Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 12:02:37 -0700
Reply-To: Brent Christensen <sbsyncro@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Brent Christensen <sbsyncro@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: [FIX]Wiring up your SA Grill (or just upgrading your wiring to
use relays)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Well, ladies and gentlemen:
With all due respect to the many people who have posted on this subject (and even offered up kits for sale), I believe I have hit upon a superior method for wiring up your SA grill (or just upgrading your exisiting wiring to use relays).
This method ensures maximum voltage to your lights with what I consider to be a reasonable amount of effort (you can take it farther if you want - I'll explain later) and is totally complete, easy, and does NOT require you to cut or damage the factory wiring harness. It also avoids some of the potentially dangerous or undesireable effects of other methods I have seen discussed on the list. I will discuss parts used, but leave out specific wiring (routing) instructions, since that is up to your own individual preference.
THE BASIC CONCEPT:
To wire up the SA grill and lights (assuming you go with H4 type lamps) you will need three (3) circuits:
1. Low beams
2. High beams
3. Inner aux. driving lamps
Each of these circuits requires a relay, which needs to be controlled by a switch somewhere. Ideally, relays should be located as close to the lamp as possible, so mounting them in the grill area is good, or if you want to stuff three sets of 10 ga. wire through the "firewall" you can mount the relays on or near the stock fuse panel and run the power wires out to the lights.
For this project, you want to use 5 terminal 30 or 40 amp relays of GOOD quality. In addition to the relays, "backing plates" are a great idea, since they can fit together and create a nice clean mounting location for the relays. Be sure to use 5 terminal relays with TWO 87 posts and NOT posts labeled "87" and "87a" - the latter will not work properly!
CONTROLLING THE RELAYS
If you look at the stock harness in an '86-up Vanagon you will see that for each headlight assembly the wiring consist of two connectors - one that plugs into the "9004" style lamp and the other is a standard-looking two wire plastic connector. Essentially, the harness consisits of three wires:
1. Y/Bk wire that controls + to the low beam lamp
2. W/Bk wire that controls + to the high beam lamp
3. Brown wire that provides ground to both lamps
Since these wires are already connected up to the switching system to control on/off and dimmer, they make an ideal way to control the relays for the low and high beams. One option is to cut the wires and splice in additional connectors. BUT I HAVE FOUND A BETTER WAY! There is a male 9004 connector which can be used to tie directly into this harness (for the low beams) without cutting the wires. For the high beam side, a standard insulated male terminal can be used to tie into the W/Bk wire inside the white plastic connector. My plan is to wrap it in heat shrink tubing after making the connection so that it is more robust.
The relay for the Aux (inner driving) lamps will need to be controlled via a switch somewhere up in the dash area (I plan to use the OEM auxilliary light switch from VW).
PROVIDING THE POWER FOR THE LAMPS
The key to good performance is making as direct a connection to the lamps as possible, using heavy enough wiring so that current (and thereby voltage) is not limited. A general rule of thumb for this project is to use 10 ga. stranded wire for all power and ground circuits. Ground wires should be separate rather than shared; in other words, each lamp should make its own connection to the body rather than gathering all the ground wires into a bundle and attaching then to the body with a single connector (like in the stock configuration)
Since it is such a PITA to get to the battery box and add any wiring in a Vanagon, my plan is to use the battery connection to the fuse panel as my take-off for power to the lighting system. This will likely result in some minor degradation compared to wiring directly from the battery or alternator, but weighed against the effort and frustration ( as well as the less than optimum wiring path) I am willing to make the trade-off.
Once you come off your chosen power source with 10 ga. wire you need to add fuses for each circuit. Rather than using inline ATC-type fuse holders (which are hard to find in 10 ga. and look messy IMO) I have elected to use individual GBC-type fuse holders (the OEM ceramic type) very similar to that used in Westys for the camping gear. They consist of a plastic box with a 1/4-turn locking top, two bronze contacts, and posts with screw clamps. You bare 1/4" of wire, insert into hole in post, and tighten screw to attach. Very secure, very robust, and very factory-looking.
After the fuses, you need to connect to the lamps themselves. H4 lamps use a very standard three-prong connector - you can use terminals to attach to each of these prongs directly, or you can make it nice and clean and use an actual female H4 connector (this is the route I have chosen). The driving lights have pigtails which should be wired using something which can be disconnected if necessary for replacement in the future. I have not settled on this, but I will probably use insulated male and female "spade" terminals.
PARTS LIST (not including wire, lamps, and bulbs) for three lamp system
(1) Male 9004 connector
(3) Relays & backing plates (Bosch or Hella, 30 or 40 amp)
(2) Female H4 "flat pack" Connectors
(3) Fuse holders (with 25 amp GBC type fuses)
(22) Terminals (approx)
Add 10 ga. (+) and ground wire, and this should be everything you need (assuming you already have lamps and bulbs)
AND NOW THE GOOD NEWS
This entire kit is available from Daniel Stern Lighting, including the hard-to-find 9004 and H4 connectors. I spoke with him at length and he has agreed to put together a "Vanagon SA Grill Kit" which includes all of these parts for a special price of $54 (about $10 less than his regular price). If you already have your own relays (as many of us do) then the price is just $39. Sure, you can roll your own for cheaper by using cheap parts and eliminating the 9004 and H4 connectors, and using cheap inline ATC fuse holders. This group of parts will accomplish what I have set as a goal for my own project - a clean, better-than-OEM quality, safe wiring upgrade.
Daniel can be reached via e-mail at dastern@vrx.net or you can fax or call in orders to his toll free number at (866) -861-8668 You can see his web site (with excellent technical information - this guy knows his stuff!) at http://lighting.mbz.org/
Disclaimer: I have no interest in this deal from Daniel (or his company) other than trying to find a "one-stop shop" for a wiring solution for those of us upgrading in anticipation of our new SA grills (or those of you just upgrading your lights to e-code, etc). Please contact Daniel with questions about the contents of the "kit". I have already purchased a kit, so the quantity of orders he receives will not affect me.
I am currently on "nomail" status due to some project deadlines, so if you have questions, please p-mail me. If you need lamps or bulbs, p-mail me and I can advise you as to some of your choices as well (I have done a lot of research. but don't want to clutter this post).
Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA
