Help! Headlamps giving me grief..!

[revolution]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry to raise the white flag, but i have a Vitz RS in distress right now!

My 2008 Vitz RS previously had the stock HID Headlamps, that had Factory HIDs on the Dip Beams and a normal bulb on the Bright Beam. Inside the headlamp, was two seperate bulbs... On dim, one bulb would be on, on bright, both bulbs would be on...

I have just converted the whole front and rear of my car to the 2011, and used the Headlamps from the 2011 Yaris. However, the new headlamps use an H4 Bulb. I have inserted an H4 HID Bulb, and did up the wiring, however i am not getting bright and dim on the headlamps, they just stay on with no change in brightness!

Im confused on how to get this to work as i can't drive around with my brights on all the time!

Any help will be gratefully appreciated!

[CTScott]

How about some pictures of your wiring? It sounds like you have lost the switched ground with your changeover.

[revolution]

Hi CTScott,
I was silently praying you would read this and chip in, as i know you are the king of Yaris Technical...

Its night here now so i can't really remove the bumper, however this may help:

The HID Kit connects using a normal 3 pin socket as if connecting to an H4 socket. Ground, High and Low are three separate Wires...

On the OEM H1 system, it had a 4 Plug socket, with 4 wires, for Parking Light, Dim, Bright, and Ground...

I joined all of the wires to their respective mates, however from what i can see, on a normal H4, the system would cut power to dim when it switches to bright.. on the H1, it keeps both bulbs on.........

[revolution]

Hi, Here are pics of the two connectors...

[CTScott]

That doesn't help a whole lot, as the Japanese wiring diagrams don't show a 4 pin connector, so I am not sure what the wiring looks like going to that connector.

With the US and Japanese ones, for the 3 pin connector the +12 is common and the ground is switched for either the high or low beam to come on.

With yours, is the positive or negative switched by the stalk?

[revolution]

Ummm, not to sure, how can i check if the positive or negative is switched by the stalk?

[revolution]

OK tried something now and it didnt work, just replicated the same problem with a different wiring plan..

Gosh this is doing my head in..!

[CTScott]

Actually, to start with, with your H4 kit, if you connect brown to ground and separately white and blue to +12, do the two modes of the bulb work correctly?

If so, when you connect black and white to brown, blue to grey and white to black, do you see just the dim mode lit in low and both dim and bright lit in high?

If I am reading correctly above that is the case and then, the problem is to make the dim mode turn off when the bright mode is on. To do so without modifying the rest of the wiring in your car, a relay can be used where the dim is connected through the normally closed contacts and the coil is connected to the bright feed. Then, when the brights are turned on and the relay coil is energized the normally closed contacts will open and the dim mode will turn off.

[revolution]

Yes, if i connect the Blue and White of the H$ kit separately, the bulbs do dip between high and low correctly...

Connected as you just mentioned, and it replicated the same issue.. lights do not dip between the two, because power is made available to both wires...

And yep, you're right.. the problem is to make the DIM mode turn off when the bright mode is on... Kinda need a beginners tutorial to do that with the relay as you mentioned...... Please!

[CTScott]

This is a diagram for a "standard" automotive relay:



Terminals 85 and 86 are the coil, so connect 86 to the Bright+ wire and 85 to ground.

Terminal 30 is the "common" terminal, so it goes to the dim wire for the bulb.

Terminal 87a is the normally closed terminal, so it goes to the dim wire from the car (so, the relay is between the car dim wire and the bulb's dim wire).

87 is not used.

[revolution]

Geez man, you're a GENIUS...!

I'll be heading out to the nearest auto shop to pick up a few relays for this...

By the way,. i found this kind of relay in a box here, it wouldn't work for this kind of thing would it? It was in the box for the foglamps...

[revolution]

Well, something like the one above. Same design but says 12V 40A on it..

[revolution]

OK so far this is where i am... Please have a look and let me know if i'm on the right track and also let me know where the unmarked wires go to...

[revolution]

Am i correct to assume Bright (+) from the Car Harness should go to 86, and should also bridge across to the Bright (+) on the HID Plug?

If i understand this right, when current flows from Dim+ on Car Harness, through 87a it will pass to the Dim+ on the HID Plug. When Bright+ on Car Harness is flipped to, it will pass to 86 on the Relay and cut the Dim+, and because it is bridged, will pass across to Bright+ on the HID Plug, whilst still keeping Dim+ Off....?

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by revolution

Am i correct to assume Bright (+) from the Car Harness should go to 86, and should also bridge across to the Bright (+) on the HID Plug?

If i understand this right, when current flows from Dim+ on Car Harness, through 87a it will pass to the Dim+ on the HID Plug. When Bright+ on Car Harness is flipped to, it will pass to 86 on the Relay and cut the Dim+, and because it is bridged, will pass across to Bright+ on the HID Plug, whilst still keeping Dim+ Off....?

That is all correct. By the way, your relay in the picture above isn't good because it is a SPST (single pole, singe throw) relay, rather than a SPDT (single pole, double throw).

[revolution]

CTScott,

You are a GENIUS! This worked perfectly! Had to flip two of the wires around as I was getting Bright when I selected Dim and vice versa, but all seems to be good now! I owe you for this, all the auto electricians I came across here had no idea what to do!

Thank you sooooo much for your help, vey much appreciated!

[revolution]

CTScott,

Its night time here so i just tested the lights, and everything is working perfectly.. Only having one problem now, both the old and the new headlamps have some motors in them that level the bulbs when you switch on the lights. With the new lights, when i switch on the lights, the bulb pattern moves upwards, to the correct level, and after a few seconds drops down very low, instead of being at the correct level. This affcts the spread of light for both dim and bright...?

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by revolution

CTScott,

Its night time here so i just tested the lights, and everything is working perfectly.. Only having one problem now, both the old and the new headlamps have some motors in them that level the bulbs when you switch on the lights. With the new lights, when i switch on the lights, the bulb pattern moves upwards, to the correct level, and after a few seconds drops down very low, instead of being at the correct level. This affcts the spread of light for both dim and bright...?

Does your car have the JDM headlight leveling system with the knob on the dash that adjusts the level?