Halogen Headlight upgrade?? ea81

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:58 pm

SuBaRiNo wrote:Conversion kit was around $140 from memory... only contains the replacement head lights and globes.

Dave, you replaced your wiring AND your standard headlight surrounds/reflector?

I'm looking at upgrading my wiring for my standard lights on the L series, reckon this would be worth doing even though i'm looking at leaving the standard headlight surrounds/reflector.

I know this may be hard to judge, but any opinions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

subaruby · Post by **subaruby** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:36 pm

My hella kit was $128 from Bursons auto parts, plus spent about $30-$40 on relays, wire, heatshrink etc. Hope to have fitted in 2 weeks.

SuBaRiNo · Post by **SuBaRiNo** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:58 pm

Yeah i replaced it all... I mainly did the wiring because i knew that the new lights are a higher wattage and the factory wiring may not be able to handle it.

I would definately look into replacing just your wiring and using new relays.. etc etc if you haven't already... you will be surprised the amount of voltage u can loose before the wiring even gets to the lights.

Although i wouldn't expect a HUGE increase in light without getting some good bulbs too.

Dave

BRUMBERTY · Post by **BRUMBERTY** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 7:00 pm

Dave, could you please confirm the functions of the old headlight wiring code.

Drivers side has..
Red
Red with white trace
Red with Black trace

Passenger Side has..
Red with white trace
Red with black trace
Red with blue trace

According to your diagram,
red/white is HB trigger
red/black is LB trigger,
which is the exitsting earth?

Anyone got a FSM with the wiring diagram?
Cheeers,
Matt

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:50 am

Sorry no WSM for Brumby MY .

HID , these are not the magic bullet everyone says they are . Personally I HATE driving anywhere near cars with HID lights ie some Hondas and BMW's etc . The light is more blue in colour and when it lines up with your eyes its blinding . Some states in the US have banned them because they have at times be contributing factors in accidents .

The thing most people are really suffering with poor headlight beams is voltage drop (on both positive AND negative circuits) or old corroded reflectors in the light units themselves . The first thing most reach for is higher wattage H4 inserts (assumes Halogen lights) and all they really do is overload a weak system with higher current draw .

I would fix the voltage drop problems before I changed anything headlight wise , you may as well give what you have the best chance of working as it was intended to and it may work well enough .

A brick through every automotive HID light in existance , cheers A .

D3V1L · Post by **D3V1L** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:04 am

everybody got their opinions on HID's, personally ill never go back to normal hallogen globes again..the hid kit i put in my car has made such a diffrence it was worth every penny i spent on it, i still reccomend them to anybody

dave

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:23 am

I agree 100% with Disco. Maybe the light is good for those using them but... Oneday someone will reinvent the reflector and lens to suit the HID - and the OTHER road users!!

BRUMBERTY · Post by **BRUMBERTY** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 1:32 pm

Thanks guys, I agree with Jono and Disco also, well aimed halogens are the best for everybody.
I have a damaged eye and oncoming HIDs are blinding for me, no reason to get everyone else as well.

Currently I have the WBII's headlight loom stripped and trying to get these relays clicking.. Subarino's drawing has not ended up working for me...
IF anyone has it inplace could they please let me know the exact colour combination they are using.

Gracias
Matt

SuBaRiNo · Post by **SuBaRiNo** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 2:52 pm

This post has nothing to do with HIDs so i don't understand peoples coments about them.

The wires are negative triggered... meaning on the Drivers side.... the Red/Black wire is Positive until u turn low beam on... then it changes to Negative.

Same goes with the Red/White wire on the Drivers side... Always positive until your high beam is on... then it is Positve... the remaining wire (Red) is the power supply.

As you can probably figure out... this is not an effective way to power these lights... hence another reason why it is a good idea to change the wiring as in my diagram.

I hope this helps... i realise it's complicated. It can take a while to get your head around it. Basiically when your head lights are off it supplies 12Volt power to both sides of the globe... when you turn the lights on one of the 12V supplies drops to an Earth... hence making the light turn on.

Dave

BRUMBERTY · Post by **BRUMBERTY** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:22 pm

Thank you for the clarification Dave, Yes- it is confusing.

I will re-do it again in the morning as per your diagram and post results.
There couldn't be any JDM V Domestic wiring differences should there?

I have got this sorted once before with the WB I, with all 4 lights running sweet but this has me stumped and frustrated trying to get the WB II going.

Cheers again.
Matt

PS
Re HIDs, takem somewhere else like Dave said, this is about wiring and relays.

SuBaRiNo · Post by **SuBaRiNo** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:52 pm

If your wiring colours are the same then i would assume the wires are also the same.

Dave

brumbyrunner · Post by **brumbyrunner** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:01 pm

Are there any moderaters left?

This is a very informative thread with some good tech advice. I have been following along, just had nothing to contribute until now.

Would someone please get off their backside and delete all off-topic posts to this thread about a halogen headlight upgrade (including this one)!

subaruby · Post by **subaruby** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:38 pm

finally got around to wiring up the new headlights.I am using Subarino's diagram but hasn't quite worked! The only thing i did different to the diagram was use the high and low beam trigger wire on the same side as opposed to using the high beam on the drivers side and low beam wire on the passenger side (did not think it would make a difference). Anyway my problem is when i hook the battery back up the lights come on straight away, even with the headlight switch in the off postion on the dash. I can trigger high and low beam, even with the headlight switch on the dash in the off position.
Any suggestions?

SuBaRiNo · Post by **SuBaRiNo** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:55 pm

Where did u get your Earth from??

And check your Low Beam fuse in the car.

Pin 86 on both relays should read 12volt when your head lights switch is off... it's when this pin isn't 12volt anymore that the relay should trigger and the lights come on.

I did the same thing... only wired it up on the one side so thats not your problem.

Dave

subaruby · Post by **subaruby** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:27 pm

drivers side earth is to bat, passenger side to car body
no low beam fuse only a fuse for lh beam and rh beam, both ok
pin 86 reads 12v when lights are on and off?

subaruby · Post by **subaruby** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:32 pm

sorry got that wrong, pin 86 shows no volts on either relay when lights are off on the dash, and low beam relay pin 86 shows 5.5 volts and high beam relay shows no volts when lights are on on the dash. Bear in mind the lights are on even with the switch in the off position on the dash?

SuBaRiNo · Post by **SuBaRiNo** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:51 pm

I assume your car is the 84 wagon in your sig...

Can you confirm what the factory head light wires do when not connected to the relay. Eg: the wires u got connected to pin 86.

They are MEANT to be 12volt when lights off... Earth when lights on. I assume your lights functioned correctly before... i will help u to try and nut this one out.

Dave

subaruby · Post by **subaruby** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:06 pm

Yes is an 84 wagon
this is a bit weird but i will see if i can explain it. Pin 86 on high beam relay gets no voltage when lights are off, pin 86 on low beam gets no voltage whether lights are on or off. Decided to hook up low beam relay from wire on the passenger side, now when i hook battery up no lights come on when dash switch is off, when i turn dash switch to on no lights, but when i turn high beams on on dash i get high beam lights?

SuBaRiNo · Post by **SuBaRiNo** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:18 pm

ok weird... maybe we should start from scratch... on one side... can u test each of the 3 original head light wires and tell me what they do and when.
Type out.... what colour the wire is... and it's state when the head light switch is on and off.

Im starting to fear my diagram may only be usefull for 83 models. Although every document i have says the 83 and 84 is the same.

Dave

subaruby · Post by **subaruby** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:33 pm

ok lights off
red/white 6.2v
red/blue 0v
red/black 0v

lights on
red/white 8v
red/blue 11.7v
red/black 0v

In the previous post when i said that i used the low beam wire on the passenger side, i made a mistake, accidently put it in the high beam wire.
sorry.