Need help converting H4 stock housing to H3 projector housing with HID conversion kit

[DarkFlame]

If I posted this correctly, the picture below will show my stock H4 headlight housing(s) that I have removed, and the new H3 projector headlight housing(s) I am installing, for use with the HID conversion kit I purchased. I have a few questions.

1. Low beam bulbs (HID) are mounted toward the outside of the housing (excluding the turn signal bulbs) with high beam bulbs mounted closest to the middle of the car, right?
2. The HID conversion kit came without any wiring diagram, so I am at a loss. I am unsure of how to wire the extra wires from the HID conversion kit to the headlight housing wires. Any suggestions (Please see the pic below and questions underneath that)?

Below is a picture of the back of the housing with one of the bulbs and ballasts, including associated wiring.

Let me start by saying that I am only concerned with the low beam. The turn signal (far right) will connect directly to the car's harness because I had to remove the socket from the old housing and insert it into the new housing, and it fits perfectly, so the plug on the car harness will connect directly with no issues.

Next, I presume that the high beam (far left) will be powered by the 3-prong connector that is hanging from the middle of the housing and connects directly to the wiring harness on the car. Please tell me if I'm wrong!!!

This leaves me staring at the two loose red wires coming out of the bottom of the light housing (<edit:> I figured this out, they are for the halo LEDs, one goes to positive and the other to ground, and wallah! the halos light up! - see my later post on this subject. </edit>) and the red & black wires coming out of the HID ballast.

I ASSUME (no jokes, please, just correct me, PLEASE!) that the red wire from the ballast with the spade connector fits the power wire going to the low beam that is inserted (came stock) in the new housing. The spade connector of the ballast (male) does fit the spade connector (female) of the new housing that is connected to the inserted low-beam bulb.

What do I do with the black wire with the spade connector that is coming off the HID ballast?

The plastic bottle that is protecting the new xenon HID bulb comes off easy enough, and I can get the lid off the ballast harness without having to break anything. BUT, there are two hard white retaining washers that are on each side of the HID bulb that keep it secured in the plastic jar. One of those hard white washers is on the bulb side of the mounting plate, and it slips right off the bulb. HOWEVER, the other hard white washer is on the wire side of the mounting plate, and it has a hole in the middle that is too small to push the larger plug (connected to the bottom of the ballast - edge of the ballast closest to the bottom of the picture) through it. Can I just cut it and remove it?

The black rubber grommet through which all the wires pass as they travel from the ballast to the bulb also has me concerned. I know the wires will have to go through the gray rubber cup that protects the back side of the bulb (& the electric connection for it). Those are the two round gray (rubber) things sitting on the chair between the new housing and the black harness from the new housing that contains the two red wires questioned in a previous question. Am I supposed to cut a hole in the rubber cup that is large enough for the bulb to fit, pass the bulb through the rubber cup (along with all the wires), and then poke the black rubber grommet into the gray rubber cup so that it provides an adequate seal of protection from weather, water, dirt, & dust?

I think this answers all my questions. It took me a grand total of 10 minutes to remove both of the old H4 housings from the car. With the proper instructions, I can have both of the new H3 housings with HID bulbs and ballasts back in the car (with the front bumper reattached and ready to drive) in about 15 minutes. It's taken me longer than that 25 minutes to take the pics and post this (& I type 70+ wpm), so you can imagine my frustration.

I REALLY APPRECIATE the help that I hope is going to be posted in response to my questions.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
David
San Antonio, TX

 

[DarkFlame]

Ok, I think I MAY have figured out the two red wires coming out of the bottom of the new housing. Is it possible that the housing has LED halos around both the low beam and high beam reflectors? Look at the picture below. If those are LED halos, 1) I got more for my money than I thought, & 2) I think one of the undocumented red wires coming out of the bottom powers the halo around the low beam while the other red wire powers the halo around the high beam. IF that's the case, I could wire each one to it's respective beam, to the other beam, or both to the parking lights.

Can anyone confirm or deny my thinking on this? Here's the pic:

 

[DarkFlame]

And, maybe the red wire with the spade connector in the rubber grommet goes to the power supply to the bulb, while the black wire with the spade connector in the rubber grommet goes to the Xenon bulb? No, the Xenon bulb already has a connector from the ballast. Maybe a ground wire?

If this was an electronics lab, I'd hook it up and go get replacements when I blew something. But, it's not, and I'm not, so I would appreciate guidance and confirmation or denial of my theories.

Thank you!!!

 

[DarkFlame]

Ok, after MUCH experimentation and online research, I have figured out that the 2 red wires ARE for the halo LEDs. One of the red wires goes to positive and the other red wire goes to negative (go figure, if one had just been black, it would have been OBVIOUS). So, I have THAT much of it figured out. With the two wires connected, BOTH halo lights are lit. So, I would want one of them connected to any key-switched positive source and the other wired to ground. That solves ONE problem.

I am STILL trying to figure out the wiring for the HID conversion kit. The red & black spade connector wires are baffling me, and I cannot find any wiring diagram that matches the kit. Heck, I can't even find the manufacturer info on the kit.

 

[sleeper si]

self help posting

 

[DarkFlame]

self help posting

LOL! Well, I didn't START OUT with that intention. I was hoping someone would be watching that had been down this road before, so I wouldn't have to re-invent the wheel ... or H4 to H3 conversion with added HID. But, with time, and daylight, running out, I spent the bulk of my day sieving through half the Internet in search of "just enough information" to complete the installation without any mfgr or retailer instructions. Fortunately, I was able to git'r'done, and just as the sun was setting, too.

So, tomorrow I'll post the information that I found with the hopes that the thread will be helpful to someone else. Wish I knew how to use the tags better (because I don't have permission to make up my own). But, I'll have to do with what I have.

I have everything installed & working, but still have to find a live wire for the halos. Otherwise, it's dark outside and we're going for a ride.

It's dark outside,
We're going for a ride,
Gonna see if the lights
Are working alright!

 

[sleeper si]

LOL! Well, I didn't START OUT with that intention. I was hoping someone would be watching that had been down this road before, so I wouldn't have to re-invent the wheel ... or H4 to H3 conversion with added HID. But, with time, and daylight, running out, I spent the bulk of my day sieving through half the Internet in search of "just enough information" to complete the installation without any mfgr or retailer instructions. Fortunately, I was able to git'r'done, and just as the sun was setting, too.

So, tomorrow I'll post the information that I found with the hopes that the thread will be helpful to someone else. Wish I knew how to use the tags better (because I don't have permission to make up my own). But, I'll have to do with what I have.

I have everything installed & working, but still have to find a live wire for the halos. Otherwise, it's dark outside and we're going for a ride.

It's dark outside,
We're going for a ride,
Gonna see if the lights
Are working alright!

could have given you the answers but you are too fast to post. lol

 

[DarkFlame]

could have given you the answers but you are too fast to post. lol

Not so much fast as simply impatient. I SHOULD have figured it out BEFORE I got the old ones off the car. But, I do my best work under pressure, supposedly. It's my car, have owned it since we drove it off the showroom floor. But, it's my girlfriend's daily driver. So, I wanted to get it started & completed without her missing a beat, or a day's driving. And, with the truck needing a starter, and the motorcycle not charging the battery, I figured this was the easiest to do. But, nothing is ever as easy as one thinks, and this was an adventure.

I guess it would have helped if I had searched deeper on Anzo's web site so I'd already have known about the 2 red wires. In electronics school, LEDs had polarity. So, I was surprised to find that the halos do not. And, it took me a while to use the right search terms for finding the HID wiring that I needed.

I was surprised at how easy it was to remove the front bumper, and I didn't even have to take it completely off, left the right side still connected and had enough room to get the wrenches in to remove/replace the right assembly. This experience may have me replacing the front bumper with some kind of ground effects package, just for grins.

 

[DarkFlame]

Replacing orig H4 headlamp assembly w/new H3 projector unit & HID conversion kit.

Ok, here's the wiring diagram for the HID conversion kit. Mine was SLIGHTLY different ... the ballast had 3 connectors attached, not the one with two connectors at the ends of the wires for the Xenon bulb, but the two connectors were actually on the ballast. But, this was enough for me to figure out how the black and red spade connector wires were used. That said, I used the power connector for the original H3 low beam lamp and attached the ground wire to the metal housing for the low beam. This enabled me to have all the beam wiring inside the rubber protector and use the original 3-prong connector that matches the car harness.

And, here's the Anzo installation instructions that explain the halo wiring has no polarity. Had one of the wires been black, it would have been obvious that one was power & another was ground, and it would have been fine. But, here is the PDF. See step 17 for the simple explanation.

The car used in the Anzo installation is different enough that the bumper removal was a different process. Here's an explanation of the 5 minute process to remove the front bumper:

If I had had these 3 instructions before starting the project, it would have taken an hour from start to finish. As it was, 7 hours searching for the info, and 1 hour doing the real work.

Let me add a note. I was testing the wiring using a 12v automotive charger. I was worried that there was a problem with the HID kit because I could only get the HID bulbs to flash on and then go dark - even with the charger set at 40 amps, and the fuse on the car is only 30 amps. But, once I got the assembly installed & wired up with the ballasts attached, they lit up just fine. Takes a few seconds to reach full brightness. But, I am EXTREMELY pleased with the road lighting, and the lights look so much better that the fading hood paint looks so much worse! LOL!!!