Proper wire terminations are essential for the safety, operation, and long term durability of your
vehicle’s electrical system. To install this wire kit you will need a heat gun and quality crimp tools. The
open barrel crimp tool(s) have dies for crimping both the conductor wings as well as the insulation wings
of the Delphi Packard open barrel terminals. It is important to lightly crimp the insulation wings of these
terminals in order to help support the wire and prevent bending and breakage of the conductor.
A closed barrel crimp tool such as the one shown should be used to crimp the non-insulated closed
barrel terminals provided in this kit. Note that the wire insulation butts up firmly against the terminal and
that the crimp tool creates a dimple in the terminal, securing the conductor without breaking any strands.
Use a heat gun and a piece of heat shrinkable sleeving included in the kit to insulate each crimped closed
barrel terminal. Once the sleeving is heated and shrunk it should be tight around the terminal and the wire
insulation. In this way the sleeving acts not only as an insulator but also as a strain relief to minimize
bending of the conductor at the crimped connection.
2.
HEADLIGHTS AND FRONT PARKING LIGHTS
The Coach-1 Power Center provides automatic headlights using a light sensor to determine
daylight or dark, turning the low beam headlights on full bright in dark conditions. In the daytime, low
power Daytime Running Lights (DRL) are automatically turned on whenever the Ignition Switch is on,
but can be permanently disabled by cutting jumper J6 labeled “DRL” located to the right of the terminal
strip on the Power Center’s Control Board. DRL is an important safety feature that makes you more
visible to other drivers and disabling DRL is NOT RECOMMENDED. Note that the automatic headlight
feature does not affect switching between low beams and high beams. As with most new factory vehicles,
high beams are controlled manually using a Dimmer Switch.
Even though the low beam headlights will normally be controlled automatically, a Headlight
Switch is still required for manual control. For example, there may be times when you want to turn on just
the parking lights, or you may want to turn on the headlights when the Ignition Switch is off. Since the
Headlight Switch only activates relays and other circuits on the Power Center and does not carry any
heavy current, a wide variety of quality switches can be used for the function, including standard headlight
switches or small, simple toggle switches with at least a 1 amp rating. The same low current, 1 amp rating
also applies to other switches including the Ignition, Headlight Dimmer, Turn Signal, and Power Window
control switches.
The Power Center headlight control system can be operated automatically or manually. For
automatic operation, the manual Headlight Switch must be in the off position when the Ignition Switch is
turned on. Anytime the Headlight Switch is turned on for parking lights or headlights, the headlights will
switch to manual mode and will remain in manual mode until the Ignition Switch is turned on the next
time.
For some vehicles, particularly early models, front parking lights may not be desirable when the
headlights are on. To disable front parking lights when headlights are on, cut jumper J5 labeled “FRONT
PARK LAMPS” located to the right of the terminal strip on the Power Center’s Control Board. When this
jumper is cut, front parking lights will still turn on if the Headlight Switch is put in the Parking Light
position, but will turn off in the Headlight position.
