Armchair Bronco Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 The wiring harness for the driver's side headlight on my 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.2L "L" sedan has melted. My daughter was on a long road trip yesterday, and I guess 3+ hours of continuous use was enough to melt the horizontal tab that controls the low beam (high beam is still OK). I want to replace the current plastic harness with a ceramic one. Can I get some suggestions? I do a lot of soldering and have all the soldering irons, shrink tubing and heat guns needed for the job. This one on Amazon looks like it's intended for folks who DON'T want to solder: Hipro Power H4 (9003) Heavy Duty Ceramic Headlight Wire Harness : Amazon.com : Automotive Here's one that requires soldering (curious why they didn't color code the wires): Amazon.com: Amico 2 x H4 9003 Ceramic Wire Wiring Headlight Harness Sockets for Car Headlight: Automotive I want to do this job right once (will replace both sides) but I can wait forever for shipping. Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Here's what I did a few years back--has been working well ever since: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/39122-headlight-connector-go-poof/?hl=%2Bheadlight+%2Bpoof Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rverdoold Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 In the same boat now. Last trip (4k miles) the passenger side connector completely melted. Including damaging the rubber boot around the connector. I think it melted because poor conduction between the connector and the lamp. Unfortunately I was stopped by the German Zoll (border control) and those are not to mess with, I could not fix it in the pouring rain, only luck I had is that it is not obligatory to run with lights on during the day. After they went through our papers and luggage (I am Dutch so no issues to travel in EU) I switched the lamps off and said good bye. Made a quick fix now because it is obligatory to have them on in Poland and Baltics. On the topic: Why ceramics, better cooling or less change for melting (obviously)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I run my '85 Subie with ceramic plugs on the headlamps, since the 1990's decade; the idea is that the Ceramic plugs will bear more efficiently the heat from the Bulb; so those ceramic plugs are usually installed instead the plastic ones, when you change your regular 65W Halogens, with 100W halogens, in order to prevent melting of such plug. Kind Regards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair Bronco Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 I ended up ordering two inexpensive upgrade kits from Rally Lights: The upgrade can be done w/o any soldering. Just cut off the existing wires close to the melted plastic housing, crimp on some new connectors, and pop them in to the white ceramic housing. Then cover the whole thing with the blue cover. http://www.rallylights.com/cfc-female-ceramic-plug-includes-housing-and-terminals.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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