Success with projector installation in 2nd gen.

It took a couple of thwarted attempts to get this done. So much more to installing than just plug and play. Two hours of test fitting and attacking header panel with a pneumatic die-grinder. My challenge was to leave enough header panel intact to allow possibility of swapping stock lights back in later.

All adjuster hardware from stock lights is still in place except for lower point (with vertical rod) which can be snapped back in quickly if needed. Stock lights could be put back in five minutes and would retain original alignment.

I'm not overly thrilled with this "look". I don't care for blacked out housings at all, so it was this or stock. Stock lights look OK but output is bad. I have a 4300K HID kit enroute to replace H1 low beams next week.

Many thanks to celly for steering me right on this upgrade.

One of my next tasks is to fabricate a liner/shield behind my fog lights. Front wheels are throwing water into vent openings on back of foglights, so water collects in bottom of housings.

 

[BrianDye]

Good job man, it only took me about 45 minutes the first time I installed mine.

Youll LOVE the HIDs when you get them installed.


Mine were a simple swap, remove the old housings, and these literally snapped in, and the 2 screws on top, maybe its a little different from '95 to your '00

Congrats though!

How'd you wire your LEDs and Halos in?

 

[Vargas]

I found about four points on each side where new housing interfered with header panel. Left side (first) took longest as that was where all discovery/learning took place. Right side was a snap to duplicate, especially after remembering where my die-grinder was hiding.

LEDs/Halos/corner bulb are all wired together and connected by quick disconnects where original small corner socket was removed.

 

[Vargas]

Got the HID kit in a few days ago. Last night was the first time I drove it in the dark since putting in the HID lamps. I chose the DDM slim 35 watt kit. The light output is fantastic. The pattern with the projectors is quite good. There is a little scatter above the horizontal cut-off, but not much. Lights looks bluer than I expected for ordering 4500K, which makes me wonder if I was sent the correct bulbs. There are no markings on the bulb or the boxes.

HID installation was easy, but that may be because I have installed plenty of lights before this. For someone who has not, I'd suggest finding a friend who has. I have yet to see a set of instructions included with a lighting kit that would make it clear for a rookie. I chose to make a simple relay harness to power the ballasts. The DDM slim ballasts fit nicely between the header panel and core support. I got the kit during a sale that DDM was running for a couple of weeks. The slim ballast kit had been $45, then dropped to $35 (the sale when I purchased) and is now up to $39.95. Shipping was about $14.

Next step in lighting project is to make modification in multifunction switch harness under the dash, to keep low beams on with high beams selected.

 

[Vargas]

Back from the driveway once again. I removed the lower panel under the dash to get access to the multifunction switch harness. I spliced a wire into the harness to keep the low beams on regardless of the position of the stalk.

 

[celly]

Back from the driveway once again. I removed the lower panel under the dash to get access to the multifunction switch harness. I spliced a wire into the harness to keep the low beams on regardless of the position of the stalk.

Did you follow "IamTodd's" old post or did you rig up your own? I dabbled with getting all 4 beams on at once and failed. I'm pretty weak with electronic concepts though. Got any details as to how you accomplished it?

 

[BrianDye]

Back from the driveway once again. I removed the lower panel under the dash to get access to the multifunction switch harness. I spliced a wire into the harness to keep the low beams on regardless of the position of the stalk.

Please post how you did this, I would LOVE todo this to mine! Im still doing the oldschool "Hold the stalk back towards the steering wheel" trick :

 

[Vargas]

My original plan was to tap off of the light switch on the dash, running a wire to the engine compartment to control the relay harness I made for the HID ballasts. I saw no obvious place to bring this wire through the firewall in a clean manner, so I started looking for another option.

I started looking over the wiring schematic for the "typical headlight system" in my Haynes Repair Manual and saw that it was easy to achieve what I wanted, with one caveat - you'll want to have at least one set of beams (hi or lo) on a relay harness.

The color coding on the schematic in my manual matches the wiring of the harness in my '00, which was helpful. I still checked continuity to be sure.

Remove battery cables and wait a few minutes.
Remove the lower dash plastic panel (4 screws -2 are hiding in the hood release bracket)
Remove the lower dash metal panel (5 screws)
On mine, the connector I was looking for was grey plastic and is located at the left side of the opening behind the metal panel you just removed.

The red/yellow wire (red wire with yellow stripe) is power to the MFS, supplied from the headlight switch when the headlights are on. The red/black wire (red wire with black stripe) is the output for the low beams from the MFS. I spliced a short lead onto each of those wires and joined them with a pair of 1/4" quick disconnect terminals. This will make it easy to undo later if needed.

There is a catch (isn't there always?). A little background on the stock wiring setup. There are actually two wires that supply voltage to the MFS for the headlights. One is always hot, and the other is supplied through the headlight switch. This allows you to flash the high beams even when the headlight switch is turned off. When you pull the MFS stalk toward you (flash to pass) the high beams are fed from the constant source, and the low beams are fed from the headlight switch if it is turned on. The two sets of beams are powered through two sets of contacts in the MFS. When you push the stalk away (high beam position) the low beams are off, and the high beams are supplied from the headlight switch source that was previously powering the low beams. It is a little complicated, a little elegant, and presents a problem if you want to keep all four lights on in when the stalk is in the high beam position.

Splicing the R/Y and R/Bk wires together achieves the function that I want, but it could damage the headlight switch or multifunction switch unless you use a relay harness for the lights (either high beam or low beam, or both - since HID ballasts do better on a relay harness, that is the obvious place to start). By splicing those two wires, both high and low beams are now running through one set of contacts in the MFS, and being powered through the headlight switch. Putting in a relay harness for at least one set of beams will bring the current load on the switches back down to a stock level.

 

[celly]

Good stuff, but that's beyond my expertise. I'll hit you up if I'm ever in Seattle (which is always a possibility as I have family in Vancouver and a buddy in Astoria, OR).

Nice work. I'm always partial to green 2nd gens, especially 99-01.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Bill Kemp]

Or check out the KC Quad Beam headlight relay: http://www.kchilites.com/store/Wiring-C83.aspx

 

[celly]

Or check out the KC Quad Beam headlight relay: http://www.kchilites.com/store/Wiring-C83.aspx

Bill, if you recall I had zero success with that kit and my projector setup with HIDs (still have the kit in the garage somewhere). Also tried the diode trick with the relay harness with no succcess either. The only person I know that could get the quad beam setup working properly was IamTodd. Sounds like he used a similar setup that Vargas did.

Hey Vargas, do you have full "flash to pass" functionality? (i.e. pull back on the stalk and only the high beams come on?). Todd does. You wouldn't want the HIDs (low beams) to come on with flash to pass as it's hard on the ballasts.

 

[Vargas]

Hey Vargas, do you have full "flash to pass" functionality? (i.e. pull back on the stalk and only the high beams come on?). Todd does. You wouldn't want the HIDs (low beams) to come on with flash to pass as it's hard on the ballasts.

Yes. If headlight switch is off or parking light postions, pulling the stalk will flash the high beams only. If headlight switch is on, flash to pass will add the high beams without any interruption of power to the low beams. Likewise, pushing the stalk to high beam position does not interrupt power to the low beams. It works this way because the low beam is now only dependent on the position of the headlight switch regardless of the position of the stalk. The flash to pass function is handled entirely by the stalk and does not run through the headlight switch at all.

 

[celly]

Yes. If headlight switch is off or parking light postions, pulling the stalk will flash the high beams only. If headlight switch is on, flash to pass will add the high beams without any interruption of power to the low beams. Likewise, pushing the stalk to high beam position does not interrupt power to the low beams. It works this way because the low beam is now only dependent on the position of the headlight switch regardless of the position of the stalk. The flash to pass function is handled entirely by the stalk and does not run through the headlight switch at all.

Good stuff. I definitely need to figure this out some day.

 

[Vargas]

Good stuff. I definitely need to figure this out some day.

My description in post #8 might make it sound harder than it is. It is messing around under the dash so there is reason to take care, but the modification is not difficult to make. It is not something to do unless you have at least one set of beams fed by relays. If the relay harness is already installed and working, the quad mod is a 30 minute project with the right tools. The toughest part is taking out the under dash panels and putting them back.

 

[celly]

My description in post #8 might make it sound harder than it is. It is messing around under the dash so there is reason to take care, but the modification is not difficult to make. It is not something to do unless you have at least one set of beams fed by relays. If the relay harness is already installed and working, the quad mod is a 30 minute project with the right tools. The toughest part is taking out the under dash panels and putting them back.

Hmmm, I do have a Suvlights relay harness wired in and do have experience with removing the panels (pretty easy to do). I'll give it some thought. With mods like this, I have to be in the right frame of mind to tackle it. You've definitely got me thinking about it though.

 

[Vargas]

And here's a tip based on hindsight - run that powered driver's seat all the way back before disconnecting the battery.

 

[celly]

And here's a tip based on hindsight - run that powered driver's seat all the way back before disconnecting the battery.

LOL, that is good advice.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Bill, if you recall I had zero success with that kit and my projector setup with HIDs (still have the kit in the garage somewhere). Also tried the diode trick with the relay harness with no succcess either. The only person I know that could get the quad beam setup working properly was IamTodd. Sounds like he used a similar setup that Vargas did.

Celly, I forgot about that. I should have it tattooed on me posting finger.

Why does it work on GM & not Ford?

 

[celly]

Celly, I forgot about that. I should have it tattooed on me posting finger.

Why does it work on GM & not Ford?

Ya got me. I tried everything.

I did study Vargas' description and it's pretty straightforward. I'm hoping my '99 wire colours are the same as his '00. I'll give that mod a go soon. Wish me luck.

 

[storlied]

I'm going to try this also. I've already made a custom HD harness for both low and high beams on my projectors, based off the design by SUV lights and my own so I should be set.