Headlight upgrade?

[noogie]

Hi all

My lights are playing up again. ie. When you push the switch forward you get nothing.
When you push highbeam stalk forward - Nothing
The only thing that works is the highbeams if you hold the stalk back.

The last time it played up like this it was a bad earth which was fixed by auto elecs.
The headlight switch and indicator stalk were fine. Nothing had melted.

My question is.
Has anyone actually come up with a totally different headlight set up.
ie has anyone wired up the highlights of a disco or a ford falcon to a defender?
There has to be a bl@@dy answer to the rubbish that comes off the line.

I have seperate relays.
One for my headlights and one for my driving lights.
I've done all the things you need to do, but it continues to bug me no end!

Thanks
Mick

[Michael2]

if you've got relays, then the contacts should not be "burning" up.

Some Q's

Are you sure your ignition is switched on? otherwise only the hi beam flash (pull back) will work
Do the relays "click" when you activate the lights.

If all that's fine, then I'd first look at the feed from the Headlight Switch to the Hi/Lo Beam stalk (ign. feed).

It may be a faulty headlight switch rather than the stalk.

Other things to consider, have your relays been wired to switch +'ve or earth?
Do the relays have their own fuses or fusible links?

[Michael2]

As for headlight set up, I had an upgraded IPF loom in mine, but after I cracked a headlight last year I replaced them with the Trucklite LED headlights, available in Melbourne for $200ea

After I fitted the LED headlight I noticed that some times they flickered on Hi Beam. Further investigation showed that the Earth Terminal was live (+'ve). I went back through the loom and found that who ever wired them (previous owner / AR had not mirror imaged the adaptor to the plug, so that the earth was now live and low beam was earth. This hadn't mattered with the halogen lights, as only one filament lit at a time, so they would earth through each other, but with the LEDs HI & Lo Leds are both on for Hi Beam.

I removed the extra loom altogether, and then had to wire in my spot lights off a hi beam feed. I've got the relay under the bonnet, fed off the back of the alternator so the wiring loom is short and easily accessible. I've wired it so that my dash switch only switches earth on the relay, that way there are less live wires and less fuses.

[Don 130]

To me it sounds like you're still running the power feed for your lights through your headlight switch, which has now melted as they do. Putting relays in downstream of the switch won't solve the problem. The relay should be handling the power and the switch operating the relay. I hope I written this so it makes sense.
Don.

[jakeslouw]

To me it sounds like you're still running the power feed for your lights through your headlight switch, which has now melted as they do. Putting relays in downstream of the switch won't solve the problem. The relay should be handling the power and the switch operating the relay. I hope I written this so it makes sense.
Don.

^^^^^ What Don said.

The stalk should only activate a relay, that means minor draw on the stalk fingers.

[JDNSW]

I had a somewhat similar problem recently, which turned out to be a break in the wire going to the relay from the switch - the break (at the tag going to the relay) was not complete - showed voltage with a multimeter, but too much resistance to operate relay reliably! The relay clicked, but not closing the relay contacts tight enough!

Relay had been there for years, break probably due to Isuzu vibration.
John

[Steve Td5 130]

As for headlight set up, I had an upgraded IPF loom in mine, but after I cracked a headlight last year I replaced them with the Trucklite LED headlights, available in Melbourne for $200ea

After I fitted the LED headlight I noticed that some times they flickered on Hi Beam. Further investigation showed that the Earth Terminal was live (+'ve). I went back through the loom and found that who ever wired them (previous owner / AR had not mirror imaged the adaptor to the plug, so that the earth was now live and low beam was earth. This hadn't mattered with the halogen lights, as only one filament lit at a time, so they would earth through each other, but with the LEDs HI & Lo Leds are both on for Hi Beam.

I removed the extra loom altogether, and then had to wire in my spot lights off a hi beam feed. I've got the relay under the bonnet, fed off the back of the alternator so the wiring loom is short and easily accessible. I've wired it so that my dash switch only switches earth on the relay, that way there are less live wires and less fuses.

Hi Bud

Where are the Truck Lite Led headlights available from??

Cheers

Steve

[Michael2]

The Trucklite Phase 7's I got were from :

Pro Quip
14 London drive, Bayswater 3153
(Ph) 03 9761 1110

Pro Quip Home Page

I'm happy with them, but the light is not perfect, there are two X marks of really bright light where the focal point of each lens aims (only really visible if you're looking for it, or are aiming the lights at a wall). And there's a narrow band of shadow (about 15cm) running across the width of the vehicle immediately in front of the vehicle (about 4m, but where you first see ground from the driver's seat). This may be a bullbar shadow and not from the lights, I'm not sure.

Pro Quip were prepared to consider a group discount when I bought the lights (about Sept last year), but while I'm happy with them and I like the clean light on the side, I concede not everyone might be, so it wasn't worth the trouble.

Are they ADR approved? - They or a client of theirs was in the process of getting ADR compliance.

Do they dip to the side? - No they have whats referred to as an international / military pattern, where they have a neutral (even) horizon. When I aimed them, I aimed a little down and a little to the Left just in case. From my experience of driving toward LED headlights, while they're bright, they seem to lack the blinding glare of HIDs or the angular glare from Projector lights.

Are they hard to fit? - No, plug & play, about 15min to fit the two.