Kia Forte Forum banner

2019-2020 Forte LED headlight and DRL conversion

67K views 101 replies 32 participants last post by  noturbonoproblem 
#1 ·
This is my first car in a long time that didn't come with HID lights, and I hated the yellow that the halogens produced. So I wanted to swap to LEDs, but when I researched it, it seems there are a LOT of bad LEDs out there. Focal length, LED position, LED diode shape are all important to produce good lighting that isn't worse than what the original halogens put out. It took me a lot of research on other car forums to find a good LED bulb to use in our Forte, but I found them. Here is a pic showing one headlight swapped:
79421

79422

79423

79424

79425

79426


Biggest issue with the install is getting the bulbs to "click" and lock fully in place. The hole for bulb access is small and positioned oddly. In the pics I don't think it was clicked all the way in. Judging by the beam pattern it looks like the bulb needs to rotate another couple more degrees, but I can't get enough grip or leverage on it without taking the headlight out. But for now, it's fine the way it is. The headlights look great, and are quite a bit brighter than the stock halogen bulbs as you can see in the pics.
 
See less See more
6
#76 ·
Hi all
This thread has been super helpful in my pursuit to change out my DRLs to LEDs; however, I've ran into a problem. I bought 1156 bulbs to replace my dying, original bulbs. But after installing them, I got the error to check my DRLs. I'm guessing not all 1156 bulbs don't work? They light up and look nice but I still get the error.

Here are the exact bulbs I bought: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...u8I2h_DUFG0vDEo8VHRoCtb0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have a 2019 Kia Forte FE.

I'm lost to what I should try next at this point. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
#87 ·
Hi all
This thread has been super helpful in my pursuit to change out my DRLs to LEDs; however, I've ran into a problem. I bought 1156 bulbs to replace my dying, original bulbs. But after installing them, I got the error to check my DRLs. I'm guessing not all 1156 bulbs don't work? They light up and look nice but I still get the error.

Here are the exact bulbs I bought: Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

I have a 2019 Kia Forte FE.

I'm lost to what I should try next at this point. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I was wondering if you were able to solve this issue. I bought the same bulbs and having the same issues.
 
#88 ·
Thanks OP.
Installed these yesterday. Wife has given thumbs up.
One thing that helped with the driver side install was a right angle pick, inserted into the heatsink fins to help get some torque on the thing.

Assuming they don't throw codes, my only concern now is longevity.



82295



82294
 
#89 ·
This is my first car in a long time that didn't come with HID lights, and I hated the yellow that the halogens produced. So I wanted to swap to LEDs, but when I researched it, it seems there are a LOT of bad LEDs out there. Focal length, LED position, LED diode shape are all important to produce good lighting that isn't worse than what the original halogens put out. It took me a lot of research on other car forums to find a good LED bulb to use in our Forte, but I found them. Here is a pic showing one headlight swapped: View attachment 79421
View attachment 79422
View attachment 79423
View attachment 79424
View attachment 79425
View attachment 79426

Biggest issue with the install is getting the bulbs to "click" and lock fully in place. The hole for bulb access is small and positioned oddly. In the pics I don't think it was clicked all the way in. Judging by the beam pattern it looks like the bulb needs to rotate another couple more degrees, but I can't get enough grip or leverage on it without taking the headlight out. But for now, it's fine the way it is. The headlights look great, and are quite a bit brighter than the stock halogen bulbs as you can see in the pics.
It dose the soft thing with led no issue i have it running no issue on mine

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk
i recently bought LEDs for my DRLs and they work perfectly fine but for some reason it says check headlight on my dash and im not sure why its saying that because as i said they are working perfectly fine, does anyone know why or have any suggestions?
 
#90 ·
i recently bought LEDs for my DRLs and they work perfectly fine but for some reason it says check headlight on my dash and I'm not sure why its saying that because as i said they are working perfectly fine, does anyone know why or have any suggestions?
They do not draw enough load, so the ECU thinks there is a problem.
You can add load with a resistor I think there is a youtube video on that very subject for the forte.

I threw more money at the issue, and got 1156s from deAutoLED they guarantee no codes. Indeed, they do not throw codes for my Forte. And they are hella bright compared to the amazon cheapies I purchased.
 
#98 ·
Just bought these for my FE. Hopefully they work. The reviews seemed promising and they're quite inexpensive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ForteGT2
#100 ·
They showed up today, and look pretty nice for such a low price. Came in a nice box with instructions, zip ties, 3M stickies if you want to mount the ballast, and even some white cloth gloves so you don't get oils from your fingers on them during installation. I'll update again once I get them in, but I'm hopeful that they are going to be a good improvement
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top