Halogen relay harness questions

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Two separate topics, first a question about my F150 and then into the real post about 2001 Olds Aurora.

1. Do the newer F150's (ie 2011) have factory headlight relay set ups? No complaints about the lights, but if I make a relay harness for the Olds I would bet I could make a second one for the F150 for not much more money at the same time.

2. 2001 Oldsmobile Aurora. Has factory remote battery location under rear seat with factory headlight relay set up, though the headlight wiring is still very small gauge and who knows where the grounds are. I am intending to solve both of these problems but would like some advise from those with more experience than myself.

The way I see it there are a couple actions I could take
A. Run upgraded grounding straps from the existing headlight sockets and see what happens.
B. Run upgraded grounding straps as well as heavier wire to existing factory relays which are in power dist. block with good connection to heavy positive battery cable.
C. Use factory wiring to actuate DIY relay harness with heavy ground straps and heavy positive wires running to battery cable at power distribution block.
D. Actually one more option, since I haven't priced out components yet I'll just put it out there. Found UPI 34264 which appears to be a pre-manufactured relay harness from 9006/9005 healights for under $50 shipped- maybe this is a good deal??
 
The main problem I have found making up high amp harnesses is that the cheepo hobby crimpers you buy are just not up to the job long term.

You need to buy an expensive crimper and unless you are doing a few harnesses it is cheaper to purchase ready made if they use heavy wire.

In a lot of cases the suppliers of the ready made wiring do not use heavy wires or crimps so the crimps fail after a year or so.

So buy a heavy crimper or take a chance on ready built if you can get one that suits.

eddie
 
For the 9006/9005 headlights, spend that money on HIR 9012/9011 headlights instead. They are designed to be much brighter than stock 9006/9005's while maintaining the same beam pattern.

Including a heavy-duty crimper purchased on Ebay for about $20, I was about $100 into my headlight harness when I made one for my Cruze. Plus the 3-4 hours it took to build/install it.
 
I wonder how useful soldering the joints on one of those cheap harnesses would be...

Great info on the hir2 or 9012 setup, though. Definately worth looking into!
 
Also look into a voltage booster. They work very well if your stock wiring (or homemade harness) is up to snuff. 14-15v is a huge difference from the 11-12v that most cars see at the bulbs.
 
I have one custom made on the '04 and a DIY one on my '02. On the '02, I used separate 16 gauge from each headlight, reusing and splicing into the connector harness. Breaker feed and relay feeds are 12.
Im losing about .5V to the driver high beam, which is farthest out.
I just used a regular crimper. Its a pretty heavy one though.
http://colt45.ws/pics/02Vic/p71-relays.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
I have one custom made on the '04 and a DIY one on my '02. On the '02, I used separate 16 gauge from each headlight, reusing and splicing into the connector harness. Breaker feed and relay feeds are 12.
Im losing about .5V to the driver high beam, which is farthest out.
I just used a regular crimper. Its a pretty heavy one though.
http://colt45.ws/pics/02Vic/p71-relays.jpg


Nice work! FWIW, although they tend to be bulkier and harder to conceal, wire nuts give a strong connection and twist the wires into each other, which results in a very good electrical connection.
 
Well the HIR bulbs as well as the cheapo Ebay harness came the other day. Haven't had a chance to install either yet, hoping to get them in this evening.

I'm pretty excited about the harness, though I don't expect miracles. Its 18ga wiring with decently crimped and fairly heavy connectors. Went through I soldered each crimp to make sure its a good connection (except I couldn't get the sockets which fit the factory bulb wiring to come apart but those just actuate the relay anyhow). Even added in an extra ground wire, though I might end up cutting that entire part out and running shorter ground straps much closer to each bulb.

Expecting install to be a breeze, and depending on fit I might even have an extra relay hanger I could use to mount the relay. Otherwise I'm not really sure how I'll secure it.
 
Bah, fail. Guess you get what you pay for though. After installing the harness and securing a good ground I measured the voltage...and it was worse than with the stock wiring. Oh well.

The HIR2 bulbs didn't look any different during the day, wondering how they look tonight.
 
I don't know about your 2011 Ford, but lately some Mfrs are using a headlight control module to switch the headlights on/off and monitor the current to give you and indication on the dash in the event of a blown (open) bulb. In these cases it's not as simple as a switch wired to a relay. Its a switch wired to the BCM, that interfaces with the headlight control module over a data bus. I was a little surprised to find out my 2004 Dodge had that system 10 years ago. Things are not as simple as they used to be. Bottom line if you don't load the deadlight driver with what it expects, you may set a fault.
 
Nice work! FWIW, although they tend to be bulkier and harder to conceal, wire nuts give a strong connection and twist the wires into each other, which results in a very good electrical connection. [/quote]

Sorry man, but Wire Nuts have no place in stranded automotive wiring. If I absolutely had to use them, I'd solder the wires prior to putting them on. You also need to be careful with soldering, that you don't overheat the wires and allow solder to wick too far up the wire. At that point, it becomes solid, and prone to crack.
 
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