# Better lighting the old-school way! Harnesses and more!



## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Here's my quest for better lighting in my Cruze. I'm totally under-whelmed by the OEM headlights. Putting in better H13 bulbs and aiming the headlights properly helped, but I'm still wanting more light! 

First off, plug-and-play HID's just aren't for me. Yeah, our headlights appear to work okay with them. And those of you who have them like them. But it's still not a route I want to take. Wanting to see better at night while keeping the OEM headlights intact, I'm doing things the old-school way. With bigger wiring, better halogen bulbs, and more lights. 

Part 1 of this quest for better halogen lighting: A old-fashioned relay harness. 

I couldn't find a headlight relay harness for the halogen H13 headlights I liked, so I'm making my own. The reason for it is to give the bulbs as much power as they can handle. To that end, I went with 10-gauge wire and Bosch/Tyco relays. All the connections will be crimped, then soldered. Wire to wire connections will be intertwined and soldered. Everything is getting covered with heat-shrink and wire loom to keep corrosion to a minimum. Bigger wire, more volts to the lights, more light. Simple. 

Part 2 of my halogen lighting quest: Fog lights.

I'm ordering a fog light kit shortly. I'm also getting Xpel film for the foglights to protect them against debris strikes and hazing. $20 of Xpel film already saved us a $200 foglight on the Fit, so the Cruze's new fogs will get it also. That will cover side lighting, and inclement weather. The Cruze is weak in side lighting with just the headlights. These ought to help out a lot.

Part 3 of the old-school lighting quest: Relocating the DRL. 

Your attitude may vary on DRL. I like them. It's nice to be seen, especially with a black car against a gray winter sky. Since using the relay harness for the headlights will eliminate the headlight-based DRL, I'm using the turn signals as DRL. That will give me more life from the headlights, and a simpler circuit to make for the relay harness. 

So there you have it, my quest for better lighting the old-school halogen way.


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## elegant (Jan 6, 2011)

Can you just change the headlight bulb's to H13's and not do anything with the wiring harness?

Thanks in advance.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

elegant said:


> Can you just change the headlight bulb's to H13's and not do anything with the wiring harness?
> 
> Thanks in advance.


H13 is the OEM/stock bulb type. It's impossible to change the type of bulb without changing the headlights. Even if you could stuff a different bulb type in there, the optics would be all wrong and one would be worse off. Without going to HID's, there's no way around using a H13 bulb in the stock headlights.

One can get a better-performing bulb within the type, which I've already done. I have Sylvania XtraVision H13's inside the headlights right now, and they're a nice improvement over stock long-life H13's. No SilverStars for me since they're a marketing gimmick, and put out LESS light than the XtraVisions while tricking the eyes into thinking they put out more. The eyes are extra-sensitive to blue light, so they perceive light filtered through a blue-glass bulb as "brighter" than the yellower-looking light made by a clear-glass bulb. There's no way a blue-tinted H13 will put out more light than a clear glass H13, it's simple physics. The blue tint sucks off most of the light, leaving only the higher parts of the light to shine through the bulb and onto the road. 

All the parts are ordered, and now it's a waiting game.


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

I am very interested in following this mod as I don't see myself spending the money for an HID retrofit. The driving lights do throw out a good amount of light out to the sides - I have them on anytime the headlights are on. I don't have the first know-how on how to make the turn signals your DRLs but that would be a very nice change as well.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

There's a module to re-purpose the turn signals as DRL. It's about $40, and allows normal turn signal and side marker operation when the headlights are on. I ordered one to make the wiring easier. 

This is about half the price of a proper HID retrofit. Given the success of current HID retrofitting efforts, this is also far less intrusive.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I got in the headlight connectors, crimper, and DRL module. 

The headlight connectors are tiny. Like, far smaller than any headlight connector has the right to be. There's no wonder in my mind why the OEM headlights are not the best. 

Forget about over-wattage bulbs. Even though my harness would support them, they'd be melted quickly from the heat generated sending lots of current across the tiny connector.


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Awesome man, I'm looking forward to pics when you get around to doing this. I already spliced into my turns to make my side markers blink. There is about zero room on the driver side to mess with the turns.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I'm running into several challenges. The first unique challenge is how to make a headlight connector and connector pin designed around 18-gauge wire work with 10-gauge wire. I'm either going to solder that connector on and seal well with heat-shrink, or try to smash a butt connector over it with some 10-gauge wire inside if there's enough room. 

The other challenges are pretty standard for making a harness: how to split off the headlight feeds, and where to connect the headlight harness for power and ground. 

Some comments about the supplies I got:
1. The US-made wire is far superior to most imported wire. The jacket is super-pliable and not easily abraded. The wire itself is thick and has many individual strands. Compared to some imported 14 gauge wire, it was more flexible, easier to hold, and much thicker. Good stuff! 
2. The Bosch/Tyco relays are weatherproofed and sealed up tight! Perfect for an automotive installation. 
3. There are no really good H13 connectors out there. They're also not designed to work with beefy wires. Boo, hiss! 

About the fog lights, the kit arrived today too! I like how complete the factory kit is. The fogs look a bit flimsy, like one good stone hit will wreck them. Once the Xpel headlight film shows up, the fogs will get the film installed to protect from stones/salt/debris. 

All I have left to get is a quality wire stripper, and the installation can commence!


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## Skilz10179 (Mar 22, 2011)

Just wondering what you don't like about HID's? It seems like you're putting in a lot more effort, money and time to go the old school way.


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## R1XSTA (Aug 30, 2011)

Either way your voiding a warranty on Headlights/Lighting system. May as well have done it the easy way with HID's.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Skilz10179 said:


> Just wondering what you don't like about HID's? It seems like you're putting in a lot more effort, money and time to go the old school way.


I don't like slapping a HID setup into a non-HID housing. The optics are all wrong, for starters. I also want easy parts availability. Spare bulbs and relays are available everywhere. Try saying that about a HID bulb or ballast. Plus with the junk kits out there, it's a crapshoot whether it'll work correctly. This way is dead-nuts reliable. The foglights are factory. The only fancy electrical part in the harness is the relay. And those are quite simple.

I'm also not voiding any warranty on the headlights since there basically is none to begin with. Plus, it's invisible to the car's electrics. As far as the LCM knows, it's powering regular headlights. If anything, it's extending the life of the switch and LCM since they're not powering the headlights directly anymore. 

And, I'm doing it to show it can be done.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

10-gauge wire just won't work with the H13 headlight connectors. 14-gauge wire will work nicely. Oh well, it looks like our Honda is getting a nice harness too while I source quality 14-gauge wire.


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## FatKidsCruze (Sep 2, 2011)

You did take good quality before pictures right!!! Otherwise this thread is fail and the mods should lay down the banhammer hahaha.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I haven't built anything yet, or done anything aside from strip 1/2" of wire and try jamming a H13 pin on it. If you want, I'll snap a few over the weekend when SWMBO is out, showing my discoveries to date.


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

I am so close to buying an HID kit but am following this thread because I want to see the difference in light output compared to the stock harness. On other forums I have read that upgrading the harness has led to brighter and somewhat whiter light output from regular, no gimmick bulbs.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

The foglight install seems to have made the low beams brighter. Those haven't been touched yet, but they do seem brighter. 

I'm making slow progress on the harness. There was much trial and error, mostly error.


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## Dpedraza (Oct 24, 2011)

why not get some catz zetas and call it day?


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Dpedraza said:


> why not get some catz zetas and call it day?


I like figuring out how to do things myself. It just might come in handy someday! 

Also, I wanted a project with a useful end result. More lighting is always better.


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

In your search for the perfect harness, did you find some that were pretty good? I really don't think I want to make my own harness, as I'm trying to decide if I want to install the DRL module for my turns.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

suvlights dot com is supposed to make a very good harness, with no customer support. 

Also, to decide if the turns are the look you're going for, flip the headlights onto parking light mode. The headlight DRL will cut out, leaving the front parking lights illuminated.


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

I think an upgraded harness with some Sylvania X-treme Power bulbs will be plenty bright without going HID.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I completed the harness today. Pictures once I find the camera. 

A word of warning: Even the 14-gauge wire used was a tough fit into the H13 headlight pins and connectors. Depending on how thick the insulation on the 14-gauge wire was, it was a struggle to get a heat-shrinked headlight pin into the connector. 16-gauge wire would fit much better. The 18-gauge wire I used for non-power leads was a perfect fit. The reason a H13 harness isn't found that readily online is because it's a pain in the butt to make it with 14-gauge wire! If I had to re-do it, I'd re-do it with 16-gauge. 

At least the 10-gauge wire hanging around can be used for a ground wire kit!


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I tested the harness tonight: Holy bright! Unplugging it and going back to stock was like going from halogens to incandescent headlights. 

I did reverse the leads for the low beams and high beams, so that needs work. Otherwise, I'll post shots of it installed and doing its thing on Sunday when I'm not freezing.


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## FatKidsCruze (Sep 2, 2011)

Thats really nice, what was the total materials cost? Might consider this route...


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

The specialty relays (2 SPST relays), relay holders (2), fuse holders (2), 1/4" conduit (10 feet), and shrink-wrap were $40 shipped. A pack of 10-gauge butt connectors was $10 at Fastenal. Another pack of miscellaneous ring connectors was $8 at Wal-Mart. 16-gauge wire is $5 at Wal-Mart. The H13 connectors (2 female and 1 male) and pins (6 female, 3 male) were $15 shipped. A roll of 3M Super 88 electrical tape was $5 at Lowe's. Materials alone is about $80-90, depending on sourcing. 

I needed to get a good-quality crimping tool. That was $15 on Ebay for a Thomas and Betts WM111. A good wire cutter was another $15 at Lowe's. 

Figuring out the wiring was the trickiest part. I'll scan in my diagram this weekend.


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## FatKidsCruze (Sep 2, 2011)

I feel like a nerd cuz this type of mod gets me excited! DIYs FTMFW, awaiting pics diagrams etc.


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## 70x7 (Apr 24, 2011)

sciphi said:


> The specialty relays (2 SPST relays), relay holders (2), fuse holders (2), 1/4" conduit (10 feet), and shrink-wrap were $40 shipped. A pack of 10-gauge butt connectors was $10 at Fastenal. Another pack of miscellaneous ring connectors was $8 at Wal-Mart. 16-gauge wire is $5 at Wal-Mart. The H13 connectors (2 female and 1 male) and pins (6 female, 3 male) were $15 shipped. A roll of 3M Super 88 electrical tape was $5 at Lowe's. Materials alone is about $80-90, depending on sourcing.
> 
> I needed to get a good-quality crimping tool. That was $15 on Ebay for a Thomas and Betts WM111. A good wire cutter was another $15 at Lowe's.
> 
> Figuring out the wiring was the trickiest part. I'll scan in my diagram this weekend.


putting conduit in the car? what the...


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

I'm pretty sure the conduit he used is the small black piping that a lot of wiring is ran through in the engine bay. There is probably some already being used in the Cruze but I am not certain. Better to be safe than have bare wires chaffing on stuff.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Busy today with other stuff, will be posting pictures, etc. tomorrow.

By conduit I meant split-loom tubing. Not rigid electrical conduit. Everything's either covered in split-loom or with high-grade electrical tape. Bare wires carrying power directly from the battery chafing is a bad thing! 

Oh yeah, at least my Cruze has lots of weather-tight electrical tape and not much split-loom covering the wires.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I'm running into problems with the integrated DRL. They make the low-beam relay buzz since I believe it's PWM, and the relay is flicking on and off very quickly. This isn't good for the relay, and there's no way to disable the headlight DRL that I know of, save turning the automatic light control off. Or, running the parking lights all the time with the auto lights on.

Another thing I could do is tap a parking light indicator for triggering the low beams, then put a wire across the relays to turn off the low beam relay when triggering the high beams. Decisions, decisions...


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Well that sucks. I was hoping the harness and relays would take eliminate the DRLs. Upgrading the harness and bulbs to Philips X-treme Power was something I thought about doing in the next few weeks.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Just the bulbs alone will make a nice difference. The harness is still a work in progress, alas. I've got it wired in and rocking out, but can't find a way to disable the DRL for good without tapping in elsewhere for the low beam trigger wire. My goal is to have a totally plug and play harness where bulbs are lit for DRL in some form, and the harness operates seamlessly. I'm not there yet.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I got to drive on the new harness tonight. It's a nice difference! There's finally light out to the sides, and the throw on low beams looks to be a bit further. The light coming out of the headlights is definitely whiter, too. 

There'll be a massive picture dump later this evening. Dinnertime now.


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## Skilz10179 (Mar 22, 2011)

I'd love to see some comparison pics side by side with one stock bulb and wiring vs your new setup.

I admire your efforts but I still don't believe there is any advantage to all the time, effort and money you've invested over a $35 plug & play HID kit that literally takes 5 minutes to install.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Advantages are that I'm using the OEM reflector as it's designed to be used. The HID bulb may or may not be in the right location to use the reflector to best effect. 

The other thing is I'm legal. It's the same bulb and headlight that came from the factory, just powered better. A PNP HID kit is massively illegal around me.


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## Skilz10179 (Mar 22, 2011)

I pretty much figured that would be your main concern with a HID conversion, that it would cast light too high and blind on coming traffic, that was the exact same concern I had. Even with my concerns I decided to take a gamble and see how the light output was, it was perfect. The cutoff was a little over 3 high from about 40 feet away against my garage door. I've posted pics on this site multiple times showing the light cutoff.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

If it works, it works! 

I just have a thing against PNP HID kits. HID projectors are a totally different story. 

I also wanted to see how far the factory setup could go, and build something with my own hands. The other advantage is that if I blow a relay in the middle of East Nowheresville, the factory lighting system will work just fine. A HID kit is up the creek if a ballast burns out.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Pictures!

As promised, pictures: 

Supplies that came in handy:



















Pinouts from the relay holders I got:










87 is power to the headlights, 30 is power from the battery, 86 is trigger wire from the stock headlights, and 85 is ground back to stock headlights. 

Relays in their happy home. There's a slot on the battery tray that's perfect for holding the relays in place:









Trying to neaten up the wiring. It's a bit tight on the driver's side of the car with the battery and fuse box sharing the space:










My connector didn't want to work, so I had to put the trigger pins in individually. I don't like it, but there's nothing else to be done: 










The middle wire is ground. The low beam is the centered filament in an H13 bulb, and the high beam is the off-centered filament. IIRC the low beam is on top and the high beam is on the bottom. I got it wrong initially, so make sure to test before final fitment!










Testing to make sure everything works!










Routing the power cables. The battery door shuts just fine this way:










How I covered the harness. I'm not too good at wrapping with electrical tape, if you haven't figured it out yet!










Passenger side ground point:










H13 female connector. Those pins are tiny! 












It works well. I still have a bug to work out with the DRL. Overall, it was worth it to have better headlights.

If I had done things differently, I would have used more wire for more flexible mounting options. The branches also would have branched out farther up, and I wouldn't have put the splice connectors parallel. They would have been offset.

Output shots for right now:

Note the color. It's white because the bulb's running hot, not due to a blue tint:










How the headlights look under the light:


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## Skilz10179 (Mar 22, 2011)

sciphi said:


> If it works, it works!
> 
> I just have a thing against PNP HID kits. HID projectors are a totally different story.
> 
> I also wanted to see how far the factory setup could go, and build something with my own hands. The other advantage is that if I blow a relay in the middle of East Nowheresville, the factory lighting system will work just fine. A HID kit is up the creek if a ballast burns out.


Or you could just replace it with a stock bulb...


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Either way, us folks who want better light have to pay to play. This is my way of paying.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Update: OMG, the headlights rock! There's a ton of light everywhere, and the high beams reach out about 18-20 seconds ahead of the car at 60 mph. The low beams reach out about 8-10 seconds at 60, or plenty of time to see and avoid an obstacle. The light is also pure white. 

A pain in the rear end? Yes. Worth it? Heck yes!


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Did you figure out a way around the DRLs yet?


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I'm stopping at Radio Shack tomorrow to hopefully pick up a capacitor to put across the low-beam relay. That should modulate the PWM to constant current the relay will like better. It'll mean the low beams go on all the time as the DRL, which is okay by me. 

The other way would be running a trigger wire to the low beam relay. Then the harness will work as intended, and the low beams will not go on as DRL. 

I'm trying the capacitor first since it's much easier messing with the harness wiring than the car's wiring. I'll post results.


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Ok thanks man. I'd love to know if this works and if I could just splice it into a heavy duty harness. Any pics of the light your headlights throw, like against a garage door or something?


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

It works! The relay shut up, and the low beams came on at full power as the DRL. I used a 470 microfarad electrolytic capacitor from Radio Shack. The first picture shows how the capacitor attaches across the low beam relay Pay attention to the negative stripe on the relay. If you insert it incorrectly, you'll release the magic smoke and need a new capacitor. The second is what capacitor I used. The third is how it's attached, and the fourth is the whole setup in its home. I'll try for some beam pictures tonight.


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## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

**That setup looks great man, might have to do this myself!

Thanks for the instructions


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Yea a heavy duty harness plus some X-treme bulbs will look as good as a plug n' play HID kit I believe.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

As promised, beam shots. These were taken down the driveway that's shared with the neighbors. Their cars are about 60 feet away. 

First is the color of the headlights. It's white. The bulbs are Sylvania Xtravision, nothing tinted or fancy high-output.

Second is from the driver's seat without the dash.

Third is showing that yes, those are the low beams alone, no fogs. 

Fourth are the high beams. 

What I like is the beam has spread out far more than stock. And, illumination is more even compared to OEM. 

In conclusion, headlight harnesses using relays are a go for our cars! 

And, note the boost gauge on the ScanGaugeII.


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## Dpedraza (Oct 24, 2011)

sciphi said:


> Either way, us folks who want better light have to pay to play. This is my way of paying.


Oh I'm payin in a different way lol. Makes me sad to think about it right now, but in the end I'll be happy


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Thanks for the pics sciphi. This is the next thing I am doing to the Cruze.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

4piecekit said:


> Thanks for the pics sciphi. This is the next thing I am doing to the Cruze.


Welcome! 

Likely you could use a premade H13 harness with a capacitor on the low beam relay to get similar results. I did my own because I've always wanted to build a headlight harness!


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Exactly. I either thought of using this one. Putco Heavy-Duty Harness and Relay for H13 and 9008 Halogen Bulbs Putco Accessories and Parts P239008HW

Or this one. suvlights.com Universal Heavy Duty Headlight Wiring Harness w/ relays for bulbs (9003/H4, 9004


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

The SUVlights harnesses are really nice. Customer service is an issue, though.


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## jrrsmith18 (Apr 3, 2011)

just thinking out loud but if you ran the ground from the headlight switch (ive found out that the headlight switch acts as the ground for whether you want parking lights or full headlights) instead of from the factory headlight bulb connector your headlights shouldn't even turn on till the headlight switch was switched from auto to full headlight = no drl, right?

again just thinking out loud but if you were to split that low beam signal w/ capacitor to also activate another relay say for example one to the fog lamps; wouldn't your fogs act as your drls because even though the headlights aren't being activated i would assume the bcm is still sending the pulse signal? the only downside i can see is that the fog lights would have to grounded to the body of the car if they aren't already and that whenever you turn on your headlights the fogs would come on too.


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## maven (Feb 27, 2011)

Just found this, good job on the harness Sciphi! If you plan on redoing your harness Id like to make a few suggestions if you dont mind.....Avoid splices in the wires, try to make every circuit one continuous wire. Id switch to fully skirted relays as that older Bosch style isnt truly sealed, same applies to the fuse holders. I could be wrong but it appears your conduit is the inexpensive kind....it likes to melt, what good is your quality American wire if the conduit melts from underhood temps?  


If anyone else is interested in doing this modification to get the most out of their halogens id be happy to talk to you about building a harness, and Sciphi if you ever decide to redo you harness hit me up for supplies, I should be able to provide nicer stuff for the same or less than you paid.


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## FatKidsCruze (Sep 2, 2011)

Are trying for "Member of the Year"? If so you're doing a dang good job! 

You got my vote haha.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

I was about to recommend the capacitor to solve your issue till I read a few pages further and saw that you figured that one out. Well done!

I'm doubting the need for 10AWG wire. I power a 1000W IDMax10 subwoofer with 10 gauge wire. Voltage drop at 55W over even 6 feet is not going to be low enough to merit a 10 gauge wire. I'm fairly certain you could have done just as well with 12 gauge or even 14 gauge and made it a tad bit easier. Just something to consider for anyone else trying to make one of these. I can see how 18 gauge can be an issue, but you don't need to go to the other extreme to fix a problem. 

I'd be willing to bet you could get identical results if you traced the 18 gauge wire back to the fusebox and replaced that with a higher gauge, and you could save yourself a substantial amount on cost of materials while keeping everything else completely factory. I might actually do this myself.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> I was about to recommend the capacitor to solve your issue till I read a few pages further and saw that you figured that one out. Well done!
> 
> I'm doubting the need for 10AWG wire. I power a 1000W IDMax10 subwoofer with 10 gauge wire. Voltage drop at 55W over even 6 feet is not going to be low enough to merit a 10 gauge wire. I'm fairly certain you could have done just as well with 12 gauge or even 14 gauge and made it a tad bit easier. Just something to consider for anyone else trying to make one of these. I can see how 18 gauge can be an issue, but you don't need to go to the other extreme to fix a problem.
> 
> I'd be willing to bet you could get identical results if you traced the 18 gauge wire back to the fusebox and replaced that with a higher gauge, and you could save yourself a substantial amount on cost of materials while keeping everything else completely factory. I might actually do this myself.





maven said:


> Just found this, good job on the harness Sciphi! If you plan on redoing your harness Id like to make a few suggestions if you dont mind.....Avoid splices in the wires, try to make every circuit one continuous wire. Id switch to fully skirted relays as that older Bosch style isnt truly sealed, same applies to the fuse holders. I could be wrong but it appears your conduit is the inexpensive kind....it likes to melt, what good is your quality American wire if the conduit melts from underhood temps?
> 
> 
> If anyone else is interested in doing this modification to get the most out of their halogens id be happy to talk to you about building a harness, and Sciphi if you ever decide to redo you harness hit me up for supplies, I should be able to provide nicer stuff for the same or less than you paid.


Maven, I missed this! I ended up using 14-gauge wire. Even that didn't want to fit into the headlight pins I got, much less into the connector. If I re-did it, I'd use 16-gauge wire and dual 87 relays. I'm not going to re-do it until it breaks. The loom is higher quality than it photographed. It's also routed far away from heat sources. 

Xtreme, 10 AWG won't even fit into a H13 bulb connector. 12 AWG wouldn't fit. 14 AWG was the smallest that would fit. Also, I believe much of the improvement came from better grounding. My ground points are at most 14" away from the headlight bulbs, compared to several feet for the OEM harness. 

Regardless, I'm loving the upgrade several months on. The low beams are just as bright as some folk's high beams. And the high beams are superb for throw and side illumination. Chevy has some good reflectors up front, once they have enough light going through them.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

I'm curious, would this have sufficed?

Bi-xenon: 9008/H13 - Relay Harnesses from The Retrofit Source Inc


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## maven (Feb 27, 2011)

No, thats a bixenon HID harness. Designed to run ballasts and high beam shutters


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> I'm curious, would this have sufficed?
> 
> Bi-xenon: 9008/H13 - Relay Harnesses from The Retrofit Source Inc


No, it wouldn't have. The pinouts to the bulbs are all wrong. Lots of re-wiring would have been necessary. It was better to do a low/high beam halogen harness from scratch than rewire a HID harness. Making the harness was easy enough since there are low/high beam harness diagrams readily available.


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## twin1987 (Mar 28, 2011)

This is a very interesting thread and glad you have done all of this work, and it payed off for you!!

Would something like this work about the same??

http://www.amazon.com/Putco-239008H...5AXO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1327361864&sr=8-5

I drive a lot at night on back roads and would really like the extra light. I have thought of going HID bud dont want to in reflector and dnt wanna spend the money for a retrofit.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

twin1987 said:


> This is a very interesting thread and glad you have done all of this work, and it payed off for you!!
> 
> Would something like this work about the same??
> 
> ...


That will work, with some modification. You will need to figure out which relay is the low beam, and put a capacitor across the trigger wire and the ground so the relay does not self-destruct. The bulb ground wires also look like they need to be extended, and new connectors crimped on. Unless there are grounding bolts within the reach of those short-looking ground wires. You'd be in that for about $60 after more wire, a capacitor, and terminals. That's still half of what I spent. 

If you do decide to go that route, let me know! I'd love to help make that work for the Cruze so folks have a mostly off-the-shelf option.


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## kevin1214 (Feb 26, 2011)

... this is all great information regarding how to get better lightning... but... why not just do HID and HID FOG Lights like i have... Works wonders ^_^ 

6000k headlights and 3000k on fogs.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

kevin1214 said:


> ... this is all great information regarding how to get better lightning... but... why not just do HID and HID FOG Lights like i have... Works wonders ^_^
> 
> 6000k headlights and 3000k on fogs.


Wait, you put HID's into the stock headlights? That's illegal for good reason. HID's do not work in halogen reflector housings. They appear to work better by lighting up the area right ahead of the car brighter. They work WORSE in bad weather because they have excessive glare, and the stray light is reflected into your eyes instead of lighting up the road ahead. So, not only can you not see, you're blinding other people. 

Do some research. You'll find out what I said is true. And, why HID projector retrofit or halogen headlight harnesses are the best ways to increase lighting.


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## maven (Feb 27, 2011)

If you want to get really technical its actually illegal to do retrofits also. A halogen harness is the only true legal mod.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

maven said:


> If you want to get really technical its actually illegal to do retrofits also. A halogen harness is the only true legal mod.


Quoted for truth. 

In defense of the projector retro, it's very difficult or impossible to tell a good retro from factory HID. I'll take projector retrofits any day over plug-and-pray glare-o-rama HID's.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

sciphi said:


> Quoted for truth.
> 
> In defense of the projector retro, it's very difficult or impossible to tell a good retro from factory HID. I'll take projector retrofits any day over plug-and-pray glare-o-rama HID's.


Definitely truth!

Can't wait to get the retrofit in my car. Just a few more weeks...


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

sciphi said:


> Quoted for truth.
> 
> In defense of the projector retro, it's very difficult or impossible to tell a good retro from factory HID. I'll take projector retrofits any day over plug-and-pray glare-o-rama HID's.





XtremeRevolution said:


> Definitely truth!
> 
> Can't wait to get the retrofit in my car. Just a few more weeks...


Thanks for doing the rest of us a favor, and controlling the HID's with a retrofit! 

I considered a retro, then decided to see how far the OEM headlights could go. As it turned out, they're just fine for me with a brighter halogen bulb and proper aim.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

sciphi said:


> Thanks for doing the rest of us a favor, and controlling the HID's with a retrofit!
> 
> I considered a retro, then decided to see how far the OEM headlights could go. As it turned out, they're just fine for me with a brighter halogen bulb and proper aim.


The way I see it, it would cost me $90 and a bit of time to do what you did, which is great by the way, but for $135 plus shipping (not a whole lot more), I can have HIDs in proper projectors, including a beefier harness. You really can't beat that price.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

If you can do it for $135, jump on it! I'd love to see another way of going to better lights! ccasion14:


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

sciphi said:


> If you can do it for $135, jump on it! I'd love to see another way of going to better lights! ccasion14:


$30 for the hid bulbs and ballasts from ddmtuning.com, $70 for the projectors and a shroud, $35 for the wiring harness, plus shipping. 

Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Hmm, that might be the lighting upgrade I do to our Fit. Even for $150 it's still worth it.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

sciphi said:


> Hmm, that might be the lighting upgrade I do to our Fit. Even for $150 it's still worth it.


For a proper HID retrofit? You bet! Can't beat that price for sure.


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## maven (Feb 27, 2011)

You cant beat the price but the harness is far from factory spec or "beefy". And then theres the hours of labor involved. Cruze lights dont just "pop" open like others do.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

I've changed my mind since my last posts in this thread. I'll be going the harness route. I picked up a heavy duty H13 wiring harness rated for 100W bulbs from Amazon for $40 shipped. Will be installing probably tomorrow and will report back. 

Edit...WOW. This went WAY up in price. 

Amazon.com: Putco 239008HW Premium Automotive Lighting Wiring H13-9008 100W Heavy Duty Harness and Relay: Automotive


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Not too bad. It's $42 shipped from Amazon now. 

You did swing by Radio Shack to get a 470 microfarad capacitor (definitely overkill for the application, and that's fine) to put across the low beam trigger wire, right? Otherwise the DRL will make that relay very short-lived.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

sciphi said:


> Not too bad. It's $42 shipped from Amazon now.
> 
> You did swing by Radio Shack to get a 470 microfarad capacitor (definitely overkill for the application, and that's fine) to put across the low beam trigger wire, right? Otherwise the DRL will make that relay very short-lived.


Something isn't right. I put it across the low beam wire and the lights won't come on. The harness turns on for a second then back off immediately If I hook up the capacitor, the light will flash on for a second, and then turn back off. No idea why that's happening. I tried using one 330 microfarad cap, and two run in parallel as well and it isn't helping my cause...


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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

You're taking pics right


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Mick said:


> You're taking pics right


Yep. I got it figured out and it works perfectly. A writeup is coming soon.


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Good to know you got it working. My harness should be here Monday. All I need to do now is pick up that capacitor.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

4piecekit said:


> Good to know you got it working. My harness should be here Monday. All I need to do now is pick up that capacitor.


If you can, find yourself a non-polar capacitor. I wouldn't be able to tell you which polarity to use if you got a polar capacitor.


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

Did you end up using the 470 microfarad one like sciphi used? I have his picture of the package on my phone so I can make sure I get the right one.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

4piecekit said:


> Did you end up using the 470 microfarad one like sciphi used? I have his picture of the package on my phone so I can make sure I get the right one.


I ended up using a 330 microfarad 100V non-polar electrolytic capacitor that I had bought for audio use a while back. I have a lot of these lying around as I design home theater speakers and subs and design my crossover networks from scratch. 

He used a polarized capacitor and I couldn't determine polarity with the wiring harness I used so I didn't want to mess anything up and just used a non-polar capacitor. His wiring harness was also different and you can actually see the diagram of the pinout for the relay, whereas on this wiring harness, you can't.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

If a polarized capacitor needs to be used, put the end with arrows facing away on the wire that comes from the OEM harness. Put the other end to the ground wire for the relay. I hope that makes sense. Take a look at my pictures on page 5, post #45.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

So I went out for my first drive tonight. I had adjusted the headlights before this mod so the cutoff was directly on the horizon. Never had issues getting high beams in my face except when I had my fog lights on.

This time, I drove to the pet store and back which wasn't more than 5 miles away and got a high beam in the face twice. 

When I got home, I adjusted the headlights to lower them 1/4 turn. They are definitely brighter, and definitely shine a lot farther. Its not immediately noticeable and you can't even tell that big of a difference when you hook one of the lights back up to the factory harness, but the amount of lighting you get is significantly improved. 

I have all of the pictures on my phone and will be uploading them shortly.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> So I went out for my first drive tonight. I had adjusted the headlights before this mod so the cutoff was directly on the horizon. Never had issues getting high beams in my face except when I had my fog lights on.
> 
> This time, I drove to the pet store and back which wasn't more than 5 miles away and got a high beam in the face twice.
> 
> ...


Glad to hear your experience was the same as mine! 

I hope you got the DRL sorted. If you hear a buzzing with the DRL engaged, your low beam relay is going nuts, and not liking it. Disable the DRL if that's the case.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

sciphi said:


> Glad to hear your experience was the same as mine!
> 
> I hope you got the DRL sorted. If you hear a buzzing with the DRL engaged, your low beam relay is going nuts, and not liking it. Disable the DRL if that's the case.


I ran the cap on the same wires as you did, only it was an NPE cap so it was pretty simple. Everything including DRLs is working perfectly.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Awesome!


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

The writeup is done!

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/57-h...-your-headlight-wiring-harness.html#post77792


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## 4piecekit (Mar 17, 2011)

This harness is the way to go.
Amazon.com: Putco 239008HW Premium Automotive Lighting Wiring H13-9008 100W Heavy Duty Harness and Relay: Automotive
It has everything you need minus a bolt to attach the relays to the frame of the car. The length of the harness feels as if it was made specifically for the Cruze. Check the thread out out in How-To forum for more details and pics. Big thanks to sciphi and XtremeRevolution!!
http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/57-how-forum/5767-how-upgrade-your-headlight-wiring-harness.html

If you want brighter lights without going plug n play HID, check it out!!


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Update: One of the XtraVisions burned out today. I got roughly 5 months out of it running at full power whenever the car was operating, aside from a few tens of minutes on high beam. It was replaced with a plain-Jane Philips H13. The new Philips H13 seemed to have a wider beam than the Sylvania it replaced. Brightness was seemingly unaffected. I'll know more the next time I have the car out at night.


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## Jiant (Apr 19, 2016)

Do I need to install the capacitor if I am using a Relay to disable the DRLs and have the headlights kick on when the Parking lights are on?


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