Headlight Wattage

Hey everyone hope yall beating these 40+ temperatures! quick question about headlight watts, in the MQ/MK manual , the proper headlight wattage is 50/40W if I put higher wattage halogen globes in, say 100/90W will i burn out wiring??? as my headlights are dim and would like to make them brighter and whiter, or will i have to fit a HID conversion kit, not real sure about electronics, if someone has upgraded their MQ/MK headlights please feel free to fill me in! very much appreciated for any info!!

It has been to many years since my MQ days but I am pretty sure they are wired the same as GQ's

That means they don't have headlight relays... that means all the current the headlights draw runs thru the combination switch... that means the high wattage globes burn out your combo switch after a while.

It is also why GQ's are prone to melting the headlight plug earths

If you want decent lights;
Use semi sealed beams if you haven't already
Get a relay and heavier gauge wire and wire up the headlights just as if they were spotties IE have the wires that go to the headlights switch a relay and not power the globes direct.
Use standard wattage +100 or +120 Philips or Narva globes

If the MQ's have headlight relays then disregard the relay bit

As evil twin says go standard wattage in the +100 or +120. These use a different gas inside the globe to help produce more light.

It's not really as simple as just throwing a bigger fuse in to accomodate. Your doubling the current required going to 100w, so upgrading the wiring would be best. And if evil twin is correct and they don't run a relay then double the amperage will certainly see the combo switch giving up the ghost if not something will melt.

so do these mq have h4s in them

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Originally Posted by kevin07

so do these mq have h4s in them

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No not as standard I wouldn't have thought. Would have thought they're were sealed beams like the GQs

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Originally Posted by Clunk

No not as standard I wouldn't have thought. Would have thought they're were sealed beams like the GQs

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H4 is the plug style which is the 3 pin setup (one horizontal and two vertical) as is used in the GQ.

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Originally Posted by nissannewby

H4 is the plug style which is the 3 pin setup (one horizontal and two vertical) as is used in the GQ.

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Ahhhhh I see, I always thought it was the globe itself. Thanks for the correction

all good do these mq have sealed beams

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Originally Posted by kevin07

all good do these mq have sealed beams

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Mine did... for approx 37 seconds. First thing I hurfed in the garbage from memory:devilred:

ok im out for helping

I have just done my headlight loom upgrade.

First off: do you have an MQ or an MK? This will make a difference.
MQ's have no relays in the headlight loom, MK's have one relay, but it does not switch power to and from the light, it simply separates the left and right headlights. All power still runs through the switch. This is a very bad setup!

Putting higher wattage globes in puts extra strain on the wiring and the weakest link will break. In both MQ and MK this weak link is the switch. Over time they develop a high resistance and will eventually start to burn, my switch did this and I was only running 55/60w globes. With my upgraded loom I have no more burning switch issues and the light is much better even with low wattage globes.

A headlight upgrade is fairly simple still and I can provide a wiring diagram and am happy to assist with questions. If you are in Vic I am even happy to help you wire it up.

Having upgraded my holden 1 toner wiring, we are about to upgrade the wiring on sons car.
I plan a resettable circuit break next to the battery and then two relays for main and high beam. I have new H4 ceramic sockets to fit also.
Do you some photos of your relay placement?

In my old MQ l use to run 130/90 watts, never had a prob

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Originally Posted by kool-lights

Having upgraded my holden 1 toner wiring, we are about to upgrade the wiring on sons car.
I plan a resettable circuit break next to the battery and then two relays for main and high beam. I have new H4 ceramic sockets to fit also.
Do you some photos of your relay placement?

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I will put up a pic of the relays I have put in, I have one for high beam and another for low beam. You will have to excuse the wiring, its a bit untidy at the moment and the relays also look messy as I used factory holes in the inner guard to mount them (didn't want to drill new holes). One day I will get around to putting a relay block in.

incredible the advice and offers for help on this forum, i never imagined it was this way. brill

In my gq i did 4 relays and it made a big difference with the new wireing and circuit breakers one for each light.
I seperated the 2 headlights wiring

yeppers, did the same on both my MK and my GQ, Garret

rewired the whole headlight area, much much better

Thanks all ! I have the same problems but you are great whit your advice