HID projector retrofit

[houlster]

Slow progress... Got them sealed up.

Got the relay mounted in the truck. Working on some simple tabs for mounting the ballasts now. Still figuring out what I'm gonna do with the wiring. Auto headlights, halos as DRL, the headlight flash when locking with the key fob, etc.

 

[MISTERgadget]

This may be useful

http://www.lightningrodder.com/forum/14-gen-2-lightnings/12489-possible.html#post144179

 

[MISTERgadget]

and this

http://www.lightningrodder.com/forum/14-gen-2-lightnings/204553-disabling-perimeter-lighting.html

 

[houlster]

Thanks MG. I've found these, but neither address my issue...

This may be useful
http://www.lightningrodder.com/forum/14-gen-2-lightnings/12489-possible.html#post144179

This is essentially the same as pulling the relay from under the dash cover on the passenger side. That's the trigger wire for the relay. The problem is the relay that flashes the lights when you lock it with the key fob is the same relay that turns on the lights in Auto mode. I can pull it (or disable the trigger wire like the above link) to prevent the flash, but then they'll never come on in Auto mode any more.

Looking at this further, this is not exactly correct & the link above does work. The relay does work for both the flash and auto lights, but there are two different trigger wires for the relay that merge together. For the flash, you want to disable the trigger from the CSM *before* it merges with the trigger from the light sensor module. That's what the link above shows how to do. That does prevent the flash when locking, but the auto-lights will still work.

and this
http://www.lightningrodder.com/forum/14-gen-2-lightnings/204553-disabling-perimeter-lighting.html

I came across this one as well, but don't understand why. Disabling perimeter lighting doesn't effect the headlights at all. Maybe it's a year thing? Mine's an '01 & when I unlock my truck, the perimeter lights come on, not the headlights.


Soo, I'm looking at a delayed on relay circuit. At the headlight relay under the dash cover, I'll tap into the relay trigger and send it to the LED halo (bright wire) so they flash instead. I'll also cut the wire to trigger the relay and insert this timer. Set up the timer for maybe a half sec. Then, flashing the lights will flash the halo, but won't trigger the headlights cause it's not on long enough. When the Auto lights trigger on, the headlights will too, after the half sec delay is all.


I was initially looking for a simple RC circuit with just a resistor & cap, or maybe a 555 based timer to do this, but came across this:

Small Miniature time on off cycling delay relay 0.1 sec to 9999 hours. 5V 12V 18V DC 5A. Power On Off delay, Cycling. Industrial control and hobby


I think that's what I'll use.

Disregard all that. It's not needed and it won't work anyways. The coil wires for the relay are *always* hot. The relay is switched on by grounding one of the wires. Since it's a ground that trips the relay, this kind of timer above that will delay power won't work with it. Just pull the wire from the CSM as above to prevent the flash.

 

[houlster]

So finally got them in and adjusted. The headlight harness is pretty simple. Power, ground & connect to the original bulb connector. Wiring for the halos was actually worse than the headlights.

The low beam cut-off was a little finiky to get right just because of the height of the truck. There's a fine line between getting them high enough to see out if front of you, and not so high they're blinding traffic as they get close.

High beams are... bright. Not just bright, but "Holy mother of gawd!!!" bright. These things throw light so much brighter & further than the stock halogens it's ridiculous.

I also (finally) got the headlight flash when you lock the doors disabled, without disabling the auto-lights. Turns out that first link provided by MISTERgadget (above) is just what's needed. The relay is used for both auto lights and flashing them on lock, but there are 2 trigger wires for it (I initially thought there was only one from the CSM) that merge together somewhere before reaching the relay. If you pull the wire coming from the CSM (before the merge) then it disables only the flash.

My projector rotation is off slightly. Not enough to notice on the road, but you can see it on a wall. Making them parallel with the flat bottom of the Lightning headlight buckets is not quite right. I'll post some pics/details later.

And, I need some white LEDs for my fog lights so they match...

--Dan

 

[hartsemperfi]

Looks great i wanna do that myself but dont have the time

 

[MISTERgadget]

Looks really good, and yes the halo wiring is much worse than the actual projectors.

 

[houlster]

I finally got some time to get the rotation taken care of. Turns out it was really only the drivers side that was off, probably less than a degree. I was able to adjust it level again just using the tabs on the washer to tap on.

The obligatory pics:

I'm still in awe when I hit the high beams with these things on a dark road. Absolutely, un-freakin-believable.


--Dan

 

[houlster]

This may be useful

http://www.lightningrodder.com/forum/14-gen-2-lightnings/12489-possible.html#post144179

Looking at this further, this is not exactly correct & the link above does work. The relay does work for both the flash and auto lights, but there are two different trigger wires for the relay that merge together. For the flash, you want to disable the trigger from the CSM *before* it merges with the trigger from the light sensor module. That's what the link above shows how to do. That does prevent the flash when locking, but the auto-lights will still work.

I also (finally) got the headlight flash when you lock the doors disabled, without disabling the auto-lights. Turns out that first link provided by MISTERgadget (above) is just what's needed.

OK. Just to beat this *completely* to death...

Here's the deal. Yes, pulling the wire from the CSM as described above DOES stop the headlight flash when you lock the doors.

It also does NOT prevent the autolamps from turning on the headlights when it's dark.

*However*, it DOES prevent all the other lights from turning on by the autolamps. i.e., it gets dark, your headlights turn on, but none of your dash lights, interior switch lights, tail lights, running lights, etc come on.

Note: this is only an issue for using autolamps. Manually turning the headlights on from the switch still works fine.

The wire in question to the CSM works 2 ways. It is grounded internally by the CSM to trigger the headlight relay when you lock the doors. This we don't want.

When grounded externally (by the autolamp module), it causes the CSM to turn on all the associated night time running lights.

So, I cut the wire and inserted a diode "pointing away" from the CSM. Anode to the CSM, cathode away from the CSM. This prevents the CSM from triggering the headlamp relay (when you lock the doors), but still allows the wire to be grounded externally so all the exterior / night lights turn on when the autolamps do.

These were my notes as I was figuring things out. Kinda explains it.

--Dan

 

[MISTERgadget]

Really good info Dan, thanks. I never use autolamp so I hadn't noticed the issue it causes with just cutting the wire, but glad I can make it function as intended. Thanks a ton again for digging into that