I am going to back track a bit on my previous statement as to the wiring and cutting the tan wire. Cutting the tan wire and wiring it as described (and yes you do understand my description properly) will only work if you do so before the circuit splits to the two bulbs. If you do this after the split, you will only get one bulb.

So you either need to find the split by peeling back the loom on the wiring and splice in on the chassis side of the split or simply tap the line and feed +12V back into it through the relay.

By tapping the line (connecting a wire to the line without cutting it), you could then use only the normally open (pin 87) contacts on the relay. In this configuration, you would connect pin 30 to either the tan wire or +12V (battery or switched) and pin 87 to whichever wasn't used for pin 30. It really doesn't matter. Then you'll need the switched side of the relay as previously described (ground & high beam power feed).

As far as keeping your wiring length to a minimum, that is always a good idea. If you tap into the circuit as described above, this can be done at any location in the circuit so the passenger side right near the battery would be an opportune option for keeping things nice and short. Tap both the tan & light green wires at the back of the passenger headlamp, run your ground and power feeds and you're set. Put the inline fuse holder as close to the battery connection as possible and that too will be all set.

I am sorry if this is confusing as well as for the delay in response. I haven't had a lot of time to do much online lately.

 

Thanks again Swartlkk for your time and your patience.

I tapped into the green and tan wires on the passenger side headlight. Ground and a tap on the battery went just fine. Short wires and only four connectors on the relay. The DRL is still off. The only way I might improve this mod would be to use more watts on the low beam. Maybe Hi Beam bulbs from the salvage yard [my 2nd home now] lol.

Now that I've dusted off my solder gun I am thinkin' about attacking that "Dome Override" project. I have searched this forum pretty thoroughly but so far I have only found advice on how to use the override.

Since my 96 didn't come with that option; I'm thinkin about using a later model headlight/cluster adjuster panel [fabricated] in the existing spot for the giant toggle switches. I picked up a 2000 switch panel with 6" of wiring on each plug. I'm not sure if the wiring will integrate "color for color." If so; it's a fabrication/soldering job.

 

I finally had a chance to drive it at night. It really seemed just as before. Low beams were short on lumens and the Hi-Beam mod seemed to make no difference. Then I used the right turn signal. The whole area was lit up like white road work strobes were nearby. Left signal no issue. Then I got out to have a look.

With the Hi Beams on; the low beams flickered together very weakly with almost no power. When I activated the right turn signal the low beams went into "strobe mode." What I though was an underpowered pair of low beam bulbs was really nothing. I mean "NOTHING." In the daylight, the hi-Beam light bleeds through the lenses to appear as weak low beams but they weren't even on.

The only "hitch" I had in completing this mod was the power. I initially plugged into 87a and found the Hi beams on even before I had the key in. So I switched it to 87 and all seemed to be well (or was it 87 and 87a)? No matter. switching the position fixed it. There is only one tan wire in the harness and two green wires; dark green and light green (the one I tapped into).

No sense in pulling it all apart until I figure out some possible solutions. My solders were neat, clean, an inch and a half apart and I waited until the liquid electrical tape was completely dry before putting them back in the loom. Pretty sure its not any 12volt hop. I know the side markers and parking lights [in the bumper] alternate when turn signals are on. Gonna go back to the schematic. I should have taken pix as I went along. Looking through them on my monitor is much more efficient than pulling everything apart again.

I am open to suggestions.

 

Must be wired into the turn signal wire instead of the high beam wire. Possibly an issue with the wiring diagram. That came from Mitchells OnDemand which has always been spot on for me in the past.

I virtually never take non-GM sourced diagrams at face value, choosing to verify function/color of wiring before making modifications. I should have suggested this earlier in the thread.

 

Swartlkk

no worries. I am truly grateful for any and all information I find in these forums. sharing all this information is what makes this forum really fun for me. I don't always agree with how some guys do their mods but I respect their creativity none the less.

I am looking at the image I posted last week on page 1. That was on the driver side. Clearly the tan and black run to the low beam bulb. at the hi-beam it looks like LT green and LT blue. I assumed that since the schematic showed LT green as Hi-beam the blue was a ground.

as I understand it; the passenger side bulbs are the end of the line for this harness - so anything I do to the bulbs wire should effect both sides. wait a minute. I maybe thinking in circles here. I tapped the tan wire, the lt green wire and the battery. ground is to the radiator support. the "wrong wire" must be the lt green one. yes?

 

I would pull the connector off the high beam bulb and test with a multimeter to see which one is the +12V feed from the headlight dimmer switch. Then expose the wiring about 6" back from the headlight bulb connector to splice in your trigger wire.

 

Swartlkk

Thanx for such a speedy reply!

I'm not sure what a multi-meter is but I prolly own one & don't know how to use it.

How about this: I unplug the Hi-Beam bulb and probe both sides of the plug when the dimmer has the Hi-Beam on. This way I can see which wire is hot/on. If that's ok; can I just tap that wire 6" back or do I need to splice (cut) the wire?

 

Tap in. You do not need to cut the wire.

 

Thanks again Swartikk

Everything works great now. I am happy with the amount of light we cast when we want it. I'm not sure I want to swap Hi-Beam bulbs where the low beams are now. I picked up a couple at the yard yesterday "in case."

 

OK. I thought the "double Hi-Beam Bulb trick" would be great.

First, the bulbs with the red rings usually have a double guide for the double slots in the Hi-Beam female (from the Harness). Back to the yard.

second, after finding "single guide" bulbs with the red ring they were beyond bright. So bright that I thought it would be at the least, annoying, to oncoming traffic.

I settled on replacing only the passenger side with the super bright bulb. Now my low beams cast good light with the passenger side also lighting up street signs well.

Done here! Thanks again swartlkk