locate your bank of relays behind your system sentry or behind your ash tray / radio area on driver side.
locate the relay that has the below wire colors on it.
figure out how the relay releases from the finger mounting device and extract it.
Just add the jumper wire as shown and you should have low beam elements on while HI beam is selected for increased lighting.
THis is applicable only to cars with the existing auto lamp wiring infrustructure only.
Cars without auto lamp need to hold tight, i need a volunteer to do a couple tests first.
How much additional current load does this add?
Will the bulbs overheat?
Never been a fan of this mod in these cars. The 9006 (or 9004, I forget which) bulbs are not designed to have both elements lit up simultaneously. Overheating the glass envelope of the bulb (and melting your headlight housing) is one major concern, but there are electrical issues as well: In particular, both elements share a single ground terminal, and these terminals can barely manage the current of one element at a time. Start pulling double the current through that terminal and you're almost certainly asking for disaster...
4A per headlamp bulb high beam element at 12.9vdc.
guesstimation on low beam can be 2A,,, i think i am really close on this number,, did not amp clamp it.
12A burnden with high/low together.
additional heat may or may not require interior metal heat deflector upgrade. I removed mine, cleaned them, added a metal tape adder to the top but thats really just moot.
all good questions and greatly appreciated , thinking stuff through is important to us all.
thats good point on the ground... may have to parallel another in, total of 12A best case is what is see but i do agree.
I don't see problem with ground wire. It's short and relatively thick. The major problem would be overheating of the bulb and the whole lamp. It isn't designed to spread so much heat.
The ground wire isn't the issue. It's the ground terminal on the bulb itself. I've seen many of these terminals overheat and burn up the connector with stock amperages, especially with those cheap-ass blue bulbs (but also on brand name bulbs). Doubling up the current will make things worse. At the very least you should take apart the headlight connector and make sure that female ground terminal is 100% clean, and that it has plenty of clamping load on the male terminal on the bulb. A loose connection here will almost certainly result in turning your headlight connector into a gob of molten plastic snot...
This is one of mine, I'm pretty sure. I did it, because I have halogen Hella E55 (salvaged from a 2010 Taurus) projectors and only use one light source (9005xbs1). My hi beams are achieved by using a solenoid to actuate a shutter out of the way. I would be careful with the heat from running a 9004 at combined output. Having said that, be aware that I've never run this mod with conventional lights, so I'm going from dead reckoning here and am possibly typing out of my ass.
This mod is at your own risk, and IF you want/need better lighting, hit up TBirdX3 for a pair of his vacuformed clear lens' and set yourself up with some retrofit.
Will do
I've never had that connector opened up before
readings were better now with a steady battery, good point to question this as my original tests were suited to a battery that was getting constantly discharged.
i was off by one full amp per illumination option which means a lot at this low of a voltage.
just now
hi/low beam amperage for one lamp assy = 8.1A
Batt voltage= 14.0v
*********************i was amp clamped around both high / low beam conductors
low beam amperage for one lamp assy = 3.1A
batt voltage= 14.1v
********************* i was amp clamped around both high / low beam conductors
Front of headlamp lense temp was consistent as prior tests, temp reached 94degF.
one test i have not done is to extract the headlamp housing and measure the TOP of the housing itself.
Another topic,~ i dont think temp testing is even viable during the winter season and i think someone else having currently 95deg temps "in the sun" , "sitting still" "at idle" would gather the best worse case temp reading of this mod.
At any rate, this mod currently has a total of 11 night time hours of running , i have monitored what i can for operation during the past time and felt comfortable posting the mod.
as with anythng, its only as good as the users ability for bonding or connecting things.
im not really sure i can get good temp simulations without first heating up the housing with a heat gun then measure the temp of the housing, then turn on the headlamps and see if the temp goes down or holds steady or goes up.
either way what we do know is that the lights will typically be on during the night.
we know that the ambient air temp to headlamp temp delta increases while both values are decreasng as night time arrives, which is good.
we know that most of the time a car will be moving forward during the time the headlamps are on.
what we want to know is where will the additional heat have its greatest effect and document the ground female termination for stress.
What we also want to confirm is that the existing heat sync inside the headlamp is sufficient to disipate the heat and reflect it forward.
I think we can all agree that the amperage demands are not too awfully more than we can accept across the ground lead and we can probably agree that the load is now 16A from the stock alternator. To me this is a lot of additional load burden but total car loads add up and still fall inside 23A total with the heat on.
this leaves headroom for actuators and inrush as well as other devices so i dont really have a problem with the load.
maybe ill eat my words in a few weeks, in the meantime I would like someone to get temp readings of the housing with better enviromental control so the ambient outside temp is around 90degF.
sound ok to everyone? thanks again for proding and poking this for the sake of due dillignece.
anyone down south wanna play?
i got the headlamp temp readings just now since it was sorta warm outside.
I am more interested in getting everyones technical take on the delta below and if there is an improvement that can be done to wick the heat if the heat is considered an issue.
***Please note and consider the below readings represent the absolute hottest spot i could detect and in each hot spot, the represnted heat value below only occupied approx 1/2 sq inch of surface area. There is an instant drop in temps outside the hot spot and these decreases were so substantial that i think the housing is wicking the heat well.
Here are the important heat points measured.............. and good info to save for later.
I would assume you could fill in the missing gap by plotting the below numbers and plot what "hi beam only" would look like.
ambient surrounding temperature was 40degf
Car ran with hi & low beams on (the hi/low on at once mod) for 20min then i changed to low beams and waited about 10min before gathering my initial readings. I wanted to simulate full heating cycle as installed.
temp's below are in degF
with low beam only:
front of lens= 87
top of housing= 103
rear of housing above rear bulb connector = 166
with hi/low beam on together (hi/low beam modification):
front of lens= 130
top of housing= 145
rear of housing above rear bulb connector = 213
hello,, anyone?
Sorry to not post back right away, I was still digesting your data.
remind me to post a link to peptobismal next time,, this seems pretty hard to digest lol
it's a lot of data, and I'm not sure of what a healthy baseline would be.
humm, interesting comment...
to capture the non linear temp reading im going to take .........
low beams 87deg / 3A = 29deg per amp (assumed linear)
then take high beam & low beams of 130deg / 8amps = 16.25deg per amp (assumed linear)
avg of 29 adn 16 is 22.5deg increase in all values...........so.......... this helps plot the non linear points....and....
with hi beam only (assumed plots)
front of lens= 110
top of housing= 126
rear of housing above rear bulb connector = 189
Jay just for kicks and giggles. Have you thought about a HID conversion ??? Running both filaments is ok but a little out dated at best. Try modifying and using HID lamps and ballasts. Just a thought!!
Here is a set converted to HID. Jr uses the Mercedes Ballasts made on to the lamps and the factory wiring harnesses. Just another project to think about. They work absolutely outrageously well. Thanks
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c209/tfalconier/C62014A9-3BCD-45E3-94AD-8A2F01603825-769-00000083F83BBDD5.jpg)
yeah,, iknow,,
but thats for someone who openly wants to show a mod,, i like the things that cant easily be seen.
i am very happy with the jumper mod but yes, out dated is a description i suppose but my son would be interested.
It was just a thought. I have dun a few with very good results. Then JR tints them to tone them down a bit. Tinting the lenzes make a cool addition to any setup. Just saying!!Thanks
I hope those are D3R or D2R reflectors. If not, we're talking about drop in's, and that's wretchedly wrong, inconsiderate, and illegal. Not to mention ineffective.
something occured to me,
im going to wash, rinse and repeat my heat tests.
i had forgotten that using a laser temp gun offers a little unknown disadvantage.
when i was taking some heat measurements on a 25KA dc power plant, and doing some thermal image camera shots, i noticed i had a conflict and the copper buss was actually skewing my laser readings.
I put piece of black electrical tape on the area by hand, smoothed it out then waited, then took my readings on the tape and there,, that fixed it. now my laser gun is back to +/- 3% tolerance.
so tomorrow will also benefit in that the ambient temp outside will be much higher as well. stand by guys.
hope you enjoyed that piece of info, its note worthy to remember that reflective surfaces will refract the return signal of a laser temperture gun.
WHAT?????????????????
Stock OEM lamps and stock lamp housings. That equals great modern lighting. I don't care much for the HI LOW on system designed here But it is ok if you like that totally old fashioned. Just saying. HID is where it is at and a no brainier to accomplish. Carry on guys!
I did not comment on this mod because everyone has the right to experiment and modify things. God knows i am guilty of this for sure. But i have to agree with Thunder Chicken
QUOTE
Never been a fan of this mod in these cars. The 9006 (or 9004, I forget which) bulbs are not designed to have both elements lit up simultaneously.
I agree and so does GE!!
HID IS where it's at, you're right, but what I'm saying is, halogen reflectors suck for HID. Now it could be that those are OEM reflector based HID housings, and that's cool. Such a housing would use a burner of types D1R, D2R, D3R or D4R (R for reflector) as opposed to Projector based HIDS that would use burners or types D1S, D2S, D3S or D4S (S for Shield). A little breakdown of nomenclature, D(discharge) 2(2nd generation) S(shielded optics). I wouldn't take Tom Renzo for the type of guy who would put re-based HID burners in a halogen reflector headlight, and go out and blind the world, so I'll assume you're showing us a headlight that came with and R type HID from the factory.
rechecked my temperature readngs with black tape in the hotest areas and with an ambient temp of 64degF outside, the lamp hi&Low read the same while i had the headlamp hanging out the front.
******here is an odd thing though,,,,,,,,,,,
i installed the headlamp took some readings on the face and then along the rear above the bulb connector.
guess what,,, the temperatures were lower on the rear and with the car at idle i think i know why.....
the fan is moving and and apparently there is air also getting pulled across the headlamps.
installed temp reading on the rear just above the bulb was 177degF,,, i was surprised and actually i was disappointed with myself that i didnt think of this in the first place.
so after the questions and comments on page 1, anyone have anything to add , if not, thread is dead.
FOE COME ON NOW YOU HURT MY FEELINGS AGAIN. DAM JUST WHEN WE WERE GETTING ALONG SO WELL.
Do you think i am The top OGRE. What JR does is he dampens the light output with tinting colors. This also makes the headlights look cool and in return it wont blind people. Removing the covers and using a special water base PPG. Custom mixed shot on the inside of the lenses to not bother others. We have noticed a Lot of aftermarket replacement HID units do not comply to DOT standards. The REFRACTORS are something we cant control. So JR gets crafty and does his tinting thing. And with the absence of a kit for the MIDNIGHTER Fabing them was necessary. Making HID headlights needs a good balance of refractors you are using and the tinting process you choose. Along with the color you choose. So carry on Boys and sorry you think i am an OGRE HEAD LIGHT BANDIT FOE
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c209/tfalconier/78A593CC-6AEE-45BC-B7F9-B130EF58ACDB-769-000000843AF8705D.jpg)
I've heard of this process, and it's still wrong. If you caught somebody in the act of being wrong, YOU would call them on it, too, so don't think I'm an asshole. I happen to know a great deal on the subject of optics, and I would point you here (http://"http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html")to get started. Tom, I know you're not the type of guy who likes to be wrong on things, and that's why I know you'll read this and try to find a better way. The guy with the article takes emails, so bounce a few ideas off of him and see what HE thinks.
J, that's good work on the heat readings, you'll have to keep us posted on how the housing handles it. None of those temps seem too extreme, so maybe it'll be cool (no pun intended).
FOE i find it fascinating that we read things like CATS being removed timing pushed up and EGR valves removed. All these things are QUITE ILLEGAL. But you are busting my stones over a mod i make that is a good one in my view. So lets compromise. Send me a set of legal head lights for the MIDNIGHTER in HID and i will install them. Other than that i still think the HI LOW modification is good but antiquated. It rates like this in my thinking. Carbing an EFI engine because the person does not understand EFI systems. Bye the way illegal as WELL. Thanks and carry on boys. By the way those HID lights really work GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Try it you will like it.
By the way FOE i never said one thing about this mod. Simple to do but not my cup of TEA.
Just saying!! And i don't think you are an a$$ . Far from it! I actually think you are young dedicated and knowledgeable. Honest. Anyone working in a ford dealership should be canonized. Have a good day!!
i personally dont really care what's leagal, from what i see on the streets now a days, whomever has the brightest lights wins!!!!!
having said that, the mod JR does probably would light up to outter space, sounds like a good thing to me.
in the words of the woman currently sitting in the highest of all high "legal" places
"whats it matter" & "whats the big deal" & "so what about it",, and to that end i will follow the lead.
whats that old song, ~skip a rope? "never mind the rules just play to win"
Update:
Mod still going strong. For the first time in my adult life i can finally say that i am bothering other drivers with my high beams :P
its about time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
still going
with a thermal couple taped to the headlamp rear while moving the temps on the housing reduce about 60%.
the thermal couple was being held down by tape so windage effects should have been to a minimum and should have shown an accurate heat situation.
im rather pleased and still dominating the roads with bright light.
still going strong, no adverse effects can be detected, lamp contacts are still clean, housing in tact,,,, i consider this test complete and the existing wiring capable of doing the job.
Awesome.