HID Headlight mod for you 280ZX
05-07-2010 | 12:55 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Mr Z++ Wiki
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,195
From: Victoria, BC
HID Headlight mod for you 280ZX
I posted this info on HybridZ but this forum is probably the most active S130 forum so for those who don't frequent HybridZ....
I posted how to do an HID upgrade on my 240Z ( Over Here ) and after driving around with HIDs in the 240Z and 370Z it was a no brainer to do the same to the 280ZX. The install itself is fairly straight forward. I use the same H4 housing since they provide excellent cut off to prevent blinding oncoming traffic. I opted to try out the cheapo China lights as they look to be identical to the Philips designed ballast at a fraction of the price - so far so good and I run with my lights on pretty much whenever I'm driving.
The issue with the 280ZX, however, is the system fault light on the dash. Without drawing current through both headlights you'll get an error on your dash warning you your headlights are out. You could bypass this by adding resistors to draw enough current to get the sensors to pass. I chose instead to figure out how the sensor for the headlights work and modify it to give tell the system fault detector that everything is OK.
Here is a picture of the head light detection circuit. It is right beside the radiator overflow resevoir NOTE: I bead blasted and painted mine black - stock is golden colour (cad plated). Simply remove the two mounting screws and unplug the harness from the bottom. You can also see where I mounted the relay for the HID harness and the fuse going to the positive terminal on the battery
Once the head light detection circuit is removed take the four screws on the top off and open the unit. You can see they use a coil which current passes through when the head light is on. The circuit is duplicated twice on the PCB - one for each head light. This switches a little reed switch (magnetic) on to tell the system that the lights are working. You can see the reed switch inside the coil.
To fake the circuit out we simply short the reed switch so that the detection circuitry thinks there is current flowing through the lights and everything is working fine. I just used part of a resistor lead to make a jumper but you can use a piece of wire, etc.
A few pics of the 240Z with the HIDs compared to my 370Z stock HID
I posted how to do an HID upgrade on my 240Z ( Over Here ) and after driving around with HIDs in the 240Z and 370Z it was a no brainer to do the same to the 280ZX. The install itself is fairly straight forward. I use the same H4 housing since they provide excellent cut off to prevent blinding oncoming traffic. I opted to try out the cheapo China lights as they look to be identical to the Philips designed ballast at a fraction of the price - so far so good and I run with my lights on pretty much whenever I'm driving.
The issue with the 280ZX, however, is the system fault light on the dash. Without drawing current through both headlights you'll get an error on your dash warning you your headlights are out. You could bypass this by adding resistors to draw enough current to get the sensors to pass. I chose instead to figure out how the sensor for the headlights work and modify it to give tell the system fault detector that everything is OK.
Here is a picture of the head light detection circuit. It is right beside the radiator overflow resevoir NOTE: I bead blasted and painted mine black - stock is golden colour (cad plated). Simply remove the two mounting screws and unplug the harness from the bottom. You can also see where I mounted the relay for the HID harness and the fuse going to the positive terminal on the battery
Once the head light detection circuit is removed take the four screws on the top off and open the unit. You can see they use a coil which current passes through when the head light is on. The circuit is duplicated twice on the PCB - one for each head light. This switches a little reed switch (magnetic) on to tell the system that the lights are working. You can see the reed switch inside the coil.
To fake the circuit out we simply short the reed switch so that the detection circuitry thinks there is current flowing through the lights and everything is working fine. I just used part of a resistor lead to make a jumper but you can use a piece of wire, etc.
A few pics of the 240Z with the HIDs compared to my 370Z stock HID
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