Pendragon

[SPANNERSPINNER]

Trip to Isabella went well. We ran up Eskine Creek trail, from downtown lake Isabella, and then over the hill to Squirrel Valley, exiting through Mountain Mesa. Nothing hardcore, and unfortunately it was just a buddy and I making the trek with my Cruiser and his Jeep, so not a lot of pics, though here is a shot from the pass.

And one from packing. I didn't realize, when I had the basket made, that the combo of the basket height plus cooler height would mean I would be the only one who could get into the fridge.

Did some tire rubbing at the front of the rear wheel wells due to the new shoes, but it is what it is.

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

One thing that was made abundantly clear on the trip down, and again on the night-trek through the Kern canyon into Lake Isabella, was that my headlights are woefully not up to the task. I would be better off holding a torch out my window than using my low-beams, and my high-beams aren't much better. Here is a shot of my low beams at night, against my white garage. Bear in mind that this is my cell phone camera so it auto-adjusts to ambient lighting. Basically, if I'm under a street lamp, or someone is following me with their headlights on, I can't tell if my own lights are on or off.

I know those look brighter than I described, but that's just software magic on the phone doing its best to improve photo quality. The solution to these woes was ordered last week and arrived just today.

 

[Major Nelson]

Headlights – Product Categories – J.W. Speaker

I have the 8700's in my FJ60. Check if their lights would work for the 62. The output is unreal.

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

@Major Nelson , Funny you should mention. These are what landed today. Highs and lows, since they both need to be replaced.

The boxes were a bit damaged in transit, but the lights appear none-the-worse for wear. Got them from a shop in Canada for just over $1k, all up, all in.

Edit: For those who come after me, reading this thread for help or information on how/why to do this (not actually difficult), here are the resource I used:
JKOwners.com - The community for Jeep JK Owners
J.W. Speaker 8800 Headlight Install (Easy)

 

[Major Nelson]

those will make the sunshine look dark. Can't wait to see what these can do in the dark! I know with the 8700's it required either changing the pin configuration on the stock harness...or upgrading the wiring harness. I opted for the latter.

Headlight wire harness FJ60 and FJ62

Figure if I keep spending all my $ on a the JF60 might as well try to take as many with me as well.

I had meant to get by Tor's place to see the progress on your rig....missed it. He did my vortec swap too....LOVE IT!

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

I'm in the middle of the install now. It should be a 1 bannana install but I'm scratching my head. I swapped the yellow/black as recommended however that configuration doesn't work but did cause the lows to operate when highs were engaged. I have not been able to get highs and lows to work properly yet. The weird thing is that, presently, with the wiring I have now, the high beam harness goes from -7v to 12v when when high beams are switched on but the light doesn't come on. Neither do they work if I flip the plug on the high beams over. The high beam light does work when wired direct to the battery.

Still plugging away.

 

[Major Nelson]

@Major Nelson , Funny you should mention. These are what landed today. Highs and lows, since they both need to be replaced.

View attachment 1228622


The boxes were a bit damaged in transit, but the lights appear none-the-worse for wear. Got them from a shop in Canada for just over $1k, all up, all in.

Hi m in the middle f the install now. It should be a 2 bannana install but I'm scratching my head. I swapped the yellow/black as recommended however that configuration doesn't work but did cause the lows to operate when highs were engaged. I have not been able to get highs and lows to work properly yet. The weird thing is that, presently, with the wiring I have now, the high harness goes from -7v to 12v when when high beams are switched on but the light doesn't come on. Neither do they work if I flip the plug on the high beams over. The high beam light does work when wired direct to the battery.

Still plugging away.

if it makes you feel any better I had a ton of issues with the install too - couldn't get it to work with the stock harness (probably user error)...so my solution was to spend more $. Once I got Erik's harness sorted it was simple plug and play (after I cut a small channel in the ring housing that is......It'll be all worth it when you're done.

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

Here is my harness, from left to right they are labelled (on the back) as GROUND, PASS, DRIVE.

When measured at the low beam harness:
Low beam, ground and pass connected, 12v.
Low beam, ground and drive connected, 7v.
High beam, ground and pass connected, -11v
High beam, ground and drive connected, no steady reading.

At the high beam harness I have no power whether high or low are switched on. Wondering if this high beam socket has an issue.

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

Passenger side wired up and working with no issues. Drivers side wired the same but high beams don't work. Sometimes the harness has 12v when switched on, and sometimes not. Love me a good transient problem.

Frick. At least I can drive at night now. May have to chase the power issue another day as dinner and the kids call.

Oh, one more thing, I had to use the JW Speaker harness as shipped rather than swapping the yellow/black wires as some others have done for the low beams. The high beams I had to reverse the polarity on to make work.

Edit: got the drivers side high and low beams working. The solution for that side is too embarrassing to post. Will post glamour shots when it gets dark and I can find a spot.

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

Low beams and high beams in that same spot on my garage. It is eye-watering to be that close to the reflected lights. Standing in front of them isn't bad though and the cutoff onbthese is fantastic.

Additionally, the voltage drop when turning these on is negligible. Previously my voltmeter would go from 13.9 to 13 when my lights were turned on. Now it barely moves the needle.

It seems there would be some benefit to getting the highs and lows to activate together when the high beams are on, as there is a definite reduction in light down low when the high beams are turned on. Perhaps a project for another day.

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

So, I ordered a couple of JIS screwdrivers on Amazon.

Thanks Amazon, I'll let my wife know.

 

[mig79]

Any updates? I need to check this out in person... I have really been thinking about this for my 62!

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

She went back to Seattle for some Smog stuff, a couple of tinkerish upgrades, and the addition of hammock outriggers; Came back in July and I've just been working to get her smog-ready. The computer is not exactly cooperating.

 

[MANUCHAO]

The computer is not exactly cooperating.

Do share....

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

Do share....

Fuel system readiness checks won't complete. I just replaced the gasket on the gas cap so that it's no longer vented in any way to clear up a fault code that had popped up. The following tests register as unavailable or incomplete:
Heated Catalyst - unavailable but complete (I guess this the OBDII way of saying does not apply?)
Evap System - available but incomplete
Secondary Air System - unavailable but complete
AC Refrigerent - unavailable but complete
EGR system - incomplete but available

I've tried the magic driving protocol to try and get the evap/EGR tests to complete but to no avail. Tor has arranged a visit to a local shop that does resto-mods to see if they can figure out why things are being a PITA.

 

[MANUCHAO]

Fuel system readiness checks won't complete.

Dude dont sweat the evap not being ready.....
Mine never turned to ready mode and it pass the REF.....

Read up.......

Second page about the 5th paragraph.....
New law allows for the evap not be ready.....

http://www.bar.ca.gov/pdf/ARSC_Newsletter_Fall_2014_PMU.pdf

EGR system - incomplete but available

BTW what year engine do you have ?
I see EGR thus the question.

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

Thanks Manu, reading now. Which BAR Ref did you go to? I went to the one at Cal State Fullerton last time and he wasn't all that helpful. Basically told me to sit in a room where I couldn't see anything and then came back to me only once the truck had failed (ie: no interaction, no questions). Originally he just sat across a table from me and threw a printout at me and expected that to be the sum total of our interaction. When I started asking questions he just kept pointing back to the printout.

The engine is a Vortec 5.3 out of a 2006 Silverado that appears to have lived in TN before having it's computer flashed for CA and landing in my truck.

 

[mig79]

Hope it gets resolved soon. dealing with the gremlins is frustrating to say the least.

 

[MANUCHAO]

I showed up unannounced, and asked away at the REF Chaffey college... ...
I explained I had no engine trouble codes pending and all monitors as complete except the evap.....
He explained the new law to me, and told me to make an appointment to bring the rig over... I did asked what days he was around and schedule my appt accordingly.....

I too had to wait outside away from the area where the rig was, but did come to ask for the location of the evap solenoid....

I too have a 2006 5.3

Good luck and let us know how it all plays out...
I know @JohnCapoccia is going through something similar at Rio Hondo

 

[SPANNERSPINNER]

Sorry for absence. Holiday and family stuff sometimes gets in the way of landcruiser stuff.

Here is a screenshot from the OBDII scanner.