DaBoxSE

iTrader: (5)

I installed the APC upgrade wiring harness for the 9004 bulbs and it is a great improvement. The lights are running at their full potential and the High beams are also nice and bright. This was needed to be done after the APC Xenon Headlights completely toasted my original wiring harnesses. The install was pretty simple and harmless. The package comes with all the parts needed such as relays etc. If any of you decide to do this upgrade and have had burned plugs, you may need to replace the driver side plug because the system needs to use it as the switch control. The output is about 90W low beam and 100W High beam. It runs for about $50 and I got mine from www.aftermarketsource.com. This is definitely a must when you plan to go to higher wattage bulbs. Take care.

Clark

Chris91SE

iTrader: (1)

finally someone who agrees....i hate when people say..."ive been running overwattage bulbs for x-months and never had a problem"...next thing you know they've fried their harness....the harness is definitely a worthwhile investment...

SeaMAX

iTrader: (2)

Hey Clark...
Can you tell how many 194 bulbs it takes to change the ones behind the speedometer gauges. I finally found some xenon 194's and was wondering how many it takes to change the ones behind the gauges like you did?

DaBoxSE

iTrader: (5)

You are going to need 4 of them. The light gets channelled throughout the cluster evenly. I was wondering what it would look like if I put a blue bulb in there somewhere? Thought it would look cool, but that requires going back in there again...(which I need to do anyways since I forgot to plug my clock in when I put everything back together ) Let me know how you like it when you get it done. Peace.

Clark

[Edited by DaBoxGTI on 01-24-2001 at 12:19 AM]

mike_12_27_77

Clark,
How difficult is it to remove the dash piece? I know you did yours to change the gauge face bulbs, but you said you forgot to plug your clock back in. I'd like to take a look at my clock (which doesn't work) and see if I can fix it, but I'm not sure how involved of a job this is. On my car, I noticed a couple screws that point upward that are above / in front of where the gauge cluster is. Are these all that need to be removed to get to the clock? Thanks for the help.
Mike-

rhammon

I have went through a numerous number of 9004 headlight plugs, because of oversize bulbs toasting them, finally I went and bought me one too, and I love it If anybody else has aftermarket bulbs, I would buy this harness for the safety of your max!

DaBoxSE

iTrader: (5)

To get the top dash panel off, you need to remove the entire dash trim. Do these steps:

1) remove the panel around the shifter. (this just pops up when you pull it from the bottom.

2) remove the trim around your radio/climate control. You need to remove the two screws on the bottom under your ash tray and cig lighter. The top of this panel just pops out when you pull. (Be sure to pull everything evenly.) This piece wont come completely off until you disconnect your hazard switch and cig lighter.

3) remove the panel with your dimmer/cruise/mirror controls by removing the four screws underneath it.

After you have removed these, you will find a number of screws along the bottom of the top panel. remove these (4 or 6 i think...) then remove the 4 screws that you saw facing upward. Now, you will need to disconnect your clock. If you want to take it out, it is held in with 3 screws. You first also need to be careful when taking the top panel out of the dash. Make sure your steering wheel is completely down because you will need to bend the bottom of the panel slightly to take it out (be careful).

For those of you that are replacing the bulbs in the guages, there are 4 more screws holding the instrument cluster in place. I didnt disconnect anything when I replaced the bulbs because it was easy to work with.

You folks may want to keep a damp rag or a dirt devil nearby to clean out all the dust you are going to find in there! Good luck.

BTW: For the people who say "I've been running higher wattage bulbs for X months with no problems", Just wait. It took about 5 months for me to notice a problem (I didnt know there was an upgrade available). And when it begins to happen, **** will get fried quickly. Dont put all your eggs in one basket!

Take care.
Clark

Jon91SE

yea ive had that bad expirence of loosing both harnesses haha but lessons well learned

mike_12_27_77

Thanks for the details, Clark. I appreciate it - it sounds like a bit more than I want to deal with (but at least now I know what to do). I'll just rely on the clock in my headunit for the time being. Take it easy.

Mike-

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

Can you tell me where you are getting the Xenon 194s from?
I am seriously interested.