Headlight Upgrade

[chrisyork]

Hi Tony - 55W is fine for the wiring, but perhaps not for an S2 fuse box!

The subject of the S2 fusebox is done to death elsewhere on the forum. What I mean by this is the fuse box type that has a nice labelled cover and lives in the passenger glovebox. Early S2 cars actually have many S1 features, including the wiring and fuse box layout, so these are not affected.

The "S2" fusebox is used without apparent problem in the P5B, so there is clearly something odd about its installation in the P6. There seem to be three funadamental problems. First, the black plastic of which it is made has a very low melting point - and a correspondingly very low flame point!! In English that means you risk having your car set on fire if there is any problem in the fuse box :shock: Next, it is possible to use metric fuses, which are slightly shorter than the correct imperial ones and have been known to cause overheating of the terminals. Finally, it seems that the loom manufacturer didn't always get the crimping of wires to the fuse terminals as tight as they could be.

All the above taken together make the S2 fuse box extremely vulnerable to the most minor of problems.

Any one wanting to do anything unusual electricaly in a car with an S2 fuse box is advised to be overly cautious! If in doubt, fit a relay! For Cars with S1 fuseboxes normal rules apply.

Chris

 

[sowen]

Hi Tony - 55W is fine for the wiring, but perhaps not for an S2 fuse box!

The subject of the S2 fusebox is done to death elsewhere on the forum. What I mean by this is the fuse box type that has a nice labelled cover and lives in the passenger glovebox. Early S2 cars actually have many S1 features, including the wiring and fuse box layout, so these are not affected.

The "S2" fusebox is used without apparent problem in the P5B, so there is clearly something odd about its installation in the P6. There seem to be three funadamental problems. First, the black plastic of which it is made has a very low melting point - and a correspondingly very low flame point!! In English that means you risk having your car set on fire if there is any problem in the fuse box :shock: Next, it is possible to use metric fuses, which are slightly shorter than the correct imperial ones and have been known to cause overheating of the terminals. Finally, it seems that the loom manufacturer didn't always get the crimping of wires to the fuse terminals as tight as they could be.

All the above taken together make the S2 fuse box extremely vulnerable to the most minor of problems.

Any one wanting to do anything unusual electricaly in a car with an S2 fuse box is advised to be overly cautious! If in doubt, fit a relay! For Cars with S1 fuseboxes normal rules apply.

Chris

That probably explains why for some reason I have a single fuse running the drivers front sidelight while all the others run off the adjacent fuse :shock:

I've fitted a set of halogen dip/main replacement lights to my rover sourced from ebay, I think there's a link earlier in the thread to the ones I bought. I had to file some new notches into the light retainers to locate the tabs on the new lights to get them to seat correctly and level. I have however fitted four dip/main lights, but only wired in the outer dip. This gives me spare dipped bulbs in the adjacent headlight, by either swapping the bulbs over or simply plugging in the inner instead of the outer as a 'get me home' fix.

As for the relays, after having a lot of trouble with the wiring in my land rover and uprated lights, I've gone ultra safe belts and braces and wired in two relays each side on the inner wings individually for the dipped and main beams. I've made a piggy back wiring loom taken off the main battery power post in the drivers footwell with heavy guage wiring following the existing wiring loom down both sides of the engine bay to supply the relays. I will fit two inline fuses in an accessible area probably behind each glovebox when I find some suitable ones.

I've also made new earth points near to the lights directly on the inner wings bypassing the original wiring as I found the original bullet type connectors weren't up to it with all four main beams running considering the age of the wiring.

 

[neilc]

I fitted Cibie Halogen repalcements today and the difference is well worth it - main beam needs a bit of refocussing - but the real difference is being able to see on dip beam in oncoming traffic - nice sharp white light. The swap is very easy - took me half an hour tops to do all four. I opted for Osram Silverstar bulbs - a bit more expensive, but I think the lighting is now better than any classic or modern I've driven. I think the lenses look pretty good too - nice clean sharp crisp look. Ordered everything from Demon Tweeks - not cheap, but you can be sure you will get good quality that fits without fiddling about.

 

[Tom W]

I think I'd better look at fitting some relays. I don't like the idea of the fuse box catching fire, even though I've had no hint of problems yet. The nights will be drawing in soon, so the lights will be getting more use.

 

[Dave3066]

I fitted Cibie Halogen repalcements today and the difference is well worth it - main beam needs a bit of refocussing - but the real difference is being able to see on dip beam in oncoming traffic - nice sharp white light. The swap is very easy - took me half an hour tops to do all four. I opted for Osram Silverstar bulbs - a bit more expensive, but I think the lighting is now better than any classic or modern I've driven. I think the lenses look pretty good too - nice clean sharp crisp look. Ordered everything from Demon Tweeks - not cheap, but you can be sure you will get good quality that fits without fiddling about.

Hi Rich

Did the replacement units fit straight in or did you need the mounting rings too? Do you have the product numbers for all the bits you bought? I'm looking to replace my dip/main units only as I think the 75W inners are more than bright enough.

I think I'd better look at fitting some relays.

Tom as a minimum you really only need relays on the main beam inners as they draw the most current. Using a relay to draw all that current away from the fuse box would certainly keep it a lot cooler

Cheers

 

[Tom W]

When I fit relays, I'll fit them to all the headlight bulbs, just to be safe. I'm not sure yet what size relays I need yet, and what's the best way to arrange them. I.e. separate relays per side, or is one enough to cover both, and do I group the inners and outers under the same relays, or do they need to be run by separate relays.

I think I'll do this before I do any more night driving, the stories about igniting fuseboxes sound quite scary.

 

[Dave3066]

When I fit relays, I'll fit them to all the headlight bulbs, just to be safe. I'm not sure yet what size relays I need yet, and what's the best way to arrange them. I.e. separate relays per side, or is one enough to cover both, and do I group the inners and outers under the same relays, or do they need to be run by separate relays.

I think I'll do this before I do any more night driving, the stories about igniting fuseboxes sound quite scary.

Under normal working loads the fuse box should be ok. It only gets a bit hot if you use fuses that are too short or if there is excessive load on a circuit. Have you had a look at the condition of the fuse box? Are there any signs of heat damage or melting plastic? If it looks in good condition and the fuses are the correct length then all should be ok.

I would group the headlamps under 1 relay for the inners and 1 for the outers. This keeps the amount of wiring to a minimum and makes it easier to fault find should the lights stop working. You can work out the correct size of relay needed using the formula: Power = Voltage x Current or Watts = Volts x Amps. So for 75W inner headlamps, operating from 1 relay, the current drawn will be (2x75)/12 = 12.5 Amps. A standard 4 blade 20 amp relay will do the job. If you want added safety then a fused relay would be better. Also remember that if you run the headlamps through relays you reduce the current draw on the lighting fuses significantly (from the 12.5A above, down to several milliamps) which, without having the wiring diagram in front of me, would mean the 20A (or is it 15A?)lighting fuse in the fusebox would be way over the top. Once all the relays are fitted and the lighting circuits have been checked I'd be tempted to put an ammeter across the fuse holder to see how much current the relays themselves were drawing and fit an appropriately rated fuse to protect the modified circuitry.

That's what I intend doing but it would be good if someone who has actually done this mod to the lights could confirm.

Dave

 

[Billy Reilly]

Hi all, just a word on replacement headlights. I have replaced my inner and outer units with halogen outer and sealed beam inner, they work perfectly and certainly bring the lights up to modern standard, the only thing is you will need the beam re-set.
I have had the car mot'd since with no problems and thats in Northern Ireland! anyway they look great with the original curved glass.
The reason I did this was because I was worrried if a 40 year old lamp blows especially on the way to mot, where would I get a replacement? no probs now just a bulb needed.
I was also fed up with being blinded at night by modern lights, no problem now as the lights are now as good as any on the road.
The cost of the lamps I got are £12 each plus p&p.

If you need any info give me a call Billy on 07969752983

 

[Tom W]

£12 each is a good price I paid about £25 each when I upgraded mine (genuine Lucas). I didn't need to reset the headlamps to get through the MOT, unless the garage changed it without telling me.

Tom