Relay wiring for headlamps upgrade

Jeff, I believe Daniel Stern can make the wire harness upgrade for you and he could also shed some light where to locate the relays.

 

Jeff,
Hope you get some answers too, I also had ask but I think it got lost in the shuffle.

Please do a little write up when you get it done. Would love to see the finish job.

Good luck.

Chris

 

The wiring diagram in the OM gives the headlight wire colors. If I remember correctly, the low beam is green & high beam is white. However, if you use spade connectors, it's a quick switch if you get them backwards.

A convenient place to hang the relays is to the outside of the vertical box beam by the battery disconnect. The chassis ground stud for the battery disconnect makes a convenient place to attach the ground wire you're installing. It's also an opportunity to wire brush the rust off of the disconnect ground stud which generally improves the overall electrical system.

Remove the metal plate in the front of the fenderwell & the box beam is pretty obvious.

Another place you can mount the relays is to the box beam the heater blower mounts to.

As for wire guage, use #12 wire, #14 will work, but is a bit light so you'll loose some brightness, especially if you're running higher than OEM wattage bulbs.

 

Jeff, I'm sorry I didn't respond to your PM--I've been away and am just getting back to things now. Glad to hear that you got the sidemarker flash up and running, it's a nice modification.

Having done that, you'll have a little more context to do the headlight wiring. This is a pretty basic job and if you work carefully you'll be fine.

I agree with everything that Verell said. I mounted the relays adjacent to each other on one of the thich black frame members on the driver's side of the battery. You can access this area through the headlight bucket holes with the headlights removed.

Thicker wire is better for this, esp. with high current headlights. I used my own self-purchased 10-gauge wire, I would suggest #10 or #12. Daniel stern's relay kit does not provide wire, but he does provide everything else.


--Mike

 

I rewired my car with 12 guage. I would suggest you use 10 guage. The 12 is overkill and a bit stiff to work with. I used it because I thought that if 10 is good, 12 is better. It is electrically, but makes things a bit harder to work with.

That said, there is nothing wrong with using 12 guage, except the wire is a bit too stiff.

Alberto

 

I'm confused. 10 gauge is thicker than 12 guage, and is a little stiffer and tough to work with, but still is just fine. So electrically, 10 gauge can carry more current while introducing less heat than 12 guage wire. Did you get it backwards?

 

Relay placement is not as important as the fuse being at the source. Make sure you don't mount the relay upside down, it will fill with water. Use 10 or 12 gage wire that is stranded, it will be less likely to break and will be easier to pull. Get power from the battery and ground at the nearest point.

 

I usually splice up to 10ga stranded by stripping wrapping & soldering, then wrap well with electrical tape.


However, electrical supply houses & the big hw chains sell Cu U-clamps for splicing heavy wire gauges. I think I remember seeng some heavy crimp-on splices in the HD electrical dept as well. Then just tape the splice to keep moisture out.

 

I agree with Verell except instead of electrical tape, I use "heat shrink" tubing, looks more like a "factory-made" connection, virtually waterproof too.

 

I did a big headlight upgrade on my Guzzi (motorcycle) and installed relays on the frame and had issues with the three big wires being too inflexible when turning the handlebars. McMaster.com to the rescue! I bought 7479K25, 10ga Silicone rubber covered. Unfortunately only available in white and black, but was super flexible and real nice to work with. I used two whites and ran a line of red sharpie down the length of one to make three different wire colors.

They also have 9192K3 which should be super super flexible, but only comes in black. Also (and perhaps I'm the last to discover this) good marine/boating stores (West Marine, etc.) have a great selection of fuse blocks, big wires and terminals, etc.

 

Dohh!!!! Sorry, I'm the one that got it backwards. Don't use 10 guage, use 12.

Alberto

 

10 gauge - Ampacity rating for 6 feet < 3% voltage drop is 100 amps

Strands - Winding technology fixes commonly available flexible wire to a either 7 strands or 19 strands. The more strands the more flexible it is. The stranding is noted on the spool e.g. 7/26 or 19/32...the first number is the number of strands and the seconds is the gauge of individual strands.

So, whereas 7 strand is adequate for battery to relays, relay to light is advisibly 19 strands.

Incidently, 37 strand 10 gauge wire is made but far too expensive and not needed for the limited number of up/down excursions.

 

Hey Jeff,

You never got a answer for this question, so i figured i ask too.

If there is two #87's,on the relay, doesn't one go to the right high beam light and the other to the left and then the same for low beam relay?

 

Yes, this is correct (covered in the "other" thread).

 

I have the kit on all three of my Sciroccos, my MG, Alfa and Ferrari. I love it.