Dim headlights

[1 Bravo 6]

What would I need to do in order to increase the power to the headlights and run a set of driving lights. I don't want to go as far as a complete wiring harnes upgrade.

Recomendations?????????????

Rick.

[sjcurtis]

Rick,

the best method to overcome your existing problem of dim lights. you need to get an auto electrician to make up a small loom extension. Run two wires from the large starter motor terminal, with 30 amp fuses one in each on the right hand strut tower set up two relays,these first two wires are the main power supply to your low and high beam, one relay for high one relay for low beam. The next step at your RH headlight to car loom plug separate make up another plug and wires to fit the car loom plug at that point, these wires run back to the relay and initiate the relays to on when required the earth wires from the relays go to the earth return ( the other pin in the new plug that was just made) RH Front. the last action is to make up two sets of wires from the two relays to each head light, and fit loom plugs to install them to the head light loom plug.

The understanding is that all your feed wires are much heavier than your existing ones.

The new loom can support halogen lights up to 130/150 on high beam and 65/90 on low beam.

The critical path is find a good light with a grade a reflector HELLA H4 there are a few choices out there but they are good. If you get an auto electrician to set this up let him now that the 240Z headlight system works on low and high out and earth return thru the switch, and your intent is to use the circuits to initiate only. The only down side is the light looms if you have the time and the money get those two looms upgraded to heavier grade wire and remove all you problems.

1. Get a good set of Halogen Light inserts.

2. select the halogen bulbs you want to run I run 90/130.

3. Find a good electrician.

good luck

My 2c

Steve:classic:

[g260]

Rick,

This site may be of assistance. Simon De Groot also had instructions for doing the same, however his site has closed down.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pparaska/Headlight_Relay_pg1.htm

If you have any problems loggin on, go to Google and type in Pete Paraska and headlight wiring.

Cheers,

Geoff

[EScanlon]

Rick:

Now that others have chimed in on how to REWIRE the car for higher wattage headlights, I'll chime in on how to use the EXISTING wiring.

I wired both Fog Lamps and Replacement Headlamps using the existing wiring. The key to doing this is to NOT exceed the wire ratings of the original wire.

That means that the bulbs you will be using will have the same wattage rating as the sealed beam bulbs you currently have. Now, if you plan on continuing to use the sealed beam bulbs you should be aware that these are usually dimmer than the newer hallogen, zenon, or other variety of bulbs out there. Regardless of which one you use, you will want to clean out the contacts at the bulb connection point, and at the point where the headlight connects to the harness, which is located right behind the horns, in front of the radiator. The other two points you will want to address, is to clean out the contact points for the Light Switch on the steering column and the Fuse Block Contacts.

Please note, if you decide to step up the wattage of the bulbs to get a brighter light, you WILL need to upgrade the wiring.

The Fog Lamps ALSO connect at the wiring harness in front of the radiator. Usually the Fog Lamp Connector will be taped to the harness. Remove the tape, connect your fog lamp and by grounding the other lead to your fog lamp you will have established a circuit via the existing wiring harness. All you will have to do is attach a switch to the connector with a Red and a Red / Green wire which should be comming out of the wiring harness by the Fuse Panel. You COULD attach an inline fuse if you want, but the circuitry is already covered by the parking lamp fuse.

That's how I wired my car, and you can look at the pictures of it in my gallery.

Hope this helps.

[Victor Laury]

Enrique,

What about the dash harness/engine harness connector on the right side foot well? Should we dissassmble and clean that as well? Any guide to identify that connector?

[Victor Laury]

Just to add - My problem is EVERYTHING dims and/or slows when the car idles. So far, this is want I've done-

Refreshed the grounds - harness ground on the right side rail (near the starter), Firewall ground (straight to the - post)

Replaced every fuse with new replaced fusebox with new.

Swapped voltage regulator with another used unit that worked well in my last Z.

Cleaned headlight, front turn and front marker connectors when I had the front of the car apart

I still have the problem at this point. I've got to keep my idle up around 1,200 or the headlights dim, the turn signals, heater fan and wipers slow to almost nothing and the Amp gauge dips deep into discharge.

----

Things I plan to do -

clean every light socket.

Install the relay modification - Just got a beautifull set of Hella relays today. - I want to do this cause I got a set of H-4's waiting to be installed.

[EScanlon]

Victor:

To answer your questions.

When I redid the complete interior of my car, I disconnected and reconnected the harness various times. Often this is all that is required to revive the connections therein. The main problem between connectors is when they are allowed to stay connected and never moved or reconnected. It is then that corrosion can creep in under the contact point and increase resistance / or break the connection. That is, of course, if you are getting a good grip by all the spade connectors.

Simply, disconnect, and reconnect them. This is usually enough to break the corrosion between the two, and by reconnecting you usually generate a new contact surface by friction.

If you want to go a step further, or the connect / reconnect doesn't seem to work, you can use a sanding stick. These are commonly available at hobby shops, and look like a spring loaded band sander stick. One end will have a very thin point, and there will be a band of sanding paper going around it. Use this to reach into the connector and scuff up the surfaces of the male connectors therein.

The Female connectors are a bit trickier as they are smaller and require a THIN object. I used an emery stick (fingernail file) that I bought at the local drug store. I then cut it with a pair of sheet metal snips or dykes for the width required. Insert it into the female connector once or twice and that will be enough to "sand" the contact surfaces clean. Unfortunately, the paper on the emery board isn't very strong, so you'll go through several of these pieces. You could use the file on a pair of nail clippers, or get a metal emery board. Just don't get too aggressive. All you want is to shave off the film of corrosion inside.

As far as your second post, the "Low Output" that you are describing as coming from the Alternator, according to the FSM points to two possible problem areas. I am presuming that you have an alternator and not a generator. If I recall correctly, only the very early 240's had generators.

The first is that the alternator brushes may be a) dirty, worn, c) worn/tired springs, d) loose fan belt. Remember, the alternator doesn't begin to output voltage until it gets to a given RPM. Up to then it is the battery that provides the electricity.

The second is that your Voltage Regulator may be starting to go. The FSM does provide a testing and adjusting procedure, but it might be easiest to simply replace it.

Lastly, it might be necessary to adjust the idle speed of the engine. But I'll leave that to other people who are more knowledgeable on that than I am. I know that everyone wants an engine that idles at the lowest possible RPM, but sometimes, it is NECESARY to keep it slightly higher. The FSM recommends 750 rpm at idle.

Hope this helps.

[pparaska]

Granted, the stock wiring was good enough when the car was new for regular incandescent sealed beams. But many times the wiring is corroded (yes, the wiring

itself - just peel back the insulation near the connectors and you may even find that the wiring is corroded).

While this, along with all the corroded connectors and burnt/pitted/higher-resistance switch contacts will drop the voltage across the headlight by a small amount, this will seriously reduce the light output. This is in no way a linear relationship. "An incandescent lamp operating at 80% of its rated power requirement will still deliver 50% of its brightness,..." (http://www.jkllamps.com/techLibrary/index.cfm?action=techLibraryFAQs)

So if the Z's complete headlight wiring and switches aren't going to be completely gone through and refurbished, you'll have dimmer headlights than from the factory, in most cases.

Therefore, I think the relay mod is a valid approach for most older Z's. Plus, if you put in even sealed beam hi-performance lights, they will draw more than the Z was designed for.

Either way, the 240Z is over 30 years old. The electrical system was a joke in the first place. Note length of wire that the electrons must travel from ground (highbeam switch) to positive (on/off switch to fuse box to amp gage to alternator). It's TWICE as long as needed, because some junior person designed it. Twice the length means twice the voltage drop across the wires, and many more places to drop at more connectors.

The headlight relay setup I show on my website will make anyone's headlights brighter, having a small difference for a really good condition harness and switches, and a very significant increase in brightness for an older harness/switches.

Priced OE switches lately? If you can get a new one, it will be near $100 for each.

A few relays are alot cheaper and will save the old switches from any additional time running full headlight current through them.

[LanceM]

I'm with Pete,

The simple fix is the best here, use the original wiring to switch relays using heavy gauge wire to run the lights. Most of your dimming problem will probably go away because you won't have all of the line loss with the old system since it is only handling an amp or so now instead of a great deal more which loads the whole system.

[Bambikiller240]

another thread resurected after being dead for almost 2 years.

[hls30.com]

I can only hope you guys don't go the sanding the contacts route, sanding a copper connector that was not made to be unplugged and replugged frequently instead of proper(Chemical) cleaning and lubrication simply places the remnants of what you sanded away right back into the connection-meaning it will take even less time for the problem to come back, and worse, sanding increases the surface area for the corrosion to act on, and reduces the "meat" of the connector. Save the sandpaper for bodywork, and get a can of deoxit, your electrical connections will not need a "touchup" (or worse) down the road.

Will

[Zs-ondabrain]

And what am I, chopped liver???

Did any of you remember this http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14897

read up on it, it's only 107 replys long, but worth reading.