Head light relay kits
- Thread starter Tim North
- Start date
Tom Ginefra
True Classic
I'm in for 1 kit
1979 USA
1979 USA
Last edited:
Tim North
88 X
I’m not sure.
jsadamski
True Classic
Tom Ginefra
True Classic
Wondering now... if after I install my newly aquired MWB LED headlights, (with their reduced amp draw) would this mod still be necessary or recommended?
Mike Schofield
True Classic
I would hazard to guess no. I recently replaced my oem headlights with led ones and they are ridiculously bright with “almost” no amp draw.
Tom Ginefra
True Classic
Thanks Mike. I was so excited to get a real "Bob Brown" kit that I jumped in the pool with my pants on! I guess I'm going to pass on this. Sorry Tim.
Peter Cecil
True Classic
Whatever became of this project? Did it go ahead?
Peter Cecil
True Classic
Thank you for replying. Quite understandable.
Peter,
Head over to Amazon, or Ebay and search for "Headlight Relay harness". There are lots of options available. Obviously they are not custom made for the X, but you should be able to find a kit that will be a great starting point. This is just one example I picked from the top result of the search. I used a similar kit I found on Ebay for my 124 sedan which has separate low/high lights. It fit great and worked great, easy to install... on a 124 sedan.
You can see the battery is right there within easy reach of all 4 headlights. Note the nice new blue socket on the left headlight and the ribbed loom running on top of the ledge in front of the radiator. The relay pack is hidden by the battery in this photo, but you can see the red power wire coming up over the battery from the front. The old connectors were really fragile and only made the headlights glow orange.
The X is a different beast given the pop up light pods, so it will take some thinking to figure out the routing. I don't have the 124 anymore, or I would check to see if the headlight socket is removable. If that would come off, you don't need to find or create a large hole in the pods. I am thinking the power and ground wires on these kits may need to be extended to work with the X. Maybe there is a kit better suited to the X, I haven't looked that close. They all seem pretty similar at a glance.
Peter Cecil
True Classic
Jim, thank you. I have had to bail out of afternoon gatherings as I am reluctant to drive home in the dark. Even with LED headlights there is still quite a draw on the voltage/charge gauge.Peter,
Head over to Amazon, or Ebay and search for "Headlight Relay harness". There are lots of options available. Obviously they are not custom made for the X, but you should be able to find a kit that will be a great starting point. This is just one example I picked from the top result of the search. I used a similar kit I found on Ebay for my 124 sedan which has separate low/high lights. It fit great and worked great, easy to install... on a 124 sedan.
You can see the battery is right there within easy reach of all 4 headlights. Note the nice new blue socket on the left headlight and the ribbed loom running on top of the ledge in front of the radiator. The relay pack is hidden by the battery in this photo, but you can see the red power wire coming up over the battery from the front. The old connectors were really fragile and only made the headlights glow orange.
View attachment 34722View attachment 34723
The X is a different beast given the pop up light pods, so it will take some thinking to figure out the routing. I don't have the 124 anymore, or I would check to see if the headlight socket is removable. If that would come off, you don't need to find or create a large hole in the pods. I am thinking the power and ground wires on these kits may need to be extended to work with the X. Maybe there is a kit better suited to the X, I haven't looked that close. They all seem pretty similar at a glance.
Dr.Jeff
True Classic
While LED lights have a much lower current draw in general, and therefore should work great with smaller gauge wires (i.e. the stock wire harness), that doesn't necessarily mean the stock wire harness is in good shape. A section of the wire can corrode internally (inside the insulation), connectors can be bad/corroded, old relays and fuses can have high resistance, basically anything in the whole chain can add up to cause a decrease in current passing. Add that to the LED's load and it could be sufficient to effect even a "low" demand (LED) light's output (headlight LED's are pretty strong and still have a decent draw).
So adding a secondary set of new wires and other components should bypass all of those old harness problems. Your idea of adding a headlight relay kit, with a new power source/relay/fuse/ground/etc, will accomplish that. The original wire harness should be more than sufficient to trigger the new relay. Alternatively you could replace all of the stock headlight wire circuit with new/heavier materials. But the relay kit is much easier to do. As @JimD said, any decent generic headlight relay kit should be fine. Just look at the specs to make sure it has sufficient gauge wires, etc. (I've seen some inexpensive ones with wires that are no better than a stock harness).
The other thing to consider is if your charging system is working correctly and offering a sufficient level of output. There are several upgrades that can be done on that end of the system as well.
Peter Cecil
True Classic
D
Dr.Jeff, thanks for the feedback.While LED lights have a much lower current draw in general, and therefore should work great with smaller gauge wires (i.e. the stock wire harness), that doesn't necessarily mean the stock wire harness is in good shape. A section of the wire can corrode internally (inside the insulation), connectors can be bad/corroded, old relays and fuses can have high resistance, basically anything in the whole chain can add up to cause a decrease in current passing. Add that to the LED's load and it could be sufficient to effect even a "low" demand (LED) light's output (headlight LED's are pretty strong and still have a decent draw).
So adding a secondary set of new wires and other components should bypass all of those old harness problems. Your idea of adding a headlight relay kit, with a new power source/relay/fuse/ground/etc, will accomplish that. The original wire harness should be more than sufficient to trigger the new relay. Alternatively you could replace all of the stock headlight wire circuit with new/heavier materials. But the relay kit is much easier to do. As @JimD said, any decent generic headlight relay kit should be fine. Just look at the specs to make sure it has sufficient gauge wires, etc. (I've seen some inexpensive ones with wires that are no better than a stock harness).
The other thing to consider is if your charging system is working correctly and offering a sufficient level of output. There are several upgrades that can be done on that end of the system as well.
Dan Sarandrea (Phila)
Waitin' On Parts...
Dr. Jeff is correct to point out the importance of shopping for a relay kit with the right specs and gauge of wiring. But it's even MORE important to check that what you specced is what you receive.
Example below: two samples of 12 AWG "primary" wire as marketed by their sellers. The top one is wiring purchased in bulk from eBay. The bottom one is Balkamp brand wire as sold in your local NAPA store. Did I mention that both are supposed to be 12 AWG? Buyer beware.
MikeHynes
True Classic
Let me guess, the top wire came from China?