Xenon lights are too pricey!

[devinmatagi]

I have an 03' saab 9-5 aero and both of the ecm's have gone out on my headlights (according to my mechanic) and they need to be replaced, between parts and labor and bulbs he wants to charge 1,000 for the job so now i'm trying to work around it. I am wondering if anyone knows how/if i could hook up the halogens (what many call passing lights) to work on a switch on my dash even though both of the headlight ecm's dont work. Currently my fog lights dont work because the car was in an accident before that destroyed one of them so i would love it if i could use the fog light switch to control the halogens. Any input would be greatly appreciated as i am driving around at night right now with my flashers on.

thanks in advance, devin

[SaabNineThree]

Originally Posted by devinmatagi

I have an 03' saab 9-5 aero and both of the ecm's have gone out on my headlights (according to my mechanic) and they need to be replaced, between parts and labor and bulbs he wants to charge 1,000 for the job so now i'm trying to work around it. I am wondering if anyone knows how/if i could hook up the halogens (what many call passing lights) to work on a switch on my dash even though both of the headlight ecm's dont work. Currently my fog lights dont work because the car was in an accident before that destroyed one of them so i would love it if i could use the fog light switch to control the halogens. Any input would be greatly appreciated as i am driving around at night right now with my flashers on.

thanks in advance, devin

Im a little confused by what you mean but, you can pull the light fuse so that you have to turn on your DRL's and they wont be on until you want them to be on, as for lights i got 70 dollar HID's last year they are still running strong replacement bulbs are 25 dollars and take about 5 mins to swap about 20 mins to install the ballasts.

[devinmatagi]

My xenon's dont work at all because of the ECM's, not the bulbs, I wish i just had to replace the bulbs I want to use the halogens that are between the xenons and the grill as my normal lights and i want to turn them on with a switch on the dash. I realize these were not designed to be the headlights but if i can get this to work i save a thousand dollars and that would be nice.

[mt.aero]

I have mine wired up using a fog light switch. I did mine mainly with a multi-meter to determine what wire fired the flash-to-pass lights. Then splice into your fogs wiring and run some cable to your headlights. I dont remember which was which, so youll have to start fresh with a multi-meter in hand.

[devinmatagi]

ok, so step one. figure out how a multimeter works.. haha right now when i try to use the flash to pass function nothing happens. are all of the forward lights (headlights, pass to flash, fog lights) using the ecm to try and turn on? I might go buy a set of jeep lights i.e. hellas and just canabalize all the parts so that I really just need a battery connection, ground and a switch.

[WhiteT5]

The xenon control module is a $210 part and can be replaced in 15-20 minutes per side. Why not do it yourself?

[devinmatagi]

Ok so here is what i really would love to do... would it be possible to unhook whatever wires go to the fog lights and re-route them to turn on the halogens between the xenon's and the grill?

[devinmatagi]

The cheapest i can find the part is 220 and I need two of them, add two bulbs to that and its over 600 for the repair. Its a repair that i plan on doing I just dont have the cash right now and am in a little bit of a pinch driving around without headlights...

[WhiteT5]

Bulbs can be had for less than $100 per pair.

Most hackjob solutions will blind on-coming drivers and may not pass vehicle safety inspections. Don't be a cheapskate when it comes to lighting. It is a safety item after all. Just fix it properly.

How can you be sure that your ECM modules are bad? Did they go out at two separate times? If they both went out at the same time, the chances of the ECM's being at fault is extremely small.

[devinmatagi]

According to my mechanic the $100 dollar bulbs that I put in were part of the problem with my ECM's going bad. One will not communicate and the other is not functional. He wants 260 for the part (2) and 100 for the bulb (2) I was already trying to save money by buying bulbs online on amazon and supposedly that really worsened the situation. I dont want to buy 2 of these ECM's and then have everything go really western on me. I do all my own small maintenance (sensors, brakes, shocks, struts, etc..) but electrical things are not my specialty

[Jssaab]

Did you check tECM connectors? the tend to rust and go bad jsut try celaning them

[SaabScott]

Try swapping the control modules around .... see if it isn't something else.

As for wiring up the inner H7 bulbs ... if you do that (as has been said) you will blind on-coming traffic.
Those lights have very little pattern to their throw and are NOT intended as driving lights.
One look from a cop would have you pulled over in a heartbeat.

Check wreckers. Goldwing doesn't have and hasn't had for a very long time, but someone else may.

[Sparky's 9-5 3t]

Originally Posted by devinmatagi

Ok so here is what i really would love to do... would it be possible to unhook whatever wires go to the fog lights and re-route them to turn on the halogens between the xenon's and the grill?

They're saying the halogen lights (flash-to-pass lights) weren't meant to be used on a regular basis, and they're right.

However... as a temporary fix.... do a search for "Relay 666". This turns on the halogens with the xenon-highs. I'm thinking 666 won't work with your xenons already out, but it's worth a shot.

[ski]

but the relay 666 mod only turns on the halogens on highbeam.

If you replace your bulbs when they start flickering, NOT when the have totally burned out, it seems this saves you from burning out your control module. I have an 02 with 160k miles and i've kept the DRLs on and have yet to burn out a control module.

[05Aero21]

Originally Posted by devinmatagi

I have an 03' saab 9-5 aero and both of the ecm's have gone out on my headlights (according to my mechanic) and they need to be replaced, between parts and labor and bulbs he wants to charge 1,000 for the job so now i'm trying to work around it. I am wondering if anyone knows how/if i could hook up the halogens (what many call passing lights) to work on a switch on my dash even though both of the headlight ecm's dont work. Currently my fog lights dont work because the car was in an accident before that destroyed one of them so i would love it if i could use the fog light switch to control the halogens. Any input would be greatly appreciated as i am driving around at night right now with my flashers on.

thanks in advance, devin

I just bought 2 Sylvania D1S bulbs off Amazon for 80.00. 11 reviews and all rave about them. Few Saab owners chimed in as well. Phillips were about 16.00 more each. Not too bad if they work as well as other brands. I know this isn't so much a bulb thread here, but if this is news to anyone........well you know.