I have a 2003 base model Z - non-hid. I just bought some 07 headlights and followed another thread that showed me how to make it workout.. well it works and the guys tutorial also said to throw a 20a fuse where the old 10a fuse was..

I am wondering if this is safe? I was to just keep the 10a in there but is that safe? What do you guys suggest?



Here is what I followed:


"Well after spending a day researching and getting valuable information from other member(s), I decided to tackle this project on my own. I've done all the mods on my car but so far, this was the scariest. Why ?
1) Expensive
2) Electrical so any wrong move, there goes the headlight.

I will do my best to describe the steps I took and the tools that I used to accomplish this task. If you decide the follow these steps, I will NOT BE RESPONSIBLE if anything happens to your lights.

Subject Matter: 2005 Base Z.
Goal: Intall 2006 Bi-Xenon Lights

1. Wire Cutter
2. Wire Connector
3. Electrical Tape


If you look at your wiring harness from the engine side, you will see this. This is you looking directly at the inside the connectors.

----------------------
| 1 2 3 |
| 4 5 6 |
----------------------

1. Turn Signal
2. High Beam
3. Ground for Headlights/High Beam
4. Grounds for Parking Lights / Turn Signal
5. Parking Lights
6. Headlight

You will need to match up these plugs with the 2006 HID wiring harness.
The 2006 headlights have total of 7 pins. You will have 1 pin left over.

1. Slide out the connector harness from the 06 HID lights. It will be on there pretty snug but it will come out right.
2. Cut out the electrical tapes that hold the wirres together. Becareful not to cut any of the wires.
3. Once removed, look at the back of the connectors where the wires are entering into the connector. The digram below numbers the wires from the back side of the connetors. the way to make sure that you have the correct side up is looking at the number 1 position from the back. It will be empty with no wires going into the connector.

-------------------------------
| 1 2 3 4 |
| 5 6 7 8 |
------------------------------

2006 HID WIRES
1. No Wires
2. Green/Black - Connect this wire to Turn Signal (Position 1 on Base Wire Harness)
3. Lime - Connect this wire to High Beam (Position 2 on Base Wire Harness)
4. Black - Connect this to Ground for High Beam/Headlight (Position 3 on Base Wire Harness)
5. Green/Black - Connect this to Turn Signal (Position 1 on Base Wire Harness)
6. Green/White - Connect this to Parking Lights (Position 5 on the Base Wire Harness)
7. Red - Connect this to Headlight (Position 6 on the Base Wire Harness)
8. Black - Connect this to Ground Parking/Turn Signal (Position 4 on Base Wire Harness)

I didnt cut any wires at all. i used a little wire tapper where it allows you to connect 2 wires together.

Connect it matching the diagrams above and you should be good to go. Also note that you will need to change out your fuse and put in 20 amp fuse. the new HIDs uses a lot more power so your original fuse will not work.

You will also notice that you will have a blue wire left over from the 06 HID side. I didnt use this at all so leave it a lone and you will be fine.

Good Luck and done let anyone tell you that you CANT do something for us base owners.

-James"

 

leave the 10 amp fuse and if it doesn't blow then you're ok. The only way to blow out your new headlights with the fuse is to put one where the rating is too high to protect your circuit.

 

Thanks.

 

i think 10 amp fuse is too small...i suggest 15amp fuse. ive done a retro fit on my 1999maxima cefiro headlights with bi xenon fx projectors and using d4s ballast and d4s bulbs. made a custom wiring harness with a 10 amp fuse and relay for each side. one of hte lights went out after a week. i re-checked all my work and notice the fuse blew...i upgraded to a 15amp and no problems since.

 

Wouldn't there be a possibility of wires melting or causing a fire?

 

Yea, the fuse is rated on the load of the whole circuit, and the wire gauge is varied based on that load. If it has a wire gauge for 10 amps, you run a risk of getting the wires too hot at 20 amps.. It doesn't sound like this circuit is for the actual lamps, maybe this is for the relay that turns on the lights? i would think that the HID's them selves draw more than 10-20 amps, could be wrong though...

 

thats what the relay is for....

im using d4s ballast from a lexus which draws more power at start.

 

Do you have a link to the original thread for this headlight upgrade? Do all 2003-2005 Z's come with the 10a fuse regardless of if they came with HID or not? I have 2003 HID's and I'm swapping to 2006-2008 Headlights...just need as much detail as possible (and pictures) of what I need to do. Thanks.

 

Your the lucky one.. its just plug and play for you.

 

so I should upgrade the fuse? lol

 

I was always under the impression that HID lamps used LESS power than halogens.

 

Like i said, i never swapped headlights on my Z and i do my own custom work on the maxima and im using d4s not d2s...

If the fuses keep blowing on 10amp switch to 15amp and that should be fine...

But...are you running a relay?

 

Yes, HID ballast are 35w constant compared to 55w halogen. When the ballast is first lite, its more than 55w...

 

I've heard about a blue wire that I have to unplug or cut? does anyone know about this? Sorry, don't mean to hijack...just can't find the thread i'm looking for.

 

Just finished the install and it was pretty simple. All the wires are color matched except for the ground for the highbeam/headlight (which was gray). Cant wait till night time.

BTW - I kept the 10 amp fuse. I'll let you know if it happens to go out or not.

 

I have an 03 base, went to 03-05 HID;s and recently upgraded to 07 HID headlights and have never touched the fuse. Its been a couple months with the 07's and a couple years with the other HID's. I do although have a relay wired in at the battery.