HELP! Project Retrofit Wiring

[PDP1230]

Currently working on retrofit headlights for my 1996 4runner. I purchased TYC head lights to get the clear glass lens. I then purchased BI-LED projectors off of ebay, and apollo 2.0 shrouds. I have a questions about wiring. In the attached picture below the led driver has a black and red wire and the two smaller black wires to the right are labeled "for hi beams". Does anyone know of a wiring harness that would work for these. Or does anyone know how I would wire them? I've searched but can't find much information on BI-LED. Most of the harnesses are for Bi-xenon. Would something like this work? I was trying to avoid it because the lead time is so long....

H4 Relay Harness Wiring Connector for BI-LED Projector Lens H4 LED Wires Adapter | eBay

Also, I think I have a ground switched system. Which might mean I don't need an intricate harness. Is it possible to just buy something like this, wire the red wire from the projector to the low beam, one of the black wires from the hi-beams to the hi-beam side of the h4 from the vehicle, and then wire all the grounds together?

Amazon.com: TOMALL H4 HB2 9003 Male Socket for LED Replacement Headlight Connector Wiring Harness Conversion Kit : Automotive

 

[IBallEngineer]

Or does anyone know how I would wire them? I've searched but can't find much information on BI-LED. Most of the harnesses are for Bi-xenon. Would something like this work? I was trying to avoid it because the lead time is so long....

Either one of harness's would work

Also, I think I have a ground switched system. Which might mean I don't need an intricate harness. Is it possible to just buy something like this, wire the red wire from the projector to the low beam, one of the black wires from the hi-beams to the hi-beam side of the h4 from the vehicle, and then wire all the grounds together?

When you say wire the grounds together You mean both the low beam ground and the high beam ground connected to the ground terminal for the vehicle? If so yes. I get nervous when someone say ground everything together because they often mean they GROUND everything, which would have your lights on all the time. Without the Pin out for your lights, we are guessing a little, but common sense says this would be OK.

 

[chen5108]

That harness should work, you can ground both since you'll be switching them from your turn signal stalk. Just make sure your pin outs are correct.

Note: When you have your high beams activated your blue indicator for high beams will not come on. I believe that since you are running LED now, there isn't enough resistance to trigger the indicator.

 

[brillo_76]

That harness should work, you can ground both since you'll be switching them from your turn signal stalk. Just make sure your pin outs are correct.

Note: When you have your high beams activated your blue indicator for high beams will not come on. I believe that since you are running LED now, there isn't enough resistance to trigger the indicator.

The reason the high beam indicator will not work is its because the Light Emmiting Diodes [LED] only let current flow one way. The indicator completes its circuit through the low beam element. Since current can't flow that way the indicator will be dead unless you use a resistor in place of the element...

This will fix that issue. Provided the resistor is the correct one.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[PDP1230]

Or does anyone know how I would wire them? I've searched but can't find much information on BI-LED. Most of the harnesses are for Bi-xenon. Would something like this work? I was trying to avoid it because the lead time is so long....

Either one of harness's would work

Also, I think I have a ground switched system. Which might mean I don't need an intricate harness. Is it possible to just buy something like this, wire the red wire from the projector to the low beam, one of the black wires from the hi-beams to the hi-beam side of the h4 from the vehicle, and then wire all the grounds together?

When you say wire the grounds together You mean both the low beam ground and the high beam ground connected to the ground terminal for the vehicle? If so yes. I get nervous when someone say ground everything together because they often mean they GROUND everything, which would have your lights on all the time. Without the Pin out for your lights, we are guessing a little, but common sense says this would be OK.

Thank you so much for the response. I have the harness ordered and will use the amazon one as it is going to get here much sooner.

Yes when I said wire the ground together I meant the low beam ground and high beam ground connected to the ground terminal for the vehicle.

Thanks again. I'll report back on how I make out. I should have the harness on Tuesday.

 

[Ed_C]

Those two black wires from the projector are for the highbeam solenoid, connect one to OEM common + and the other to OEM highbeam - they aren't polarity specific. Your highbeam indicator should still be operational, no resistors etc are needed.

Red wire from the LED driver to the OEM common + and black wire from the driver to a chassis ground, not the OEM lowbeam -. The drivers have to remain powered with the highbeams and this is the simplest way to do it, and the drivers don't draw as much current as the original halogens so a relay harness is unnecessary.

 

[infamousRNR]

Or does anyone know how I would wire them? I've searched but can't find much information on BI-LED. Most of the harnesses are for Bi-xenon. Would something like this work? I was trying to avoid it because the lead time is so long....

Either one of harness's would work

Also, I think I have a ground switched system. Which might mean I don't need an intricate harness. Is it possible to just buy something like this, wire the red wire from the projector to the low beam, one of the black wires from the hi-beams to the hi-beam side of the h4 from the vehicle, and then wire all the grounds together?

When you say wire the grounds together You mean both the low beam ground and the high beam ground connected to the ground terminal for the vehicle? If so yes. I get nervous when someone say ground everything together because they often mean they GROUND everything, which would have your lights on all the time. Without the Pin out for your lights, we are guessing a little, but common sense says this would be OK.

i'm stoked to see a post from you and know that you're still on this forum!

sicmods dude!



.

 

[IBallEngineer]

i'm stoked to see a post from you and know that you're still on this forum!

sicmods dude!



.

Well I'm glad to be here, so thank you very much. Curiously my son recently was trying to solve something on his 4runner and came upon one of my posts from 8 years ago. He was shocked to see I was doing so much back then. You can always PM me for help, others have done so and I will respond!
Thanks again!

opcorn:

 

[PDP1230]

Those two black wires from the projector are for the highbeam solenoid, connect one to OEM common + and the other to OEM highbeam - they aren't polarity specific. Your highbeam indicator should still be operational, no resistors etc are needed.

Red wire from the LED driver to the OEM common + and black wire from the driver to a chassis ground, not the OEM lowbeam -. The drivers have to remain powered with the highbeams and this is the simplest way to do it, and the drivers don't draw as much current as the original halogens so a relay harness is unnecessary.

So I have the lights installed and wired up. The lights work. Low beam is extremely bright. When I flick on the high beams i can tell the solednoid is working because there is no cut off to the beam pattern. However, when I turn the high beams on it’s like my lights get significantly more dim. My hi beam indicator is working. I’m a little confused when you say chassis ground. I know what that is, but does that mean there is nothing connected to my oem low beam on my h4 connector? I just take the black wire from the driver and run it directly to ground?

Currently I have the black wire from the driver going to OEM low beam and the red to OEM common +. Maybe that’s why my hi-beams get significantly more dim?

 

[octanejunkie]

i'm stoked to see a post from you and know that you're still on this forum!

sicmods dude!



.

Um, I'm here too you know...

 

[octanejunkie]

So I have the lights installed and wired up. The lights work. Low beam is extremely bright. When I flick on the high beams i can tell the solednoid is working because there is no cut off to the beam pattern. However, when I turn the high beams on it’s like my lights get significantly more dim. My hi beam indicator is working. I’m a little confused when you say chassis ground. I know what that is, but does that mean there is nothing connected to my oem low beam on my h4 connector? I just take the black wire from the driver and run it directly to ground?

Currently I have the black wire from the driver going to OEM low beam and the red to OEM common +. Maybe that’s why my hi-beams get significantly more dim?

Sounds like you have them wired backwards on on the stock plug. Swap the terminals (low and high)

Chassis ground terminates to the negative battery terminal, always. Anything you connect to ground runs there. I ran my projector harness ground to the chassis neg right off the terminal (the small let that attaches to the body near the battery)

Here is how I did mine My 3rd Gen Retrofit Projector Project - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

 

[IBallEngineer]

Red wire from the LED driver to the OEM common + and black wire from the driver to a chassis ground, not the OEM lowbeam -. The drivers have to remain powered with the highbeams and this is the simplest way to do it, and the drivers don't draw as much current as the original halogens so a relay harness is unnecessary.

This is for the OP, what he is saying is this. On a NON DRL 3rd gen, the headlight switch turns on the head relay to provide power to the low beams as well as high beams AND it provides the ground for either low or high beam but not both at the same time. By grounding your LED directly to a known good ground instead of through the headlight connector, the LOW beam will stay active when you switch on you high beams.

Edit: I forgot to mention but I am not sure if this will allow the High beam indicator to work. I haven't tried it or investigated it, but since current for the indicator is from the low beam ground circuit which cannot find ground because the dimmer switch took it away, thus seeking the path of least resistance the current flows to the high beam indicator. when you ground the lamp directly, no current is present on the OEM low beam ground circuit. That's what I see when I look at the diagram, but I have not confirmed this, yet.

 

[Ed_C]

So I have the lights installed and wired up. The lights work. Low beam is extremely bright. When I flick on the high beams i can tell the solednoid is working because there is no cut off to the beam pattern. However, when I turn the high beams on it’s like my lights get significantly more dim. My hi beam indicator is working.

I’m a little confused when you say chassis ground. I know what that is, but does that mean there is nothing connected to my oem low beam on my h4 connector? I just take the black wire from the driver and run it directly to ground?

That's exactly what I'm saying, IBallEngineer's response explains why. My 1st-gen Tundra is also a ground-switched circuit and directly powered 35w HID ballasts this way (common 12v from OEM connector, ballast ground to a chassis ground) and also how I've wired my own relay setup (one relay coil wire to common 12v, remaining relay coil wire to chassis ground) when experimenting with 70w ballasts

Currently I have the black wire from the driver going to OEM low beam and the red to OEM common +. Maybe that’s why my hi-beams get significantly more dim?

Possibly. I'm surprised the driver even worked, must've (poorly) grounded via the highbeam.

This is for the OP, what he is saying is this. On a NON DRL 3rd gen, the headlight switch turns on the head relay to provide power to the low beams as well as high beams AND it provides the ground for either low or high beam but not both at the same time. By grounding your LED directly to a known good ground instead of through the headlight connector, the LOW beam will stay active when you switch on you high beams.

Edit: I forgot to mention but I am not sure if this will allow the High beam indicator to work. I haven't tried it or investigated it, but since current for the indicator is from the low beam ground circuit which cannot find ground because the dimmer switch took it away, thus seeking the path of least resistance the current flows to the high beam indicator. when you ground the lamp directly, no current is present on the OEM low beam ground circuit. That's what I see when I look at the diagram, but I have not confirmed this, yet.

OP did say his indicator is working. Albeit my 3rd-gen is a DRL equipped '02, but I think the indicator did not work when running a bixenon relay harnesses, so I bought male H4 connectors and wired my projectors' solenoids to it so they're powered by the OEM highbeam circuit. Up until I took the retrofitted headlights off I still had the solenoids wired this way but the ballasts with the bixenon harness.

When I briefly ran a biLED projector setup I figured out where in the headlight circuit one can tap into where the lowbeams stay powered even with the highs on, again to eliminate the need for a bixenon harness. Took a little probing but I was relieved that it actually worked LOL.

And for anyone wondering if the lowbeams stay on all the time now that switched ground is now constant the answer is no. The headlight relay isn't energized until you have the stalk positioned "on" or flash/highbeams. The common 12v is not "hot" all the time.

 

[PDP1230]

That's exactly what I'm saying, IBallEngineer's response explains why. My 1st-gen Tundra is also a ground-switched circuit and directly powered 35w HID ballasts this way (common 12v from OEM connector, ballast ground to a chassis ground) and also how I've wired my own relay setup (one relay coil wire to common 12v, remaining relay coil wire to chassis ground) when experimenting with 70w ballasts



Possibly. I'm surprised the driver even worked, must've (poorly) grounded via the highbeam.



OP did say his indicator is working. Albeit my 3rd-gen is a DRL equipped '02, but I think the indicator did not work when running a bixenon relay harnesses, so I bought male H4 connectors and wired my projectors' solenoids to it so they're powered by the OEM highbeam circuit. Up until I took the retrofitted headlights off I still had the solenoids wired this way but the ballasts with the bixenon harness.

When I briefly ran a biLED projector setup I figured out where in the headlight circuit one can tap into where the lowbeams stay powered even with the highs on, again to eliminate the need for a bixenon harness. Took a little probing but I was relieved that it actually worked LOL.

And for anyone wondering if the lowbeams stay on all the time now that switched ground is now constant the answer is no. The headlight relay isn't energized until you have the stalk positioned "on" or flash/highbeams. The common 12v is not "hot" all the time.

Well you learn something new everyday. I was worried about the lowbeams being on all the time as you described if I wired it the way you say. But your response puts that issue to bed. I'm goign to make the wiring change and report back tonight. Can't thank you guys enough!

 

[PDP1230]

Made those wiring changes and now everything g works! Low beams and high beams. The high beam indicator does not work, but I don’t mind that. Thanks again for everyone’s help!

 

[IBallEngineer]

Made those wiring changes and now everything g works! Low beams and high beams. The high beam indicator does not work, but I don’t mind that. Thanks again for everyone’s help!

As I suspected it wouldn't. You could wire a fix if you wanted to, but you would have to access the back of the combination meter and wire a relay and probably a resistor. Most likely more trouble than it is worth, but if you wanted to do it, I could figure it out.

 

[Ed_C]

Made those wiring changes and now everything g works! Low beams and high beams. The high beam indicator does not work, but I don’t mind that. Thanks again for everyone’s help!

So the indicator worked when you had the drivers wired to the OEM common 12v and lowbeam ground, but now it doesn't work when you grounded the drivers to chassis?

 

[IBallEngineer]

So the indicator worked when you had the drivers wired to the OEM common 12v and lowbeam ground, but now it doesn't work when you grounded the drivers to chassis?

So I thought about this a little more, and its actually quite simple. Follow me by looking at the wiring diagram http://web.archive.org/web/20100203045235/http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1996/SIL/techinfo.toyota.com/ileaf/ewdtmc2/ewdtmpdf/ewdsourc/2002/024runne/systemci/019hl.pdf
When the headlight relay supplies power to the fuses, both filaments of the headlight have power, but they are each grounded independently. When the switch grounds the high beam filament the high beams are turned on, but the low beam filament still has current flowing through it looking for a ground. It then flows to the junction block through connector 1K, then out through connector 1J terminal 3, but since the switch is no providing ground in the high beam position the low beam is not turned on. The current is still seeking ground so it flows out term 4 of connector 1J and it encounters the High Beam indicator lamp, flows through the lamp and finds ground, which lights the High beam indicator. When you move the ground away from the OEM system, there is no longer current flowing to the indicator lamp.
:couch2:

 

[Ed_C]

Unfortunately Alldata unreasonably raised their annual (individual vehicle) subscription renewals and I didn't save my Tundra's headlight diagram, I wanted to compare it to the 4Runner diagram. It's also too damn cold to connect just a bixenon solenoid to verify the indicator works.

 

[IBallEngineer]

Unfortunately Alldata unreasonably raised their annual (individual vehicle) subscription renewals and I didn't save my Tundra's headlight diagram, I wanted to compare it to the 4Runner diagram. It's also too damn cold to connect just a bixenon solenoid to verify the indicator works.

What year Tundra, I have the ability to access to Alldata and print something.