Alternative headlamp looming?

[quaduplex 0]

I've been looking over all the old posts about headlamp loom mods to improve the voltage at the bulbs.

 

Has anyone considered (or done) fitting relays in the existing looms at or near the headlamp connectors then just running the minimum of wiring from the battery and using a local grounding point? It would cut down on wiring and still give the same effect. I suppose the weakest part would be splicing into the existing main feed to the bulb. Is it the length of cable or the connections at the headlamp thats the problem? As far as I'm aware and suspect it is the cable run from the switched source to the headlamp.

 

I realise it wouldn't be plug and play to my mind would be a lot easier, cheaper and quicker.

[VR6 0]

Yep is the simple answer! :)

 

Quite a few people making uprated looms ... have a look at the advanced search and enter:

 

+uprated +loom

 

And search only in Exterior and retun topics rather than posts. Should be plenty of info/wiring diagrams etc.

 

Or the Suppliers forum probably has a few threads of people selling looms, as does Ebay.

[quaduplex 0]

I think you misunderstand me. It's my fault re-reading my post :?

 

I mean ... the looms I've seen seem to have more wire than is necessary. But again I appreciate why some people prefer plug and play.

 

Does anyone know if the headlamp plugs available online come complete with a set of terminals to fit in the plug?

[fendervg 33]

I've made one up that uses oem plugs on the uprated loom to connect to each headlight and then the female version cut out of an old headlight shell to connect the control wires to the original loom. It's completely reversible and involves no cutting.

[VR6 0]

I think you misunderstand me. It's my fault re-reading my post :?

 

I mean ... the looms I've seen seem to have more wire than is necessary. But again I appreciate why some people prefer plug and play.

 

Does anyone know if the headlamp plugs available online come complete with a set of terminals to fit in the plug?

 

Sorry, probably part my fault for reading too quickly as well. I missed your point as, Fender says, it is fairly straightforward to incorporate the OEM plugs into an uprated loom so you get the best of both worlds and update the standard crappy wiring loom.

[Novastrike 0]

Is there any guide on how to do this? I will be installing a headlight loom this weekend and I would like to keep use OEM plugs if possible.

[fendervg 33]

Not sure if there is a how to, but here is how I did it :

 

You will need:

An uprated loom - a main/dip one is fine, as the main lights are both fed from the main beam

2 4 pin headlight connector plugs - 357941165

Some loom repair wire - 000979227 - this comes with pins on the end that slide into the connector, they are double ended, so four will do.

Bullet connectors and heat shrink, loom tape.

Some spare wire ( about 2 metres)

A multimeter

Cable ties

A ratchet crimper, wire cutter/stripper and a terminal extractor if you make a mistake

The other end of the plug connection - this is not available seperately, as they are molded into the headlight plastic body. I cut one out of an old headlight unit - they are also found on similar age Passats.

 

The wire colours are:

Brown - earth

Yellow - dip beam

White - main beam

Grey/black - sidelights

 

Cut the H4 connectors off your new loom, and crimp on 3 repair wires for main, dip and earth. Use heat shrink and tape to make it neat and waterproof.

 

Repeat for the other side.

 

The new loom will have a yellow and white wire with spade connectors to switch the relay, the signal comes from the original connector. You can cut these off and connect it to the part of the plug from the headlight unit. There will also be a signal for the sidelights coming from the original connector - this does not need to be relayed, and you can take the signal from there and crimp on two new wires and run them inside the new loom, one to each headlight socket.

 

Insert the pins into the sockets in the correct locations and test for continuity with a multimeter. If all is ok, connect the uprated loom to the battery, plug each new socket into the headlight body, and the now disconnected passenger side plug into the new connector on the loom. Also disconnect the dim dip resistor - this a yellow connector near the battery. The advantage here is that you can switch back to stock by just connecting the original plugs back, and the signal wire connection is good and water tight - normally you would just shove the spades into the old socket.

 

I would not run uprated bulbs with this loom as it still uses the stock wiring inside the headlight, but you should see a huge improvement in any case with normal bulbs.

 

Hope this helps.