buckets. Two bolts on top and out the assembly comes. Removing the whole assembly makes it much easier to install the bulbs.

Low Beams a 15% coupon code can be applied
High Beams a 20% coupon code can be applied
Less than $100 for both.

Next I am going to test out these upgraded fog light bulbs. Overall, I think I am going to be quite happy with both the performance and looks.

So far I have only driven around the block, but no error code yet.

 

[ArgonautVans]

Nice writeup. Just purchased them. Been meaning to upgrade for a while, the stock low beams are downright unsafe IMO. Very dim. I really don’t like turning my high beams off when driving at night on rural roads and highways because I literally can’t see the road more than a few feet with the stock low beams

 

[takedown]

Thanks for the details! I had put in a different model sealight and couldn't get the warning to go away, even with a resistor the company sent me. I'll give these a go.

 

[CaptainUnderpants]

Nice writeup. Just purchased them. Been meaning to upgrade for a while, the stock low beams are downright unsafe IMO. Very dim. I really don’t like turning my high beams off when driving at night on rural roads and highways because I literally can’t see the road more than a few feet with the stock low beams

Low Beams Suck.... Agreed.

If you did get the high beams the fitment can be a little finicky. I suspect more as a result of Ford's manufacturing tolerances on the bucket. Both @memck and I were able to get them to work. Here is his thread. for reference.

 

[memck]

I had originally been very hesitant to do this upgrade, but a few months ago ended up with a $50 amazon gift card and found a really good sale on the Sealight LEDs and figured what the heck.

My main concern was not wanting to blind oncoming drivers so I intentionally went with bulbs on the lower end of the lumen output.

Like @CaptainUnderpants I'd already supplemented my factory lighting - in my case I've got Diode Dynamics fog and driving pods which have been GREAT. But the lackluster factory halogens still bothered me.

I had to use Forscan to eliminate the bulb-out warning on my '21, so your mileage may vary.

The performance with the Sealights in the factory reflector housings is decent, definitely better than stock halogens, but still not on-par with the factory lighting I've had on other vehicles. At least now the lighting temperature is almost the same between my auxiliary lighting and factory housings.

 

[CaptainUnderpants]

I had to use Forscan to eliminate the bulb-out warning on my '21, so your mileage may vary.

The performance with the Sealights in the factory reflector housings is decent, definitely better than stock halogens, but still not on-par with the factory lighting I've had on other vehicles. At least now the lighting temperature is almost the same between my auxiliary lighting and factory housings.

I just reviewed your thread. The Sealight bulbs you used were Version S1, I purchased the S2 model. Advertising literature for S1 says 400% brightness, S2 600% brightness. Possibly the reason for my giving them a better review, but also maybe the reason for not throwing a "Light Out" code? Maybe the extra wattage passes the threshold for the sensor.

My Transit is a model year 2021.

 

[CaptainUnderpants]

Fog Light Success! I just installed LED in the Fog lights and lighting is now perfect. Very even and color correct.

Here is the Sealight Bulb I used.

It was easiest to again remove the light assembly. First remove the trim ring using a plastic tool to pry.

There are three torx head screws and out comes the light.

Below is a comparisons at dusk showing OEM fog lights on and off with both Halogen and LED bulgs. At this point driver side is OEM halogen, while passenger is LED.

NOTE: The low beams and Rigid fogs are on in all of these photos. The very wide flat bar of white light is the Rigid Fog lights. Below is with the OEM fog lights OFF. It is only just dusk in these photos, so light patterns is not as noticeable.

Now below I have turned on the yellow OEM halogen fog lights. The beam pattern compliments the Rigid fogs.

Upgraded side - OEM fog lights OFF.

LED lights in the OEM Fog lights.

Finally its a little later at night. I point the car directly down the street with the camera pointed to catch the passenger side variation.
Below low beam with Rigid fogs. No OEM fogs - Lots of shadowing close to the car and to the right.

Low beams, Rigid fogs and OEM's with LED's - PERFECTION. Blanket coverage and all one color.

Perfect, consistent illumination!

As a side note: There is no glare from the upgraded OEM fogs. I got in front of the car to look for glare from the newly upgraded OEM fogs. As I bent down I was getting the blast from the low beams way before any glare from the OEM fogs.

 

[OldMadBrit]

Excellent write up.
I did this conversion and sang the praise of modern LED's about 2 1/2 years ago.
I got slammed by HID conversion fanbois 🤡 for all the reasons you just disproved,
I couldn't be bothered to take the time and document the comparison you just did, but you are totally right modern slim-line LED's replicate the OEM beam pattern perfectly.

I converted all of the lights on my 3000GT shortly after, and totally transformed night driving in it.

 

[gregoryx]

Thanks for the great write-up and photos, @CaptainUnderpants. Ordered the same ones. Looking forward to the improved setup!

FWIW, the quality of these LED things seem ALL over the board... just kept waiting for someone to confirm ones that look good. Much appreciated.

 

[Lukef]

Quick question. With a color temperature of 6,500K are you noticing any blue? I run a light bar that's 5,000K and love the "natural" color of it. Was wondering if 6,500K is noticably different / noticably blue.

 

[ArgonautVans]

I bought and installed these. Low beams are a noticeable improvement over stock. I like the color, not really blue. Just bright white.

my right high beam seems like it doesn’t cover as well as the left, maybe they’re a little better than the stock halogens? But not too much.

overall, definitely worth the $100. Particularly the low beams.

I did not get any error messages on the dash.

During install, definitely remove the headlight units. For the high beams, loosening the 3 screws holding the metal plate in helped remove and install the high beam bulbs.

brown and blue are positive wires fyi.
Remember to pull the headlights towards you and up to remove after the two Torx screws are out. The plastic connector clips are brittle as well for the light bulb plugs (don’t ask me how I know)

 

[CaptainUnderpants]

During install, definitely remove the headlight units. For the high beams, loosening the 3 screws holding the metal plate in helped remove and install the high beam bulbs.

This would have solved the problem I had with the high beams being very "tight" to reinstall. Good Advice!

There is no blueish tint on any of my lights. They all seem very well matched.

 

[memck]

Quick question. With a color temperature of 6,500K are you noticing any blue? I run a light bar that's 5,000K and love the "natural" color of it. Was wondering if 6,500K is noticably different / noticably blue.

I have 6000k fog and driving lights and I can tell the Sealights are slightly cooler (more blue) but I've gotten used to it. It's less annoying than the 6000k lights combined with the stock halogens.

 

[Hastings]

Thanks to OP for the heads up on these. I just installed both low & high, great improvement.

I’ve put a reminder in to post my experience with them after one year. Aftermarket LED bulbs don’t have a stellar rep on durability and I’d love to hear how folks are doing with this particular LED after they’ve been in service for a while.

 

[gregoryx]

All installed and up and going. My son removed the headlight modules (two screws) and everything clipped right in with zero challenges. No alerts on the dash. Smooth, even light - better coverage than stock by a little bit, at least - and seems to be a bit brighter without being obnoxious. Much appreciated, @CaptainUnderpants !! 👏

 

[richards]

I just installed them also on my 2016 XLT. Went in really easily. Only problem is I get a low beam fault code beep twice then goes away. Possibly due to the fact that I have my low beams set for driving lights (1/2 power). Sent a note to the company as they offer free decoders. Will see if they respond.

 

[ArgonautVans]

Random update. Lights do well after a few trips.

however, in an odd twist, having the LED installed in the driver side low beam spot prevents my SEIC from working (my Inpower indicator shows one of the interlocks is not engaged).

this is odd for s few reasons. With the halogens, the SEIC does not work if my headlights are on - but does work if they’re turned off. Now with the LEDs installed, it doesn’t work when the headlights are on or off.

on top of that, there’s no documentation from ford (and Inpower had no idea) about why the headlights would affect the SEIC operation at all in the first place.

Checked with Forscan and did not see any error codes.

Going to try the Canbus code module for the lights anyways and see if that fixes the problem.

2020+ SEIC (Stationary Elevated Idle Control)

Getting real close to implementing this. Basically, SEIC lets the engine idle at higher RPMs when parked. Benefits are it allows the alternators to put out a lot more amps at idle - great for powering high DC loads. I'm attempting to pull 240A off the batteries with two Sterling 12V 120A B2B...

www.fordtransitusaforum.com

 

[Michael Ophus]

Well a Diode is a electronic component that allows current to only flow in one direction, Is it possible to reverse the polarity of the LED so the current flows in the opposite direction?

 

[ArgonautVans]

Tried reversing polarity, didn’t work.

 

[memck]

Does it function with no bulbs attached?

Or with a halogen installed in just one side or another?

Did you change Forscan to LED headlights to prevent headlight out errors? If so, does SEIC work if you change that back?

I'm assuming there haven't been any other changes since the last time SEIC worked correctly?

Correlation doesn't always mean causation 😉