Author Topic: H1/H4 headlight upgrade  (Read 18941 times)

P. Kennedy

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« on: January 11, 2008, 05:27:56 PM »
Just wanted to pass along how easy, affordable and worthwhile this was.  Sorry, no photos, as it was barely above zero and the camera kept fogging up.

I purchased 1 pair each of Autopal brand H1's (high beam) and H4's (low beam) from an eBay store called Rimi Inc.  If I remember correctly, they were something like $26 per pair.  A far cry from HID's costing hundreds.  I paid an extra $8 for H4's with 100/55w bulbs.  

Remove the negative terminal on the battery, pop the hood (don't open it) and simply remove the black plastic grills by prying off the clips along the top and two phillips head screws along the bottom.  

Each headlight has a metal trim ring around it held on by three phillips head screws.  Remove these trim rings, and the headlight assemblies fall right out.

The H4's (the outer low beams) are plug and play, three spade connectors into a three receptacle plug.

The H1 high beams have two spade terminals at the back of the lens housing, and once you remove your old sealed beam housings, you just need to wrestle the wires WITH connectors out of their black plastic housings.  I used a Dremel tool (love that thing) and had the wires out in seconds.  The brown wire is ground, and simply slips onto the 45 degree ground lug on the back of the H1, and there is a pair of hot wires that slip onto the center H1 lug.

Reassembly is the reverse as they say, and I now have greatly improved night lighting giving me a better chance of avoiding deer, wild turkeys and other assorted varmints that insist on testing my reflexes and my braking system, which is a near future upgrade.

Final step I almost forgot:  Upgrade fuses 1,2,13 & 14 from 7.5 amp to 15 amp.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2008, 09:17:59 AM by P. Kennedy »
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hoevesruperd

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2008, 06:13:19 PM »
does the bulbs look similar to stock or is it more like an ellipsoidal ? are H1 common  products i could probably find at my local parts store? it seems like a good and cheap alternative to the seal beams and if you can post pictures when you have time it would be appreciated!
Alex

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P. Kennedy

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2008, 09:48:36 PM »
They do not look like stock bulbs, and I know you can get H1 bulbs at an AutoZone for example.  Not sure what ellipsoid bulbs look like.
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sheepdog

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2008, 01:58:54 AM »
To pull the connectors, if you look next to each terminal slot, there is a second smaller slot.  Shove a small, thin screwdriver in there and the tab you need will pop right out of the connector housing.
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sand_m4n

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2008, 10:33:24 AM »
we neeed pics :D

sheepdog

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2008, 01:15:44 PM »
Oh, and I did not upgrade my fuses except for one.

I did however put Silverstars in the low/high, and the highs had 100 watters when I got them. The road is my bitch when the highs are on, it is like daylight.
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gearheadE30

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2008, 02:21:10 PM »
I have H1/H4's as well, the bulbs are availible at any major autoparts store. They are great ligths, and they are far cheaper than ellipsoids, euro or otherwise.

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eric16v

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2008, 07:42:31 PM »
hi i was also intersted in doing the h1/h4 upgrade and iwas just wondering if you need to upgrade the wiring or will they be able to handle the more power of the h1/h4. ive heard some people say this and i was just wondering. thanks

Wise Old Dog

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« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2008, 09:18:38 PM »
They handle the power just fine. I had to change out 2 fuses to 10 amp.

sheepdog

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« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2008, 11:32:43 AM »
Quote from: Wise Old Dog;43587
They handle the power just fine. I had to change out 2 fuses to 10 amp.


Yep, I did not change them at first and blew one out.
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fruit_bearer

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sheepdog

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2008, 09:02:19 PM »
100 watters are supposed to be illegal.
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BMWManiac

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #12 on: June 24, 2008, 08:33:40 PM »
So the stock headlights are H4?  My headlights suck, but my brights are just fine.  I wouldn't mind upgrading the low beams....I'm a noob with this car and a little confused...did you upgrade the stock low beams with a different type of H4 bulb that required uping the fuses?
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ak96ss

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #13 on: June 24, 2008, 10:36:59 PM »
Stock US headlights are sealed beam, not H4. The H4's have replaceable bulbs, where sealed beams are, well, sealed.

The only reason you need to upgrade the fuses is if you use higher power bulbs, which many people do, since they are available for H4 capsules. I would definitely recommend checking your wiring, though, and not just swapping in higher-rated fuses. OEM fuses are sized according to the size of the wire, which means that when they use a 10A fuse, the wiring is really only good for 10A. When you factor in the higher draw of, say, 100W bulbs with 20 year old wiring (ok, maybe only 17 years, but still...), it is good policy to make sure that your wiring can handle the extra heat that will be generated.

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Sam Cogley

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H1/H4 headlight upgrade
« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2008, 12:16:50 AM »
Quote from: sheepdog;50734
100 watters are supposed to be illegal.


No one has ever troubled me about them.  Non US-spec H4 and H1 housings are supposed to be illegal anyways...not that anyone has troubled me about those, either.