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| can i hurt my headlights this way? or anyone have a diagram? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 8 2015, 05:36 PM (1,291 Views) | |
| geopanda | Sep 12 2015, 02:59 PM Post #16 |
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Do it Yourselfer
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So if im reading this right wht/blu and wht/red would be power " always hot" the red/white are low beam wires and solid red is for high beams. |
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| hdsheena | Sep 13 2015, 03:09 AM Post #17 |
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Still new, but learning...
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My FSM is at the garage, but I just had my lights all apart and was tracing wires a few days ago. If you want me to grab some pics of the wiring diagram and help, let me know. |
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| Metromightymouse | Sep 13 2015, 06:45 AM Post #18 |
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Powdercoat Wizard
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I wasn't going to post any further in this thread because I don't like to argue with members that are determined to do what they want with their own vehicles. It's your car and your life, who am I to repeatedly tell you what to do? I decided that I would share one more post with some personal experiences and some questions to ask yourself (and these apply to anyone else considering making major changes to the electrical systems in their vehicles. For starters, I passed an electronic technology course where I was trained in reading diagrams, component identification, system troubleshooting and design. I know better when I'm about to step in it or when I decide that some part's ratings and quality is "good enough". The first thing anyone considering making changes to their systems should do, is go to my Mouse project thread and find the posts about the electrical mess I made for myself, and be sure to check dates to see how long it took me to get the overall vehicle and added components back to the point of working acceptably again (the alarm still doesn't flash the parking lights, I just haven't cared enough and don't really have the time to chase it down). I made that mess even though I knew better, but I also knew I could sort it out later. Sorting it out became important when the alarm would randomly shut down the ignition circuit, even though the alarm was disarmed. But wait, there's more. A very long time ago, I installed an ammeter. Aftermarket gauges are easy to install right? Shouldn't be any major issues putting one in, especially for someone who knows What they are doing. I even doubled up wire that was big enough, but a little smaller than I liked. One day I'm rolling along on my lunch break and smell something funny, then it wasn't funny, it was a bad smell and then the smoke started. I don't remember how I got it disconnected and prevented the car from burning to the ground, but I do seem to remember it was one of the plastic insulating washers that broke or deformed and allowed a short that pulled enough current to start a fire, but not enough to blow the big fuse. The gauge is obviously gone, but the wiring is still there, waiting on a better quality gauge (even though I know better than to have a giant battery wire just hanging out under the dash). The alarm I installed has some of the worst installation instructions I've ever seen. I spent a lot of time mapping out and planning the installation. When I was done, the remote start didn't work. Go back over all the stuff I wrote down and it's completely jacked up and wrong. Fried the remote start, but fortunately the rest of the system still worked. Still want to do your own system? Then you need to ask some questions and carefully consider the answers. Question 1. What do most people think when they look at a used car and see a bunch of non standard wiring and switches? Do you ever want to be able to sell the car? Question 2. Are you confident in your ability to determine what specs the parts you are going to use need? What quality is good enough? How much over the stated ratings you need to have sufficient safety margin? When thinking about these items also consider that when the Mouse had the bad smell and the smoke started I was flying down the freeway in the DFW area during lunch rush. I do not delude myself that there wasn't an element of luck or a higher power involved that prevented the car from burning to the ground and/or me suffering serious bodily injury. Question 3. What about all the safety systems the manufacturer designed into the system? Can you identify and replicate them? Did you realize that the headlights are on separate fuses for a reason? Did you remember to wire all the lights to your replacement switch? Or are you going to have to remember to turn on 2 switches? Key out lights on alarm? Etc. So let's Discuss what brings us to this point. Metro headlights tend to be sub par. Best guess is that the bean counters won when discussing what size wire and terminals to use, and they are too small when any extra resistance or draw is placed on the circuit. The easiest solution is to add relays to the headlight circuit to remove the high current off of the switch and wires and power the headlights directly from the battery. This will add the least amount of wire and parts to the vehicle while allowing you to put any wattage headlights you want in. All of the previous questions still apply, but it's a lot easier to explain a little wiring up at the headlights than it is what is likely to be a rednecked installation. So if you make it past all that and still want to wire your own system, yes, in theory, it will work. |
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| geopanda | Sep 15 2015, 10:59 AM Post #19 |
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Do it Yourselfer
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From what ice been able to figure out here, they area lot more complicated of an object then i previously estimated. From several sources i have learned that the factory wires may be too little and i can mess it up either way. I have what i believe to be the right combination for hooking up the sockets to the existing connector. Wether or not the factory setup can handle the high temp sockets and the sylvania xtreme bulbs ive yet to know. Id rather not lose the car due to an accident because its difficult to see. Im gonna cut the wires at the connector and rig it up as best i can to prevent fire. Thank you all for your help and if i succeed in not burning the car or myself to the ground ill write a how to with plenty of pictures and explanations of what i did. This is not my first time with amatuer wiring and im sure it wont be the last. |
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2:13 PM Jul 11