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Discussion Starter · #42 · (Edited)
I found some fog lights that will go with the Koito headlights. They're 7" like the Hellas from Land Rover. Here's a set on eBay for a ridiculous price ($650). I found some in Japan for a better price. I'll see if I can figure out how to order them.

 

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I'd rather they still be salable after the test haha, but I agree with Red, the sealed LED units are much nicer than having fish tank halogens. Nothing like having to drill relief holes at the bottom
I guess its best not to include tests that are a 'known fail'..

I remember when I installed my Hella's (20+ years ago) that I put a bead of silicone around the perimeter of of the rubber cup (where it meets the housing) as well as around the three prongs that protrude through the rubber cup, but I've never had it in water deep enough to submerge the headlights, so no clue if it would be effective or not.

And if I did I'm sure I'd be more worried about the damage to components in the under seat boxes that water in the headlights. I guess if you have a 300 Tdi, you don't have to worry about the engine ecu and fuel pump/fuel injection relays under the passenger seat when wading..
 

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Discussion Starter · #45 · (Edited)
I thought that was an odd reason to avoid H4 halogens, even though it must be a legitimate concern for some people. What's the percentage of Defender drivers who wade in water deep enough to fill the headlights? Surely not very many NAS owners. I agree that there would be other more serious things to worry about than headlights when wading that deep.

If you go deep water wading you should buy my Noldens because they have the best sealing; IP6K9K. The Holleys wouldn't be the best choice because they aren't a completely sealed unit.
 

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I thought that was an odd reason to avoid H4 halogens, even though it must be a legitimate concern for some people. What's the percentage of Defender drivers who wade in water deep enough to fill the headlights? Surely not very many NAS owners. I agree that there would be other more serious things to worry about than headlights when wading that deep.
I filled mine with water a couple of times a year. No other issues from the wading.
 

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Discussion Starter · #47 · (Edited)
If you haven't given up on LED bulbs here are some from Japan that may be worth trying that are close to stock halogen color. I think the benefit would be reduced power consumption, at the expense of a less uniform beam pattern with a little more glare compared to halogen.

This one from IPF is 4000K color and rated 3200 lumens low beam & 4000 lumens high beam. It consumes 25 watts. It's about $60 (may not be made in Japan at that price; the ones below are.)


This one from Sphere Light is 3200K color and rated 4800 lumens (probably high beam.) It consumes 27 watts. It's about $130.


This one from Nihon Lighting is 4000K color and rated 5000 lumens low beam & 7000 lumens high beam. It consumes 25 watts. It's about $240. This brand seems to be highly rated.

 

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If you haven't given up on LED bulbs here are some from Japan that may be worth trying that are close to stock halogen color. I think the benefit would be reduced power consumption, at the expense of a less uniform beam pattern with a little more glare compared to halogen.

This one from IPF is 4000K color and rated 3200 lumens low beam & 4000 lumens high beam. It consumes 25 watts. It's about $60 (may not be made in Japan at that price; the ones below are.)


This one from Sphere Light is 3200K color and rated 4800 lumens (probably high beam.) It consumes 27 watts. It's about $130.


This one from Nihon Lighting is 4000K color and rated 5000 lumens low beam & 7000 lumens high beam. It consumes 25 watts. It's about $240. This brand seems to be highly rated.

Chip - I was just about to purchase the 7” Koito kit for my Defender when I came across your thread. Were you able to use the included Toyota wire harness in your Defender? The general consensus is that one should upgrade the headlight harness for better light output, especially if intending to move up to the 100-80w H4 bulbs. If the harness included with the Koito kit allows for this, that’s a good deal.
 

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Discussion Starter · #49 · (Edited)
Chip - I was just about to purchase the 7” Koito kit for my Defender when I came across your thread. Were you able to use the included Toyota wire harness in your Defender? The general consensus is that one should upgrade the headlight harness for better light output, especially if intending to move up to the 100-80w H4 bulbs. If the harness included with the Koito kit allows for this, that’s a good deal.
I plan to use the harness included with the Koitos, but I'm recovering from colorectal surgery so I haven't been able to work on the Defender. The harness is universal so it should work fine on the Defender. I think I would advise against installing higher wattage bulbs due to heat which could damage the reflective coating in the housing. If the reflector becomes dulled due to heat then the 100W bulb will result in a more dim headlight instead of brighter. Stock wattage bulbs advertised as brighter also produce more heat. So I think it is best to use basic OEM bulbs only, such as the ones that come pre-installed in the headlights. Even with stock bulbs I think the harness may provide better performance and it will protect the light switch.

I have basic bulbs from Hella and Osram I plan to test against the Koito bulb, but I doubt there is much difference.

If you want brighter you might consider a halogen color LED bulb like in post #47. That wouldn't cause heat which could damage the headlight, but of course the beam pattern will not be as uniform and it may cause more glare towards oncoming traffic.

Also be sure to purchase the Koito headlights from your local Toyota dealer because they will be able to get you the best price. Just call them and give them the part number (it's for an FJ60 Land Cruiser if they ask). I bought a set on eBay and one of them arrived chipped, so I had to send it back. The seller has not been good to deal with. You can inspect the ones that arrive at the dealer before providing payment. I picked up 2 sets from the dealer so I have a backup.
 

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I suppose the harness is set up to fit the specific light, and not specified to a vehicle per se, which does make it universal. Thanks for the confirmation on that. I do have a set of Koitos en route now which I did order through a Toyota dealership. Unfortunately my local Toyota dealer is pricey when it comes to the parts department. My everyday vehicle is a Toyota Landcruiser pushing 300k miles, so I’m finding myself buying more and more parts lately. Other Toyota dealers sell their parts online at discounted prices, with free shipping, but my local refuses to match it.

Anyway, new lights are on the way, and hopefully they’ll arrive in good shape. Coincidentally, I also have the Hella E-codes on the way as well, but after reading several writeups with similar complaints, I think the Hellas will be getting returned. I’ll stick with the oem bulb - I’m sure it’ll be 10 times better than what I currently have.

Best of luck with that recovery!
 

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Discussion Starter · #51 ·
Thank you. Yesterday was the first day I’ve gone without pain meds.

The Koito harness should work with any H4 headlight. I think I’ll repurpose one to drive fog lights. That’s great you were able to find a Toyota dealer online that offered discount prices with free shipping. I wasn’t able to find one. The ones I found searching with Google either showed the headlights as not available or charged for shipping which made it cost more than picking them up from the local dealer.
 

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I apologize, I wasn’t very clear on the shipping part. I did have to pay shipping for the Koito lights. On parts.toyota.com, you can usually get free shipping on orders over $75. Like when I bought a new A/C condenser last week for my Landcruiser. $500 at my local dealership, versus $350 at a different dealership 3 hours away with free shipping. Same identical part.
The Koito lights I ordered today were $50 plus $20 shipping. My local dealership didn’t have any, and quoted well over $100 just to order a set from Jacksonville, Fl. (Southeast Toyota’s distribution center)

I can’t say I ever expected to have Japanese headlights on my Land Rover, but it’s likely not a bad thing at all.
 

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Discussion Starter · #53 · (Edited)
I didn't expect to get Japanese headlights for the Land Rover either. Now I'm going with fogs and driving lights from Japan too. JDM style Land Rover. :)

My local dealer didn't charge me to special order them. That must be because they came from a distribution center here in Portland.
 

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Discussion Starter · #54 · (Edited)
You'll probably get a kick out of this. Here's a DIY from someone in Japan installing the Nihon Lighting 4000K H4 LEDs in their 97 NAS (Japan) Defender 90.


English translation:

They don't show what the end result is, but I found another review that does. Looks pretty much halogen color; maybe a little more white.


English translation:

Another.

English translation:

That last one has a pretty good halogen vs. LED comparison on a wall. It's pretty close. It looks like there might be more glare with the LED, but I think the photo is also exposed more than the halogen shot.
 

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Discussion Starter · #55 · (Edited)
I think it would be good if we can find an H4 LED bulb that is similar to a halogen bulb for the power savings. I had to go with a small alternator for my build for fitment and I’d like to save as much juice as possible for the battery. Replacing all the bulbs on the truck with LEDs saves a lot of energy.

To be like a halogen bulb it needs to be not overly bright so as not to dazzle oncoming drivers, doesn’t destroy the beam pattern, and has halogen color.

I ordered this one to test. It’s POLARG brand by Nissei, which is a Koito company. It’s from Japan; not Chinese. It’s close to halogen color at 4200K, rated 2800 lumens low beam and 3000 lumens high beam. The base is the same size as a halogen bulb so the original rubber cover can be used. It consumes 12 watts, so that’s a savings of 86 watts for the pair over 55 watt halogen bulbs.

日星工業株式会社 - POLARG LED電球ヘッド&フォグシリーズ

Here’s a driving review: (If you want to know what he's saying select subtitles with auto translation to English)


The end of this video shows what it looks like from the front of the vehicle:


I also ordered these IPF T10 LED bulbs to test for the side lights. That would save 18.4 watts replacing all 4 of them. They have about the same brightness as the incandescent bulbs.


I'm going to try these 130 lumens IPF bulbs in the rear high mounted brake light. They are 1.15 watts so 3 of them saves 11.55 watts.


Here are a few other H4 LED bulbs that can be considered.

M’s Basic by IPF (this is a line made exclusively for Amazon). It’s 4000K color and 3200 lumens low beam, but it consumes 25 watts, so it isn’t as efficient. One reviewer said it’s a little more bright than the 4200K POLARG, but was less uniform so visibility didn’t increase.

Carmate GIGA 5000K. A little more white color. This one is made in China, but it’s a major name brand in Japan. Low beam is rated 3200 lumens and it consumes 26 watts.

If you want really bright here’s a Sphere Light 4500K one that is 6000 lumens rated, but it consumes 31 watts and it’s quite expensive.

POLARG also makes a bright one at 5000 lumens which consumes 25 watts, but it’s 6500K color and only sold at Autobacs (not available from Amazon).

There is also a middle-tier version at 3200 lumens which consumes 14 watts, but it’s also 6500K color.

It looks like POLARG has some of the most efficient LED bulbs on the market. Many of the random Chinese LED bulbs on Amazon consume more power than halogen bulbs and aren’t as bright as they claim.

Stanley appears to be one of the only other OEMs that makes H4 LED bulbs besides Koito (POLARG), Osram/Sylvania, and Philips. Here’s one, but it’s 6300K color and quite expensive. It’s rated 3200 lumens low beam and consumes 24 watts.
https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/gp/aw/d/B078WT4366/
 

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Thanks for all the info and photos!

I've only just seen this today.

I'm an old-timey H4 use, my VW Squareback had Marchals in the late 70's, wish I would have kept those when I traded it for a LeCar!!

The '97 D90SW has Hellas in it and the '88 OneTen has a set of ancient scratched Cibies in it.

Both are certainly huge improvements over the sealed beams they came with.

Yes, both have separate High and Low relays and fat wires powering them.

Just yesterday we had an afternoon of wet, heavily falling snow... I passed at least three new "jeeps" on the way home with snow covered LED headlights...yes, they were turned on :)

I think I'll stick with the H4's for now thanks :)
 

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Discussion Starter · #57 ·
You’re welcome. I’m glad you were able to get home safe in the snow storm. Standard halogen bulbs are definitely the way to go for below-freezing temps. :)
 

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Discussion Starter · #58 ·
I calculated the energy savings from installing LED lights. For a NAS with side lights the stock bulb wattage with headlights and tail lights on is 150 watts with 12.5 amps power draw. With all LEDs (with 12 watt headlights (e.g. PolarG)) the savings is 120.26 watts or 10.02 amps. The maximum savings (with ARB bumper lights and all exterior lights on) is 291.31 watts or 24.28 amps.

This is based on the following:
PolarG LED H4: 12 watts

Perei 95mm lights
Indicator (front and rear): 3.79 watts (0.315 amps at 12 v)
Reverse: 3.36 watts (0.28 amps at 12 v)
Tail: 0.33 watts (stop: 3.79 watts) .0275 amps and 0.315 amps @ 12 v

Wipac 73mm lights
Current draw 0.175 amps @ 14 volts (2.45 watts) 0.145 amps @ 12 volts (1.74 watts)

IPF 55 lumens T10: 0.4 watts 0.33 amps (x4 for NAS side lights)
IPF 130 lumens T10: 1.15 watts 0.096 amps (x3 for NAS 3rd brake light)

Sylvania ZEVO 7506 LED (for ARB bumper): 1.7 watts

Tail/stop incandescent 7528 bulb: 5 watts (stop: 21 watts)

Indicator and reverse incandescent P21W (7506): 21 watts

Parking light bulb 5007: 5W
W5W side lights and 3rd brake light = 5 watts 0.417 amps
H4 Headlight = 55 watts 4.58 amps

Stock halogen and incandescent watts: 150 watts 12.5 amps. With reverse, indicators, and stop lights: 312 watts 26 amps. With ARB bumper lights: 354 watts 29.5 amps.
All LED with 12 watt H4 bulbs: 29.74 watts 2.48 amps.

With reverse, indicators, and stop lights: 59.29 watts 4.94 amps. With Sylvania LED ARB bumper lights: 62.69 watts 5.22 amps.

Minimum savings (just headlights, parking lights, side lights, and tail lights on): 120.26 watts 10.02 amps.

Maximum savings (all exterior lights) 291.31 watts 24.28 amps.
 

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I'm not sure if I have Hella or IPF headlights now... I have certainly owned both, and IPF was a sponsor of one of our expeditions so I may have switched them.

I have been wanting a HID replacement sice HID was released to the world. LED could do it, but unlike H4, you are limited to the OEM bulb light output (candlepower and color temp). H4 still leaves things wide open for "changes".

And a few spare H4 bulbs take up a lot less space and cash as compared to sealed beam (space) or LED (cost). I've probably filled mine with water before, but don't recall any problems... I know there's one photo in one of the magazines of mine coming out of a deep water hole. I still have a "water line" on the seat box carpeting, and the water outside was up to the base of the door windows, so reasonably deep. (Those awesome door seals keeping that water out!)
 

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Discussion Starter · #60 ·
Here's an initial test of the PolarG H4 LED 4200K bulb. I tested it in the Koito and Cibie housings. It's the best LED headlight bulb I've tried. There's no glare (!) and the cutoff line is pretty much perfect. It's slightly brighter than a halogen bulb and the color is slightly more white (probably about the same as a SilverStar halogen). My only gripe is that there is a bit of a dark spot. I read about that in some of the Amazon reviews. It consumes a little less than 1 amp and it's close to the same size as a halogen bulb (can't tell it's an LED installed). These are made to conform to Japan's regulations to pass vehicle inspection, unlike the no-name Chinese bulbs saturating the market that don't conform to any standards whatsoever.





Koito low beam



Koito low beam wall



Koito high beam



Cibie low beam



Cibie low beam wall



Cibie high beam (oddly no spider web pattern)

 
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