Daytime running lights (1 Viewer)

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Jun 20, 2003
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Location
Fort Langley, BC
My 80 is coming in to Canada this week from the states and I'm going to have install a "daytime running lights" mod. Does anybody have any experience with this mod.

I'm specifically wondering if there is any choices or differences on how to wire this. P

Is there an OEM part for this or should I save money a get a generic module for this purpose?

Also does this mod screw up any of the standard Toyota featues that prevent you from leaving your lights on?

Ben
 
can you just use a relay to tap one of the parkers, and have the switch wire from the relay spliced into the ignition wire or something. That way the lights will only come on when the key is set to the onn position. Wiring, relay and connectors should come to less than $10, and it shouldn't affect anything else.

Sam
 
Ben,
If I understand correctly, In Canada you are required to have your running lites on during the day.

Is it permissible to have your headlights on also??

Because on my 96, I just leave my lights on and they shut of when I exit the vechicle.
I believe they are triggered by the door button on the drivers side.
 
Yes headlights is fine but they must be ON even when the headlight switch is off. They are very picky about this and will inspect for the correct operation.

I'll probably call the dealer and get a quote.

Thanks
 
If I remember correctly there is two relays in the circuit. One to turn on/off the head lights with the ignition switch and a second one called a timer relay. Basically the timeer operates off of the head light switch. Wiring the timer relay to be on always would satisfy the regs. If you want to do something like that I'll look up the wiring diagram and let you know what needs to be done. I wouldn't think it would be that difficult.
 
BJ:

Fire Tyler a message. As someone noted, he either stopped at a dealer or Canadian Tire and had the work done.

What did you end up getting (and I hope you're keeping the BJ?!)

Cheers, Hugh
 
CDN_Cruiser - I ended up getting a 1995 80 with OEM lockers, wood trim and low miles. I'll be putting the 60 up for sale soon but I'm not going to give it away so it might take awhile to sell. Actually I'm thinking about leaving the 2 of them in the garage with the doors closed and the lights off and perhaps I'll get a baby 4-runner out of them.

I'll fire Tyler a PM and see what he did.

I'll need to think of a new name as the BJ60 handle is going to be dated.
 
Nice congrats, you'll love the 80. After my BJ60, I was so amazed (and happy) that the 80 still had a Land Cruiser look and feel, but way more comfortable. Nothing like wheeling with sunroof open, mucic on and coils! Thankfully my wife is a staunch supported of Land Cruisers, supported a trade-in of a realtively new Toyota for an 84 BJ and later for an 80. She, and the kids, love the 80!

I really miss my BJ, and if I ever have few spare $$ I'll buy one again 'just to have'. I miss the simplicity and the diesel!

Cheers, Hugh
 
Having gone through this today, I thought I'd update the thread with what I learned so other Canadian's can avoid the headaches I encountered.

1) Because Toyota wires their headlights different from the norm, most daytime conversion kits won't work. Toyota's are different because each headlight is run from a different fuse and the switch is wired from ground to the headlamp. in other words the lamp is always "hot" and and they switch the ground. It's a good design but different from the domestics.

2) Toyota does not make a daytime running light mod kit. Should have known that.

3) I went to the dealer beause I figured they do this all the time and would be able to do quickly and get me on the road asap.

result - the dealer brought in a $140 kit and wired it in. After waiting for an hour or so the frustrated mechanic told me that the kit was not working properly and heating up and melting!!!! This was because the kit doesn't work on Toyotas (clearly stated in the instructions). This is because of how Toyota switches the ground to the lamps.

The parts guy ended phoning all around trying to find a kit that would work and the only one that sounded close was a Canadian tire and cost $25.

We wired it in and it worked great!

Knowing what I know now I should done this myself and saved $$$.

But at least I'm on the road now legally. I think I might just unwire this kit anyway and go stock.

Lessen learned - research, research and do it yourself (in the case).
 
In my industry we call that ground switching "negative logic". It has a very good point.

You are able to turn on/off devises of different voltages, different sources (AC/DC) and multiple circuits with a single connection to ground.

This can greatly simplify the circuits for better reliability as well as reduce costs.

When I first started working with it I was a little confused but it does work very well.
 
Benie, when I installed my upgraded headlight harness, the daytime running lights were disabled. I usually drive with my headlights on, so I just leave the headlight switch on most of the time.
Sean in Fernie.
 
Bernie ,

Jeez man , sorry you had to go thru all that hassle ... when I emailed all the dealerships in Vancouver , none of them mentioned a 'kit' . All just referred to a 'couple feet of wire and a handful of relays' . Did you get stuck with a new'ish mechanic , cause I can't think why they went the routes they did .

Anyway , it's done :-\ . Now get under the dash , and learn to disable it , so it is back to your control .. that way you can go down to only running lights in certain weather conditions . Plus I like being able to turn them off at lights if there is a smaller vehicle in front of me that I am blinding .

Cheers ,

Tyler
 
I like being able to turn the lights off at night when I do not want to be seen:))))).
Sean
 
Yep, it's super easy to disable and I will shortly as I like to be in control.

The "kit" really is basically a couple of relays and some control logic.
It's probably better than a bunch of relays because it comes in a nice easy to mount module.

In the end it worked out OK but I should have saved to $$ and done it myself.
 

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