Headlight Loom

[Whitedog 0]

tell me about it.....i wanted to fit mine this weekend but do you think it stopped raining......not even once.......

 

typical.

 

Good luck with your fitting will, think i may take some photo's if i get it working ok and do a really simple write up for stupid people like me.

[andy_vw 0]

Hope it all goes well!

 

For those of you who are interested I will be creating a topic in the Suppliers forum detailing my product with price etc.

 

Andy.

[skinnyman9000 0]

I need one of those, but to be honest i'd rather pay £40+ for a really good one! So if anyone is planning on making some of very good quality then let me know!!

[Mystic Rado 0]

I'm just making up my own loom - the eBay ones look manky, all unsealed crimps etc - using the OE headlight connector plugs, which you can get from VW still, soldered/heat shrunk connectors and decent 40a relays.

 

I ran a high power loom on a mark 2 GTi for around five years and it's a bit easier to make those plug and play what with them using standard H4 headlight connectors rather than the four-plug 'rado light thing on the C. Based on my GTi experience, I reckon the crucial thing is to use quality components and make everything as water resistant as possible, especially relays and fuseholders. I'm considering potting the relays on this one to keep them as water-tight as possible.

 

Don't fancy standard crimps either. Gonna solder and heatshrink or maybe use the heat-shrinkable crimps you can get for more reliable connections then solder it into the standard headlight loom to trigger the relays and use convoluted tubing stuff to protect the wiring from heat and abrasion.

 

The loom I had on the GTi was a professionally made thing from BRM and mostly really well made, but the weak points were the exposed connections on the fuse holders, the relays and where it connected to the original bulb holder. You really don't want your lights copping out on you in the middle of nowhere.

[andy_vw 0]

I need one of those, but to be honest i'd rather pay £40+ for a really good one! So if anyone is planning on making some of very good quality then let me know!!

 

My looms will be high quality. I wouldnt put anything on the market that wasnt.

 

They will have proper H4 connectors, be sleeved & there will be an option for a 'plug & play' version for slightly more which will involve cutting no wires at all!

 

I'm looking at pricing the normal ones at £15 & the "plug & play" ones at around £20. As I say a thread will be created. I don't intend to make much money from this at all. More of a hobby! :)

 

Cheers,

Andy.

[Dub_nut_g60 0]

They will have proper H4 connectors

 

This will mean leaving the back off the headlight unit surely? I just dont that would be a good idea!

 

IMO you would be better off coming up with something which uses the OE head light plug with 4 connectors if possible

[andy_vw 0]

you would be better off coming up with something which uses the OE head light plug with 4 connectors if possible

 

Ah, I assumed the headlights had H4 connectors... (Used to scirocco wiring). Only had my C for a few days! Just had a look - See what you mean about the 4 way connectors - Back to the drawing board!

 

Andy.

[filski 0]

well Andy, be good to see what you come up with - we await more news. :)

[Mystic Rado 0]

« andy_vw » wrote:

They will have proper H4 connectors

 

 

This will mean leaving the back off the headlight unit surely? I just dont that would be a good idea!

 

IMO you would be better off coming up with something which uses the OE head light plug with 4 connectors if possible

 

Yeah, I'd agree with that. If you do a forum search, someone's posted the correct VAG part numbers for the four-terminal connectors and you can order them in from VW. If you leave the headlight open or not properly sealed you're likely to get condensation problems / dirt getting into the headlight housing.

 

Erm... this thread:

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39093&highlight=headlight+loom

 

Those part numbers are still current and the prices are about right too, so you'd be looking at about a tenner for the OE plugs new. I don't think anyone's going to begrudge you making a reasonable profit if you're making a good quality product. I'd rather pay an extra tenner and keep the headlight properly sealed for a start.

 

Seems to me that the real problem with a plug and play solution is where you take the signal feed from the relay from. In and ideal world you'd use the other half of a four-terminal socket plugged into one of the original headlight plugs, but you'd have to butcher and old headlight housing to get one, which is fine for a one off, but not so good if you're producing a few. Anyway, just a thought.

[skinnyman9000 0]

Well if you could make a good quality plug and play unit using the original wiring plugs then as i said i'd be more than happy to pay good money for one, i'd rather pay more for a good quality unit than less for a cheaper one

[ReekieVR 0]

Me too - i really dont want to cut anything and am prepared to pay for a quality product.

 

Will keep an aye out for your thread in the suppliers forum.

[colinstubbs 0]

I need one of those, but to be honest i'd rather pay £40+ for a really good one! So if anyone is planning on making some of very good quality then let me know!!

 

Venom motorsport used to do some for around £40 6-7 years ago heat shrunk/2 relay/fuses good instructions etc. I got one then and the only probs have been two fuses blowing and the first 'old' set of tired bulbs both going together after a couple of months. Prob worth treating your C to new bulbs too if they've been in a while, Yandards got a thread about 80% brighter phillips bulbs that sound the nuts.

 

80% Brighter Bulbs

 

I'm using the halfrauds 50% ones cos my last one blew on a sunday, typical, not cheap but luckily they fair well in that test.

[andy_vw 0]

Right - Topic posted now in Suppliers. Sorry for hi-jacking the thread Whitedog - Any more help you need, give me a shout :)

[Whitedog 0]

Andy, dont worry about thread hijacking, after all, you helped me out a treat so it the least i can oblige with. May even end up getting one of your kits in the long run anyhow if the weather stays the same and i dont get chance to fit this one.

[Critical_Mass 10]

OK, ive just fitted the loom (same one whitedog bought from da bay). I followed the instructions given by andy_vw, however the lights dont seem any brighter then before :!: :?:

 

EDIT: i measured the voltage in the wire the instructions specified, it was 11.88V I then measured it again after 12.18V doesnt seem too much of an increase imo.

[Critical_Mass 10]

BUMP!

[Mystic Rado 0]

Are your reflectors / lenses in good condition, that also makes quite a big difference.

[DEL VR6 0]

I fitted a loom supplied by H100VW, and its coming upto about 4 years. I have never had a single problem with it, and it has worked fine, and i cant say enough good things about the loom, and the supplier.

 

Only thing i have never liked about it is the ends are push in blade connectors. It makes the whole thing looks and feel a little delicate, and if the car is being worked on by someone else, they could easliy accidentally knock something out of position.

 

For that reason, i would be interested in replacing it with something with proper OE type connectors to connect to the back of the headlights. Will try and post a pic up if i can of the current set up.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yeah the reflectors seem in good condition and are clean!

 

Im just not convinced by the improvement in the voltage, which is only about .30 of a volt improvement. I dont know if its just a poor quality loom. Ive PM'd whitedog to see how he got on, as he bought the same loom from ebay (no response as of yet).

 

I beleive andy_vw is making a better quality loom for around £45.

[Mystic Rado 0]

I've made my own loom using the OE connectors which are available from VW, just waiting to get the car back so I can fit it. The uprated loom I fitted to my Mark 2 GTi made a massive difference btw and I'd expect similar improvement on the 'rado.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Fancy making 2? :lol:

 

Do the new OE connectors have the rubber in the slots the wire goes into?

[Mystic Rado 0]

Fancy making 2? :lol:

 

Do the new OE connectors have the rubber in the slots the wire goes into?

 

If you have a look in the suppliers' forum, I think, andy_vw is doing just that and is just testing his prototype so they should be available from him soon. My connectors didn't come with the rubber bungs so I sealed them with silicone goo which seems to have worked fine. I'm guessing that the rubber seals are available, but I don't know the part number :-(

 

The bit that's really hard to source is some sort of male connector to link to the original headlight connectors to trigger the relays. I'm just going to cut and solder, but it would be nice to simply plug them in for ease of installation.

 

The nice thing about making your own is that you can go ape on sealing stuff properly and solder connections instead of using dodgy exposed crimps. The weak point on my mark 2 Golf loom were the fuses and solenoids, which were pretty much exposed to the elements inside the engine bay and eventually corroded. Ideally you want to seal them away from damp.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Yeah i was planning on buying one from andy_vw, but not sure exactly when they'll be available.

 

Cheers Mystic Rado.