DIY: CTR non-projector head light rewire

[DA9_GSR]

....if I can track down Ocelaris and Talon's old posts...

I'd like that. I'd love to see how he did it. The OEM 02-03 EP3's have three wires going into the headlight bulbs. One power and two grounds (lo ground and hi ground). All I did was add a second power wire. One goes into the igniter / ballast, the other goes to the hi beam solenoid. The igniter / ballast gets grounded to the bumper beam (the already a cluster of grounds there), and the hi solenoid get grounded the same way the OEM hi beam circuit gets grounded. My colors are obviously different than yours. I apologize for that, but if you apply this to your swap it'll work great.

[DA9_GSR]

You need a test light.

Connect all your connectors and turn the lights on. Attach your test light to the battery negative. Backprobe each of the wires in the headlight conenctor and whichever one lights up is your power wire to the headlights. Note the wire color.

With your low beams on, attach you test light to the battery positive. Backprobe each of the wires in the headlight conenctor and whichever one lights up is your ground wire for the low circuit. Note the wire color.

With your high beams on, attach you test light to the battery positive. Backprobe each of the wires in the headlight conenctor and whichever one lights up is your ground wire for the high circuit. Note the wire color.

Do this to each side and note the wire colors. Once you have that figured come back on here and we'll go from there.

Cool?

[Draw7Seven]

I'll see if I can find an opportunity to get those schemes up, they were amazing but I'm not sure they're hosted anywhere or even can be found on the hatch anymore.

[DA9_GSR]

I'll see if I can find an opportunity to get those schemes up, they were amazing but I'm not sure they're hosted anywhere or even can be found on the hatch anymore.

I'd love to compare. Because I found a contact in Japan and he sent me the OEM wiring diagram for the preface EP3 HID headlights. All I did was mimick it and it works great!

[Red_liner740]

No, not cool. While in essence this will work, you are confusing the power (12V) and ground.

If you trace the Negative terminal (black cable) from the battery you'll find it just bolts to the frame, hence why this is your ground.

So there are not two "grounds" like you mention, but a common ground and two 12V power lines coming from the fuse box.

Why am i stressing this? because down the line someone will read your explanation and think that +'ve is ground and try to "ground" something to it...causing a short circuit and possible damage to a whole lot of crap.

To add...there are systems out there that use switched negative instead of switched positive. For instance, the light always receives 12V but the ground has a relay/switch/whatever to interrupt the circuit and turn the light on and off....No modern car utilizes this....why? Because if that ground rubs through the insulation and touches the frame you've completed the circuit, but because you completed the circuit past the load, the fuse will never blow...so imagine your headlights always on, your wipers not stopping etc etc.

With switched live side (positive), if the insulation rubs off and it grounds itself to the frame, you created a short circuit and the fuse pops...Its a failsafe.

You need a test light.

Connect all your connectors and turn the lights on. Attach your test light to the battery negative. Backprobe each of the wires in the headlight conenctor and whichever one lights up is your power wire to the headlights. Note the wire color.

With your low beams on, attach you test light to the battery positive. Backprobe each of the wires in the headlight conenctor and whichever one lights up is your ground wire for the low circuit. Note the wire color.

With your high beams on, attach you test light to the battery positive. Backprobe each of the wires in the headlight conenctor and whichever one lights up is your ground wire for the high circuit. Note the wire color.

Do this to each side and note the wire colors. Once you have that figured come back on here and we'll go from there.

Cool?

[DA9_GSR]

No, not cool. While in essence this will work, you are confusing the power (12V) and ground.

If you trace the Negative terminal (black cable) from the battery you'll find it just bolts to the frame, hence why this is your ground.

So there are not two "grounds" like you mention, but a common ground and two 12V power lines coming from the fuse box.

Why am i stressing this? because down the line someone will read your explanation and think that +'ve is ground and try to "ground" something to it...causing a short circuit and possible damage to a whole lot of crap.

To add...there are systems out there that use switched negative instead of switched positive. For instance, the light always receives 12V but the ground has a relay/switch/whatever to interrupt the circuit and turn the light on and off....No modern car utilizes this....why? Because if that ground rubs through the insulation and touches the frame you've completed the circuit, but because you completed the circuit past the load, the fuse will never blow...so imagine your headlights always on, your wipers not stopping etc etc.

With switched live side (positive), if the insulation rubs off and it grounds itself to the frame, you created a short circuit and the fuse pops...Its a failsafe.

I am not confusing the powers and grounds. Each headlight has one power and two ground wires in their proper connectors. The headlights have two ground wires to the combination switch and one power wire from respective headlight relay (ultimately from the battery positive). One ground wire is for low beams and the other ground wire is for high beams. They come together after the switch and ground together at G401 on the car. Don't make me break out the wiring diagram!

I haven't made a single mistake and if someone cannot read my instructions properly, it's completely their problem. I'm not responsible for someone's mistake due to not being able to read or understand electrical circuitry.

With all due respect, I'm a licensed tech and have been working in the trade long enough to know what the hell I'm talking about. I'm insulted that you're questionning me.

[Red_liner740]

I'm looking at it right now, and yes i can see where you're coming from, depending on how you've been taught, ground does not start until after the last interrupt. So i read ground as starting after the switch, you read ground as starting before.

And dont starting throwing titles around, cuz i'm a Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer and the wiring diagrams on A/C between the 24VDC, 24VAC, 400V/400Hz electrical make the entire car wiring schematic the same size as the wiring for the toilet light on an Airbus.

[nmysiismyn]

[Draw7Seven]

I want somebody to try this out. I recreated it from memory since the Talon/Ocelaris schematic is no longer hosted on the threads I looked at. Other than memory, I used a couple of other sources across the interwebs. This SHOULD work, but I'm not sure if we've combated the issue of the low beam cutting off when the high beam cuts on. I can't find any mention of that anywhere when I look into how to wire H4 bulbs into modern HID setups. Anyways, I'll continue hosting this or can simply update the image for corrections if people are willing to tell me if it works.

The one I'm basing it off of worked for me for over a year on a TSX retrofit. The trick is I don't own the car anymore and can't find the diagrams ANYWHERE so I'm going from memory... bear with me, no flames. Trying to put up some ephatch resources here.

[DA9_GSR]

I'm looking at it right now, and yes i can see where you're coming from, depending on how you've been taught, ground does not start until after the last interrupt. So i read ground as starting after the switch, you read ground as starting before.

And dont starting throwing titles around, cuz i'm a Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer and the wiring diagrams on A/C between the 24VDC, 24VAC, 400V/400Hz electrical make the entire car wiring schematic the same size as the wiring for the toilet light on an Airbus.

I'm simply implying that I'm not some loser who doesn't know what he's doing. I've had formal training, and know how to read and build wiring schematics. I'm also not making any of this up, I've simply copied what Honda Japan did from factory with their JDM EP3 HID headlight schematics. I've spent countless hours mocking up, bench testing, and calculating my method prior to posting and installing on my vehicle and it works. I've even gone as far as having an electrical engineer guide me through this. It works, and is safe. Case and point.

I'm done with this arguement. Do whatever you want. I'm not liable for anyone elses problems.

[BigE19]

I'm simply implying that I'm not some loser who doesn't know what he's doing. I've had formal training, and know how to read and build wiring schematics. I'm also not making any of this up, I've simply copied what Honda Japan did from factory with their JDM EP3 HID headlight schematics. I've spent countless hours mocking up, bench testing, and calculating my method prior to posting and installing on my vehicle and it works. I've even gone as far as having an electrical engineer guide me through this. It works, and is safe. Case and point.

I'm done with this arguement. Do whatever you want. I'm not liable for anyone elses problems.

ahh i didnt want this to turn into a pissing match. DA9 i know youve already done this swap and you posted to help other. i appreciate it, Im just confused on some certain wires. Shouldnt be hard to work out. Thanks everyone thats chimed in. ill post up soon with the outcome

[Draw7Seven]

I really suggest a fused relay harness on any H4 to HID setup, but I don't have an engineering degree or any electrical training.