Headlight upgrade?
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This is one modification I would love to do with my car, unfortunately it is not possible here due to lack of parts, as US headlights don't conform to UK MOT standards.
The other mod I would love to achieve is to replace my offside rear light cluster, as in the UK the offside reverse lens is replaced with a rear foglight lens, it just looks awful.
At least my factory supplied headlamps don't have the orange marker lens.
The other mod I would love to achieve is to replace my offside rear light cluster, as in the UK the offside reverse lens is replaced with a rear foglight lens, it just looks awful.
At least my factory supplied headlamps don't have the orange marker lens.
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1,283 Posts
im gonna call the junk yard here today and see how much lights are, i got a cracked housing so my one light fogs up. if they are cheap enough i might do the 05 upgrade, if i do, i might even wire it so that i can have my high, low, and fogs all on at the same time. that should help me see the deer running across the road so i dont have to do this to one :horse:
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285 Posts
Alright ladies and gents. This is a "how to" of sorts on how to swap '05-'07 headlights into your '01-'04 Escapes.
1.) You must remove the ENTIRE front bumper. Have a friend help you with this so you don't scratch it up.
2.) once the bumper is off, there are a total of 4 bolts holding the old headlights in.
3.) You must disconect the wires in the old headlight by un-doing the metal retaining clip. Looks hard but very easy.
Here is a picture of the little metal clamps. this is what they look like after you undo them.
![]()
4.) Once the old headlight is out you will need to cut that black plastic connector off. Cut the wires close to the connector so you don't waste wire.
This is a picture of the black connector that you have to cut off.
![]()
5.) You will have 3 loose wires now, all with different colors. You will need to get a certain type of wire connecters and place one on the end of each one of those wire.
(connector thingy)
![]()
6.) Now that you have put those connectors on each wire, here is the fun part that you WILL need a freind to help you with. You will need to hook those wire to these prongs (see pic below). It will take a few minutes to check what works and what doesn't (you wont screw anything up if you get the wrong one). All three will need to be connected in order to test it out. One wire is for the Hi-Beams, one for the Low-Beams, and one is the ground.
(connector prongs)
![]()
7.) Once those are connected, you will need to do the same for the amber light (turn signal). I have no pics of this for some reason, but it was the same process as the headlights.
8.) Put the lights back where they go and put all of the bolts back in.
9.) Re-attach the front bumper, and if you have them, the skid plates.
Here is what mine turned out like.
![]()
Disclaimer: I am NOT responsible for YOU, if you break something on your car it is YOUR fault NOT MINE. I am not an electrician or an ASE certified mechanic. I am just some dude working on his own car and sharing what I did to my car. I fallowed roughly these same steps to do this swap. I took a long time and double checked everything I did to get the results I wanted.
With that said, have fun and enjoy!
1.) You must remove the ENTIRE front bumper. Have a friend help you with this so you don't scratch it up.
2.) once the bumper is off, there are a total of 4 bolts holding the old headlights in.
3.) You must disconect the wires in the old headlight by un-doing the metal retaining clip. Looks hard but very easy.
Here is a picture of the little metal clamps. this is what they look like after you undo them.
4.) Once the old headlight is out you will need to cut that black plastic connector off. Cut the wires close to the connector so you don't waste wire.
This is a picture of the black connector that you have to cut off.
5.) You will have 3 loose wires now, all with different colors. You will need to get a certain type of wire connecters and place one on the end of each one of those wire.
(connector thingy)
6.) Now that you have put those connectors on each wire, here is the fun part that you WILL need a freind to help you with. You will need to hook those wire to these prongs (see pic below). It will take a few minutes to check what works and what doesn't (you wont screw anything up if you get the wrong one). All three will need to be connected in order to test it out. One wire is for the Hi-Beams, one for the Low-Beams, and one is the ground.
(connector prongs)
7.) Once those are connected, you will need to do the same for the amber light (turn signal). I have no pics of this for some reason, but it was the same process as the headlights.
8.) Put the lights back where they go and put all of the bolts back in.
9.) Re-attach the front bumper, and if you have them, the skid plates.
Here is what mine turned out like.
Disclaimer: I am NOT responsible for YOU, if you break something on your car it is YOUR fault NOT MINE. I am not an electrician or an ASE certified mechanic. I am just some dude working on his own car and sharing what I did to my car. I fallowed roughly these same steps to do this swap. I took a long time and double checked everything I did to get the results I wanted.
With that said, have fun and enjoy!
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285 Posts
I bought used ones off of ebay. They were like $30 for the housing and another $15 for shipping EACH. I bought each one sperately. Then I bought brand new bulbs from autozone so I knew they worked and it wasn't my wiring. Once I hade the old headlights out I looked at the black connector thing for it and realized that it wasn't going to fit into the new headlight. So I bought those blue connector things(above pic) and attached them to the wires that I cut out of the old headlight connector. Then it was just a matter of finding out which wire went where on the new headlight. It took me a good 10 minutes per head light trying to balance the light on one knee having my friend turn the lights on and off and plugging the wires into the new headlight trying to find out which combo worked.
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1,283 Posts
there was no dear pic... and a buddy of mine chased a dear with a tire iron once after the little *&^%*&% ran into the corner of his car. lucky for the deer that they can run faster scared then he can mad HAHAjhande08 said:
awesome write up. can that perhaps be put into a tech spot saved somewhere? cause if i do my lights i think thats the way i will go about it.
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285 Posts
I guess if you want to save that one I can make some adjustments to it to make it a little more detailed. When I have the spare time I will take the front bumper off again so I can check out how I am going to put my snorkel on and while I am doing that I will take some more pictures of the swap.
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1,455 Posts
To satisfy our RHD demands, we'd have to source a pair of headlights from either Australia or Japan. I must admit that if i do keep the Mav for much longer, i would be very interested in doing this mod.camusdarrach said:
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1,283 Posts
hey chris, if you take out those across the pond headlights can i call dibs?? i love the clear look. im usually a big fan of following the law, but im sure i can find a way to have orange reflectors on the front with out too much problem. then again, i have talked to quite a few police officers arund here and i know more about the ontario highway traffic act because i spend more time reading it LoL
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Only issue is that the beams are set up for a RHD car. You guys drive on the right side of the road, so the beams would actually be pointed into the lane of the oncoming traffic, blinding them.CrashNburn said:
I'm sure i've seen 'Euro spec' (totally clear) headlights on eBay.com, so they should be suitable for LHD Escapes.
(Having said that, if I do keep the Mav and if I do do this mod in the future, you can have first refusal if you still want 'em.
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1,283 Posts
i can re-aim them, i dont see that being a problem. just keep me in your memory bank HAHA, Thanks //
//does that conector on the new 05 headlight control both the high and the low beam, i couldnt help but notice the hole in the assembly and just assumed that a bulb went there and was wondering what pluged into it?02escape said:Alright ladies and gents. This is a "how to" of sorts on how to swap '05-'07 headlights into your '01-'04 Escapes.
1.) You must remove the ENTIRE front bumper. Have a friend help you with this so you don't scratch it up.
2.) once the bumper is off, there are a total of 4 bolts holding the old headlights in.
3.) You must disconect the wires in the old headlight by un-doing the metal retaining clip. Looks hard but very easy.
Here is a picture of the little metal clamps. this is what they look like after you undo them.
![]()
4.) Once the old headlight is out you will need to cut that black plastic connector off. Cut the wires close to the connector so you don't waste wire.
This is a picture of the black connector that you have to cut off.
![]()
5.) You will have 3 loose wires now, all with different colors. You will need to get a certain type of wire connecters and place one on the end of each one of those wire.
(connector thingy)
![]()
6.) Now that you have put those connectors on each wire, here is the fun part that you WILL need a freind to help you with. You will need to hook those wire to these prongs (see pic below). It will take a few minutes to check what works and what doesn't (you wont screw anything up if you get the wrong one). All three will need to be connected in order to test it out. One wire is for the Hi-Beams, one for the Low-Beams, and one is the ground.
(connector prongs)
![]()
7.) Once those are connected, you will need to do the same for the amber light (turn signal). I have no pics of this for some reason, but it was the same process as the headlights.
8.) Put the lights back where they go and put all of the bolts back in.
9.) Re-attach the front bumper, and if you have them, the skid plates.
Here is what mine turned out like.
![]()
Disclaimer: I am NOT responsible for YOU, if you break something on your car it is YOUR fault NOT MINE. I am not an electrician or an ASE certified mechanic. I am just some dude working on his own car and sharing what I did to my car. I fallowed roughly these same steps to do this swap. I took a long time and double checked everything I did to get the results I wanted.
With that said, have fun and enjoy!
Joined
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49 Posts
I just finished installing the headlights on my 02 Escape, and I think something is wrong.
I thought that only the big light would be on for the low beams, and only the small light for the high beams. The high beams are acting like I thought they would be, but both lights are on for the low beams. Is this normal?
Low beams:
![]()
High beams:
![]()
I thought that only the big light would be on for the low beams, and only the small light for the high beams. The high beams are acting like I thought they would be, but both lights are on for the low beams. Is this normal?
Low beams:
High beams:
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