LED in headlight housing DIY
#1
02-22-2008, 04:32 AM
LED in headlight housing DIY
This thread will be edited to all end.
LED Project
Required Tools:
Drill
21/64” bit (11/32” would work…)
1/4” bit (or slighter smaller)
Needle Nose Pliers
T30 torx bit
6” ratchet extension (1/4” drive)
3/8”-1/4” ratchet drive adapter
Wire stripper/cutter/crimper
Test light
Soldering Iron
Solder
Required Supplies:
Permatex (blue works well)
Electrical tape or heat shrink
(4) feet of speaker wiring (thin stuffworks well)
(4) female quick disconnects
(4) male quick disconnects
(4) butt connectors
(2) LEDs of your choice ( http://www.superbrightleds.com/ )
(1) package of 276-080 5mm LED holders (RadioShack part number)
Resistors as calculated in the math section
Don’t buy your LEDs from RadioShack. They won’t be bright enough, and you'll be disappointed.
Everything on the list besides some of the tools and the permatex can be bought at RadioShack, and the tools and permatex can be purchased at any parts house.
MATH
LEDs should never be hooked to a power source without a resistor in line before it. Too little resistance and the LED will blow out. Too much andyou won’t get enough light out of it.
To save time of having your headlights out of the car, we’ll start by preparing the LEDs with resistors and wiring.
Once you have your LEDs, you’ll be using some of the numbers on the packaging to do a bit of math! A bit of a lot of math.
The numbers will look something like this (Yeah, these were RadioShack LEDS. Their brightest ones were still dull.):
To figure out the necessary resistance, we’ll be using this formula:
R=(Vs-Vl)/l
Where:
R=Resistance necessary
Vs=Voltage Supplied
Vl=Voltage Load
l=Load (amps)
Vs will be always be 14.5, since that is about automotive charging voltage.
Vl is listed on the package. It’s usually between 2 and 6V.
l is listed on the package in mA. Convert mA to amps by dividing the number by 1000.
Example:
R=(Vs-Vl)/l
Where:
R=Resistance necessary
Vs=14.5
Vl=3.8
l=.1 (100mA/1000)
R=(14.5-3.8)/.1
R=(10.7)/.1
R=107
Resistance necessary is at least 107 ohms.
Next step is to figure out what resistor or combination of resistors is necessary to properly light our LED, but not blow it. Multiple resistors will be run in parallel.
Common Resistors at RadioShack (measured in ohms):
100
150
220
330
470
560
680
1000
1500
We could run a 150 ohm resistor in this case, but the LEDs wouldn't be as bright as they could be. Something closer to 107 would be better, so we start out guess and check work with this formula:
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+…+1/Rn)
Where:
Rtotal=Total necessary resistance
R1=1st resistor's value
R2=2nd resistor's value
R3=3rd resistor's value
Rn=nth resistor's value
You can use as few or many resistors as works for your application, but 3 or less will show to be a better choice when space restrictions show up later in the project.
Not many calculators will give you an easy answer when you calculate something like 1/150. Type it into Google and you'll get a good answer.
Example:
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+…+1/Rn)
Where:
Rtotal=107
R1=150
R2=n/a
R3=n/a
Rn=n/a
Rtotal<1/(1/R1)
107<1/(1/150)
107<1/(.0066667)
107<150
This would work, but we'll try again to get it closer to 107.
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+…+1/Rn)
Where:
Rtotal=107
R1=150
R2=100
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2)
107<1/(1/150+1/100)
107<1/(.0066667+1/100)
107<1/(.0066667+.01)
107<1/(.0166667)
107<60
This won't work, as the answer is not true. 107 is greater than 60, not less.
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+…+1/Rn)
Where:
Rtotal=107
R1=220
R2=220
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2)
107<1/(1/220+1/220)
107<1/(.00454545+.00454545)
107<1/(.00909090)
107<110
This is about as close as we can get. It's not the safest choice since it is so incredibly close, but will give us a much brighter light than a 150 ohm resistor would, and shouldn’t cause any issues.
If you need help with the math let me know. It can be intimidating at first, but it makes sense with enough application.
So we decided that for this LED, we’ll need two 220 ohm resistors for each light, so make sure to buy 4 (2 for each). RadioShack packs come with 5 for 99 cents.
SOLDERING
Before we solder the resistors to the LED, we’ll open up our 276-080 LED holders and grab the rubber grommets out of each holder. Slide the rubber over the LEDs. Make sure you do this BEFORE YOU SOLDER.
Time to solder the resistors onto the LEDs. Make sure you solder them onto the positive side of the LED. You can recognizewhich side is positive as the wire will belongerand also the negative side will be flat on the base of the LED.
Soldering tip: bend the negative wire out of the way. Also, twisting the resistors wires together will give you a better connection to solder.
Thirdly, don’t let you resistors get too thick, or they won’t be able to go through the hole we’ll be drilling later.
Get your wire out now, we’ll be cutting it to length; about 2 feet for each side. You’ll need to stagger the cut on the LED side so the you can reach the negative side without having a ton of wire bundle up on the positive side.
With speaker wire, I use gold for positive (it’s close to red), and silver for negative (it’s close to black). Solder up the wires, and wrap them with tape, or heat shrink. Don’t let the tape get thick!!!!
You put those grommets on, right??
Removing Headlights
I didn’t take picture of how to remove the headlights and have only done it with one-piece headlights, so the following removal instructions/tips may only apply to one-piece lights.
Each light is held in with 3 bolts that take a t30 bit to take out. Two of the bolts are right on top when you pop your hood. The other one is through a hole towards the outside of the car. It’s tricky to see, and the hardest to get to. Don’t let that bolt fall when you take it out or you will cry.
A normal t30 screwdriver will not be able to reach this bolt, which is why I recommend getting a t30 bit ready for a ratchet and a long extension that you can connect to a ratchet. The extension will need to be a ¼” drive. A 3/8” drive (normal size) will not fit through the hole easily.
If you don’t have clear corners yet on your one-piece lights, do it now. The hardest part of that project is pulling the lights.
Now that the bolts are undone, take off the covers that cover the bulbs in the back. Disconnect the wiring to each headlight. Pull the housing out more, and take out the blinker’s bulb.
Drilling Headlights
I suggest pulling the bulbs out of the housings before working on the housings. There is very limited space to work, and the spades on them will cut you up. Make sure when you remove them to not touch the glass section. It will greatly reduce the life of your bulbs if you do.
Got your drill handy? Hopefully it’s charged!
We’re going to start with drilling a small hole as a pilot hole for our big hole, which will hold the LED holder. A good starting size would be ¼”. Normally, something closer to 3/16 or 1/8” would be better, but those bits are too short to reach deep into the housings where we will be drilling.
The spot to drill is between the low and high beam towards the top of the housing. It’s marked by a small circle that is difficult to show in pictures.
Drill your smaller ¼” hole, and follow that up by drilling your larger 21/64” hole. The drill bit will need to be as far out as it can possibly go, and it will still be a stretch.
The biggest downfall to this project is something that no normal person will ever know about, but I will always know exists. When you drill your hole, a small amount of chroming inside will chip off. It is only noticeable when really looking for it, but does exist.
Installing LED Holders
The only way I could figure out how to get the holders in…
Curve the wire.
Stick it in the hole and feed towards the blinker.
Grab it with needle nose pliers.
Push the holder onto the LED.
And once you pull the wiring back,
feed the washer and nut over the wiring and put it onto the holder
That part is not as easy as it sounds. It’s a PITA. Your washer and nut will try to get stuck on your tape and push the holder off the LED many times.
Wiring
We’ll have to drill one more hole in our housing to run the wiring, but this one’s easy. We’ll use that same 21/64” bit we already had in thedrill andgopretty much forthe center of the Valeo logo (above the ‘R’ in the following fuzzy picture).
Now, run that 2 foot section of wiring back through this hole and cut it down to a few inches past where it exits.
And crimp quick disconnects onto the ends. I suggest doing a male on one end, and a female on the other to not confuse them.
And permatex around the wires coming through that hole. Apply what seems like too much permatex. We need to make sure that no moisture can get in here or your whole headlight assembly will fog up on cold damp nights. Using this much permatex may take a bit to dry up well, but it will always be flexible.
Now, add quick disconnects to the other end of the wire that we just cut off. This is the wire that will run to the marker lights to actually power the LEDs. Make sure you don’t get the disconnects backwards; that’s no fun. The end of the wire opposite of the quick disconnects will need to be stripped, also.
Last of the Wiring
This is the part where we’ll actually be working with the car.
You’ll need to find out which wires on each side of the car power your marker lights by using a test light. There are 3 wires to choose from. One is power for the marker, one is power for the blinker, and one is ground. Turn your running lights and cautions on. When you poke the test light into the wires(with a good ground on the opposite end), one wire will make the light turn on, one will make it blink, and one will do nothing. The one that does nothing will be our ground (silver wire on our speaker wire). The one that stays on will be our positive (gold wire on our speaker wire). Turn off the lights and cut the positive and negative power source about 3” from the connector.
In my case, for my ’01, on both sides, brown was ground, and the light wire with a stripe was power.
Twist your longer speaker wire into the appropriate wires for power, and butt connect the wires together.
Then wrap those guys up with tape.
Installation of the headlight is similar to the reverse of removal. First, get the high and low beam bulbs back in the housing. Next, put the housing up and put the blinker into the housing. I suggest dropping that lower bolt into the hole now, but the bolt situation is up to you; everyway is a hard way. Now connect the quick disconnects for the LED and wrap the quick disconnects individually with electrical tape so they don’t touch each other and short. Then the wiring for the high and low beams, with the caps. Make sure your permatex is still making a great seal. Push your headlight the rest of the way in, and bolt it all down.
All done!
To really set this mod off, I suggest performing the DIY fog light mod, and also clear corners. The clear corners will accent the LED color choice, and the fog light mod will allow you to have front lighting without your headlights on, if you're in a place where that is safe (photoshoots).
And this thread is WORTHLESS without pics! I know. I’ll be installing brighter LEDs tomorrow, so you’ll have to wait! This write-up took a couple hours to make, so I’m posting it now.
A review of the project:
Not worth the time, but looks unique. Some will like it, some will hate it. Overall, I don’t think it’s worth the effort, but it gave me something to do, and I like the little things. Also, since I had all the tools, it only cost me $4.50. Hopefully someone can make use of this!
I'm not responsible for anything, blah, blah, blah.
LED Project
Required Tools:
Drill
21/64” bit (11/32” would work…)
1/4” bit (or slighter smaller)
Needle Nose Pliers
T30 torx bit
6” ratchet extension (1/4” drive)
3/8”-1/4” ratchet drive adapter
Wire stripper/cutter/crimper
Test light
Soldering Iron
Solder
Required Supplies:
Permatex (blue works well)
Electrical tape or heat shrink
(4) feet of speaker wiring (thin stuffworks well)
(4) female quick disconnects
(4) male quick disconnects
(4) butt connectors
(2) LEDs of your choice ( http://www.superbrightleds.com/ )
(1) package of 276-080 5mm LED holders (RadioShack part number)
Resistors as calculated in the math section
Don’t buy your LEDs from RadioShack. They won’t be bright enough, and you'll be disappointed.
Everything on the list besides some of the tools and the permatex can be bought at RadioShack, and the tools and permatex can be purchased at any parts house.
MATH
LEDs should never be hooked to a power source without a resistor in line before it. Too little resistance and the LED will blow out. Too much andyou won’t get enough light out of it.
To save time of having your headlights out of the car, we’ll start by preparing the LEDs with resistors and wiring.
Once you have your LEDs, you’ll be using some of the numbers on the packaging to do a bit of math! A bit of a lot of math.
The numbers will look something like this (Yeah, these were RadioShack LEDS. Their brightest ones were still dull.):
To figure out the necessary resistance, we’ll be using this formula:
R=(Vs-Vl)/l
Where:
R=Resistance necessary
Vs=Voltage Supplied
Vl=Voltage Load
l=Load (amps)
Vs will be always be 14.5, since that is about automotive charging voltage.
Vl is listed on the package. It’s usually between 2 and 6V.
l is listed on the package in mA. Convert mA to amps by dividing the number by 1000.
Example:
R=(Vs-Vl)/l
Where:
R=Resistance necessary
Vs=14.5
Vl=3.8
l=.1 (100mA/1000)
R=(14.5-3.8)/.1
R=(10.7)/.1
R=107
Resistance necessary is at least 107 ohms.
Next step is to figure out what resistor or combination of resistors is necessary to properly light our LED, but not blow it. Multiple resistors will be run in parallel.
Common Resistors at RadioShack (measured in ohms):
100
150
220
330
470
560
680
1000
1500
We could run a 150 ohm resistor in this case, but the LEDs wouldn't be as bright as they could be. Something closer to 107 would be better, so we start out guess and check work with this formula:
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+…+1/Rn)
Where:
Rtotal=Total necessary resistance
R1=1st resistor's value
R2=2nd resistor's value
R3=3rd resistor's value
Rn=nth resistor's value
You can use as few or many resistors as works for your application, but 3 or less will show to be a better choice when space restrictions show up later in the project.
Not many calculators will give you an easy answer when you calculate something like 1/150. Type it into Google and you'll get a good answer.
Example:
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+…+1/Rn)
Where:
Rtotal=107
R1=150
R2=n/a
R3=n/a
Rn=n/a
Rtotal<1/(1/R1)
107<1/(1/150)
107<1/(.0066667)
107<150
This would work, but we'll try again to get it closer to 107.
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+…+1/Rn)
Where:
Rtotal=107
R1=150
R2=100
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2)
107<1/(1/150+1/100)
107<1/(.0066667+1/100)
107<1/(.0066667+.01)
107<1/(.0166667)
107<60
This won't work, as the answer is not true. 107 is greater than 60, not less.
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3+…+1/Rn)
Where:
Rtotal=107
R1=220
R2=220
Rtotal<1/(1/R1+1/R2)
107<1/(1/220+1/220)
107<1/(.00454545+.00454545)
107<1/(.00909090)
107<110
This is about as close as we can get. It's not the safest choice since it is so incredibly close, but will give us a much brighter light than a 150 ohm resistor would, and shouldn’t cause any issues.
If you need help with the math let me know. It can be intimidating at first, but it makes sense with enough application.
So we decided that for this LED, we’ll need two 220 ohm resistors for each light, so make sure to buy 4 (2 for each). RadioShack packs come with 5 for 99 cents.
SOLDERING
Before we solder the resistors to the LED, we’ll open up our 276-080 LED holders and grab the rubber grommets out of each holder. Slide the rubber over the LEDs. Make sure you do this BEFORE YOU SOLDER.
Time to solder the resistors onto the LEDs. Make sure you solder them onto the positive side of the LED. You can recognizewhich side is positive as the wire will belongerand also the negative side will be flat on the base of the LED.
Soldering tip: bend the negative wire out of the way. Also, twisting the resistors wires together will give you a better connection to solder.
Thirdly, don’t let you resistors get too thick, or they won’t be able to go through the hole we’ll be drilling later.
Get your wire out now, we’ll be cutting it to length; about 2 feet for each side. You’ll need to stagger the cut on the LED side so the you can reach the negative side without having a ton of wire bundle up on the positive side.
With speaker wire, I use gold for positive (it’s close to red), and silver for negative (it’s close to black). Solder up the wires, and wrap them with tape, or heat shrink. Don’t let the tape get thick!!!!
You put those grommets on, right??
Removing Headlights
I didn’t take picture of how to remove the headlights and have only done it with one-piece headlights, so the following removal instructions/tips may only apply to one-piece lights.
Each light is held in with 3 bolts that take a t30 bit to take out. Two of the bolts are right on top when you pop your hood. The other one is through a hole towards the outside of the car. It’s tricky to see, and the hardest to get to. Don’t let that bolt fall when you take it out or you will cry.
A normal t30 screwdriver will not be able to reach this bolt, which is why I recommend getting a t30 bit ready for a ratchet and a long extension that you can connect to a ratchet. The extension will need to be a ¼” drive. A 3/8” drive (normal size) will not fit through the hole easily.
If you don’t have clear corners yet on your one-piece lights, do it now. The hardest part of that project is pulling the lights.
Now that the bolts are undone, take off the covers that cover the bulbs in the back. Disconnect the wiring to each headlight. Pull the housing out more, and take out the blinker’s bulb.
Drilling Headlights
I suggest pulling the bulbs out of the housings before working on the housings. There is very limited space to work, and the spades on them will cut you up. Make sure when you remove them to not touch the glass section. It will greatly reduce the life of your bulbs if you do.
Got your drill handy? Hopefully it’s charged!
We’re going to start with drilling a small hole as a pilot hole for our big hole, which will hold the LED holder. A good starting size would be ¼”. Normally, something closer to 3/16 or 1/8” would be better, but those bits are too short to reach deep into the housings where we will be drilling.
The spot to drill is between the low and high beam towards the top of the housing. It’s marked by a small circle that is difficult to show in pictures.
Drill your smaller ¼” hole, and follow that up by drilling your larger 21/64” hole. The drill bit will need to be as far out as it can possibly go, and it will still be a stretch.
The biggest downfall to this project is something that no normal person will ever know about, but I will always know exists. When you drill your hole, a small amount of chroming inside will chip off. It is only noticeable when really looking for it, but does exist.
Installing LED Holders
The only way I could figure out how to get the holders in…
Curve the wire.
Stick it in the hole and feed towards the blinker.
Grab it with needle nose pliers.
Push the holder onto the LED.
And once you pull the wiring back,
feed the washer and nut over the wiring and put it onto the holder
That part is not as easy as it sounds. It’s a PITA. Your washer and nut will try to get stuck on your tape and push the holder off the LED many times.
Wiring
We’ll have to drill one more hole in our housing to run the wiring, but this one’s easy. We’ll use that same 21/64” bit we already had in thedrill andgopretty much forthe center of the Valeo logo (above the ‘R’ in the following fuzzy picture).
Now, run that 2 foot section of wiring back through this hole and cut it down to a few inches past where it exits.
And crimp quick disconnects onto the ends. I suggest doing a male on one end, and a female on the other to not confuse them.
And permatex around the wires coming through that hole. Apply what seems like too much permatex. We need to make sure that no moisture can get in here or your whole headlight assembly will fog up on cold damp nights. Using this much permatex may take a bit to dry up well, but it will always be flexible.
Now, add quick disconnects to the other end of the wire that we just cut off. This is the wire that will run to the marker lights to actually power the LEDs. Make sure you don’t get the disconnects backwards; that’s no fun. The end of the wire opposite of the quick disconnects will need to be stripped, also.
Last of the Wiring
This is the part where we’ll actually be working with the car.
You’ll need to find out which wires on each side of the car power your marker lights by using a test light. There are 3 wires to choose from. One is power for the marker, one is power for the blinker, and one is ground. Turn your running lights and cautions on. When you poke the test light into the wires(with a good ground on the opposite end), one wire will make the light turn on, one will make it blink, and one will do nothing. The one that does nothing will be our ground (silver wire on our speaker wire). The one that stays on will be our positive (gold wire on our speaker wire). Turn off the lights and cut the positive and negative power source about 3” from the connector.
In my case, for my ’01, on both sides, brown was ground, and the light wire with a stripe was power.
Twist your longer speaker wire into the appropriate wires for power, and butt connect the wires together.
Then wrap those guys up with tape.
Installation of the headlight is similar to the reverse of removal. First, get the high and low beam bulbs back in the housing. Next, put the housing up and put the blinker into the housing. I suggest dropping that lower bolt into the hole now, but the bolt situation is up to you; everyway is a hard way. Now connect the quick disconnects for the LED and wrap the quick disconnects individually with electrical tape so they don’t touch each other and short. Then the wiring for the high and low beams, with the caps. Make sure your permatex is still making a great seal. Push your headlight the rest of the way in, and bolt it all down.
All done!
To really set this mod off, I suggest performing the DIY fog light mod, and also clear corners. The clear corners will accent the LED color choice, and the fog light mod will allow you to have front lighting without your headlights on, if you're in a place where that is safe (photoshoots).
And this thread is WORTHLESS without pics! I know. I’ll be installing brighter LEDs tomorrow, so you’ll have to wait! This write-up took a couple hours to make, so I’m posting it now.
A review of the project:
Not worth the time, but looks unique. Some will like it, some will hate it. Overall, I don’t think it’s worth the effort, but it gave me something to do, and I like the little things. Also, since I had all the tools, it only cost me $4.50. Hopefully someone can make use of this!
I'm not responsible for anything, blah, blah, blah.
#2
02-22-2008, 04:44 AM
RE: LED in headlight housing DIY
The dull LEDs in a lit garage:
The brighter ones should be closer to what my buddy's M3 has, but should reflect through the housing, where his are sectioned off. They have 3 times the luminosity and have a 120 degree viewing angle which will disperse the light much more than the ones in there now with a 24 degree viewing angle.
Like I said, don't really have any pics, and won't be taking any till I get the nicer LEDs in. GF says I can borrow her camera too, so hopefully I can get some quality ones.
The brighter ones should be closer to what my buddy's M3 has, but should reflect through the housing, where his are sectioned off. They have 3 times the luminosity and have a 120 degree viewing angle which will disperse the light much more than the ones in there now with a 24 degree viewing angle.
Like I said, don't really have any pics, and won't be taking any till I get the nicer LEDs in. GF says I can borrow her camera too, so hopefully I can get some quality ones.
#3
02-22-2008, 08:23 AM
RE: LED in headlight housing DIY
Nice write up but I'm so glad I'm in the UK and don't have to mess around and do all that.
Just went on line and bought these
Pluged them in and job done. I'm sure you could just buy the Euro spec sleave housing for the bulb and just drill a whole (just friction held) then just do your wiring plus these are much brighter.
Just went on line and bought these
Pluged them in and job done. I'm sure you could just buy the Euro spec sleave housing for the bulb and just drill a whole (just friction held) then just do your wiring plus these are much brighter.
#4
02-22-2008, 12:26 PM
RE: LED in headlight housing DIY
What??? How the? How do they plug in?
The math and everything is easy for me. The only difficult things were getting that last bolt on the headlights in and out, drilling the hole, and getting the holder in place. 2 out of 3 of those one would still have to do, but still haven't ever seen those.
The math and everything is easy for me. The only difficult things were getting that last bolt on the headlights in and out, drilling the hole, and getting the holder in place. 2 out of 3 of those one would still have to do, but still haven't ever seen those.
#5
02-22-2008, 12:37 PM
RE: LED in headlight housing DIY
Doc has Ecodes, thats how they plug in. the Ecodes come with city lights. so you can replace the stock bulbs with LED replacements.
here is a picture of my ecodes with the LED city lights for referrence
here is a picture of my ecodes with the LED city lights for referrence
#6
02-22-2008, 12:51 PM
RE: LED in headlight housing DIY
ORIGINAL: a4_2.8tuner
Doc has Ecodes, thats how they plug in. the Ecodes come with city lights. so you can replace the stock bulbs with LED replacements.
Doc has Ecodes, thats how they plug in. the Ecodes come with city lights. so you can replace the stock bulbs with LED replacements.
Edit: Okay, looking at the picture, obviously they're on without the headlights...so are they on all the time?
#7
02-22-2008, 12:53 PM
RE: LED in headlight housing DIY
They actually have a slot? That's what I wanted mine to come out like... New LEDs to the rescue, oh, how I hope.
#9
02-22-2008, 01:42 PM
RE: LED in headlight housing DIY
This may help in regards to street lights:
City Light Wiring for Pre '99.5 with Euro Headlights
Jim Baulsir
2001
I wanted to upgrade the lighting on my 1998.5 A4 and after looking at all the options I decided to get the euro S4 two-piece xenon headlights. As these are European spec lights they naturally came with a small 5-watt light called a "city light". Of course, the US models don't have the wiring for this light, so here is the modification I made to make the city lights work.
Design Parameters:
[ol][*]City lights to be on when the parking lights were on.[*]City lights to be off when the lo-beam headlights were on.[*]City lights to be on when the parking lights were on and hi-beams flash (who cares, can't see'um anyway).[*]Make minimal changes to the car's wiring harness.[*]Have plug and play backward compatibility in case I needed to re-install the original US spec headlights. [/ol]
This modification was done on a 1998.5 Audi A4 5 speed with trip computer; the stock headlights (with integrated fog lights) were replaced with euro S4 xenons (two piece).
Note - Original Fog Light functionality was lost when stock headlights were replaced. I am planning to add lower grill fog lights at a later date. This is why I didn't use the fog light circuit to power the city lights.
Parts Needed:
[ul][*]2 - P/N 000-979-117 Audi Wire with Socket[*]2 - Directed Electronics Inc. 8617 Relay Assembly[*]1 - Radio Shack Double Sided Tape Cat. No. 64-2361[*]Electrical Tape[*]Some method of splicing[*]Shrink Tubing [/ul]
Tools Needed:
[ul][*]#30 Torx driver[*]Philips screwdriver[*]Needle Nose Pliers[*]Slip Joint Pliers[*]Soldering Iron[*]Solder[*]Wire striper/cutter [/ul]
Standard Disclaimer - Do this at your own risk. I take no responsibility. Works great on my car. Your mileage may vary. Don't call us, we'll call you. In the event of an emergency put your head between your legs and kiss you nice car good-bye. Yadda Yadda.
The Circuit:
Click for a larger image. Note: Xenon ballast omitted for clarity.
Power The City Lights:
Remove the corner lights, and the headlights, disconnecting both plugs, set-aside on a towel. Cut one socket end off of Audi Part #000-979-117, cut it off right at the socket as you will need approximately 12 inches of wire remaining to route it over to the corner light. Roll back the rubber boot on the headlight connector to expose the purple socket frame. Push the cut end of Audi part #000-979-117 (from the inside) through one of the existing holes in the back of the boot. There are two clips on the sides of the barrel that need to be gently pushed in to release the sockets. Do not remove any that are already there, just insert the new socket into position #1, and click the purple barrel back into place. Note: If there is any resistance, don't force it; one of the sockets is not seated, just make sure that they are all pushed in and try again. Roll the boot back and dress the new wire along the outside of the headlight harness approximately 5-6 inches (I used black electrical tape).
The Splicing Part:
Dress the new wire around to the corner light harness and run it down to the plug. Locate the parking light wire (on my car it was black with gray on the drivers side and black with red on the passengers side) use a voltmeter to verify (Remember -- Measure twice, Cut once). You can use whatever method you choose to splice the new wire to the parking light wire, but I cut, soldered and covered with heat shrink tubing. Then dress the wire back on to the corner light harness again using electrical tape; just remember to account for a service loop so you can work on the lights later.
The city lights should now go on when you turn on the parking lights, test to make sure.
The Inside Work:
I wanted to place the relay and wiring inside the headlight itself because its relatively weather tight and with the connection just made, I had the three things I needed, Parking light power, lo beams power (12 volt of course), and ground.
Unplug the 12-volt input to the ballast and remove the back cover from the headlight, then (read caution) disconnect the high voltage cable from the back of the xenon bulb and set aside. Unplug the high beam and the city light (entire bulb comes out). Push the lo-beam 12-volt lead into the headlight housing by gently depressing the four tabs on the rectangular cover it comes out of. Using slip joint pliers, gently grab and rotate the main head light plug clockwise so the tabs lineup with the slots in the housing. Now remove the internal wiring harness and lay it on your workspace.
Connecting the Relay Coil:
Shorten the wires on the relay harness to make it easier to dress them in on reassembly (approximately 4-5 inches). Connect the relay pins 86 to 12-volt power for the lo-beams and 85 to ground (connector pin 5 being 12-volt and pin 2 being Ground). Again use any splicing method you are comfortable with, I soldered the leads to the actual pin in the connector (using the same procedure as above to remove and reinsert the pins). Caution: this required some VERY intricate soldering with a low wattage soldering iron so as not to destroy the pin and burn the insulation on the wires.
And Now The City Light:
Cut the wire going to the city light (gray in my headlights) and splice (insulate with shrink tubing) the connector side to pin 30 of the relay and the wire going to the bulb to pin 87a (this is the normally closed contact of the relay). Cut the wire to relay pin 87 and insulate it, as it is not needed. As for mounting the relay, I used some high temperature double-sided tape (I didn't want to drill a hole in the headlight) and stuck to the bottom under the high beam. Now reassemble headlight.
City Light Wiring for Pre '99.5 with Euro Headlights
Jim Baulsir
2001
I wanted to upgrade the lighting on my 1998.5 A4 and after looking at all the options I decided to get the euro S4 two-piece xenon headlights. As these are European spec lights they naturally came with a small 5-watt light called a "city light". Of course, the US models don't have the wiring for this light, so here is the modification I made to make the city lights work.
Design Parameters:
[ol][*]City lights to be on when the parking lights were on.[*]City lights to be off when the lo-beam headlights were on.[*]City lights to be on when the parking lights were on and hi-beams flash (who cares, can't see'um anyway).[*]Make minimal changes to the car's wiring harness.[*]Have plug and play backward compatibility in case I needed to re-install the original US spec headlights. [/ol]
This modification was done on a 1998.5 Audi A4 5 speed with trip computer; the stock headlights (with integrated fog lights) were replaced with euro S4 xenons (two piece).
Note - Original Fog Light functionality was lost when stock headlights were replaced. I am planning to add lower grill fog lights at a later date. This is why I didn't use the fog light circuit to power the city lights.
Parts Needed:
[ul][*]2 - P/N 000-979-117 Audi Wire with Socket[*]2 - Directed Electronics Inc. 8617 Relay Assembly[*]1 - Radio Shack Double Sided Tape Cat. No. 64-2361[*]Electrical Tape[*]Some method of splicing[*]Shrink Tubing [/ul]
Tools Needed:
[ul][*]#30 Torx driver[*]Philips screwdriver[*]Needle Nose Pliers[*]Slip Joint Pliers[*]Soldering Iron[*]Solder[*]Wire striper/cutter [/ul]
Standard Disclaimer - Do this at your own risk. I take no responsibility. Works great on my car. Your mileage may vary. Don't call us, we'll call you. In the event of an emergency put your head between your legs and kiss you nice car good-bye. Yadda Yadda.
The Circuit:
Click for a larger image. Note: Xenon ballast omitted for clarity.
Power The City Lights:
Remove the corner lights, and the headlights, disconnecting both plugs, set-aside on a towel. Cut one socket end off of Audi Part #000-979-117, cut it off right at the socket as you will need approximately 12 inches of wire remaining to route it over to the corner light. Roll back the rubber boot on the headlight connector to expose the purple socket frame. Push the cut end of Audi part #000-979-117 (from the inside) through one of the existing holes in the back of the boot. There are two clips on the sides of the barrel that need to be gently pushed in to release the sockets. Do not remove any that are already there, just insert the new socket into position #1, and click the purple barrel back into place. Note: If there is any resistance, don't force it; one of the sockets is not seated, just make sure that they are all pushed in and try again. Roll the boot back and dress the new wire along the outside of the headlight harness approximately 5-6 inches (I used black electrical tape).
The Splicing Part:
Dress the new wire around to the corner light harness and run it down to the plug. Locate the parking light wire (on my car it was black with gray on the drivers side and black with red on the passengers side) use a voltmeter to verify (Remember -- Measure twice, Cut once). You can use whatever method you choose to splice the new wire to the parking light wire, but I cut, soldered and covered with heat shrink tubing. Then dress the wire back on to the corner light harness again using electrical tape; just remember to account for a service loop so you can work on the lights later.
The city lights should now go on when you turn on the parking lights, test to make sure.
The Inside Work:
I wanted to place the relay and wiring inside the headlight itself because its relatively weather tight and with the connection just made, I had the three things I needed, Parking light power, lo beams power (12 volt of course), and ground.
Unplug the 12-volt input to the ballast and remove the back cover from the headlight, then (read caution) disconnect the high voltage cable from the back of the xenon bulb and set aside. Unplug the high beam and the city light (entire bulb comes out). Push the lo-beam 12-volt lead into the headlight housing by gently depressing the four tabs on the rectangular cover it comes out of. Using slip joint pliers, gently grab and rotate the main head light plug clockwise so the tabs lineup with the slots in the housing. Now remove the internal wiring harness and lay it on your workspace.
Connecting the Relay Coil:
Shorten the wires on the relay harness to make it easier to dress them in on reassembly (approximately 4-5 inches). Connect the relay pins 86 to 12-volt power for the lo-beams and 85 to ground (connector pin 5 being 12-volt and pin 2 being Ground). Again use any splicing method you are comfortable with, I soldered the leads to the actual pin in the connector (using the same procedure as above to remove and reinsert the pins). Caution: this required some VERY intricate soldering with a low wattage soldering iron so as not to destroy the pin and burn the insulation on the wires.
And Now The City Light:
Cut the wire going to the city light (gray in my headlights) and splice (insulate with shrink tubing) the connector side to pin 30 of the relay and the wire going to the bulb to pin 87a (this is the normally closed contact of the relay). Cut the wire to relay pin 87 and insulate it, as it is not needed. As for mounting the relay, I used some high temperature double-sided tape (I didn't want to drill a hole in the headlight) and stuck to the bottom under the high beam. Now reassemble headlight.
#10
02-22-2008, 01:51 PM