Quad To Dual Headlight Conversion?

[mrmike]

I dislike the headlight setup of the Alero. The inner headlights are too close together (at least I think so) and it really shows when the daytime running lights are on. Is it possible to move the inner headlight bulbs and wiring to the outer headlight position and then splice the outer headlight wiring into it so the outer lights will stay on whether it is in DRL mode or the headlights are manually turned on? If this did work would it affect the alignment or effectiveness of the highbeams? Would the 9005 highbeam bulbs fit in the hole for the 9006 lowbeams? Has anyone tried this? I'll check it out when I clear my corners and paint my bezels, but I just wondered if anyone has tried it or knows something about it. If it does work out I would paint the disconnected low beam bulb blue and put it in the highbeam position so the blue would reflect on the reflection cone.

BTW I am Mike, I've been a lurker here since I bought my Alero in June. I live in Saskatchewan Canada, where Aleros are everywhere. Seriously, sometimes I am driving down the road, there will be an Alero infront of me and an Alero behind me, then another Alero will meet us going the other way. I am trying to make my Alero unique, but I am disappointed with the limited aftermarket. Does anyone know why there is such a small aftermarket for lights, bodykits and the like? Everything out there is for the ugly Grand Am. Anyways, people around my city don't modify thier vehicles at all, so a car with a body kit, custom lighting, aftermarket rims or lowered suspension really stands out. So Hello.

[Eh_nigma]

Can't help you with headlights...

The Alero was never a really popular car... IMO the Oldsmobile name itself limits aftermarket availability on body kits and such... it's just not a "hot" car. HOWEVER, there are tons of products out there that are, yes, made for the Grand Am, which will work in the Alero as well... and many things that can be put in... just need some time with a piece of paper and measuring tape sometimes.

I find what also limits us, you being from Canada's Natural Fireguard, myself from both Alberta and now middle of nowhere Manitoba... there aren't many Canadian aftermarket shops that will carry, or even order parts for the Alero... enter the internet and forums such as this one .

This can be seen both as a con, but a pro as well... Sure Alero's are common *Saskatoon by any chance?*, but a custom Alero is a rare thing to see.

Either way though, welcome to the site... hope that you'll find all the answers to any problems you may have... the people here are great, and the collective knowledge is through the roof...

[jackal2000]

ya and it doesnt help that oldsmobile is no more...


there is a way to disable the DRL feature...all it involves is the DRL fuse and a piece of electrical tape


and your sig is pretty cool

[cherrington17]

well, mike, i can't say i can help w/ the headlight issue, but if you manage to get it to work out, post up pics and a "how to" cuz i wouldn't mind thinking about that one. lol

[MikeSS]

What year is your alero? If you had a 2003-2004 Alero the DRL were the outside lights (9006's) It looke much better.

[mrmike]

Its a silver 2001 GLS 2 door. I don't get why the Olds name is looked down on. The Alero is nicer than any recent Chev or Pontiac cars, so maybe this is a case of stupid people not knowing whats good for them. Anyways has anyone added custom reflectors to their Alero after clearing the corners? In Sask (and all of Canada i think) you need an orange reflector on the front that is visible at 200 meters. I was thinking of putting the reflector on the corner of the bumper, in the groove that wraps around the front. I would rather put it down by the foglights. Does the reflector need to be visible from the side like the turn signals or does it only need to be seen from the front? Its very hard to find any solid legal info and even then you can't account for smart ass cops with their own person opinions about highway vehicle equipment regulations.

[mrmike]

I took the headlights off for the first time and looked into it. It seems really easy to do, the highbeam bulb fits into the lowbeam hole. However, you would need to take the headlight apart like you were clearing your corners in order to remove the round slotted thing covering the lowbeam bulb. You could do the wiring without taking it apart (there are only 4 wires) but if you took it apart you could redo the wiring better with new lower gauge wire. As for wiring, you need to move the high beam connector to the lowbeams position, and then splice the 2 sets of wires together. The better wiring is also good for upgrading your lights to a higher wattage. I am going to paint the bezels, but I have a few questions.
1. The bezel is about 1 inch thick in front of the headlight reflectors. If I paint it black, will it reduce the amount of light the headlight will shine to the side? Because in Sask we have a lot of ditches with thick grass and deer so I need all the side facing light I can get.
2. Do I need to sand/prime it at all? I know the wind/water won't be on it but will the sunlight/extreme cold make it flake and peel?

[Eh_nigma]

Originally posted by mrmike@Jul 28 2005, 02:36 PM
In Sask (and all of Canada i think) you need an orange reflector on the front that is visible at 200 meters.
Quoted post



Not true for all of Canada. Checked in Alberta first... God I love this province, get away with everything... but yes, Alberta, and Manitoba are cool with clearing the corners. It's different coloured bulbs that are illegal across Canada... although there are bulbs that have been checked that were painted both amber and in the case that I saw blue... one half of the bulb being one colour, and so on.

[mrmike]

well I have the lights taken apart and they are getting painted and assembled tomorrow. I am going to try adding orange reflectors to the sides of the foglights to keep it legal. I checked out the n-body forum and found a lot of people who had changed the 4 light system around so it sounds like it should be ok. I also disabled the DRLs, all I had to do was pull out the relay and interupt it with a piece of paper. I ordered my LED front signals on Monday so they should be here soon, but I found out that I might need some kind of resistor to stop the computer from thinking it is a burnt out bulb. Anyways taking the light apart was fun and I didn't wreck anything so it should turn out good. Could someone who has painted thier light bezels answer my question about sanding/priming them?

[AleroSS]

Originally posted by Eh_nigma+Jul 28 2005, 07:01 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eh_nigma @ Jul 28 2005, 07:01 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-mrmike@Jul 28 2005, 02:36 PM
In Sask (and all of Canada i think) you need an orange reflector on the front that is visible at 200 meters.
Quoted post



Not true for all of Canada. Checked in Alberta first... God I love this province, get away with everything... but yes, Alberta, and Manitoba are cool with clearing the corners. It's different coloured bulbs that are illegal across Canada... although [/b][/quote]

WRONG! :P

Us 'Tobans ARE required by law to have a reflector inside the headlight assembly when clearing the corners, HOWEVER, many kids with cleared headlights have gotten off easy, or un-noticed by placing the properly coloured (amber) bulb in lieu of a reflector. If a cop pulled you over, and wanted to be a dink about it, you can get a ticket for cleared headlights without the reflector in the amber sections. :beerchug:

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

if any of you canucks need you reflectors back, I got mine still! :)

[mrmike]

It didn't work. The low and high beams get the same amount of power when they are on so there was no difference between having it on low or high. The highbeam indicator stayed on even when I didn't have the highbeams on which was funny. Anyways I didn't actually clear my corners, because I didn't want to have to take them apart again if I got caught and I'm at the age where I don't think its cool to get stopped by the cops for this stuff. I did paint the bezels black, which actually gave the turn signals a tinted look, so I'm happy with it.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/master_chief/Photo2001.jpg

[alerorf86]

I am New to this site, don't have any posted pics yet, I live in America, so it is legal for my DRLs to be turned off also, so if anyone knows away to either reroute the power to ground it out or to disable then without the S.V.S. light coming on, please let me know i am attempting to costomize the outside of my alero now. and I'm getting desperate. If you think of anything please email me at Formularf86@aol.com.

[Cliff8928]

Well, I know that all they switched on the '03-04 models that have the DRLs on the low-beams is the wire in the lighting harness, no other differences. I'm about to put an older harness in mine so my high-beams are the DRLs for now. I can't run the low-beams for DRLs because they are HIDs. However, to disable them temporarily I just pulled the DRL relay with no lights coming on.