[GUIDE] Modifying SS/SV8 headlight stalk wires for an SV6

[sneaky]

After researching for hours on end, I couldn’t find a single write-up on what to do about the whole “low beam turns off when high beam is on” issue when you go ahead and put projectors in an SV6 (VZ).

So, here’s the entire procedure!

What you’ll need
- Wire crimper and stripper (this one works just fine)
- A blade-type piggyback terminal (here’s the one that I used).
- A female blade-type terminal (here’s what I used)
- A male blade-type terminal (here’s what I used)
- Electrical tape

Method
1. Disconnect your battery; always do this when working on vehicle electrical systems
2. Remove the top part of your steering wheel trim and sit it to the side
3. On your indicator and high beam stalk, remove the large connector (there is a push tab to the right when it is sitting vertically).
4. Sever the WHITE wire from the connector and leave about 1cm of wire protruding from the connector.
5. Tape up the 1cm you left for safety purposes and to avoid exposed terminals/wires.
6. Strip the white wire that you just cut by around 7mm, and crimp on the female blade connector.
7. Sever the BLACK AND WHITE wire from the connector but make sure you execute the cut about halfway across the wire, because you’re about to attach two terminals to either side of the cut!
8. Crimp the male connector to the section that is now protruding from the stalk connector
9. Crimp the piggyback connector to the section that is coming out of the cloth-shielded vehicle harness.
10. Make sure all of your connections are secure by tugging on each crimped connector; it shouldn’t budge without a bit of force.
11. Connect the male blade connector and piggyback connector together.
12. Connect the female connector to the piggyback connector.
13. Re-connect the battery and test for a working low-beam; if it doesn’t work, recheck your connections. We test the system here before we tape it up to avoid having to disassemble our work!
14. Tape up your new triangle of little connectors and make sure they can’t wiggle loose.
15. Put the steering wheel cover back on and you’re done!

 

[Jolls]

Hey Sneaky

Thanks for taking the time to document the process. I was a bit confused by the title. I though you were modifying an SS/SV8 stalk to work with an SV6. I didn't think that there was a difference between the models and a read of the manual seems to confirm this. Then I looked at the headliegnts themselves and there doesn't seem to be any difference there either.

Are the lights aftermarket ones that don't follow the same wiring principles? I found something similar with an aftermarket light I put into my VZ a while back. Took it back as I wasn't keen on bastardising the wiring.

I am interested to know a little more about what and why.

Cheers n Beers
Jolls

 

[sneaky]

Hey Sneaky

Thanks for taking the time to document the process. I was a bit confused by the title. I though you were modifying an SS/SV8 stalk to work with an SV6. I didn't think that there was a difference between the models and a read of the manual seems to confirm this. Then I looked at the headliegnts themselves and there doesn't seem to be any difference there either.

Are the lights aftermarket ones that don't follow the same wiring principles? I found something similar with an aftermarket light I put into my VZ a while back. Took it back as I wasn't keen on bastardising the wiring.

I am interested to know a little more about what and why.

Cheers n Beers
Jolls

Hey! Thanks for the reply sorry for the confusion there! The high beam and indicator harness in an SV6 has a weird quirk, where if you swap out your stock SV6 headlights with SS projector ones (pretty common upgrade), the low beam won’t work if you flip on the high beams.

Someone on here has done an excellent job of explaining why this occurs, but essentially, the wiring circuits are different between a VZ SV6 and SS.

However, the short of it is that standard lights have different circuitry with different bulbs and I believe there’s a second circuit in the standard low beam bulbs? I believe this second circuit tries to activate when you pop the high beams on, however as you don’t have standard lights fitted anymore, this circuit no longer exists and the car can’t enable it.

To get around this, you have to patch the wiring harness which essentially just forces the system to enable the primary circuit (SS low beams only have one, so we need to force the car to use this).

Someone correct me if I’m wrong though! I’m recalling from memory, but as mentioned before, someone has done a much better explanation that I can’t seem to locate right now.

 

[Jolls]

Got it now - the difference between the Level 1 and the level 2 and 3 lighting. The wiring between the switch and the stalk is different.

All over it now.

Good write up and should be placed into the DIY section.

Cheers n Beers
Jolls