Another Update:OK so after numerous searches and advice I am still confused, better term is overwhelmed, about which way to go in wiring my HID conversion in my ACA housings and fog lights. Is it better to use a relay harness direct from the battery and by pass the OEM wiring except as a trigger, or to use the OEM wiring and add capacitors to pre-empt any potential for flickering. I am assuming in either option that you need to add the resistor (thanks JW Motorsorts) to pre-empt any issues with the buckets not raising or lowering properly. Also if I am putting the capacitor (thanks radioflyer for the info) on the ballast that will have the resistor in between the OEM power socket and the ballast power input, where would the capacitor be wired? After the resistor but before going into the ballast, or before the resistor that then goes into the ballast? Sorry if these are dumb questions but you only learn by doing and asking of those who will share their knowledge. Thanks in advance.


I am installing my ACA housings and converting them to HID at the same time. The ACA’s came with Halogen bulbs. They also came with wiring harnesses for both sides that are routed back to the battery/fuse box and seem to contain relays that I am assuming are there to make the lows and highs be on at the same time.

I have in addition to the HID conversion, the inline resistor from JW Motorsports, and Radioflyer’s Hi-4 relay/harness.

My question is can I just not use the harnesses that came with the ACA’s and wire the HID bulb to the ballast, the ballast to the OEM plug (with the JW resistor in between on one side), and then install the Hi-4 relay/harness at the fuse box. Additionally replacing the low beam fuses with 20amp fuses as suggested.

In short do I need the harness from the ACA kit at all? Not using those harnesses would simplify the installation by not having to run the harnesses from the housings all the way back to the battery/fuse box.

If the purpose of those harnesses is only to have the lows and highs on at the same time, the Radioflyer’s Hi-4 harness should provide that function. The JW resistor should then also allow the buckets to function properly without having to turn on the highs.

Am I on track or do I need to use the ACA harnesses that came with the housings for some other reason?

Thanks in advance.

UPDATED: After some seaching the benefit of the relay harness may also be to avoid the potential of "flicker" due to inadequate voltage to fire the ballast. Have any of you running HID's who did not use a relay harness directly wired to the battery experience the "flickering"? If so, which HID kit/ballast were you using?
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I did not use the ACA relay harness. I believe it is meant to give you the ability to run highs and lows at the same time if I remember correctly. I also installed HIDs.

 

Thanks. So I am assuming you wired similar to what I described and used the stock bulb sockets for power/ground to the ballast and bulbs.

 

Hi I used the the harness that came with the lights you can with a bit of time and effort run the harness so as not to be bit is the relays hide the under the battery box and cut the wire accordingly

 

UPDATED: After some seaching the benefit of the relay harness may also be to avoid the potential of "flicker" due to inadequate voltage to fire the ballast. Have any of you running HID's who did not use a relay harness directly wired to the battery experience the "flickering"? If so, which HID kit/ballast were you using?

 

correct - the harness is to pull electricity directly off the battery for a more steady/stable power source. it also happens to be wired for 4-hi as well. it's more important for using the 65W halogen bulbs it came with due to the higher amperage draw so as to not risk burning up the factory wires because the harness they supply is thicker gauge wire rated for more current. HIDs as big an issue, but it's still recommended as stated above.

i have the ACAs on my car but ain't done the HID swap yet, however i am running HIDs on my truck & experienced the flicker before i added a relay harness.

 

OK so after numerous searches and advice I am still confused, better term is overwhelmed, about which way to go in wiring my HID conversion in my ACA housings and fog lights. Is it better to use a relay harness direct from the battery and by pass the OEM wiring except as a trigger, or to use the OEM wiring and add capacitors to pre-empt any potential for flickering. I am assuming in either option that you need to add the resistor (thanks JW Motorsorts) to pre-empt any issues with the buckets not raising or lowering properly. Also if I am putting the capacitor (thanks radioflyer for the info) on the ballast that will have the resistor in between the OEM power socket and the ballast power input, where would the capacitor be wired? After the resistor but before going into the ballast, or before the resistor that then goes into the ballast? Sorry if these are dumb questions but you only learn by doing and asking of those who will share their knowledge. Thanks in advance.

 

using the relay harness is definitely your better bet because it's gonna be more reliable at providing steady power directly from the battery/alternator than the factory wiring. as for the resistor placement, i ain't got that far on my car yet & my truck didn't need them, so i don't know.

 

It is my understanding that the ACA relay harness was necessary because the H9 halogen bulbs that originally came with the ACAs were 65 watts and the factory wiring was designed for 55 watts. This was just a safety measure to avoid overloading the factory circuit. If your HID conversion kit uses bulbs that are 55 watts or less, you should be fine with the OEM wiring.

 

Thanks. I was referring to a generic relay harness as it seems the HID bulbs though rated at 35 watts require a larger wattage at start up to the ballast to ignite them. I have the original ACA harness that came with the housing for the Halogen bulbs but it is not compatible as is with the HID conversion. So an aftermarket harness wired directly to the positive post of the battery or fuse box seems to supply the required constant power to avoid the flickering HID issue or others have used a capacitor between the OEM wiring and the ballast to cure the same issue. The question is, at least my question is, which option works the best or does it matter.

 

IMHO with 35 watts bulbs you should be fine with the OEM wiring. For your concern regarding flickering, take a look at this thread. It seems that with good electrical contacts and quality ballasts there should be no problems.

 

Thanks again. You are correct and with the kit I have and making sure the connections are clean and in good shape, I should have no problems. Yet there seems to be some small percentage of cars that regardless of quality kits and good connections still experience issues. So my thought is to pre-empt any with a known cure. Again just trying to decide which cure, direct wiring to the positive post of the battery or fuse box, or wiring capacitors in front of the power-in to the ballast from the OEM sockets. I had viewed the link you provided some time ago and it does offer valid advice, then again there is that small group of cars that still have issues. So just to avoid having to go back and remove the buckets to effect a cure after installing, I want to do it just once. I am probably overly concerned and should just pick an approach and get it done.

 

If you are decided to pre-empt all potential issues, regardless of how unusual they could be, then you have a decision to make

Using 35 watts bulbs in a circuit designed to safely handle a 55 watts load means you have an additional 57% headroom on top of the safety margin already built-in in the OEM wiring. IMHO, I don't think you will gain anything by running a separate harness in your situation.

If I were in your shoes and I HAD to decide between the 2 options you are contemplating, I would probably do the capacitors. In reality, I would be more inclined to make sure I had good electrical contacs and top notch modern ballasts and leave it at that

As I already said, it's your call

 

Hi One thing to consider with the ACA harness all 4 lights come on when switch to high (Main) beam which means the low beam stays on all the time so if you have to dip your lights for oncoming traffis your low beam is on and doesn't have to warm up to full brightness

 

As you said, that's an advantage that should be considered, but the same functionality is achieved with Radioflyer's Hi-4 Relay Harness, which is a simpler solution locally wired in the under-hood fuse panel area. He mentioned that he already has it.

 

I installed aca's yesterday and did the hid on the highs. I used the aca harness and when I turn on my highs the lows turn off. Any ideas?

 

I have ACA's with 55w HID's. Connected them from the factory harness and have no flicker at all. As long as they are stable I see no reason to run the harness directly from the battery, in addition I never use my high beams anyway. So far the lights have been working perfectly and no issues with the buckets not going down. The funny thing is when I had the 35w kit in the factory headlights the buckets would only go down while the engine was running or only when the high beams on with the engine off. After installing the ACA's with the 55w kit the buckets go down every time now.

 

Well I took a chance and installed the ACA with 35 watt HID lows, and HIR high beams through the factory wiring. I did install the resistor though and the Hi-4 harness. So far so good and we will see if anything goes astray. If so I will address it then. I have built harnesses from the battery if needed. I also installed the HID fog lights through the factory wiring as well. No problems so far and installed a relay to keep the fogs on with the hi and low beams. Thanks to Toque for the information from his web page. (I understand that this may be bothersome to oncoming traffic, and even illegal, but I rarely use the highs and I am careful to dim them, including fogs, for oncoming traffic way before it would become an issue. Just being able to have them available if needed on very rural back roads is the sole intent.) Thanks to all for your input.

 

Hooking caps to a circuit that is switched is hard on the switch. I'd install a relay harness before installing caps onto the ballasts.


There is 35W run to the HID bulbs, not 35W drawn from the power source. The input power depends on the efficiency of the ballast.