If you are unhappy with your factory-installed headlights, upgrade them with aftermarket projector headlights. Most factory-installed headlights have internal reflectors that disburse the light from the headlight bulb across the road; projector headlights feature a ring around the headlight bulb that focuses the light into a projection. Most projector headlights cost a few hundred dollars, but you can save on labor by installing them yourself. Expect the installation to take a few hours.
Instructions
Standard Installation
1. Turn off your vehicle. Prop open the hood with the hood support rod.
2. Press in on the side tabs on the two wiring harnesses on the rear of your current headlight assemblies. Pull the wiring harnesses off of the headlight assemblies. Note which one connects to the low beam headlight bulb and which to the high beam headlight bulb.
3. Remove any visible bolts from the top and rear of the headlight assembly with your socket wrench set. Lift the headlight assembly off of its mounting bracket. Pry it back and forth if it is loose but does not come out all the way. If it does not budge, continue to the next step. Otherwise, skip to Step 5.
4. Remove the turn-signal assembly, grille and bumper in that order and look for hidden bolts that continue to secure your headlight assembly in place. Check for hidden bolts and try to remove the headlight assembly each time you remove one more extraneous part. Although the exact procedure for removing these parts varies by make and model of vehicle, in general: the fasteners for the turn-signal assembly and the grille are on top of them and the fasteners for the bumper are below it and in the front wheel wells.
5. Set your new projector headlights on the mounting bracket where the old headlights resided. Plug the low beam headlight wiring harness into the socket for the low beam headlights on the projector headlight assembly. Plug the high beam headlight wiring harness into the socket for the high beam headlights on the projector headlight assembly. Secure the projector headlight assembly in place by remounting the bolts removed earlier.
Installation for Projector Headlights without Rear Sockets
6. Follow the procedures in Section 1 to remove your current headlight assembly.
7. Gather the wires on the rear of the projector headlight assembly for the low beam headlight into one pair of white wires and one pair of black wires. Strip 1 inch of insulation off the ends of each wire. Braid the exposed leads of the white wires together. Braid the exposed leads of the black wires together. Insert the braided leads of the white wires through a female crimp connector. Clamp the connector down with your pliers. Wrap the connection in electrical tape to prevent moisture entering the circuit. Insert the braided leads of the black wires through a female crimp connector. Clamp the connector down with your pliers. Wrap the connection in electrical tape to prevent moisture.
8. Strip 1 inch of insulation off of the spare red and spare black wire that comes with your projector headlights. Insert the lead of the red wire through a male crimp connector and insert the lead of the black wire through another male crimp connector. Clamp the connections down with pliers and wrap in electrical tape.
9. Connect the negative lead of the voltmeter to the negative battery cable terminal. Connect the positive lead of the voltmeter to the positive wire on the low beam headlight wiring harness. Determine which wire is the positive wire by using the voltmeter. Connect that wire to the red wire with the male crimp connector using your quick connector. Clamp the connector down with your pliers. Connect the neutral wire from the low beam headlight wiring harness to the spare black wire with the male crimp connector using another quick connector and clamp the connection down with your pliers. Insert the male crimp connectors from this new ad hoc wiring harness through the female crimp connectors from the projector headlights and seal the connection with electrical tape.
10. Repeat these steps for the high beam headlight wiring harness from the vehicle and the high beam headlight wires from the projector headlight. Repeat these steps again for the projector headlight assembly on the passenger side.
Tags: headlight assembly, beam headlight, with your, crimp connector, projector headlight, wiring harness
