wiring in quad headlights

[Fantapants]

heys guys. apologies if this is covered in detail elsewhere, but i havnt found a decent write up of converting the wiring when swapping from the single headlight ke70 to the twin headlight arrangement.

i have in my hands a bunch of relays and fuses... and i have the headlights physically fitted. im just after some hand holding for the wiring side of things. be gentle, im not the smartest cookie...

[masterofsinanju]

Any chance you can find a factory quad headlight ke70 to look at/steal harness?

Otherwise, go to google and type in "Upgrades:KE70 Single to Twin Headlight Wiring" looks like a good tutorial on rollaclub forums.

I'm sure that if you post photos etc of how you work through this, lots of people will be appreciative.

[Fantapants]

they were never an option here in aus as far as i know. so finding one to steal would be hard

ive seen that walkthrough. but due to a combination of medical issues and my own general stupididty with electrics i cant get my head around how it works,

i was talking to a friend last night and am considering simply mirroring the one light setup on the twins. i know 4 low beams is not legal, but i also know ill be able to set it up safely and lights are helpful lol... and if they get me for lights i recon they will get me for a lot of other things lol...

[masterofsinanju]

Look, hopefully without sounding too harsh, maybe you should talk to an auto electrician? Fucking up wiring is really not a thing for lifelong happiness.

[Imago]

In NSW you can run as many lights as low beam as you please technically - As long as they're uniform left and right (ie 2 on both sides, not 3 on one and 1 on the other).

It's easier to draw but maybe easier if I try to write up roughly what you'll need to do as a simple solution:

Keep your standard low beam wire to power your low beams - this will be adequate.

Use your high beam wire as a switch wire to a relay (pin 85/86), and use a fused wire from your battery (or other constant active that has a solid supply), to pin 30. Then use Pin 87 to supply your high beams on all 4 of your headlights.

You will need a good size cable, ideally a 4mm cable but 2.5mm should do it, just. (check not to use dodgy Supercheap/Narva measured cables, they measure the insulation and not the copper conductor size!).

Let me know how you interpret it. If it's a little tricky give me a tickle and I'll draw and scan a drawing for you to work off. Happy to help, let me know how you go.

[Fantapants]

imago that seemed like the plan. but the way i interpret the wiring i see online there is something about the highbeams being negatively swtiched and its not just a simple trigger setup... but i could be very wrong lol.

the rain has stopped so ill head out tomorow and have a look and see if it makes any more sense with everything laid out in front of me lol..

Look, hopefully without sounding too harsh, maybe you should talk to an auto electrician? Fucking up wiring is really not a thing for lifelong happiness.

at the end of the day if the headlights dont work, its not like i wont know... the issue with me needing my hand held is to do with medical stuff. i have issues working things out sittting at a computer... put things in my hands and i tend to make my way through them well enough. And if i cant fumble my way through headlights, then it doesnt look good for the ecu loom im building next does it?

[masterofsinanju]

Cool, that makes sense. I had the (mistaken) impression that electrics were beyond you. I totally get the hands on thing. I'm no sparky myself.

[Imago]

Yeah see how you go! Positive and negative switching is a different way of buttering the same bread - just depends on what your switch wire needs to work - most ECUs will negatively switch most inputs and outputs, it just saves heat/size in the component not needing to supply power to relays & sensors so it just reads or switches the signal and grounds it.

Les, I'm still buzzing!

[Omegaman]

Im sure when you type in "Headlight wiring harmness" in ebay. you will get lots of options.
i had a quick look and im sure you can get what you need at a cheap price.

[Fantapants]

Im sure when you type in "Headlight wiring harmness" in ebay. you will get lots of options.
i had a quick look and im sure you can get what you need at a cheap price.

there is a relay loom to bypas the old wiring and beef up the headlights. its 160 plus shipping. im on a disability pension with a 2 year old son. if i can make the same thing using the 1-$of relays and fuses i have here its worth a weeks shopping

Im not claiming a total skill set in electronics, hence why i asked. but im also through necessity and through interest forced to try and do as much to my car myself rather than pay for solutions...

[Imago]

Yikes that's well pricey. But alas there are many ways to skin a cat.

Grab some second-hand relays from something modern like a BA/BF Falcon, same pin configuration and heavy duty and quality enough to last. Some headlight plugs from eBay (can get ceramic ones $1 each from China or get some local to here), some lugs and some cable (2.5mm would be ideal, I think I got quoted ~$75 the other day from an electrical wholesaler for 100 metres (a little excessive I know) of single core 2.5mm V90 flexible which will cover all your electrical needs for many years and is a little more resistant to temp and physical wear.

You can buy relays new - no reason why not but they're pretty pricey considering a second-hand one will do the same job as they rarely fail.

I'll draw you a diagram up before this weekend is over! It'll give you a better idea on what you need and what you gotta do.

[DX20VT]

I think you will find that it is not that easy. Because the Toyota headlights are not positive switched or negative switched, they are both !!

If it is the same as all the toyota's here oder than about 1995 they use the power switching to turn the headlights on and off,
and negative switching to change low beam to high beam.

Even for an auto electrian it take a bit to understand sometimes.

Easiest way is to just loop the 3 wires from the outside light to the inside light.

Unless you have the new style high beam headlights that take an H1 bulb and the case is earthed.
Then you cant do it that way as it will not work and it gets complicated.

[Fantapants]

I think you will find that it is not that easy. Because the Toyota headlights are not positive switched or negative switched, they are both !!

If it is the same as all the toyota's here oder than about 1995 they use the power switching to turn the headlights on and off,
and negative switching to change low beam to high beam.

Even for an auto electrian it take a bit to understand sometimes.

Easiest way is to just loop the 3 wires from the outside light to the inside light.

Unless you have the new style high beam headlights that take an H1 bulb and the case is earthed.
Then you cant do it that way as it will not work and it gets complicated.

i think this is the problem i have come against.

i have a bunch of 4 pin relays and 5 pin relays here to work with. and some fuses. and some wires

the ke wiring is shit for power anyways, so i always plannes on boosting it somehow with a proper relay wiring setup.

i have all the lights mounted and all the plugs and stuff here, i was just stumped on trying to understand how to do the different configurations based on the high and low beam.

like i said, worse case ill simply mirror the lighting wiring, but would really like to improve things if possible and learn how to do something properly if im going to the effort of doing it.

ive done dodgy builds in the past lol and im not adverse to cutting corners. but this car is a legacy for my son (im not expected to live much longer so this is a important factor for me) and i want him to be proud of the mods i have done, not uncover them one day in 20 years time and say to himself "what the actual feck was dad thinking?????" lol

[DX20VT]

Because of the way the High beam light on the dash works, the only two options for someone who is not pretty good at auto electrical,

is jump the wires across,

or buy a proper headlight kit and fit it.

Be careful when you buy a wiring kit
as you will need to buy the one specific for Toyota headlight wiring
as it has the resistors etc built in to work the high beam light correctly.

Trying to wire it yourself without a good understanding of electrical will cause drama's.

[Fantapants]

bugger 10charisgay