Thanks this was super helpful. I have an 85 gold diesel and was swapping to the quad rounds and had only a partial idea on getting it done from a wiring perspective. Made a tone of sense and ended up soldering all the connections. Appreciate it. Keep up the great informative content.
Installed these last year, really happy with the results 👍 About the soldering thing at 4:36 I do myself solder some connections because i don't have a crimping tool, but the automotive standard these days is just to crimp wires and not to solder them. Flexibility reasons i guess 🤷
It makes quite a difference, especially all of the unrealized gains (not having to worry about burning out the headlight switch, etc). I always solder them because...why not. But you are very correct, even on these cars every connector is just crimped.
Nice video and very useful info. Yes would love more videos that cover usual problems of Cabrio/MK relating to controls and electrical problems (dash, speedometer cable, guage failure, etc). Keep up the great work...amazing everyone has exactly the same problems (reverse lights, etc).
As the issues come up on my vehicles, I’ll continue filming the repairs! Speedo cable replacement and voltage regulator replacement are on my list. If you have any requests, let me know and I’ll add it to my list. Slowly but surely!
@@OlisGarage yeah I tried replacing my Speedo cable but I noticed that my 87 Cabriolet Speedo goes to some other digital module underneath the window wipers and it's not a standard Speedo cable that goes right to the transmission. Weird and I'm just going to do more research or move over to a digital speedometer that works via GPS sensor and replace the whole thing. Either way, thanks for the videos and support.
I am vindicated - thanks for the video! I'm not the only one who thought the stock VW headlight switch setup was terrible. When I bought my Mk1 Jetta back in 2005 for restoration I was appalled at how dim the headlamps were. I replaced the sealed beam headlights with new Wagner Halogens. Although brighter they were still not to my liking. After reviewing the Bentley VW manual I discovered much like you did that there was no relay for power. I did the exact same thing you did - I bought a dual relay replacement kit for low and high beams. It made a dramatic improvement! I went one step beyond and bought H4 glass reflector headlights on the low beams, and went with Nighteye LED headlight bulbs. Muh Gawd! I swear my car can light up an airport now! If you have any car where the headlight switch sources the power directly for the headlamps I greatly recommend getting a kit like this for retrofit. You will not be disappointed!
I have no idea what the thought was with the headlights......not to mention how crappy the sealed beams are. It is a bit of an embarrassment to be honest. I've contemplated LED upgrades many times...maybe one day I'll pull the trigger on some actual LED assemblies instead of just the light bulbs. There are some pretty fancy LED's out there with heating coils incorporated into the glass to melt any snow or ice that might accumulate. Crazy to think that that is necessary, but it makes sense since LED's produce so little heat. Then again I don't plan on driving this car in the salt/snow much.. Enjoy the Jetta!
Great videos! Saving them all for when I plan a fix:) Can you possibly do a video on how to fix reverse lights for my '88 vw Cabriolet. Bulbs work, but it must be the reverse light switch and where it is exactly as I'm told. Would love to see a video on that. thx
rob p I can definitely make one. I’ve got a few others in the works, but will add it to the list. It’s an inexpensive sensor that sits on the top off the trans. Not a hard repair
Something I'll note - just running new short ground wires direct to the chassis will also improve the lighting. Just run a test ground wire off the terminal and see if it makes it brighter. That way its not grounding back to the fusebox, and then to the bay. Then you keep the factory heavier gauge power wiring. Those ebay relay kits still scare me, just waiting for a fire.
@@OlisGarage none of them are. If you go on amazon and look at the photo reviews of them. Every single company must buy from the same place. The expensive part is two legit waterproof relays, the rest is pretty cheap. It would be nice to reduce the draw on the headlight switch. already had one fire from it lol.
Hi, great video! I have a single round headlight for low and high, in this case, I don't need to cut the white wire at the end? Since both high and low are in the same light bulb?
Welcome! Hope it helps you out. I hope to make a video soon about the hella E code upgrade. Relays and E codes made a huge difference in the light output.
Great info. One point, you mentioned using acid flux. Isn't that only for non-electrical usage such as pipe fittings and is detrimental to electrical applications?
You know honestly I’m not sure. I know I’ve had that flux for a long time and don’t even know where it came from. A brief search on the internet revealed that acid flux is something used on electronics, but I’m not sure about specifically this one. It’s been working well for me though. After all these are just wires. I’m not soldering circuit boards.
Hi i was wondering if you could help me figure out why the bottom two lights on my instrument panel stay on. I think they may be either the seatbelt or airbag light. It located just under the turn signal indicator on my 1993 Cab.
Please guys always fuse the relays. On trigger and supply side please. Double check your wire amp rating. Remember the longer the wire the higher the resistance amp rating goes down. So if you suspect you need wire that can handle 15 Amps. Buy wire that can handle 25 amps and use a 15 amp fuse then.
Awesome video! I just bought a cabby and it's wiring is a little wonky, the previous owner set up a wire that goes to the battery that I have to manually plug into a fuse to get the passenger side headlights to light up. The driver's side still works from the switch though, it's just the passenger that needs manual connecting. Do you know if this harness would make it so both lights actually work from the switch?
It will. I explained in the video how we use the original headlight connector on the drivers side as our power to turn on the relays, which turn on the lights. It doesn’t matter really what you use to energize the relays. But I used the stock headlight wiring because a relay draws almost no power, so you aren’t overloading the circuit anymore with making it power a relay
@@iainstratton anytime! I hope the explanation made sense. Relays are cool because with a little bit of power they can allow a lot of power to flow. The harness in the link is what I used. It definitely is cheap, but it’s been holding up for about a year now on my car. The ceramic connectors are a bit challenging to plug into the lights, but just take it slow and it’ll work well. Appreciate you using the link man!!
Well, to be completely honest I would not use the harness I used. I would purchase a higher quality one from somewhere else. Just expect to pay closer to $80. If you buy a good quality one then I wouldn't be too concerned with soldering the connections. Would it be best to solder the connections? probably. Were any connections soldered on this car from the factory? no. I'll see if I can find a harness that seems to be better quality on the internet. When I purchased the one from amazon, I wanted to the cheap one a try. Now that I've tried it, I've decided that it is not worth the $20 I spent...just too cheap and a lot of work to make it usable.
@@OlisGarage Last year I bought pretty much exactly the same cheap harness off eBay. All wires are AWG 18 (it's printed on them), including the main plus connection to the battery. I therefore replaced the main connection with 2.5 mm² wire (approx. AWG 13). Like you, I also added a proper ground wire for the passenger side to the battery. With those modifications, the harness is good and still very cheap. But it's additional work to put in and you need to crimp or solder.
😳 yikes. That….is no good. There are some good relay kits out there, but they are pricey. Maybe they are worth it….when my cheap Amazon relays crap out I’ll buy a good kit.
@@OlisGarage yah mines in my trunk as its a larger one... Not the best placement but its on a quick pin release. You'll thank yourself one day for having it.
Yeah that’s a good upgrade too. I will make a video on upgrading to H4 E-codes. They make a significantly better light pattern than the sealed beams. Amazing upgrades to lighting.
Ha, good question. I zip tied them to the core support. I don't like drilling new holes and such. So I just zip tied them until I find a better mounting method.
@@OlisGarage Not sure if you've seen this-but Cabby Info has a template for a bracket that mounts to an existing hole next to the radiator bracket. I haven't tried it yet, but it's on the list. cabby-info.com/Files/RelayingTheHeadlights.pdf
patrick spraker Amazon. I’ll add a link to the video. The quality was....meh. But so far it’s been working. It would be annoying if it fails, but if that’s the case then I can just temporarily plug in the original harness for the drive home.
Yeah i think I’m going to upgrade to a better kit. I haven’t been driving the car much, but you’re absolutely right. I don’t think wire gauge was even mentioned anywhere…so that’s definitely suspect. Once I find a good kit I’m going to update the link in the description and maybe even make another video.
@@OlisGarage Yah im thinking it would be better to not replace the factory headlight loom. Just install a relay that runs it power back into the stock harness. Then you could build it for way cheaper and safer. Check out the recent amazon photo review on that link you posted. Its like 20 awg on that one O.o super scary.
@@json8172 I guess I don’t quite understand what you’re saying there. The relay setup on this is correct. The components are just too cheap. 20 gauge wire is….yikes. That’s no good I’ve built two setups myself already, and the end price was around $20. I just didn’t want to take a whole day building a harness so I got lazy. Looks like I need to find a quality kit and link it. I know of one or two places that sell good kits.
The harness I bought very cheap says "AWG 18" on it's wires, which equals 0.823 mm². Looking at the copper strands, this appears to be correct. It might seem very thin, but I had great success with it nevertheless. This gauge, while not great, is safe and good enough to supply a *_single_* 55/60 Watts halogen lamp at these short distances. The problem was they used the same gauge for everything, including the main positive supply from the battery. So I replaced that wire with 2.5 mm² (approx. AWG 13) and made sure the original AWG 18 wires supply no more than a single halogen lamp. My voltage increased from 10.8 Volts to 12.9 Volts (measured under load with engine running). I also changed the way the high beams relay is supplied because the way it came, you wouldn't be able to flash the high beams while the low beams are switched on. With some modification, I would actually recommend the cheap harness.
Beside marker lights the red one in the back and the yellow one up front I change those into blinkers I order some aftermarket LED blinkers that are wide enough to cover those holes when you remove them they don't have reflectors and then you wire that into the rear blinker and then the front one into the bumper blinker so that way when you turn on your blinker you have four bulbs flashing kind of like a semi truck has bulbs on the side that blink try that I do that to all my cars that have those ridiculous side marker lights I get smaller ones that don't have reflectors and I put yellows on the back and the front so when I put my blinker on those two side ones blink only they're not illuminated in the parking position only the blinking position try that that'll also make a nice Improvement on that car
Dude you need to get a pair of 9 inch round H4 headlights since you're using the booster harness with H4 bulbs the blue kind they don't look as yellow I managed to buy the bulbs from China for a dollar a piece then when you go to hook them up the arrangement on the three wires per headlight is different so you have to take the three wires out of the plug and change the arrangement so you don't end up having to use their little adapters it simply just change the arrangement of those three wires then you will have very bright headlights get rid of the sealed beam lights I prefer hella brand but they do make some off brands but the glass ones are the best some have the internal parking light and you can put a nice little LED bulb in there so you don't have yellow indicators that are dim bright dim bright you disconnect the third wire from your blinker so you only have two wires going to the blinkers and the constant wire that makes it dim yellow that wire goes to the bulb that's located inside your new 9-in round hella H4 headlight and with that booster harness you can up the wattage on the bulbs to 75 low beam 80 high beam per headlight bulb those are nice try that and see how it works out then you'll have it European headlights in your German car
Thanks this was super helpful. I have an 85 gold diesel and was swapping to the quad rounds and had only a partial idea on getting it done from a wiring perspective. Made a tone of sense and ended up soldering all the connections. Appreciate it. Keep up the great informative content.
Glad it helped! The first time I relayed my headlights it was rather confusing, so I understand the struggle. Nice work soldering everything.
Great video. I just completed this today after buying the harness. You saved me some serious time. Thanks!
Installed these last year, really happy with the results 👍
About the soldering thing at 4:36 I do myself solder some connections because i don't have a crimping tool, but the automotive standard these days is just to crimp wires and not to solder them. Flexibility reasons i guess 🤷
It makes quite a difference, especially all of the unrealized gains (not having to worry about burning out the headlight switch, etc).
I always solder them because...why not. But you are very correct, even on these cars every connector is just crimped.
You're a true professional. Top job.Where I live I'm surrounded by auto electrician.
Made my own harness. Big difference . Voltage across headlight before mod 8 volts. Afterwards 12v.
good to hear! I've made a few my own as well. This time I felt lazy and just bought one..but the quality is a bit iffy.
Nice video and very useful info. Yes would love more videos that cover usual problems of Cabrio/MK relating to controls and electrical problems (dash, speedometer cable, guage failure, etc).
Keep up the great work...amazing everyone has exactly the same problems (reverse lights, etc).
As the issues come up on my vehicles, I’ll continue filming the repairs! Speedo cable replacement and voltage regulator replacement are on my list. If you have any requests, let me know and I’ll add it to my list. Slowly but surely!
@@OlisGarage yeah I tried replacing my Speedo cable but I noticed that my 87 Cabriolet Speedo goes to some other digital module underneath the window wipers and it's not a standard Speedo cable that goes right to the transmission. Weird and I'm just going to do more research or move over to a digital speedometer that works via GPS sensor and replace the whole thing.
Either way, thanks for the videos and support.
I made my own harness with 3 relays (40 amp)ea. 1 for low beams 2 for high and 3rd for the inner driving lights all with 10 and 12 gauge wiring.
That’s a really nice setup you built! These cars have some of the best high beams I’ve ever seen due to the inner lights. It’s amazing.
Is it possible for me to see exactly how you made yours? Would like to do the same since the harness is not in stock at the moment
I am vindicated - thanks for the video! I'm not the only one who thought the stock VW headlight switch setup was terrible.
When I bought my Mk1 Jetta back in 2005 for restoration I was appalled at how dim the headlamps were. I replaced the sealed beam headlights with new Wagner Halogens. Although brighter they were still not to my liking. After reviewing the Bentley VW manual I discovered much like you did that there was no relay for power. I did the exact same thing you did - I bought a dual relay replacement kit for low and high beams. It made a dramatic improvement! I went one step beyond and bought H4 glass reflector headlights on the low beams, and went with Nighteye LED headlight bulbs. Muh Gawd! I swear my car can light up an airport now!
If you have any car where the headlight switch sources the power directly for the headlamps I greatly recommend getting a kit like this for retrofit. You will not be disappointed!
I have no idea what the thought was with the headlights......not to mention how crappy the sealed beams are. It is a bit of an embarrassment to be honest.
I've contemplated LED upgrades many times...maybe one day I'll pull the trigger on some actual LED assemblies instead of just the light bulbs.
There are some pretty fancy LED's out there with heating coils incorporated into the glass to melt any snow or ice that might accumulate. Crazy to think that that is necessary, but it makes sense since LED's produce so little heat.
Then again I don't plan on driving this car in the salt/snow much..
Enjoy the Jetta!
Great videos! Saving them all for when I plan a fix:) Can you possibly do a video on how to fix reverse lights for my '88 vw Cabriolet. Bulbs work, but it must be the reverse light switch and where it is exactly as I'm told. Would love to see a video on that. thx
rob p I can definitely make one. I’ve got a few others in the works, but will add it to the list.
It’s an inexpensive sensor that sits on the top off the trans. Not a hard repair
tengo una rabbit cabriolet 1982, videos muy interesantes, te sigo desde la Ciudad de Mexico, saludos
Thanks :) Hopefully the videos help. Greetings from USA!
Something I'll note - just running new short ground wires direct to the chassis will also improve the lighting. Just run a test ground wire off the terminal and see if it makes it brighter. That way its not grounding back to the fusebox, and then to the bay. Then you keep the factory heavier gauge power wiring. Those ebay relay kits still scare me, just waiting for a fire.
Good thought. I need to shell out the cash for a good relay harness. This one definitely isn’t that high of quality…
@@OlisGarage none of them are. If you go on amazon and look at the photo reviews of them. Every single company must buy from the same place. The expensive part is two legit waterproof relays, the rest is pretty cheap. It would be nice to reduce the draw on the headlight switch. already had one fire from it lol.
Hi, great video!
I have a single round headlight for low and high, in this case, I don't need to cut the white wire at the end? Since both high and low are in the same light bulb?
Where can I purchase this relay harness? Thanks great channel
Nice job man, thanks for posting this up 👍🙂
Welcome! Hope it helps you out. I hope to make a video soon about the hella E code upgrade. Relays and E codes made a huge difference in the light output.
Great info. One point, you mentioned using acid flux. Isn't that only for non-electrical usage such as pipe fittings and is detrimental to electrical applications?
You know honestly I’m not sure. I know I’ve had that flux for a long time and don’t even know where it came from. A brief search on the internet revealed that acid flux is something used on electronics, but I’m not sure about specifically this one.
It’s been working well for me though. After all these are just wires. I’m not soldering circuit boards.
Rosin core is for electrical. Acid Flux plumbing soldering. Please don't use acid flux on electrical please.
Will this exact method work on newer citi golf 2009 model
Hi i was wondering if you could help me figure out why the bottom two lights on my instrument panel stay on. I think they may be either the seatbelt or airbag light. It located just under the turn signal indicator on my 1993 Cab.
Airbag. They won’t turn off (in most cases). With them on it means that the airbag system isn’t working, and it’s warning you of that.
Please guys always fuse the relays. On trigger and supply side please. Double check your wire amp rating. Remember the longer the wire the higher the resistance amp rating goes down. So if you suspect you need wire that can handle 15 Amps. Buy wire that can handle 25 amps and use a 15 amp fuse then.
Very good advice. Thanks.
Awesome video! I just bought a cabby and it's wiring is a little wonky, the previous owner set up a wire that goes to the battery that I have to manually plug into a fuse to get the passenger side headlights to light up. The driver's side still works from the switch though, it's just the passenger that needs manual connecting. Do you know if this harness would make it so both lights actually work from the switch?
It will.
I explained in the video how we use the original headlight connector on the drivers side as our power to turn on the relays, which turn on the lights.
It doesn’t matter really what you use to energize the relays. But I used the stock headlight wiring because a relay draws almost no power, so you aren’t overloading the circuit anymore with making it power a relay
@@OlisGarage Thanks for the quick reply! I ended up buying the harness from your link 🙌
@@iainstratton anytime! I hope the explanation made sense. Relays are cool because with a little bit of power they can allow a lot of power to flow.
The harness in the link is what I used. It definitely is cheap, but it’s been holding up for about a year now on my car. The ceramic connectors are a bit challenging to plug into the lights, but just take it slow and it’ll work well. Appreciate you using the link man!!
Would you recommend doing this to someone who has never soldered? I dont want to ruin my headlights cabling with a botch job.
Well, to be completely honest I would not use the harness I used. I would purchase a higher quality one from somewhere else. Just expect to pay closer to $80. If you buy a good quality one then I wouldn't be too concerned with soldering the connections. Would it be best to solder the connections? probably. Were any connections soldered on this car from the factory? no.
I'll see if I can find a harness that seems to be better quality on the internet.
When I purchased the one from amazon, I wanted to the cheap one a try. Now that I've tried it, I've decided that it is not worth the $20 I spent...just too cheap and a lot of work to make it usable.
@@OlisGarage Last year I bought pretty much exactly the same cheap harness off eBay. All wires are AWG 18 (it's printed on them), including the main plus connection to the battery. I therefore replaced the main connection with 2.5 mm² wire (approx. AWG 13).
Like you, I also added a proper ground wire for the passenger side to the battery. With those modifications, the harness is good and still very cheap. But it's additional work to put in and you need to crimp or solder.
Yah I had a electrical fire due to a headlight wire grounding out on the steering column. Fun times. Sucks the ebay relay kits are kind of junky.
😳 yikes. That….is no good.
There are some good relay kits out there, but they are pricey. Maybe they are worth it….when my cheap Amazon relays crap out I’ll buy a good kit.
@@OlisGarage and that's why I have a fire extinguisher in the trunk lol.
@@json8172 don’t blame you there. I have one as well. I need to mount it in the front somewhere so that I have easy access.
@@OlisGarage yah mines in my trunk as its a larger one... Not the best placement but its on a quick pin release. You'll thank yourself one day for having it.
Would this work with my 78 rabbit ??
Yes it will! Applies to all mk1s!
While your in there replace the headlights to H4 and H3 70-100 watts 55 watt inners
Yeah that’s a good upgrade too. I will make a video on upgrading to H4 E-codes. They make a significantly better light pattern than the sealed beams. Amazing upgrades to lighting.
Does this Harness work with the stock headlights or do I have to upgrade to the H4 or H3?
Did you mount the relay to the core support or just sort of have them chilling?
Ha, good question. I zip tied them to the core support. I don't like drilling new holes and such. So I just zip tied them until I find a better mounting method.
@@OlisGarage Not sure if you've seen this-but Cabby Info has a template for a bracket that mounts to an existing hole next to the radiator bracket. I haven't tried it yet, but it's on the list. cabby-info.com/Files/RelayingTheHeadlights.pdf
Great Video!
When you said: some previous idiot.....🤣🤣🤣🤣 I laughed so much....
Nice work, though.
Where did you buy the harness from??
This was helpful
Amazon. Link is in description. But the quality is not good.
Where'd you pick the harness up?
patrick spraker Amazon. I’ll add a link to the video. The quality was....meh. But so far it’s been working.
It would be annoying if it fails, but if that’s the case then I can just temporarily plug in the original harness for the drive home.
Where can i buy one
Links and part numbers are always in the description!
Where could I get the break check valve ?
LE BM which Check valve?
Oli's Repairs acdelco 90304535
That’s the part number seems like you can’t find it anywhere would appreciate any help !
LE BM no kidding, it is not in stock anywhere. I’m going to keep looking. Will let you know if I find something!
Oli's Repairs thanks good video for you channel !!!
Be careful - those ebay harnesses have 16 awg main power line, you may (likely will) have problems with your upgraded bulbs.
Yeah i think I’m going to upgrade to a better kit. I haven’t been driving the car much, but you’re absolutely right.
I don’t think wire gauge was even mentioned anywhere…so that’s definitely suspect.
Once I find a good kit I’m going to update the link in the description and maybe even make another video.
@@OlisGarage Yah im thinking it would be better to not replace the factory headlight loom. Just install a relay that runs it power back into the stock harness. Then you could build it for way cheaper and safer.
Check out the recent amazon photo review on that link you posted. Its like 20 awg on that one O.o super scary.
@@json8172 I guess I don’t quite understand what you’re saying there.
The relay setup on this is correct. The components are just too cheap. 20 gauge wire is….yikes. That’s no good
I’ve built two setups myself already, and the end price was around $20. I just didn’t want to take a whole day building a harness so I got lazy. Looks like I need to find a quality kit and link it. I know of one or two places that sell good kits.
The harness I bought very cheap says "AWG 18" on it's wires, which equals 0.823 mm². Looking at the copper strands, this appears to be correct. It might seem very thin, but I had great success with it nevertheless. This gauge, while not great, is safe and good enough to supply a *_single_* 55/60 Watts halogen lamp at these short distances.
The problem was they used the same gauge for everything, including the main positive supply from the battery. So I replaced that wire with 2.5 mm² (approx. AWG 13) and made sure the original AWG 18 wires supply no more than a single halogen lamp. My voltage increased from 10.8 Volts to 12.9 Volts (measured under load with engine running).
I also changed the way the high beams relay is supplied because the way it came, you wouldn't be able to flash the high beams while the low beams are switched on.
With some modification, I would actually recommend the cheap harness.
@@martinweizenacker7129 It would be nice to run 100w bulbs - perhaps they are ok with stock bulbs. I wouldnt trust it with a heavy load.
i have an 83 for sale, white
How much and where are you located?
Beside marker lights the red one in the back and the yellow one up front I change those into blinkers I order some aftermarket LED blinkers that are wide enough to cover those holes when you remove them they don't have reflectors and then you wire that into the rear blinker and then the front one into the bumper blinker so that way when you turn on your blinker you have four bulbs flashing kind of like a semi truck has bulbs on the side that blink try that I do that to all my cars that have those ridiculous side marker lights I get smaller ones that don't have reflectors and I put yellows on the back and the front so when I put my blinker on those two side ones blink only they're not illuminated in the parking position only the blinking position try that that'll also make a nice Improvement on that car
Dude you need to get a pair of 9 inch round H4 headlights since you're using the booster harness with H4 bulbs the blue kind they don't look as yellow I managed to buy the bulbs from China for a dollar a piece then when you go to hook them up the arrangement on the three wires per headlight is different so you have to take the three wires out of the plug and change the arrangement so you don't end up having to use their little adapters it simply just change the arrangement of those three wires then you will have very bright headlights get rid of the sealed beam lights I prefer hella brand but they do make some off brands but the glass ones are the best some have the internal parking light and you can put a nice little LED bulb in there so you don't have yellow indicators that are dim bright dim bright you disconnect the third wire from your blinker so you only have two wires going to the blinkers and the constant wire that makes it dim yellow that wire goes to the bulb that's located inside your new 9-in round hella H4 headlight and with that booster harness you can up the wattage on the bulbs to 75 low beam 80 high beam per headlight bulb those are nice try that and see how it works out then you'll have it European headlights in your German car