Uprated headlight loom - OE plugs

[Kevin Bacon 5]

My car had an uprated loom on it when I bought it but I've never been happy with the way the loom connects to the lights - with spade connectors.

 

It's a real pain if the lamps have to come out as the loom is pretty short aswell, meaning the spades have to be pulled.

 

So to finish the loom off and make it easier and quicker to remove the lights, I purchased the following from my local Audi stealer....

 

2 x 357 941 165 (water proof plugs) - £4.64 each

4 x 000 979 407 - 6mm preterminated leads - £2 ish each

 

You basically take 2 leads per plug, slot the spades into each plug hole and then snip the leads in half to give you your 4 connections, and then cut the spades off the uprated loom and solder the wires together to give you a proper OE fit and finish.

 

Just thought this might help anyone that has the same frustration! I've been having iffy sidelight bulb connections recently and taking the lights out (easiest way to change bulbs) was a pain.

 

[CorradoVR6-Turbo 0]

Ive done this to my VR aswell when i made up a loom, OEM is this best way by far,ive also uprated the wires inside the headlight for Full Power!

[ben16v 0]

good mod on a mod kev, probably be looking to do this as i`ve always been a bit wary of the spade situation!

[mr.ots 10]

Already uprated my loom and been thinking about this mod for some time Kev. Part no's are usefull, thanks for the info. :)

[joebloggsVR69 0]

I bought the same parts a couple of weeks ago 8)

Can't stand using spades either

[gaz the geezer 0]

........just off to get the bits .........cheers kev :thumbleft:

[dinkus 10]

Good mod Kev - I shall be mostly ordering those parts soon :)

[bcstudent 0]

I paid £2 total for the same connectors chopped off a scrap Corrado. They do seem to be few and far between at the scrap yards though. Just need to find a similarly elegant solution for connecting to the original plugs now...

[Geo 0]

Cool! I got the plugs a while back but couldn't source the correct onnectors to fit in the plug anywhere. Didn't realise they were available from the dealer. Those part numbers will come in very useful, thanks Kev!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

You can actually buy bare connectors from some place on the net, but I thought it was easier to just buy the cables instead ;-)

[24V Renshaw 0]

I paid £2 total for the same connectors chopped off a scrap Corrado. They do seem to be few and far between at the scrap yards though. Just need to find a similarly elegant solution for connecting to the original plugs now...

 

Solder them on then shrink sleeve them in black, then wrap in proper loom tape. Can't get better than that.

 

jay

[Bally 0]

nice one Kev, Ive taken my loom out as the mainbeam on the stalks wouldnt work for MOT... a job for the wkend....

[Geo 0]

I just had a look at the 89 passat I bought for parts last week and it appears to have the same connectors as the corrado on the headlights. Could be another option for getting complete plugs as they would be more plentiful in scrapyards than corrados.

[dinkus 10]

They're Hella lights, so I guess they'll be the same connectors on quite a few different cars (not just VWs either)

 

Edit: According to ETKA, the plugs were used on...

 

86-91 Golfs

88-91 Passats

92-93 Passats

90-93 Passats

88-91 Jettas

 

So there ya go...

[h100vw 0]

They're Hella lights, so I guess they'll be the same connectors on quite a few different cars (not just VWs either)

 

Edit: According to ETKA, the plugs were used on...

 

86-91 Golfs Rallye

88-91 Passatsall passats

92-93 Passatsall passats

90-93 Passatsall passats

88-91 Jettascan't think of a jetta with the right lights unless they did them with Rallye lights in some markets or maybe those nasty US spec ones??

 

So there ya go...

 

 

Gavin

[dinkus 10]

Apparently it's "88-91 Jetta syn./Golf Var.syn."

 

Whatever that means? :?

[NormanCoal 0]

syn. - syncro

var. varient, or estate

[dinkus 10]

Ahh clever :)

[bcstudent 0]

I paid £2 total for the same connectors chopped off a scrap Corrado. They do seem to be few and far between at the scrap yards though. Just need to find a similarly elegant solution for connecting to the original plugs now...

 

Solder them on then shrink sleeve them in black, then wrap in proper loom tape. Can't get better than that.

 

jay

No, I mean connecting the other end of the loom to the original headlamp connectors without modifying the original wiring.

[STORM 2 0]

I paid £2 total for the same connectors chopped off a scrap Corrado. They do seem to be few and far between at the scrap yards though. Just need to find a similarly elegant solution for connecting to the original plugs now...

 

Solder them on then shrink sleeve them in black, then wrap in proper loom tape. Can't get better than that.

 

jay

No, I mean connecting the other end of the loom to the original headlamp connectors without modifying the original wiring.

 

An important question seeing as this is where most of the corrosion occurs on the blade terminals because they are exposed (well on mine anyway).

I suppose hacking the male connector off a damaged light is an option but they would be hard to come by...but if this system applies to passats and jettas they would be a bit more plentiful

[dinkus 10]

I think you'll struggle to find male connectors because they're all part of the light housing.

 

But then again - why on earth would anyone want to reverse the mod?! If you really want, you could cut the old female light connectors off with a bit of slack and put insulated bullet connectors on either end of the cut wire, so it can plug back in.

 

Then cut the spades off the uprated loom and put insulated bullets on there too - voila a swappable loom that's insulated 8)