HELLA / OPTILUX "ANGELEYES" INSTALLATION
Revised January 1, 2004
Hella Optilux 2500 "Angel Eyes" driving lights are high intensity lights with a LED ring around the outside.  The LED ring lights up in pale blue, and can be connected to your parking lights, turn signals, cigarette lighter, or whatever else you want to connect them to.  Most people will probably want to connect them to their parking lights though :-)  Here is a link to a picture of a set on DodgeBoy's Durango

Below are instructions for installing them on a 2000 Dodge Durango that originally came with factory fog lights.  The Angel Eyes are the same size as the factory lights, and I installed them in the factory locations.  I can't take credit for the idea though, I saw it first on DodgeBoy's web site and loved the look.
 
Important Notes:
* The steps shown below worked just fine on my truck, and this is primarily a "How I Did It" type of document.  Feel free to give these instructions a try if you want to, however USE THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK!  Also keep in mind that this is a 2000 model Durango and other year models may be completely different.
* Some jurisdictions will not allow motor vehicles to have blue lights on them since that color is reserved for police vehicles.  The color of the Angel Eyes is a very pale blue color, however if there is any question about the legalities in your area it woule be MUCH easier to check beforehand than to find out later and have to remove or disconnect the lights.
* Some jurisdictions may have limitations on how high high-intensity lights can be above the pavement, and how high they can be aimed.  These rules are to prevent high-intensity lights from blinding oncoming drivers.  If there is any question regarding the laws in your area, check first!
* Because of the way Daimler-Chrysler has designed the fog light circuit this will cause a significant amount of current (about 9.2 amps as opposed to the normal 6.25 amps) to flow through the headlight and high beam / low beam switches.  This could lead to premature failure of either of those switches.  I have not had any problems with mine but that does not mean that you will not!


STEP 1 -- Remove the factory fog light assembly.
 
a) There are two bolts holding it in.  The easiest way I found to get to them is to open the hood and go in right behind the headlight.  You can barely see the bolts, but you can get a small ratchet in there to get them out (they are 10mm bolts).  There are three bolts in the vicinity, but one of them appears to hold the bumper bracket.  Make sure you get the correct two.
b) Once the bolts are out, go back underneath and grab the shroud from the bottom of the vehicle.  Twist it about ¼ turn.  Twist the top of the shroud toward the center of the vehicle (the left side clockwise when viewed from the rear, and the right side counter clockwise) and it will drop right out.
STEP 2 -- 

Remove the adjusting screw and spring from the rear of the assembly.  Also remove the white nylon lock nut by squeezing the "Legs" together and pushing it out.  Then you can put the screw, spring, and lock nut together to keep from losing them :-) 

STEP 3 -- 

The lamp assembly has a pin molded on the side and the shroud has a large "Ear" with a hole in it that the pin fits into.  Insert a screwdriver at the position shown and carefully pry outward and the pin will pop out of the hole. The lamp assembly can then be twisted out of the shroud.

STEP 4 --

This photo shows the shroud from the rear, and upside down.  The square section in the bottom of the photo is actually the top of the shroud.  Use a Dremel tool or a file to make a notch in the flange of the shroud.  This will allow some clearance for the back of the Angel Eye so you can adjust the light up and down.  The size of the notch doesn't really matter as long as it is wide enough for the lamp base on the Angel Eye.  I made mine about 1/8" deep and in a crescent shape about 1¼" wide as shown in the photo.

STEP 5 -- 

The two "Ears" that the pins of the lamp assembly fit into are in two layers.  This photo doesn't show that very well, and you can actually see it a bit better in the photo for Step 4.  The OUTSIDE layer needs to be opened up somewhat so that the bolt used to mount the Angel Eye bracket will sit flat against the inside part of the "Ear".

STEP 5 -- Continued

This photo shows the area that needs to be ground out, but be sure to only open up the OUTSIDE layer, don't cut all the way through both layers!

STEP 6 -- 

When you are done the nut for your bracket bolt (or bolt head depending on how you do it!) will sit flat inside the hole as shown in this photo.

STEP 7 -- 

Almost there!  Now use two bolts and bolt the Angel Eye bracket to the shroud using the slots in the side of the Angel Eye bracket and the holes in the "Ears" of the light shroud.  I used LockTite on the nuts to keep them from vibrating loose.    Push the bracket as far down as you can so that the bolts are at the ends of the slots.  The photo shows what it will look like when you are done.

STEP 8 -- 

Install the Angel Eye in the bracket using the normal side slots.  The top of the Angel Eye light will actually be at the bottom of the fixture.  The photo shows what it looks like when it is complete.

One person has expressed concern about whether or not having the lamp upside down will cause drainage problems.  I have not had any problems in that respect yet, however they have only been installed for a few weeks.

STEP 9 -- 

Now just reverse Step 1 to install the fixture.  Slide it up under the bumper, and put the Angel Eye into the hole for the factory fog light.  Twist the top of the assembly toward the center of the vehicle and it will pop into place so you can bolt it down. (Read Step 11-f before you go to a lot of trouble bolting things back down!)

STEP 10 -- 

Notice!  Some Durango owners have reported that their headlight switch assembly gets quite hot when the fog lights and headlights are on.  Dimming the dash lights can make this problem even worse.  If yours is one of these you probably do NOT want to install your Angeleyes this way because that will make that problem worse and may cause failure of your headlight switch assembly or high / low beam switch assembly.  The Angeleyes will draw about 9.25 amps of current as opposed to the approximately 6.2 amps of the factory fog lights.  Take a look at section 10a below if your Durango falls into this category.


The electrical hookup for the driving lights is pretty straightforward. The Angel Eye is in two distinct electrical sections, the "Lamp" (which is the actual driving light) and the "Ring" (which contains the blue LED's). When wiring it up be sure to keep the sections isolated. Normally tying all ground (black) wires to a chassis ground is perfectly fine, but I think Dodge may be doing something strange with the lighting circuit so keep the ground of the two sections isolated by wiring the "Lamp" grounds back through the factory wiring harness.

I cut the original plug off a couple of inches from the plug (so I can put it back when I sell the truck!) and soldered connectors on the wires to mate with those on the Angel Eyes.  Using crimp connectors would be easier, but I prefer soldered connections.  On my truck the two wires were the same color, but one had a black tracer on it.  The wire with the black tracer is the negative (ground) wire and connects to the black wire of the Angel Eye driving light section. The other wire is the positive wire and connects to the white wire of the Angel Eye. (Note that since this is just a DC lamp it doesn't really matter which way the current flows, but it's always better to keep it going the way the factory intended so keep hot to hot and ground to ground)

STEP 10a -- Alternate Wiring

NOTE: I have NOT tried this wiring method, however electrically it should work properly.  USE THIS SECTION AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I do not like the way Dodge designed the lighting circuits.  The design causes ALL of the current from the fog lights to flow through the headlight and high beam / low beam switches when it is returning to ground.  This could lead to premature failure of either of those switches, regardless of whether you are using Angeleyes or the factory fog lights.  I have not had any problems with mine but that does not mean that you will not, nor does it mean that I won't have a problem in the future!  A better way to connect them electrically would be to use the relay and fuse provided by Optilux with the Angeleyes.  Refer to the image below.  It shows the relay connector in the Optilux harness as viewed from the bottom with the clip on top.

Notice that the top right cavity in the relay connector has a single white wire; the bottom right cavity has two black wires; the bottom left cavity has a single white wire, and the top left cavity has two red wires.  The two cavities on the right are the relay coil and the two cavities on the left are the relay contactor.  We are going to wire it so that the coil goes to one of the factory fog lights and the contactor controls the new Angeleyes.

 

a) The Optilux harness provided is in two parts; one part has a white plastic connector and three wires (red, white, and yellow) in it.  This part will not be used.  The other part has several of the wires running through a piece of black tubing.  This is the section you want to work with.
 
b) Find the relay connector.  It is a black plastic connector with four cavities in it.  Referring to the image above, note that there are two black wires running into cavity 2; one terminates in a ring terminal and the other goes through the black tube to the Angeleyes.  Cut the side that goes into the black tube, and insulate the piece that is left coming out of the relay connector so that it will not short to ground.  Cut the ring terminal off of the other black wire and splice it onto the black wire that goes through the tube.
 
c) There are two red wires going into cavity 3 of the relay connector.  One goes to a fuse and the other goes to a white plastic connector that would be connected to the switch.  Cut the wire that goes to the switch connector, and insulate the piece that is left coming out of the relay connector so that it will not short to ground.
 
d) Route the black tube along the bottom of the fascia under your grille, and connect the BLACK wire from the driving light section (NOT the ring section!) to the connector provided. Likewise connect the WHITE wire to the connector provided.  Do this on both sides so that both lights are wired into the harness.
 
e) In step 10 above you found a wire from the factory fog lamps that has positive voltage on it.  Connect the white wire coming from cavity 1 of the relay (refer to the image above) to this wire.  you can either cut the factory connector off or use a "Quick Tap" to do this since it will be a low-current connection.
 
f) Connect the single black wire in cavity 2 of the relay connector to the other factory fog lamp wire.  You can either cut the factory connector off or use a "Quick Tap" to do this since it will be a low-current connection.
 
g) Connect the red wire that goes to cavity 3 of the relay connector to the battery.  It is best to go directly to the battery as opposed to a switched 12v circuit so that the current draw of the lights will be directly from the battery.  The relay that is wired into the factory fog lamp circuit actually controls the lights, so it will provide the same audible warning you get when you leave the headlights on.
 
h) Connect the black wire coming back through the tube (you spliced the ring terminal onto it in step "b" above) to a suitable chassis ground.  Be careful to find a true chassis ground since much of the material around the bumper facia is fiberglass or plastic.
 
i) Plug the relay into the connector.
 
Remember that I have NOT tried this wiring method.  I wired mine through the factory switch, however electrically it should work properly.  I plan to rewire my lights using this method at some point just because it is a better way to do it, however I have not done so yet!  USE THIS SECTION AT YOUR OWN RISK!
STEP 11 --

The electrical hookup for the rings is also pretty straightforward, but getting to the parking light wires is not that easy.

a) Remove the lens for the front parking light. There is one small screw between the clear and amber parking light lenses.   Remove that screw and the entire lens assembly will slide forward.
b) Unplug the connector to the parking light you just pulled out (you have to push in on a small clip on each side of the connector to get it to release).
c) Turn on your parking lights and use a volt meter to find out which wire shows approximately 12 volts when the parking lights are on and zero volts when the parking lights are off.  Note that on my truck the hot wire was the center of the three wires in the connector, so you might want to test that one first.  Also note that if you can get to the side lights there are only two wires to deal with, and one of them is solid black so it is the ground. Getting to the parking light was easier for me to do.
d) Use a crimp-on splice to run a wire from this wire to the yellow wire of the ring on the Angel Eye.
f) Run a ground wire from the chassis (I used the bolt that holds the light shroud to the chassis) to the black wire of the Angel Eye ring.
Note 1) Polarity is important here since these are LED's (the "D" stands for "Diode" which is like a one-way valve for electricity) and not incandescent lamps.  Be sure the "Hot" side goes to the yellow wire and the black wire is grounded.
Note 2) I can't think of a reason why you would, but if for some reason you need to shorten the yellow wire on the LED ring, do not shorten it too much.  There is a resistor in that wire (you can feel it under the heat shrink tube in the wire) that needs to stay there.
That should take care of it and the rings will light when your parking lights are on.
STEP 12 -- 

If something doesn't work for you, or you have something to add, please feel free to drop me a note and I'll add it to the instructions. There is an email button below, and I'd appreciate hearing how things worked for you.

HINT -- 

I found out by experience that if the lamp assembly hits the edge of the hole in the bumper that the vibrations of the bumper will knock it out of adjustment.  You can help eliminate this by moving the lamp straight back.  The way that the bracket hangs down and is hinged at the top (where the original pin in the shroud was) and the bottom (where the Angel Eye) bolts on, you effectively have a "Linkage".  You can pivot the Angel Eye bracket backwards and this will move the lamp assembly backwards (you will need to pivot the lamp upwards, of course).  I tried to draw an image of it, but it isn't very good.  Maybe it will make some sense though.



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