944 H4 upgrade issues?

phil823 · 02-13-2009, 06:27 PM

anyways today was the first nice semi nice day to do some work, and today i recieved my H4 upgrade kit from rennbay. i took a good 2 hours to do the job correct
but have run into some issues.

first.
i have no low beams only high. im using 80/100 watt Xenon bulbs from Rennbay. at first i thought it was a fuse so i changed it. but nothing, still no low on iether headlight. before i did the conversion i had no low beam on the left but had it on the right and this was due to the fuse being blown. so i had dims but no i dont.

second. with the lights off and headlights retracted i idle at 1100. which has been my norm since i installed my performance chip. but with the headlights up i idle at 1000. is that bad?

third when the lights are on i can hear a buzz like sound in the engine bay. could this be bad. also when the lights are on it seems the engine bogs down slightly. i think thats just from the electrical drawn off the alternator.

finally as i left the house to go to the girlfriend i noticed by dome light, radio and cigaret lighter wasnt on. i dont know if this is coincidence or not. ill check the fuse tomarrow. and see.

also when i was sitting idleing i noticed that the car was warming up to just a smudge under the 3/4 line. i reved it slightly and the radiator kicked on im not sure if this is also coincidence or not.

thanks for the help. should i stick with this setup or get rid of the wireing harness and get the HID setup or $80 which uses stock wiring harness and less wattage.

Thanks again for the help electricle problems piss me off the no end as i have no patience for them.

Dwright944s · Dwright944s's Garage

I know on 944 online, with the HID upgrade it is basically recommended/ required to get the new wire harness. That might solve the majority of your problems.

As for the buzz sound, do you have an alarm in your car? Whenever mine would go off it would be a faint buzz sound from inside the cabin, it eventually went away.

phil823 · 02-13-2009, 08:03 PM

this set up im talking about is with the new wiring harness. yes i have an alarm but no its never done that before. the sound is coming from the engine bay not the cab.

Dwright944s · Dwright944s's Garage

Oh sorry i misread your first post.

zedsn · 02-14-2009, 04:07 AM

Hi, chances are both your low beam wires are broken where the headlight goes up and stretches that loop but you won't be able to see it because the casing is still good. That has happened on 2 of my 944's. You can use 2 crimp on connectors to fix that problem. You can always raise your idle back up to 1100RPM if you are more comfortable with that. Don't know why your other items don't work though as they are on a differnt fuse.

fbgh2o · 02-14-2009, 06:39 AM

+1 on the wiring.

I would really check all of the old wiring that is still being used. It does have a tendency to crack and short.

sl66ICEcuba · 02-14-2009, 08:30 AM

The buzzing is normal all kits buzz, not all HID kits are high and low beams you most likely only got the single action bulb (one setting), idling at 1000 is fine, my cars all idle at 800.

krystar · 02-14-2009, 09:24 AM

yea for hi/low hid's, u'd have to have a bixenon HID with an extra solenoid that controls a shutter.

phoenix_iii · 02-14-2009, 10:54 AM

cig, radio, and dome I think ARE all on the same fuse... =)

phil823 · 02-14-2009, 12:27 PM

ok when the snow melts ill check the stock wiring for the headlights.

i check the fuse for the internal lights. the porsche workshop manual says its fuse 7. but when i look at fuse 7 i dont have one, not even a spot to put a fuse, and all the interior stuff has been working, so it must be on a different fuse. damn.

eyeballkid · 02-14-2009, 12:31 PM

I also just installed the H4 upgrade on my 88 951. No buzzing, no change to idle, and I have low/high functionality. I tapped the hot off the battery rather than the alternator as the alt on the 951 takes an act of god to get to.

Aufenbahn · 02-14-2009, 02:15 PM

I think some readers are confusing H4 for HID. I think he said he installed the H4 kit - this is just a euro halogen bulb with a wiring kit. It would have hi and lo beams

phil823 · 02-14-2009, 02:33 PM

Yes that's what I installed. Not the hid with balasts

phil823 · 02-15-2009, 09:49 PM

FIXED all the issues! well most.

the idle is still 900-1100k depending on the temp it seems.

the lack of low beams/interior lights is solved! someone put fuse #7 on the same one as the low beams.....and the fuse box wiring was criss crossed. 1 in the main and 1 in the aux one where switched.

i highly recommend this upgrade, simply amazing with 80/100watt bulbs!

thanks for all the help!

bland vanilla · 01:38 PM

Does the kit you installed utilize relays for the lights or power them directly from the stock fuse box? You may run into future problems if the lighting is not run from B+ either @ the alternator connection or at the battery. The stock 12 Volts from the lights are then used to trigger the relays and not provide primary current for the lights. Your idle should not be effected and the light output will dramatically increase from the stock harness. I have made several harnesses like this for board members as well as my own 84 944 and also my 911s. It is a great improvement over the factory sealed beams. I also installed a secondary harness for the 100 Watt driving lights I replaced the fogs with. In addition there are 2 100Watt lights in the lower grill that can be triggered w/ the high beams via a dash switch when desired for a total of 600 Watts of light when all are on. It really lights up the road. I also installed 25Watt bulbs in the reverse lights and can turn them on with another switch when some a-hole is behind me shining high beams into the big back glass. It is very effective.

Steve

bland vanilla · 02-25-2009, 01:34 PM

Forgot the pic!

bland vanilla · 02-25-2009, 01:40 PM

switches have leds to let me know when various functions are active.

Steve

Slam · 02-26-2009, 11:54 AM

Okay, I may get flamed for this, but what's so great about the H4s? I had them in my Euro 924 and swapped them for some good ol' Canadian Tire halogens that were much brighter. Been a happier motorist after dark although the donor car is missing a lot of brackets now. Still, it also seemed the H4 mounting was oddly silly.

What am I missing?

krystar · 02-26-2009, 02:45 PM

H4 is the form factor/size of the bulb. H4's are better than the original sealed beam's. it doesn't really say much about the brightness. it's more of what the bulb size is and what the base looks like.