after being told that i was required to have the low beam lights to work when the high beams were on to pass road worthy, i did a search and found a few resposes. i have just finished this job now, was a little bit fiddly, required no splicing or cutting of standard wires and it now looks as though the factory put it there.
to start with this is a list of parts i used...
1 x 4 pin relay with built in fuse (the one i got had a 30A blade, probably a bit of overkill so i traded it for a 15A)
4 x blue coloured "piggy back terminals" (come in packs of ten)
5 x blue single blade accepting terminals (come in packs of ten)
2 x ring connectors (come in packs of ten)
3 x rubber grommets (big enough to run a single wire through)
1 x cable tie of length about 10-15cms
30cms of red wire for power
30cms of black wire for earth
3-4m of green (or whatever colour) wire to run power aswell.
tools required:
a crimping/wire stripping tool
phillips head screw driver
cordless drill with a small drill bit
12mm socket and extension bar
i should mention that this was being done on a R33, series 2 and even though i have had a little bit of experience, it is a simple task that can be done with minimal tools in under two hours or so.
here comes the fun bit :
1. With bonnet up, take the cover off the fuse box which is located behind the window washer bottle on the drivers side. (this is where i put my relay, it fits in very well, and there are others already there)
2. remove the washer bottle, there are 3 bolts holding this in, two can be seen looking straight down on it and the third is on the left hand side of the bottle, sloping in towards the engine. unplug the wires that go to the bottle, and then unplug the black hose that takes the water to the squiters when you wash your window. a point to note here is that one should really cover the nozzle on the washer bottle to stop water going everywhere. after the safe removal of the bottle, i put the screws i removed back into the original holes as to not lose them.
* now there should be heaps of room for those like myself who have fat fingers and can't access the back of the lights.. *
3. the next phase is to use some of the coloured wire with a piggy back terminal attached. this is done by stripping the wire and shoving the exposed end into the terminal. then crimp away.
4. the next step is remove the wire that goes to the back of the high beam light. this is very simple, you will need to first unscrew the cap on the back of the lights to expose the wires. just stick your head in there and have a look, remember the wires you are removing are the ones for the light closest to the radiator. it is only one wire that comes off the back, it runs vertically, (up and down)
5. the wire you just removed now plugs into the piggy back of the coloured wire that you crimped in step 3. measure a generous amount of wire, it needs to back into the fuse box - but don't forget to allow a little bit extra to get around the washer bottle. this is where the grommets (rubber wire protectors - not pre-pubsecent surfers) and the drill come into it. drill a hole in the back of the cover that you have screwed off, remember to start off with a small drill bit. if the hole needs to be bigger, you can always re-drill, can't put it back once its gone.. anyway slot the grommet into the plastic light guard (there are two wires already going through it) then slide the coloured wire through the grommet.
6. this wire then needs to be put through the bottom of the fuse box, the right hand front (if you are standing directly in front of the car) has wires going through it already, so there is enough room to put it through there. push it through, eventually it will be in a position where you can grab it, if it is still out of reach use some needle nose pliers to grab that pesky wire! pull it through, not all the way, just enough so you can modify the end of it. this part is now done and done.
6. after spending a few minutes admiring your own handiwork, its time to get back to work...
7. the exact same thing needs to be done for the low beam now. crimp another piggy back terminal to another length of coloured wire. this needs to be run from the low beam up into the fuse box the same as the other wire. so just follow the same steps as above. unscrew the light guard, pull the wire off, its a vertical one, attach that original wire to the back of the terminal, run the coloured wire through another grommet in the light guard that you drilled a hole in so the grommet did fit. the light guard is the black plastic that you unscrewed to access the wires before. run it up through the same hole in the bottom of the fuse box that you did before and poke it through the same hole.
8. the passengers side needs to be done now. remove the plastic backing on the low beam light, drill a hole in the back and put in a grommet. unplug the wire that goes to the back of the globe, remember its the vertical one, crimp a length of wire with another piggy back terminal and attach the original wire to the back of the coloured crimped wire you just put in. attach the crimped wire to the vertical terminal that you just pulled the terminal off. run the wire through the grommet, screw the light guard back on. this wire needs to get back to the fuse box too. run it along the front of the car, under the length of metal that is at the front in level with your radiator. i hid all mine along the front side (closest to me if i'm standing in front), there is a piece of body that you can use to hide it and also protect it from the heat of the radiator. it then pops out near the other two, wires, send it on the same path to the fuse box.
*if you have a factory airbox don't worry about removing it, there is heaps of room*
9. this is where things might get a little bit complicted but its easy as. locate the two wires that you ran from each low beam. got them? good. now on ONE of these wires attach the fourth and final piggy back terminal. with the OTHER wire attach a blue single blade acceptor terminal. put that terminal on the piggy back terminal. with the remaining single wire from the high beam, crimp a blue single blade adaptor to this wire.
10. this is most of the hard work done now, the relay needs power and an earth then it is done. i got my power off the positive side of the fuse box. attach a ring terminal to the end of your red piece of wire. there are two bolts that come straight up if you look straight down on the positive side of the fuse box. shoudln't matter which one you use. don't attach this wire up to the bolt yet, but run it like the others under the fuse box and through the same hole as the other three wires. attach a single blade acceptor terminal to the end of the red wire.
*NOTE take care not to earth the power when you are undoing this bolt. i mean don't touch the car while this is being done - just to be safe *
11. the earth wire is easy, the closest accessable point (that i used) is the screw that holds the washer bottle down. don't worry about this at this stage.. use the black wire and run it through the same hole in the fuse box as the other three wires, and attach another single blade acceptor terminal to the end of it. on the other end attach another ring terminal.
12. nearly there... grab your relay, remove the fuse from it. on the underneath of the relay (where the pins are) there are some numbers that are next to the individual pins. with the black wire, attach it to pin number 85. with the single wire that is coloured that comes from the high beam, attach it to number 86. with the remaining coloured wire that has a piggy back terminal on it, stick that on the pin numbered 87. you should have only one pin remaining which is number 30. attach the pin from the red wire to the last remaining pin.
all that is needed now is some power and a proper earth to make it all go.
of you have got a friend or someone to help you for two mins, grab them now.
13. attach the power to the bolt of the positive side of the fuse box. do it up nice and tight. put the fuse back in the relay, all the pins on the underside of the relay should be full of attached wires.
14. get your chum to switch the low beam lights on. holding the black wire, (on an insulated bit) make the metal ring terminal touch some metal on the car. there is heaps about... did anything happen? no... excellent. so far so good. while holding the ring terminal of the black wire against some metal, get your buddy to switch to high beams. yeehaa! we have 4 lights across the front.. if you don't, make sure that the earth terminal is having some solid contact with some metal.
if it has all worked good and proper, turn the lights off, re-install the washer bottle, make sure that there are no exposed wires, and don't forget to put the ring terminal underneath the screw that holds the washer bottle down.
15. check it all again, make sure that the earth is sufficent, if its not, there are heaps of other spots, have a quick look around. if its all working good and proper, then you are nearly done.
16. CAREFULLY slide the relay into one of the spare holders in the fuse box and tie it down with a cable tie around the entire relay. a big hint here is to not push it back in too hard otherwise the wires will come off and you will not have 4 working lights.
17. replace the cover of the fuse box.
18. admire your handywork, wait until its dark and then go for a drive with your lights on high beam. you should be able to see a bit better now too..
the idea behind this relay is that the power is always on from the fuse positive terminal, and when the low beams are on the relay does nothing. when the high beam is turned on the relay gets power from the high beam wire that you ran, and in turn sets the circuit so that both high and low beams come on at the same time. easy.
i have a very simple wiring diagram, if you want it or if you want some pics email me
[email protected]
best of luck and happy night driving!
