Thanks, and yeah Griffin is the name of the shop, they're good but not cheap. At the time I was working so much that it made sense to have the shop do it in a day. I also wasn't nearly as proficient working on the car then as I am now. I'll be rebuilding my dad's A4's front end at some point though.

 

I had to replace the headlight switch again. A few weeks ago I noticed that my right rear taillight would go out when I turned the headlights on. Soon after that the interior lights would go out with the headlights as well. I threw in a new switch which fixed those two problems, but this one turns on the high beams when I turn on the left turn signal . I put a rubber band between the turn signal stalk and the headlight switch which has fixed it for now.

In my hunt for a new headlight switch, I also grabbed what I need to install relays for the headlights.

The write ups I found online discuss buying an automotive relay online and mounting it in the bay somewhere, I always thought that looked a little sloppy and wanted to do something more OEM looking.

I did some exploring under the dash and there are blank spots on the relay panel. Perfect! I snagged a few extra Audi 12v 40A relays and their panel connectors and I'll wire up a harness.







Now time to find the wires I need in the car. If I recall, the headlight wire is a yellow or yellow/black wire.

 

I started a project I've been long avoiding...dealing with the mess of wires I've created behind the dash. Before tackling the headlight relay I wanted to clean up the existing wiring. Each little electrical project piled on top of another and I started splicing into existing lines I had run. Things started to get sloppy. Not my style.

I pulled everything out today. The goal is to have most everything run off distro blocks. I'm putting a grounding block under the center console and a hot box to the left of the steering column beneath the cluster.

The sound system wiring should be tackled as well, there's a lot that could be cleaned up but I'll deal with that later.

What seems to be the common state for my interior..





The first mess.



Even more!

 

I feel like your car spends more time in pieces than mine does. This is quite an accomplishment! lol

 

That's because he actually installs his parts, Chris. You just keep them in your trunk.

 

Haha, I've had some spare time on my hands over the last year. That should be changing soon so I'm getting as much of the time consuming, yet relatively cheap, work done that I can.

 

I like how you solder and use butt connectors lol. Most people swear by one or the other. Way to be man :]

 

Lol, I try to solder whenever possible. Sometimes though, due to cramped conditions (or laziness), I'll opt for butt splices. Bear in mind that picture is of the old wiring which is all being torn out.

I made a special trip to the pick n pull today just to cut up a harness and pull out some wire so the relays use factory colored wiring. I'm trying to make this as OEM as possible by using factory plugs and relays, might as well get the proper wire too!

 

I've been slacking on taking pictures as I go, only have a few.

Wire loomed up to go from the lower center console to upper dash to power the vent housings and boost gauge.



Connections for the center vent housing and boost gauge.



New harness for the funk button.

 

Slowly plugging away...

Pins removed from relay plug.



Pile-o-pins



And I guess this is what happens when you don't bolt in the fender liner...whoops.