Head lights

[soxnail]

So the lights on Maddog were a little dim (like his owner). I decided to replace them.
I went with Hellas with a separate H4 bulb, rather then the sealed head lights the car came with. I wanted to eventually play with different wattage of bulbs etc. Having the ability to just change the bulb is cheaper than the whole light.
Pretty straight forward job, there are some things to look out for that make it easier.
I raised the lights, then unplugged the motor and turned the lights and ignition off. My motor is fully covered in a rubber boot so getting to the manual knob to raise the lights was difficult. With the motor unplugged in the up position the lights stay up after power is removed.
Pic



The new lights go in fine, the clips holding the headlight alignment screws on one side were loose so the head light could move/vibrate, tightened that by bending the clips (carefully).
Pic




While you are at it clean the connectors on the lights with a contact cleaner. There are two connector per light.
The new lights connectors are not quite as tall as the old one so make sure that the rubber cap (if any) and the connectors go on firmly.
Pic




Everything back together it was time to chase down if the wires connectors/grounds are good.

I found that with the lights on I was loosing 0.4 volts between the ground on the bulb and the ground point on the car, this was on both the driver and the passenger side.

decided to clean the ground points and the connectors on them.
The ground point on the driver side is easy to reach and clean, I took off the 4 'O' style connectors on it and wire brushed it with a dremel.
Pic




On the passenger's side I had to take the light raising motor out to get to the ground point.
Before doing so make sure that the lights are supported in the up position, or as soon as you loosen the motor shaft nut the lights will fall closed.
Pic





With the motor out and the wires held away the ground point is exposed.
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Need to go to next hit the pic limity.
Sox

[soxnail]

Same process to clean as the other side.
Pic



Reattached everything and ran the voltage test again, this time the drop from bulb ground to body ground was 0.1 volt...acceptable.
Tested the power side of the bulb, before cleaning the bulb connectors the drop was 2.2 volts. After cleaning and resetting the bulb connectors it was 0.9 volts....Not happy with that.
I suspect the wiring in the car around the light switch is not as clean as it used to be.
Next project will take the switch out and see what I get.
Sox

[DannoXYZ]

Good work!

Yeah factory wiring gets crispy and less conductive over time due to corrosion.

Best to build short heavy-gauge harness taking power directly from alternator output lug and using factory wiring just to trigger relay on new harness (a la IceShark). You'll end up with 0.0v drop to bulbs and about +25-30% more light output from same bulbs.

[nize]

thanks for the write up sox and danno. i still have the original iceshark full boat kit which i've been procrastinating on installing so i'll need to do this sometime in the future.

[soxnail]

I am actually thinking of two different approaches....
1. Use a buck/boost circuit to boost the voltage after the light switch to be 12.5 volts at the head lights connector.
2. Do the heavy cables, but use NMOS fets instead of the relays. (On resistance is in Miliohms and will not corrode/degrade over time like mechanical contacts). Also the power dissipation in the fets is very small.
Sox

[DannoXYZ]

You actually want 13,5v at headlight sockets as that’s what is used to rate bulbs. Also closer to what alternator puts out. Actually better to get variable VRM and set voltage to 14v.

[soxnail]

I think the bulbs are characterized at 13.2V IIRC. I am looking at various options, I am now leaning towards boosting at the bulb socket from a direct cable. Using the 2 light inputs as triggers (High and low beam). I would still like to use solid state rather then a mechanical relay.
Sox

[Anchorman]

I have an new - never installed - complete Iceshark headlight cable set that I'd purchased for my 968, which I no longer own. If anyone is interested in purchasing, contact me and make an offer - no reasonable offer will be refused.

[v2rocket_aka944]

The headlight harness is a must-have, Ice Shark or not. Really brightens the lights up a lot.

Side note, if anybody is interested I have a pair of 80/85W H4 bulbs, along with a pair of 100/130W H4 bulbs, new in box never used, that I would sell for a fair price. You must have the harness to use these though.

[DannoXYZ]

Originally Posted by soxnail

I think the bulbs are characterized at 13.2V IIRC. I am looking at various options, I am now leaning towards boosting at the bulb socket from a direct cable. Using the 2 light inputs as triggers (High and low beam). I would still like to use solid state rather then a mechanical relay.
Sox

How did this boost-circuit go? In addition to voltage, it'll need to provide sufficient current as well. So 55/65w bulb would need about 4.5-amps without any voltage-drop.

[soxnail]

Danno,
I finished with the design...but as you may have seen else where the clutch got in the way, so on hold till I finish with the clutch.
Sox

[soxnail]

Been a while...
So to update the headlights, I looked at using Mosfets but the light switch in the car has too much bounce/noise. The Mos would just burn out.
So went with the relays idea.
Here is the wiring:



Some pics with the layout not in the car yet.










Sox

[soxnail]

So in testing...
Results:
13.82 V at bulbs (no load).
13.66 V at bulbs (low and high on).
46 MV drop at the bulb Gnd to car Gnd at ful load.
Works.
Sox

[nize]

good work! do you have any before/after photos for eye candy and motivation?

[dklacc59]

Great work ! Interesting indeed.

[soxnail]

Nize, working on getting pics. The issue is that the phone camera compensates for the drop in light level so while it is very apparent to the eye the difference in brightness does not show up real well in a pic. Will find a road sign on a quiet road at night and try to illuminate it from a distance. The difference is very apparent then.
Hope the state trooper understands what I am doing at night on a country road turning my lights on and off
Sox

[nize]

if you can manually set the shutter and exposure you could get a better comparison. not sure if they make cameras with manual controls like that anymore though, unless you get a pro model or something.

[soxnail]

Originally Posted by nize

good work! do you have any before/after photos for eye candy and motivation?

Well I did get a pic finally...I used new wiring on one headlight (driver side) and old wiring on the other (passenger side). The contrast is very obvious to the eye not so much in the pic, because the camera compensates.
Ps. Merry Xmas and happy new year !!

[Mr. Merk]

Those hella lights are pretty affordable but not a great performer.

For a better focused headlight, pick up a pair of the Koito (OEM Toyota supplier) H4s and 60/55W Vosla +190 bulbs from Daniel Stern lighting. I think thats as good as halogen lamps get when aimed properly.