Alradco sells High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights as a replacement kit for the older style headlights. Even on low beam the brightness of the HID's far exceeds the brightness of stock headlights on high beam. For this reason others and myself recommend having tinted headlight covers. By default when you purchase both the low beam and high beam kits, you lose the use of all four headlights on high beam; instead, it changes to the use of the outer headlights on low beam, and then inner ones on high beam. This guide will show you how to re-wire your HID headlights in order to have all four headlights on high beam. The changes shown here will alter your headlight wiring and will not allow you to easily drop back to the stock configuration.
General Assumptions:
Low Beam (outer headlights):
High Beam (inner headlights):
The high beams are more straight-forward to wire than the low beams. The high beam HID wiring comes with male spade connectors on the red & black wires. The red wire connector will be replaced with another connector. Plug the HID black wire into the OEM headlight harness mating against the black.
| ## | Item | Notes |
| 2 | 4700uF capacitors | Capacitors help prevent low beam flicker when switching between low & high beam. Electrolytic type. Axial style or radial style will work. This link is for the 35V variety. 16V will work too. 4700µF 35V 20% Axial-Lead Electrolytic Capacitor - RadioShack.com |
| 2 | 3A diodes | Provides current on the low beam wire while on high beam, but not the other way. 3A Barrel Diodes - RadioShack.com |
| 4 | Bosch-style 30A relays | Better supports the initial current draw of the HID ballasts. 4-pin relays are okay since you won't need the 87a pin. |
| 1 | roll of solder | Crimp-style connectors are better when soldered |
| 12 | yellow female spades | Crimp-style connectors for 12/10 gauge wire. Be sure to get the wider ones that fit on the relay spades. |
| 4 | yellow male spades | Crimp-style connectors for 12/10 gauge wire. |
| 4 | yellow loops | rimp-style connectors for 12/10 gauge wire. These are needed if you draw power from your power source. |
| 4 | blue wire taps | 16/14 gauge wire taps to pull ground from existing headlight wiring |
| 12 | blue female spades | Crimp-style connectors for 16/14 gauge wire. Be sure to get the wider ones that fit on the relay spades. |
| 1 | Alradco low beam kit | http://alradco.com/index.php?page=s...page.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1 |
| 1 | Alradco high beam kit | http://alradco.com/index.php?page=s...page.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1 |
| 40 | heat shrink tubing | Easier to use than electrical tape |
| 1 | 10ga red wire stranded (roll) | Length varies depending upon your power source (battery or alternator or ...) |
| 1 | 14ga black wire stranded (roll) | ground wire for the relays |
| 1 | 14ga blue wire stranded | relay trigger wire |
General Assumptions:
- After crimping and soldering a connector, you will melt heat shrink tubing around the wire and connector.
- Choose an adequate point to draw power. On my car my battery has twin posts, so I use the top post for accessories like the stereo, fans, and passenger-side headlights. For the driver-side headlights, I pull from the alternator post to a power distribution block and then 10 gauge wire to the relays. In both cases I choose to run an 8 gauge fused wire to the power distribution block.
- On the OEM headlight connector, you will have 3 pins. Black is ground, tan (2 wires on driver's side) is high beam, and green (2 wires on passenger's side) is low beam.
- It is perfectly normal for them to take 30 seconds or more to reach full brightness.
Low Beam (outer headlights):
- Take one capacitor and wrap the negative leg around pin 86 on the relay. Place this (both the leg and the body of the capacitor) as close as possible to the body of the relay. The negative side of the relay is often shown with either > or - while the positive side has no indicator. Solder the capacitor leg to the relay pin.
- Wrap the positive capacitor leg around pin 87 on the relay and solder it as well. Be sure to keep the solder close to the relay body to prevent interfering with the slide-on spade connectors that you will be using.
- Cut a length of 10ga wire and then crimp & solder a yellow female spade to one end. Connect to pin 30 on the relay. Connect the other end to your power source.
- Cut a length of 14ga blue wire and then crimp & solder a blue male spade on one end. Insert spade into the OEM headlight connector, mating it with the green wire.
- On the other end of the 14ga blue wire, crimp & solder a blue female spade and push onto pin 86 on the relay.
- On the headlight connector for the new HID low-beam (the one with the red and black wires in a connector), cut both the red & black wires close to the connector. Dispose the connector.
- On the HID red wire that you just cut, crimp & solder a yellow female spade connector. Slide this onto pin 87 of the relay. {Optionally, you may have to extend this wire, depending on the location of your relay}
- Take the HID black wire that you cut two steps ago and crimp & solder a blue male spade connector. Push firmly into the OEM headlight connector, mating with the black wire.
- Using a blue wire tap/splice and a length of 14ga black wire, splice the new wire with the black/ground wire of the OEM headlight harness. On the opposite end crimp & solder a blue female spade connector. Slide this onto pin 85 of the relay.
- Take the diode and carefully bend the leads so that one lead will go into the OEM headlight connector mating against the tan wires and the other against the green wire. On the diode, there is a symbol like >| The lead closest to the | mates against the tan wires (think "tan line" as a way to remember). [You may only need to use just one diode on EITHER low beam connector. I chose to use one on BOTH connectors]
- Using electrical tape, tape all wires around relays, connectors, etc.
- Test the headlights. This one should be lit for both low beam and high beam. If the blue high beam indicator on the dash stays on no matter if you're in low beam or high beam, then you have the diode backwards and must correct this.
- Repeat these steps on the other low beam headlight.
High Beam (inner headlights):
The high beams are more straight-forward to wire than the low beams. The high beam HID wiring comes with male spade connectors on the red & black wires. The red wire connector will be replaced with another connector. Plug the HID black wire into the OEM headlight harness mating against the black.
- Cut a length of 10ga wire and then crimp & solder a yellow female spade to one end. Connect to pin 30 on the relay. Connect the other end to your power source.
- Take the HID red wire and crimp & solder a blue female spade on one end and push onto pin 86 on the relay. {Optionally, extend this wire if needed}
- Using a blue wire tap/splice and a length of 14ga black wire, splice the new wire with the black/ground wire of the OEM headlight harness. On the opposite end crimp & solder a blue female spade connector. Slide this onto pin 85 of the relay.
- On the HID red wire where you removed the male spade connector earlier, crimp & solder a blue female spade connector. Slide this onto pin 87 of the relay. {Optionally, you may have to extend this wire, depending on the location of your relay}
- Using electrical tape, tape all wires around relays, connectors, etc.
- Test the headlights. This one should be lit for high beam only.
- Repeat these steps on the other high beam headlight.
