Head light wiring

[XLRBART]

I got a couple of new to me headlights off of ebay and the plugs have different ends.My question is do I need to buy the adapter harnesses or can I cut the plugs off my old lights and solder them on the new lights


Thanks Bart

 

[cubby558]

Bart,

The headlights you received were probably for '06 and up model years. There was an issue with the '04 & '05 lenses crazing. The newer headlamps with an adapter harness corrected the problem. You will have to get the harness, which will plug into the existing wiring and into your new headlamps. Check with your dealer or look online at someone like gmpartsdirect.com for the harness.

I got a couple of new to me headlights off of ebay and the plugs have different ends.My question is do I need to buy the adapter harnesses or can I cut the plugs off my old lights and solder them on the new lights


Thanks Bart

 

[XLRBART]

Bart,

The headlights you received were probably for '06 and up model years. There was an issue with the '04 & '05 lenses crazing. The newer headlamps with an adapter harness corrected the problem. You will have to get the harness, which will plug into the existing wiring and into your new headlamps. Check with your dealer or look online at someone like gmpartsdirect.com for the harness.

Thanks what I'm getting at is instead of buying an adapter harness just look at the wiring diagrams and see if you can cut the ends off both lights and switch them as long as there aren't any diodes or resistors in the adapter harness it should be a doable swap just wanted to know if anyone has tried this


Thanks Bart

 

[lextoy]

thats alot of wires !!
and then you lose the ability to unplug the harness if necessary.
unless you use splice in connectors, then thats even more soldering.
yikes
i would go with the harness adapters...
are they expensive??

 

[XLRBART]

thats alot of wires !!
and then you lose the ability to unplug the harness if necessary.
unless you use splice in connectors, then thats even more soldering.
yikes
i would go with the harness adapters...
are they expensive??

I just wondered if anyone has cut the plug off the old light and soldered it to the new light doesn't look like there's that many wires

 

[Stella]

Just a question arn't the newer headlamp directional,meaning they slightly move in relation to the steering wheel? I personally wouldn't mess with soldering the old plugs on the newer lights. With all the electronic nightmares these cars could have. I wouldn't want to cause one. The adapters can't b that much especially after dishing out the money for the headlamps. Don't wanna burn them up!
Would like to see a picture of the wrap on your car if possible good luck with your headlights.

 

[ccclarke]

The headlight adapter harness P/N is: 19120977. The' 04-05 headlights were prone to craze on the DRLs. The headlights were changed in '06 to fix that problem and incorporate Adaptive Forward Lighting, which meant a revised connector. To ensure backwards compatibility with the 04 and 05 models, an adapter harness was necessary.

There's no reason a newer headlight can't be spliced into the existing harness, but it has to be done properly. If you want to do it, I recommend lap splices instead of hook splices. Never use electrical tape to cover the splices. Instead, use heat shrink (3M polyolefin works great) and ensure the wire bundles are secured and protected against chaffing. The replacement pigtail wiring harnesses I cited above are well-made and make headlamp replacement much easier.

CCC

 

[lextoy]

duh,
i understand now, solder the old original plug onto the new lights. exactly like you said in your original post
so you maintain ability to plug and unplug.
i bet there are extra wires on the newer lights, so you would have wires left over.
buy one adapter to check it out, see what goes to what,
if you can duplicate it easily with splicing, then return the harness,
if it looks like a PITA, buy one more harness and you are good to go.

 

[XLRBART]

Just a question arn't the newer headlamp directional,meaning they slightly move in relation to the steering wheel? I personally wouldn't mess with soldering the old plugs on the newer lights. With all the electronic nightmares these cars could have. I thanks wouldn't want to cause one. The adapters can't b that much especially after dishing out the money for the headlamps. Don't wanna burn them up!
Would like to see a picture of the wrap on your car if possible good luck with your headlights.

Thanks I have been off work with a foot injury and have more time then money and being a boat mechanic I have repaired many harnesses so I'm not worried to much about the soldering and heat shrinking I just wondered if the harness had any diodes or resistors in it. here is a picture of the car when it was wrapped I had the wrap removed because it was 3 years old and was getting some bad spots.

 

[Stella]

Thanks I have been off work with a foot injury and have more time then money and being a boat mechanic I have repaired many harnesses so I'm not worried to much about the soldering and heat shrinking I just wondered if the harness had any diodes or resistors in it. here is a picture of the car when it was wrapped I had the wrap removed because it was 3 years old and was getting some bad spots.

If your a mechanic you should be more than qualified to do what your asking. Just take you time make sound connections and make sure their water tight using a quality heat shrink. Majority of members here are not mechanically inclined nor want to be.
The flat silver wrap looks good. Couple of questions on that how do the corners and edges look? No bubbling and nice and clean edges? How did the paint look when taken off. Does it have the quality of a factory paint job. I want to carbon fiber my hood and the center part of the roof and trunk deck but worried about the final product quality "cut edges". And most important if I take it off what the paint will look like?

 

[XLRBART]

If your a mechanic you should be more than qualified to do what your asking. Just take you time make sound connections and make sure their water tight using a quality heat shrink. Majority of members here are not mechanically inclined nor want to be.
The flat silver wrap looks good. Couple of questions on that how do the corners and edges look? No bubbling and nice and clean edges? How did the paint look when taken off. Does it have the quality of a factory paint job. I want to carbon fiber my hood and the center part of the roof and trunk deck but worried about the final product quality "cut edges". And most important if I take it off what the paint will look like?

when we got the wrap off we found some primer spots that we had to paint but the factory paint was fine took some elbow grease to get the sticky off we painted from the doors forward but the rest of the car is original.Thanks for clarifying the head light issues I just wasn't sure if there were any resistors or diodes in the adapter harness

 

[XLRBART]

when we got the wrap off we found some primer spots that we had to paint but the factory paint was fine took some elbow grease to get the sticky off we painted from the doors forward but the rest of the car is original.Thanks for clarifying the head light issues I just wasn't sure if there were any resistors or diodes in the adapter harness

and the wrap had no bubbles but it had a little wrinkle and some spots discolored that's why we removed it I would say it didn't hurt the paint at all it's just not good out in the sun for long periods of time

 

[lextoy]

wow!
like the car better in blue
any pics of the interior customization ?
our seats are a bit plain...
i see you got a bit of two tone diamond stitching going on in there!

 

[Stella]

and the wrap had no bubbles but it had a little wrinkle and some spots discolored that's why we removed it I would say it didn't hurt the paint at all it's just not good out in the sun for long periods of time

Yeah I can see the sun being a problem where your at. Even the heat making the adhesive goowie. Looks good both colors. Are u gonna wrap it again?

 

[XLRBART]

Yeah I can see the sun being a problem where your at. Even the heat making the adhesive goowie. Looks good both colors. Are u gonna wrap it again?

no I bought the car with the wrap on it.It was cool but I like something I can wax so we will leave it blue. I figured out witch wires to splice and was able to put the old style plug on the new style headlight. I don't have any good pictures of the interior but heres one

 

[hawkeye372]

no I bought the car with the wrap on it.It was cool but I like something I can wax so we will leave it blue. I figured out witch wires to splice and was able to put the old style plug on the new style headlight. I don't have any good pictures of the interior but heres one

The interior looks cool with the design and its matching door panels. Very custom work the previous own did?

 

[XLRBART]

The interior looks cool with the design and its matching door panels. Very custom work the previous own did?

yes the previous owner had that done I want to do a few things to it if I keep the car, the head lights were the first stepping stone I got the car right before I found out my feet problems were allot more serious than first thought.That's why I needed to convert the plugs on the headlights instead of just buying the adapter harnesses but I absolutely love these cars and this forum has been very helpful a big thank you to all of you

 

[XLRBART]

got the drivers side headlight installed witch was a little scary cause it had some imperfections in the lens and I got one of those Mother's restoration kits it was the first time I used it followed the instructions and it looks great the lights all worked as they were supposed to then to the passenger side witch I felt would be easier since I did one already I cut the wires soldered and heat shrank them installed the light plugged it in fired up the car had high and low beams but one running light and the turn signal didn't work pulled the head light out getting ready to cut into the harness and it dawned on me maybe I should check the light bulbs and sure enough the bulbs were bad. Usually I would have torn apart all my work .I preach to my mechanics keep it simple this was the first time I listened to myself funny how that works all in all it was a good experience and makes the car look 100 times better thanks for your help

 

[lextoy]

the custom interior looks good, and looks like it was well done, panels are tight and stitching even.
congrats on the headlight project.
any issues with aiming the lights? theres a vertical adjustment on the headlight, like a funnel with an allen socket inside.
not sure with the side to side aiming...

 

[XLRBART]

the custom interior looks good, and looks like it was well done, panels are tight and stitching even.
congrats on the headlight project.
any issues with aiming the lights? theres a vertical adjustment on the headlight, like a funnel with an allen socket inside.
not sure with the side to side aiming...

I saw those adjustments but I haven't been able to drive the car.I will pull it out and aim them on the garage door and see how it looks thanks again for the positive response and the tech help