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Anyone else run into reversed high/low beam on H13 LEDs?

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Old Jun 15, 2026 | 03:09 AM
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Post Anyone else run into reversed high/low beam on H13 LEDs?

Just wanted to share this in case it helps someone running H13 LEDs on an 08 F-350 Super Duty.

We recently had a truck where the low beam was brighter than the high beam, and the high beam looked weak. At first it seemed like a bad bulb, but it turned out the pin orientation on the H13 connector was reversed.

The fix was swapping the two outer pins while leaving the center pin in place.

Quick signs this might be your issue:
• Low beam seems unusually bright
• High beam output looks dim
• Beam pattern feels backwards

Before assuming the bulbs are defective, it might be worth checking the pin layout first. Just make sure to double-check your wiring before changing anything, since not every truck seems to be pinned the same.

Curious if anyone else with an 08 Super Duty has run into this — feel free to share what worked for you.
 
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Old Jun 15, 2026 | 06:18 AM
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FIL had this on an '08 he bought used (needed a motor because an idiot put gas in it before he bought it). Hated driving it at night for this sole reason. No one could figure out why it was doing it. We don't know if the issue was present when he bought it because obviously it couldn't be driven.

My dad's '08, however, has never had this issue and he bought it new. So I am guessing that what happens with some of these 'reversed' lights is that someone, somehow, had to replace a pigtail and hooked them up backwards. If the wire color were assembled into the new pigtails backwards, that would cause it.
 
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Old Yesterday | 05:32 AM
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Originally Posted by 99powerstrokedF250
FIL had this on an '08 he bought used (needed a motor because an idiot put gas in it before he bought it). Hated driving it at night for this sole reason. No one could figure out why it was doing it. We don't know if the issue was present when he bought it because obviously it couldn't be driven.

My dad's '08, however, has never had this issue and he bought it new. So I am guessing that what happens with some of these 'reversed' lights is that someone, somehow, had to replace a pigtail and hooked them up backwards. If the wire color were assembled into the new pigtails backwards, that would cause it.
That makes a lot of sense. A previous pigtail repair would definitely explain why some 08s have the issue and others don't. If the wires got pinned wrong, it would make the highs and lows act backwards even though the bulbs themselves are fine. Appreciate you sharing that.
 
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Old Yesterday | 05:45 AM
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I often find forum-derived answers to technical questions frustrating, as they too often contain opinions, non-related data, "JK" or "" and I do not find information useful when presented as "Pin #1, Pin #2, Pin #3" when there is no reference made to orientation of the connector, the bulb, the wires leading from the harness or to the connector, etc. It being necessary for me to retrofit new connectors for the headlights on my dually, and in the interest of contributing some useful information to this thread, I spent some time under the hoods of my '05 Excursion and '06 F350 dually this afternoon with a multimeter and a pal; here is what we found:

With the H13/9008 bulbs and connectors oriented with the clip side facing UP, here is the circuit, harness wire color and connector position info:

DRIVER (LEFT) SIDE
CIRCUIT HARNESS WIRE POSITION ON MY AFTERMARKET CONNECTOR
LOW BEAM BLUE/WHITE STRIPE LEFT OF CENTER BLACK WIRE
GROUND BLACK WIRE CENTER RED WIRE
HIGH BEAM GREEN/BLACK STRIPE RIGHT OF CENTER GREEN WIRE

PASSENGER (RIGHT) SIDE
CIRCUIT HARNESS WIRE POSITION ON MY AFTERMARKET CONNECTOR
LOW BEAM GREEN/RED STRIPE LEFT OF CENTER BLACK WIRE
GROUND BLACK WIRE CENTER RED WIRE
HIGH BEAM GREEN/BLACK STRIPE RIGHT OF CENTER GREEN WIRE

If you're fitting aftermarket connectors, as I did, they will often come with wire colors that are not consistent with those of the harness, such as BLACK/RED/GREEN wires at the LEFT/CENTER/RIGHT positions; just correlate the positions with the information above

Hope this helps!
I actually came across a post from a few years ago that explained the H13 pinout with a multimeter. Might help add some context here.
 
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Old Yesterday | 05:48 AM
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Not sure if I formatted this right, but you can take a look in this thread. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...g-diagram.html
 

Last edited by Vivian AUXITO; Yesterday at 06:14 AM.
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