Dma251 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I want to have my headlights switched with the ignition. I have already done the relay mod to the headlights, and it works great. Anyone done this and know the wiring? I'm also thinking of energizing my power windows all the time, instead of switched. Kinda the reverse of the headlights. Any thoughts from the brain-trust? (I have good reasons for wanting both of these modifications... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 You want the headlights to only come on when the key is on? Or you want the headlights to come on with the ignition so they would be on all the time? If you want the headlights to only come on when the key is "ON" than you can take the 2 wires that come from the fuse box, from the un-switched fuses ( power with out the key being on) and move them to 2 switched fuses (power with the key on). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Headlights would be easy. Just find an ignition switched source and wire it to the trigger of the low beam relay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Headlights would be easy. Just find an ignition switched source and wire it to the trigger of the low beam relay. This would work if you want the headlights on when ever the key is on, if you want it the other way you could do it as I said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daczone Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Just wire a Relay. White with black strip from the IGN switch was ON in my 93. Most newer cars use a timer for the door windows. So x number of minutes after the key is switched OFF the windows will still roll up, canceled by the door opening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dma251 Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 I want them to only come on with the key AND the headlight switch on, so I can leave them on most of the time, and I can disable that pathetic sounding sad-chime... Mr Hardbody, I have the FSM schematics, but they are a real pain to decipher... If you know a technique, I would love to hear it. I have the two 15 amp fuses under the hood for the headlights. Should I power those relays with the switched ignition power? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Disabling the chime is easy. Unplug it from the driver's kick panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dma251 Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) Disabling the chime is easy. Unplug it from the driver's kick panel. I can promise you that as soon as I do that, I will leave the lights on in a parking lot and return to a dead battery.... I'm old enough to know me. I'm modifying my environment to suit. (It's a strategy that has been working for me.) Edited February 3, 2015 by Dma251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) Per the 90 FSM ( Don't have one for 91, probably the same), the 2 fuses that control the headlights are the 4th and 5th fuses, bottom row, counting starting from the let side of the fuse panel. If you remove the fuse panel to get to the rear of it, those two wires should be a red & a red/white stripe, the FSM shows both of those wires coming from the 2 separate fuses I mentioned, going to the headlight switch. I would check those two fuses with a test light first to make sure they have power with the key off, if they both do, than you would need to remove those 2 wires, and run them to a new location that only has power when the key is on. remember at the fuse, one side of each fuse goes to the headlight switch but the other side (the input) comes from the fusible link. Another way to do this, which may be easier is to cut the wire coming out of the fusible link (after the fusible link) that feeds the two fuses for the headlights, ( wire marked in red line in diagram below, wire is not red I just used red to mark the wires), than run that wire through a relay that is triggered by a wire connected to a source that is only on with the key, diagram from the 90 FSM: Edited February 3, 2015 by ahardb0dy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) so basically,, cut the red/white wire after the fusible link, connect it to the output of a relay (terminal 87), connect the relay to power with a fuse at the battery ( terminal 30), connect a ground to the relay (terminal 85), than connect a switched power source to terminal 86. When the key is on, the relay has power, which feeds the 2 fuses for the headlights and all works as normal, key off, relay is off, no headlights. The 2 headlight fuses are 15 amps each so need to make sure the relay and wiring can handle the combined 30 amps. you could probably use the wire from the fusible link ( where you cut it), to power the relay, since it was already powering the 2 fuses for the headlights, it will be rated enough to run the relay. Edited February 3, 2015 by ahardb0dy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Since your headlights are relayed, I think you could do this much more simply. Just find the constant + wire in the headlight switch harness, trace it back as far as you can, snip it, and then re-wire it to the ignition switch or to the ignition-switched part of the fuse box. Ignition on, the switch is live, the relays engage when you turn the switch on, the lights work. Ignition off, there's no signal to the relays, the lights go out. And for the windows... just do the exact opposite, I guess, find the feed and move it from switched + to unswitched +. It wouldn't be a bad idea to test the system and make sure the window circuit doesn't draw power when they aren't doing anything before you hook it up and leave it overnight. Hell, if the wires are close to each other, you could probably just cut the power feeds for the windows and the headlights, solder one to the other and vise versa, and call it a day. (Make sure the window circuit still has a fuse when you're done, just to be safe.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 There are 2 wires for the headlights going to the switch, after thinking about what I wrote I think the best way would be the second way I mentioned. Would only have to run 1 wire into the cab to a switched source from the relay, (may be able to find a switched source under the hood). fusible link wire to the relay, other end coming out of the relay, and a ground, done. Headlights wires still protected at the battery by the original fusible link, and protected using the same fuses in the fuse box. Headlights on, forget to shut them off, key off headlights off The above is based on the assumption that nothing else shares that same fusible link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I'm still not seeing why another relay is needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dma251 Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Thanks for the ideas. I will work on it later tonight or tomorrow and report back the results. I really appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 If you do it the first way I said by taking the 2 wires from the fuses that are always "hot" and moving them to 2 fuses that are on with the key, than No you would not need a relay. After looking at the schematic and noticing that there is one fusible link that powers the 2 headlight fuses I thought it may be easier to use a relay and make all the connections under the hood, this way you do not need to mess with the fuses at all, basically you would be making the power coming from the fusible link a switched power source, instead of the constant hot that it is stock. Either way ( or perhaps other ways) it can be done. I guess it would come down to preference. The two ways I listed, I would do it with the relay as it actually seems easier ( to me anyway) If you were to move the 2 wires coming out from the headlight fuses ( the stock location) than you would need to find 2 other fuses to use, what fuses you could "piggyback" off of would be a concern, you don't want to put the headlights on a fuse that already controls something else, and you wouldn't want to upgrade an existing fuse and possibly overload the stock wires. The only thing with the relay that may be a problem ( I don't think it would hurt the relay), is whenever the key is on, the relay would be energized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xterra Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Also don't forget about the marker/corner lights. They're wired separately from the headlights and that circuit also control the tail lights. I'd suggest looking up the Directed Electronics (DEI) 545T nite-lite system. It's $30 from SonicElectronix, a dead simple install, doesn't require cutting any wires on the factory harness, and only takes about an hour or two to install. I added it to mine a few weeks ago and it works like a champ. It gives you a couple added options, over the simple relay setup, too. It's got a photocell, so lights only come on when it gets dark. You can have DRLs (headlights only, no markers) if you don't cut the red wire inside the case. And you can wire it up to your wipers to have the lights come on when it's raining. There's even an option for what you want to do - headlights, markers, and tail lights on all the time. I'm only using the photocell option, but that's all I was looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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