[Barney Eaton]

Question for Padgett and any other electrical savy folks.........

Since many Reattas have had the wiring to the light routed incorrectly and this tends to break strand within the cable, how much does that affect the bulbs output and is there a way to electrically measure this to determine the condition of the wire.

It would seem to me if you just measured at the plug with the bulb disconnected, it would probably read 13-14 volts as there is no load.

Comments

[wws944]

Barney, you are correct. With no bulbs, it should read 13.5 volts - unless, of course, there is a break in the wire. If just a few strands are broken, the broken area becomes a 'fusible link'. It will get hot and fail before the rest of the wire does.

Interesting thing about light bulbs is that the resistance changes as the bulb is illuminated. (In other words, resistance is not constant with respect to voltage.) So the way to measure voltage drop due to the headlight circuit is to do it with bulbs installed. (Requires a bit of creative probing at the back of the bulb.)

[Telco]

You should actually read 7-8 volts at the plug, even on a brand new GM vehicle. GM has always had the bad habit of routing headlight wiring from the fusebox to the headlight switch then out to the headlights over 14-16 gauge wiring. That is too long a run over too small of wiring for proper headlight operation, which results in the headlight switch getting too hot and the headlights not having full output. I have in the past rewired headlights to use 10ga wiring directly off the battery, using relays controlled by the factory wiring, and it works well. The headlights are way brighter this way, and the headlight switch does not get nearly as hot. Plus according to the way you wire them you can wire them up so that when the high beams are on, so are the low beams.

One thing that will happen though, is with the full 12V going through the headlights the headlight life is shortened. When I had this setup on my 96 Tahoe, I had to regularly replace all 4 headlights about once every 9 months on average. It was worth it though, because my lowbeams were good for 75-80MPH cruising speeds, and high beams were good for max speed of 126MPH. I could see the road for a good mile in front of me with the high beams on. I also won every single bright light duel with oncoming traffic, because when I put MY brights on, it was like looking directly into the Sun.

I also have no idea how this will affect plastic headlight assemblies if done on a converted Reatta, as I had converted my Tahoe from the composite headlights to the 1988-89 sealed beam setup. I wish I still had pictures of it.

[wws944]

Originally Posted by Telco

You should actually read 7-8 volts at the plug, even on a brand new GM vehicle.

If you are only getting 7-8 volts, there is a problem somewhere.

... I have in the past rewired headlights to use 10ga wiring directly off the battery, using relays controlled by the factory wiring, and it works well. The headlights are way brighter this way, and the headlight switch does not get nearly as hot.

Always a good idea.

Plus according to the way you wire them you can wire them up so that when the high beams are on, so are the low beams.

I do this (relay setup + quad high beam mod) in my old Regal - which has composite 9006/9005 lights. I like it too.

...I also have no idea how this will affect plastic headlight assemblies if done on a converted Reatta, as I had converted my Tahoe from the composite headlights to the 1988-89 sealed beam setup. I wish I still had pictures of it.

Sealed beams are generally glass. H4 conversions vary. Hellas are glass.

Your Tahoe had the same composite 9006/9005 lights as my Suburban. The other approach is to use the 'base level' grill - which used H6054 lights like our Reattas. Then one could use E-code lights and high output H4 bulbs (with relay harness). I have recently discovered that an outfit in Brazil makes E-code versions of the composite lights. Since my Suburbans lights are starting to yellow, it might be fun to see if I can get some shipped here.

Note that with a dual filament headlight like a 6054 or H4, you would never want to continuously run both filaments at the same time. (Yes, it is briefly done for flashing.) The bulb is simply not designed for the extra heat.

[Telco]

Work truck grill. Yuck. My Tahoe had headlights of the style this truck has. And, Daniel Stern advised he COULD provide replaceable element lenses for this style. I strongly suggest you look at doing the same with your Burb, because the big problem with the composites is the unchangeable angle between the high and low beams. You can either adjust the high beams or the low beams where they need to be, but not both. With the 88-89 model sealed beams, high and low beams are individually adjustable.

This is the style I speak of.


The only modification that needs to be made is the outside edge of the headlight assembly needs to be trimmed, and a notch needs to be cut in the grill behind the top reflector. The notch does not affect the strength of the grill, and is completely invisible when installed. I used a soldering iron to cut the plastic on both items, and a hot soldering iron, while smokey, does allow precise, clean cuts where they need to be. Otherwise, they bolt to the rad support just like the composites do.

I found a pic that shows where I cut the assemblies, but I'm missing a lot of pics.





You may be right on the 7-8 volts, I may be misremembering, but the voltage read at the headlight plug will not be the full 12-13V due to the small wiring and long run.

The individual light sealed beams for the 4 headlight systems didn't seem to be designed for running at the full 12 volts either, since they'd last less than a year. The flame that burns brightest burns fastest, but when they were working it was like driving in daylight.

I wonder if a bucket might not be made up that could sit in the Reatta's headlight pod that would allow you to use the sealed beams as used by the Gen 4 Camaros? Before the Camaro went composite it had little half-height sealed beam bulbs.

[wws944]

Ronnie: Both Telco and my posts contain Reatta content. Good lighting has been an interest of mine for many years, so Telcos posts are very interesting to me.

Telco: Adapting those half height Camaro lights to the Reatta may be way more work than it is worth. I hear what you are saying about being able to adjust the high and low beams independently. But the form factor just doesn't allow good optics in a sealed beam. A better approach might be to use a projector-type system, rather than the traditional reflector style.

For me, the Hella E-code lights are just fine for the Reatta. If I feel the need for higher output, I can easily get higher power H4 bulbs (and use relays to avoid messing up the Reattas headlight switch.) Some draw 130 watts on high beam! With a sealed or 9006/9005 based quad system, you would only be drawing 115 watts per side.

[padgett]

Barney:
It depends on which wire is bad. If a power lead, that light will be dim/out. If the ground wire fails, the light is liable to feet through the other side and be half bright.

Reatta wiring is rated for about 100 watts and a 65 watt beam will not bother it but both filaments would overload the circuit particularly if you have a 55 watt low beam.

[Telco]

Originally Posted by Ronnie

All this nonsense has nothing to do with a Reatta. Delete your post and take it to the proper forum.

My post was relevant to the issue at hand, headlights. My post also provided information to a Reatta owner about the subject with another of his vehicles, when it's unlikely that I'd come across him on another forum. Therefore, my post was relevant and useful.

Your post, on the other hand, was 100 percent relevant to nothing and useful for nothing. I'm glad the moderators on this board are automotive enthusiasts and not thought cops. If there is any post that needs to be deleted, it would be the post that has nothing but mealymouthed whining.

I notice that the board has the option to set posters to ignore, I invite you to put my name on your ignore list.

[Telco]

Originally Posted by padgett

Barney:
It depends on which wire is bad. If a power lead, that light will be dim/out. If the ground wire fails, the light is liable to feet through the other side and be half bright.

Reatta wiring is rated for about 100 watts and a 65 watt beam will not bother it but both filaments would overload the circuit particularly if you have a 55 watt low beam.

It would require a ground upgrade because I'm pretty sure that dual filament bulbs share a ground, but the actual power lines would not know the difference since they only supply power to one filament each. However this would put a ton more heat through the headlight switch, which could potentially lead to a fire. Those switches run hot enough as it is. Using the factory wiring to run relays that supply power directly off the battery would have no effect, and the switch will run much cooler. My Tahoe's headlight switch was so hot you couldn't keep your thumb on the panel for more than a few seconds before I upgraded it, but after the switch would be warmer than ambient temp by maybe 2-3 degrees. Whatever the difference was, it was barely noticeable.

wws944 - Is there a projector system out there that fits in a 5x7 hole like that?

[wws944]

Originally Posted by Telco

I...
wws944 - Is there a projector system out there that fits in a 5x7 hole like that?

Hi, sorry for not answering sooner.

There are some aftermarket H6054-sized projector lights on ebay. Not very expensive. I have no idea how good the optics in them are. For the price, probably not great. And you won't get separately adjustable high/low aiming. However if you decide to try a pair, I'd toss the 'blue bulbs' in the trash and use untinted bulbs. The couple I looked at were glass. So you could probably use higher power bulbs - with a relay harness of course.

To get separate adjustability, you would have to fabricate something custom. Lots of higher end cars are coming with projectors, and in particular, HID versions, these days. So it might be possible to get the parts from a boneyard. However IMO, it might be a lot more work than it is worth.

As I mentioned, for my Reatta I installed E-code Hellas (model 72206.) I used the same style Hellas 30+ years ago in my long gone '78 Turbo Regal. Dan S. pans the Hellas and likes the Cibies, that he sells, better. However I don't intend to drive my Reatta much at night, so I am happy with what I have. I do wish I'd installed them *before* my 2300 mile drive. Didn't even think about it beforehand. Who would know that as late as 1990, GM would only put 35 watt low beams in it?