Beefing Up Wiring Loom - Lights, Alternator And Starter Etc

[GLPoomobile 958]

Since it needs doing anyway, and it seems to be the 'in vogue' upgrade at the moment, I'll be replacing the old brown multi connector for the engine loom with one of these snazzy weatherproof items soon. When I say 'replacing' I actually mean 'adding' since the old brown block fell off last year

 

I quite fancy challenging myself with a few more electrical tasks as well, namely upgrading the wiring to the alternator, the starter, the headlights and checking/replacing all earth points. But I need some advice.....

 

1) Alternator and starter should be easy enough I imagine - just replace exiting wiring. But what cabling should I use for this? I have a Vehicle Wiring Products catalogue here, and some of it is self explanatory, but still I'd appreciate some input so that I actually use the right quality/rating of cable.

 

2) Headlights. Again, what sort of cabelling should I use?

 

3) Headlights. What is the best method of beefing up the loom? I seem to recal reading that if you want to run larger wattage bulbs, to avoid burning out the loom you should beef it up and run a feed direct from the battery or something like that. Can anyone spend 10/15 minutes explaining how to do this in laymens terms - what goes where etc?

 

Cheers

[Craigb 2]

3) Headlights. What is the best method of beefing up the loom? I seem to recal reading that if you want to run larger wattage bulbs, to avoid burning out the loom you should beef it up and run a feed direct from the battery or something like that. Can anyone spend 10/15 minutes explaining how to do this in laymens terms - what goes where etc?

 

Cheers

 

I've just done this with my main beam

 

Fitted a relay near to the head light , used the current feed to the main beam as a switch to the relay and wired 12v to the main beam via the relay .

 

The effect when i did the first one was as if the car was winking . 12V instead of 10V . I used 17 amp cable from VWP

[GLPoomobile 958]

What relay would I need to use?

 

So do I have this right? You split the exiting positive feed and fit the relay in between, and then wire a better quality piece of cable directly from the battery to the relay (which presumably has 3 pins).

[Craigb 2]

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...mp;hl=spotlight

 

I think Steve did something similar in this link , but relayed dipped and main beam

[GLPoomobile 958]

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...mp;hl=spotlight

 

I think Steve did something similar in this link , but relayed dipped and main beam

 

I have read through that topic but it doesn't really make sense to me. I'm a bit useless with wiring diagrams (been so long since school and was never much good with electrics).

 

I should be able to follow a basic wiring diagram with some guidance. Just need an explanation is of exactly what I need to do. Something a child could understand.

[Craigb 2]

Run a 17 amp or larger cable from the battery via a fuse to one terminal on a relay run the existing dipped or main beam cable to the switch side of the relay, take a cable from the switched side of the relay to a good earth . Take a 17 amp cable from the relay to the head light or main beam .

 

 

I don't have a relay in front of me to tell the exact pins on the relay , so if someone wants to edit this , please feel free

[Paintguy 0]

To provide reliable power to my stereo system, I upgraded the main under-bonnet wiring like you're suggesting. I use 4AWG cable, which is around 19mm².

 

I didn't remove the existing wiring, but supplimented it with the new stuff. I went from the alternator to the battery, but bypassed the starter as there was no need to upgrade that for my purpose.

 

I also upgraded all the earth leads with the same sized cable:

 

Battery to Chassis

Battery to Gearbox

Gearbox to chassis.

 

Doing all three was a bit OTT, but then I am running 0AWG wire to my amps (52mm²)

[MikeHunt79 0]

Every volt counts with lightbulbs... even a couple of volts can make a noticable difference in brightness and colour temp.

 

I used a relay to wire up my foglights, as I'm using a GTI bumper on a standard car. I ran both positive and earth straight from the battery, with thick wire.

Edited January 18, 2007 by MikeHunt79