Four Headlight Relay

[Drachen]

I recently bought a 2002 Intrigue. Loving the car so far, although I haven't made the first payment yet.



I have only one complaint with the car, so far: When the high beams are turned on, the low beams go off. This is the first time I've ever owned a car where this happens (by design, at least )

I have to travel some poorly lit roads at night, with lots of deer and other critters lurking in the woods, so IMO the more light I can throw on the road, the better. I installed a set of Sylvania Silverstar bulbs (both low and high beam) which was somewhat of an improvement.

On e-bay, I located a relay designed for Chevy/GMC trucks that would keep the low beams lit when the high-beams are switched on, but the seller (painlesswiring.com) couldn't tell me if this would work on the Intrigue. (Their advice: "Try it, it wouldn't hurt anything")

Has anyone found something that will work without screwing-up the electrical system?

Drachen

[Renegade2k]

I was thinking about the same thing. I haven't tried it myself but as long as you know how to do wiring it is pretty simple. All you do is have a relay powered by the highbeam that is connected to the low beam. when the low beam is on the relay is off. When you switch to high beam the relay trips and the power flows to both.

A smart system will have a wire for the low beam relay connected directly to the battery. Other wise you could overload the wire for your high beam.

I don't reccomend such system for a car w/ just two bulbs though because the bulbs have a tendancy to burn out. Especially when you aren't moving down the road.

[Renegade2k]

Sorry, I drew up a diagram for myself and you will need two relays.
1. Cut the High beam Hot wire
2. Splice the High beam wire w/ two wires
3. Run one wire to each relay to trigger it
4. Put the neg side of the relays to ground
5. Run a fused wire directly from the battery as your power to the switched
terminal of both relays
7. Run the output from one of the relays to your loose High beam wire
8. Splice in the other relay output to your factory Low beam Hot wire

[Drachen]

Originally Posted by Renegade2k

Sorry, I drew up a diagram for myself and you will need two relays.
1. Cut the High beam Hot wire
2. Splice the High beam wire w/ two wires
3. Run one wire to each relay to trigger it
4. Put the neg side of the relays to ground
5. Run a fused wire directly from the battery as your power to the switched
terminal of both relays
7. Run the output from one of the relays to your loose High beam wire
8. Splice in the other relay output to your factory Low beam Hot wire

Sounds pretty straight forward. I'm guessing that the relays and the fuse in the hot wire from the battery to them need to be the same amperage as the headlight fuse?

Thanks for the advise. I'll let you know how it goes once I work up the nerve to start cutting wires.

Drachen

[Renegade2k]

Just make sure that you get a thick enough wire to power all four headlights. Remember, you are putting twice the load on the wire

[Ruley73]

Can you please cite some examples of vehicles which this does not occur? To my knowledge all automobiles are set up to use either the low beams OR the high beams at any given time regardless of the lighting configuration it has. Every vehicle I've ever owned or encountered at work is like this be it a domestic or an import.

[paulkramer]

I never thought of it, that this is why the high beams suck on these cars. I frequently find myself holding the "flash to pass" position on the light lever - doing so keeps the high and low beams on simultaneously. Pain in the rear, especially on a winding road.

[Burnout524]

Originally Posted by paulkramer

I frequently find myself holding the "flash to pass" position on the light lever - doing so keeps the high and low beams on simultaneously.

Yeah, I end up doing that too. But the only dimly lit (well, not lit) road I travel on happens to be the road I live on and I'm on the road for less than .1 mile. I told my dad about this when we were out running errands one night and he said that the lit area was about normal. But I'm in the same ball park you're in. It's either see what's in front of you (low beams) or see father away, but not see directly infront of the car (high beams).

[Drachen]

Originally Posted by Ruley73

Can you please cite some examples of vehicles which this does not occur? To my knowledge all automobiles are set up to use either the low beams OR the high beams at any given time regardless of the lighting configuration it has. Every vehicle I've ever owned or encountered at work is like this be it a domestic or an import.

My '95 Grand Prix Coupe, which is the car the Intrigue replaced, would light up all four headlights on highbeam. Same with the '83 Capri I once owned.

Drachen

[Drachen]

I never thought of it, that this is why the high beams suck on these cars. I frequently find myself holding the "flash to pass" position on the light lever - doing so keeps the high and low beams on simultaneously. Pain in the rear, especially on a winding road..

The Silverstars I installed made a big difference, but still I would like to have all four bulbs lit on highbeam. My nephew works on cars, so I'll probably have him rig up the relays for me when I see him this Christmas.

I may have him install a set of aftermarket fog lamps too, since he's already getting his hands dirty for his favorite uncle.

Drachen

[illinoiswronski]

Have you done this yet? I played around with this system a while ago and as I recall, the +12V power goes to the headlights at all times (both high and low beams). They are switched on the return path or ground path back to the battery. I think this will make wiring up your relays a bit different than you expect.

[Ruley73]

Originally Posted by Drachen

My '95 Grand Prix Coupe, which is the car the Intrigue replaced, would light up all four headlights on highbeam. Same with the '83 Capri I once owned.

Drachen

I'm not calling you a liar, but I know for a fact that my brother's '94 GP coupe (identical to the '95 and '96 in appearance) only lit up the two inner bulbs with the high beams on. I also own a '95 Buick Regal with similar setup and it only lights up two at a time.

Virtually all modern vehicles with a four headlight setup will illuminate the two inner bulbs with the high beams switched on and the two outer bulbs with the low beams switched on. Also, if the car is equipped foglights they are disabled when the high beams are switched on.

We have no problem seeing at night with my girlfriend's '99 Intrigue GL. This is a big concern considering all the deer around here.

Are you sure the headlamp assemblies are aimed properly? That can drastically affect your visibility at night.

[Drachen]

Originally Posted by Ruley73

I'm not calling you a liar, but I know for a fact that my brother's '94 GP coupe (identical to the '95 and '96 in appearance) only lit up the two inner bulbs with the high beams on. I also own a '95 Buick Regal with similar setup and it only lights up two at a time.

Virtually all modern vehicles with a four headlight setup will illuminate the two inner bulbs with the high beams switched on and the two outer bulbs with the low beams switched on. Also, if the car is equipped foglights they are disabled when the high beams are switched on.

My GP had the low-profile sealed beam headlamps as opposed to the aero units. Maybe that's the difference.

We have no problem seeing at night with my girlfriend's '99 Intrigue GL. This is a big concern considering all the deer around here.

Are you sure the headlamp assemblies are aimed properly? That can drastically affect your visibility at night.

Headlights are aimed properly.

Just FYI, I live in an area of Georgia that is still very rural, so the roads are not well lit. The low beams light up the sides of the road well, but dont throw out light very far. The high beam project farther but leave the sides of the road dark.

I want it all!!!!

I haven't tried messing with this yet, so I can't give you any updates, Illinoiswronski.