JWest headlight relay kit question

[geoz]

G'day,

I got the relay kit from our host & have a small question. I have a 1988 Carrera; according to the (very good) instructions there should be one wire for the dipped beam (white) & one for the high beam (yellow). My car, however, has 2 for each, fuse 6&7, and 8&9. I.e. I got 2 of each but only one going in & coming out of the relay.

What is the best way of connecting these?

Btw tried to contact JWest directly but for some reason the page does not work for me.

Thanks in advance

[schumicat]

It has been awhile since I installed the kit, but I think you have two low and two high beam wires because one is for the right light and one for the left. They are on different fuses.

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by schumicat

It has been awhile since I installed the kit, but I think you have two low and two high beam wires because one is for the right light and one for the left. They are on different fuses.

That's the case on my 85; all you need is one 12V+ lead to power the JWest low beam relay, and one 12V+ lead to power the high beam relay. The other two (one low beam, one high beam) 12V+ leads can be disconnected.

HTH

Dale

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by geoz

G'day,

I got the relay kit from our host & have a small question. I have a 1988 Carrera; according to the (very good) instructions there should be one wire for the dipped beam (white) & one for the high beam (yellow). My car, however, has 2 for each, fuse 6&7, and 8&9. I.e. I got 2 of each but only one going in & coming out of the relay.

What is the best way of connecting these?

Btw tried to contact JWest directly but for some reason the page does not work for me.

Thanks in advance

This is how it works: You have to identify which side of your fuse is the input (line) and which side is the output (load). You have two wires of each color because those are on the load side of the fuse--headed to the headlights. Each of the two sets of fuses for the head lights (6/7 and 8/9) are bridged together on the back of the fuse block so each set shares the same power input (line) but are on separate fuses as they feed the left and right side lights.

The relay is set up to be attached to the line side of the fuse meaning, you remove the single white wire from the line side of the fuses, and attach it to the white wire that has the connector that comes from the relay. The bare end white wire from the relay is then connected to the fuse terminal from which you had previously removed the original wire. Now, the fuses are fed from the relay and the power splits to the separate headlights through the fuse box itself. Repeat for the yellow wired fuses.

edit: Phil posted his pics as I was typing. Notice the blue connectors at the bottom of the fuse block. They connect to the white and yellow wires you see that connect to the input terminals on the top of the fuse box. Following those wires, you can see the two adjacent fuse pairs and the yellow & yellow/green stripe wires as well as the blue & blue/white stripe wires that feed the separate lights on his car.

[wildcat077]

I installed the relays this Summer after replacing the headlight stalk.My 89 should be pretty similar to yours,here are a few pics of what it should look like.The installation instructions are pretty straightforward !
Basically you are running the "power in" wires through the relay and then the relay"out" wires go to the headlamps ...
The fuse count could be somewhat confusing but this installation worked for me.

Cheers !
Phil

[86 911 Targa]

Along with ossiblue's post.

Hope this helps.

[geoz]

Thanks guys. I think I broadly understand how the solution works (stalk switch drives relay, relay switches current directly from battery to lights; low amp circuit through stalk, high amp circuit from the relay), I was only wondering about the second high & low beam input wires, since the left & righ circuits seem to be seperately fused & driven.

I would have expected 4 wires from the relays, for left and right, or at least the need to drive both circuits. Can anyone please help me understand why not?

Thanks

[geoz]

Also, what did you do with the other cables? Just leave them hanging there?

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by geoz

Also, what did you do with the other cables? Just leave them hanging there?

You should not have any hanging cables--all wires should be connected to something! Follow me on this (I'm going to borrow the excellent photo posted by 86 911 Targa--thanks!):


First, if the "hanging cables" are not yellow or white, then they are for power (red) and ground (brown) and should be attached to the battery (red) and car body or other common ground (brown.) You can see them in the photo coming from the bottom right of the relays and heading off to the right--the red to the battery and the brown turning upward to a ground. That would leave you with only 4 wires to deal with.

Look closely at the two relays and you will see 4 wires running off to the left and going up behind the fuse block--two are yellow and two are white. One wire of each color has a blue connector on it and one wire of each color has a bare end. At the top of the picture you can see the blue connectors. They are joining together one yellow wire from the relay input with one yellow wire from the lighting stalk, which had formerly been screwed into the terminal of the fuse block, and one white wire from the second relay with the white wire from the former fuse terminal.

If you've followed so far, there are only two wires left--one yellow and one white--with bare ends. These two are screwed into the fuse terminals, just to the left of the connectors, as you can see in the photo.

[Wavey]

Here's what I think you're not understanding, from ossiblue's post:

Each of the two sets of fuses for the head lights (6/7 and 8/9) are bridged together on the back of the fuse block so each set shares the same power input (line) but are on separate fuses as they feed the left and right side lights.

[geoz]

Originally Posted by Wavey

Here's what I think you're not understanding, from ossiblue's post:

Each of the two sets of fuses for the head lights (6/7 and 8/9) are bridged together on the back of the fuse block so each set shares the same power input (line) but are on separate fuses as they feed the left and right side lights.

That might be it. I'll take a multimeter in the evening & have a look.

What confuses me is I have 2 (two) white & 2 (two) yellow wires going into these fuses. The fuses are for left low beam, right low beam, and left highbeam, right high beam, as said each with its own ingoing wire. Hence my confusion & also the question of what to do with the extra wires, i.e. the one white & one yellow would be left over as the realy kit only provides connections for 2.

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by geoz

That might be it. I'll take a multimeter in the evening & have a look.

What confuses me is I have 2 (two) white & 2 (two) yellow wires going into these fuses. The fuses are for left low beam, right low beam, and left highbeam, right high beam, as said each with its own ingoing wire. Hence my confusion & also the question of what to do with the extra wires, i.e. the one white & one yellow would be left over as the realy kit only provides connections for 2.

If I understand you correctly, I think you are looking at the load (output) side of the fuse box. On the output side there would be a separate wire for each light's high and low beams. However, the wires for the high beams, for example, should not be exactly identical but rather one solid yellow and the other yellow with a stripe (or possibly blue as shown in the photo.)

The relay kit only provides for two because the relay is attached to the input or line side of the fuse block. As previously stated, there is only one power line going to the fuse block from the stalk for each level of light (high and low). Each wire feeds two fuses. These fuses connect to the lights--left high, right high and left low and right low.

If you still insist there are four wires on the input side of your fuses, please post a photo to clear this up.

BTW, I tried to email you a sketch to help but I couldn't find you address in your profile.

[geoz]

Ossiblue,

There are indeed 4 wires on the input side! Can't post a picture because I am at work.

[86 911 Targa]

Here's some additional info.

The two existing wires that go to the fuse inputs (white and Yellow) are
removed and spliced using the Posi-Locks to the relay coil wires.

The two Jwest output wires are connected to the fuse(s) inputs where the
original wires white and yellow wires were connected.
These are power to the fuses, then to the lights.

The brown wire is the ground to the negative battery terminal.
The red wire 12V goes to the positive battery terminal.

Hope it helps.

Good luck,

Gerry

Maybe one more Crown Lager................

[geoz]

now here is my fuse box:



fuse 5&6 and 7&8 from the right.

hence my question what to do with the surplus wiring. Ideas are welcome.

[86 911 Targa]

O.K.,

Here is a picture of our '86 relay/fuse panel prior to the installation of the Jwest relays.

As you can see, we had only two wires at the fuse inputs.

However, your panel shows four wires.

Is your concern the two wires I marked as "Extra wires"?

If so I can call Jwest on your behalf.

Gerry

[Wavey]

Originally Posted by geoz

now here is my fuse box:



fuse 5&6 and 7&8 from the right.

hence my question what to do with the surplus wiring. Ideas are welcome.

Wow... that looks factory, were Australian market cars possible wired differently?

Could he connect the relay to the two center fuses, add jumpers to the outside fuses,
and tape the ends of the spare wires?

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by Wavey

Wow... that looks factory, were Australian market cars possible wired differently?

Could he connect the relay to the two center fuses, add jumpers to the outside fuses,
and tape the ends of the spare wires?

I just checked my factory manual for our '86.

It shows the yellow and white wires as per the picture of our fuse panel
prior to the installation of the Jwest relays along with the bridges.

We need to find out what those two outer "Aussie" wires serve (fog lamps?),
along with a better picture of all of the output wires on fuses # 5,6,7 & 8.

One suggestion might be to pull the two outer top mystery
wires temporarily and see what's not working?

Perhaps someone else will chime in on this.

I'm stumped.

Wavey, is your headlamp wiring the same as our '86?

Gerry

[Wavey]

"Wavey, is your headlamp wiring the same as our '86?"

Yes. Also have a relay kit istalled, although mine is from Sucro.

[ossiblue]

Wow, never seen that before either.

My thoughts, though a call to JWest would be the best: Simply leave the extra wires where they are as they are connected to a bridged fuse, and go ahead and connect the wires from the relays to the terminals that have the standard headlight wiring. The way your fuse block is wired, some other device is drawing power from the light stalk but is not fused (or there is another fuse somewhere down line) and my guess would be fog lights--which should have their own relay already. If you go ahead and connect your new relays, then the "extra" wires will be powered from the new relays too and your stalk switch will be protected.