A Guide for Rewiring LEDs Into Halos
A car's headlights is the driver's first line of defense against accidents. They both illuminate the road ahead and provide other drivers with a visual indicator of your direction. Most modern headlights are halogen, or halos, and produce light similar to an incandescent light bulb. More modern LED lights produce light using a semiconductor as the illumination source. LEDs are significantly more energy efficient than their HALO counterparts and allow designers more flexibility in light shapes and patterns.
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Things You'll Need
- Screwdriver
- Electrical tape
- Wire stripper
- Wire crimper
- Female crimp connectors
- Insulated wire (black and red)
- Male crimp connectors
- Quick connectors
- Test light
Instructions
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1
Open the front hood of your car and remove the screws that secure the headlamps to the vehicle. Disconnect the headlamps from the vehicle's electrical connections by pulling off the connectors. Some connectors require you to depress a locking mechanism before pulling the connection apart.
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2
Group the wires on the back of the LED Halo headlamp by color and tape them together with electrical tape to prevent them from tangling.
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3
Strip a half an inch of insulation off the end of each of the wires on the back of the headlamp. Twist the end of each wire one to two full revolutions to keep the multi-stranded wires together.
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4
Twist together the white wires and insert them into the end of the female crimp connector. Compress the connector with the wire crimper to secure the wires. Wrap the connection between the wire and the connector with electrical tape to prevent water penetration.
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5
Twist together the black wires and insert them into the end of the female crimp connectors. Compress the connector with the wire crimper and wrap the connection between the wire and the connector with electrical tape.
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6
Cut an 8-inch section of black and red wire with wire cutters. Strip half an inch of insulation off one end of each wire and install a male crimp connector on the stripped ends.
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7
Secure the black alligator clip from the test light to a grounding point near the vehicle's headlights. Any bare metal works as a ground. Turn the headlights on using the driver's controls.
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8
Probe the headlight electrical connector with the red probe on the test light until it illuminates. This indicates the power wire for the headlight.
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9
Connect the 8-inch red wire to the power wire for the headlight with a quick connector. These work by placing each wire in the connector's groves and closing the gate. Wrap the connection in electrical tape.
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10
Connect the 8-inch black wire to the black ground wire for the headlight with a quick connector. Wrap the connection in electrical tape.
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11
Push the red wire male connector into white wire female connector on the back of the headlight. Push the black wire male connector into the black wire female connector. Push the vehicle's headlight connector into the power connector on the back of the headlight.
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12
Install the new light onto the vehicle's body by reversing the process you used to remove the stock headlamps.
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References
- Photo Credit George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images
