I recently upgraded the headlights and wiring harness on my FJ62 and wanted to document the steps I took in case it helps anyone in the future. This guide applies to those of us who drive four eyed vehicles and FJ60 owners will need to follow a slightly different process.
Parts you will need:
BTW, I bought the harnesses from Kurt from Cruiser Outfitters, who was an absolute pleasure to work with and you won't regret purchasing from him.
Step #1: Figure out where you want to mount the relays
Unravel the harnesses and arrange them in the engine compartment in several variations until you find a configuration you like.
Personally, I chose the passenger side even though there was less room to work with because I want to use the driver side for a dual battery and other accessories. However, if you choose the driver side, you will need to splice some 14 gauge wire into the positive cable in order to reach the battery.
Step #2: Setup the new headlights
The dust boot that comes with the Hella H4s interferes with the harness plugs and will need to be modified. Carefully use a razor blade to cut off the extraneous star shaped part as @slcfj62 demonstrates in this thread: Hella ECE headlights for FJ62
The H1s have two wires instead of a male plug. Plug the black wire into the outer part of the light and the green wire to the bulb:
Step #3: Remove the old headlights
To access your headlights, you'll need to remove the body trim on the front corner. This trim is secured by 4 screws, one of which is hidden behind the turn signal lamp so you'll need to remove that as well:
Each headlight is sandwiched into place by 4 small screws and a thin piece of metal. If your or the PO damaged these screws and need to buy a replacement, pretty much any similarly sized m4 x 1.0 panhead will work.
Step #4: Modify the pick-up plug
The m002 has a male plug about halfway down the harness that needs to be connected into either one of the old high/low headlight plugs. This is how the harness "picks-up" the signal to turn on the high beams.
Before you can connect these plugs however, you will need to rearrange the wires inside the old plug. Push a fine flathead screwdriver into the mating face of the plug while pulling the wire out on the other side. With 28+ year old plastic, this can be more difficult than it sounds, but be patient and keep at it until all 3 wires are freed. You can also practice on the new harness to get the hang of it.
The instructions from ARB reference Black, Red, and Red/Green wires but that did not match my pick-up plug:
If your wires look like mine, then they should be rearranged such that the Red/Green wire goes on top, the Red/Blue wire goes on the left, and the Red/Yellow wire goes on right.
Step #5: Install the wiring harnesses
The m002 loom has 3 relay adapters and 3 plugs while m004 contributes an additional relay adapter. Here's how I labeled everything:
The next step is to plug everything together:
Here's what it should look like when you're done:
Step #6: Install the new headlights and connect them to the harness
Run the harness wires unobtrusively out to the headlight housing, making sure that the m002 plugs are located at the outside lights while the m004 plugs are available to the inside lights.
Before installing the new headlights, you'll want to connect the male adapter into the pick-up plug. Also, when connecting the H1 headlights, make sure to match the black wires together or else you will likely blow a fuse somewhere.
Once everything is buttoned back up, it's time to give your new lights a test!
Step #7: Mount the new relays
This will largely depend on what you decided with step #1.
For me, I made a simple bracket out of some 1/16" aluminum sheet metal and installed the relays next to the air cleaner:
The fuses and surplus wires tuck nicely into the fender where they will be out of the way. Note however that I had to reposition the Main Relay back in order to accommodate this configuration, but that wasn't too difficult.
That about sums it up! I will update this thread when I get some photos of the new lights in action later tonight.
Parts you will need:
- Hella H1 high beam conversion kit
- Hella H4 high/low beam conversion kit
- ARB m002 harness
- ARB m004 harness
BTW, I bought the harnesses from Kurt from Cruiser Outfitters, who was an absolute pleasure to work with and you won't regret purchasing from him.
Step #1: Figure out where you want to mount the relays
Unravel the harnesses and arrange them in the engine compartment in several variations until you find a configuration you like.
Personally, I chose the passenger side even though there was less room to work with because I want to use the driver side for a dual battery and other accessories. However, if you choose the driver side, you will need to splice some 14 gauge wire into the positive cable in order to reach the battery.
Step #2: Setup the new headlights
The dust boot that comes with the Hella H4s interferes with the harness plugs and will need to be modified. Carefully use a razor blade to cut off the extraneous star shaped part as @slcfj62 demonstrates in this thread: Hella ECE headlights for FJ62
The H1s have two wires instead of a male plug. Plug the black wire into the outer part of the light and the green wire to the bulb:
Step #3: Remove the old headlights
To access your headlights, you'll need to remove the body trim on the front corner. This trim is secured by 4 screws, one of which is hidden behind the turn signal lamp so you'll need to remove that as well:
Each headlight is sandwiched into place by 4 small screws and a thin piece of metal. If your or the PO damaged these screws and need to buy a replacement, pretty much any similarly sized m4 x 1.0 panhead will work.
Step #4: Modify the pick-up plug
The m002 has a male plug about halfway down the harness that needs to be connected into either one of the old high/low headlight plugs. This is how the harness "picks-up" the signal to turn on the high beams.
Before you can connect these plugs however, you will need to rearrange the wires inside the old plug. Push a fine flathead screwdriver into the mating face of the plug while pulling the wire out on the other side. With 28+ year old plastic, this can be more difficult than it sounds, but be patient and keep at it until all 3 wires are freed. You can also practice on the new harness to get the hang of it.
The instructions from ARB reference Black, Red, and Red/Green wires but that did not match my pick-up plug:
If your wires look like mine, then they should be rearranged such that the Red/Green wire goes on top, the Red/Blue wire goes on the left, and the Red/Yellow wire goes on right.
Step #5: Install the wiring harnesses
The m002 loom has 3 relay adapters and 3 plugs while m004 contributes an additional relay adapter. Here's how I labeled everything:
- Plug A: the female one pin connector
- Plug B: the male one pin connector
- Plug Y: the male two pin connector
- Plug X: the female two pin connector
- Relay Adapter #1: has wire for Plug A
- Relay Adapter #2: has wire for Plug Y
- Relay Adapter #3: has wires for Plugs B and Y
- Relay Adapter #4: has wire for Plug X
The next step is to plug everything together:
- Clip the relay adapters together in the above sequence
- Connect the A and B plugs together
- Install the P2512X relay into adapter #1
- Install the remaining P12512X relays into the remaining adapters
- Connect the X and Y plugs from the m002 and m004 harnesses
Here's what it should look like when you're done:
Step #6: Install the new headlights and connect them to the harness
Run the harness wires unobtrusively out to the headlight housing, making sure that the m002 plugs are located at the outside lights while the m004 plugs are available to the inside lights.
Before installing the new headlights, you'll want to connect the male adapter into the pick-up plug. Also, when connecting the H1 headlights, make sure to match the black wires together or else you will likely blow a fuse somewhere.
Once everything is buttoned back up, it's time to give your new lights a test!
Step #7: Mount the new relays
This will largely depend on what you decided with step #1.
For me, I made a simple bracket out of some 1/16" aluminum sheet metal and installed the relays next to the air cleaner:
The fuses and surplus wires tuck nicely into the fender where they will be out of the way. Note however that I had to reposition the Main Relay back in order to accommodate this configuration, but that wasn't too difficult.
That about sums it up! I will update this thread when I get some photos of the new lights in action later tonight.
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