DRL Tutorial For HDJ81/HZJ73

[ForealBoreal]

This is the setup i used on my HDJ81 for wiring my daytime running lights. I can thank my dad for thinking this idea up. He also used this for wiring his hzj73 except he used his auxiliary lights as DRLS.
So here we go.

What you will need give or take.
-some cheap wire
-wire stripper/cutter/crimper
-a few connectors (4 that you can put a bolt through, 6 that you can slip over a prong)

1) I changed my two corner lamp bulbs to an amber bulbs. They are dual filiment amber bulbs and they cost me about $3 for the pair from my local Napa. Change em if you have clear corner lights.

2) Thats the power box which i used to harness the power from.


3) This is the inside of the box. There is a 20 amp fuse and 2 ten amp fuses. The 20 amp is live all the time, while the 2 ten amps are live only when you turn the key. So we used the one ten amp. as seen below.


4) the back of the corner lamp socket has three prongs. One of the prongs is a ground (Dark wire). You are going to need to ground that prong (dark wire). The other two you will need to run a wire from the power box to one of the prongs. In one of the connectors you are going to need to put two wires together and run a short length of wire to the other prong. (Purple wires)


For people who are like wtf is he talking about i have made this one diagram to hopefully make things a bit more clear.

5) Repeat for the opposite side corner light.

6) Marvel in at your awesome DRLS. (sorry i will take a shot later when its dark out)

Hopefully that made sense. If not please feel free to criticize

 

[LanceCruiser]

I think I have a similar set up on mine, it was already done when I bought it. What bulbs are you using? I have to use 1157 amber bulbs, instead of 1156 bulbs. I find they tend to burn out after 2 months, or the amber fades to white fairly quick. I've only had one bulb that lasted 5 months, and stayed a nice amber color until it burnt out. It's been hard to find 2 bulbs that are consistent in color. All the others seem to fade to pale yellow or white.

 

[sailor]

Lance- you can get LED bulbs with an 1157 or 1156 base that should last from Use em on the boat - no issues but like $30/bulb. Guess the cost vs. pita factor applies. Foreal- Well done lad! May I suggest you swap those Pico connectors for tinned ones with heat shrink on them to prevent corrosion? You have a really nice truck, covering the wires with some of that split loom stuff will make it look a bit more factory. I was thinking of puttting a kit together to run the inner (high beam?) headlight at reduced voltage like most NA cars....

 

[ForealBoreal]

Lance- you can get LED bulbs with an 1157 or 1156 base that should last from Brad Mah at Ocean Yacht Equipment - 604 434 3800. Use em on the boat - no issues but like $30/bulb. Guess the cost vs. pita factor applies. Foreal- Well done lad! May I suggest you swap those Pico connectors for tinned ones with heat shrink on them to prevent corrosion? You have a really nice truck, covering the wires with some of that split loom stuff will make it look a bit more factory. I was thinking of puttting a kit together to run the inner (high beam?) headlight at reduced voltage like most NA cars....

thanks guys, i need to put it in the garage and clean up the jdm wiring job. Its nice to have aftermarket wiring looms, but when they are poorly organized its a bit annoying. I have looked at the LED ones after i put these ones in. I will ahve to go get a light from Princess auto or just order some from Seasport. I think the LEDs will last alot longer than the regular bulbs. I plan on heat shrinking the connectors.

 

[LanceCruiser]

Thanks for the info. I tried some LED bulbs from Princess Auto, and they were not bright at all, so in daylight you could not tell they were on, compared to the regular bulbs. Then again, I have some friends that had that problem, and they figured out that the LEDs were not drawing enough power, so they kept the original lights, and spliced another socket to run the LEDs, and they became a lot brighter. I was thinking of trying this again, and ordering them online from here. Super Bright LEDs - Brake Light, Turn Light and Tail Light Bulbs

I figure maybe these high intensity LED cluster bulbs will draw enough power, without having to splice anything?

 

[sailor]

Some of those look like the ones has- He can hook one up to 12 volts for you before you have to yank out your wallet too.

 

[ForealBoreal]

i think i would go that route too. thanks guys!

 

[canucksafari]

Your DRL should go through their own relay. On my 91, I ran them through two 24V 15 amp relays (one pe side). That was a bit of overkill. On my 93 I am ussing one 20 amp 5 pin relay that has a power pin for each headlight. Trip wire power is taken off an acc power on fuse using a fuse tap and runs into a weather tight relay box I built that also houses a small distribution board. It takes a minimal amount of amps to trip the relay, so with the board I can provide one wire in to trip 3 relays and a common ground for the 3 relays - reduces the wiring mess. A 12 guage wire brings power in from the battery and 14 guage goes out to the lights and 12 guage out to my DC-DC reducer (20 amp model).

 

[ForealBoreal]

I couldn't put them in up top.
I so i added them here

 

[Radd Cruisers]

I would argue that this is not the correct way to set up DRLs and that they may not qualify as a DRL due to a lack of lumens. 70 series front marker lights do not put out enough light in my estimation to qualify as a DRL.

We set up the DRLs in Land Cruisers by triggering the factory headlight relay via an accessory relay that provides a ground to the headlight relay trigger. It's simple, it doesn't mess with the factory system, no power will back-feed through a circuit, and you have proper headlight operation.

We see many, many problems with DRLs and after-market wiring at the shop/service level. Probably 95% of the wiring issues we see in more modern vehicles is due to people adding wiring, rather that with the factory wiring being the source of the trouble.

The type of DRL set up you have recommended here is a type that I have removed quite a number of times from customer's trucks when it has gone haywire for one reason or another.

The Nissan Safari has its own issues (with DRLs) as the headlights are not controlled by relays and the circuit is divided by left and right sides rather than high beam and low beam. Safaris can be easily set up for DRLs without affecting the factory function, but it takes a little more time to do than a Land Cruiser.

~John

 

[Stone]

Would be easy enough to run a relay and trip just the headlights in an 80 series if you really wanted to run DRL's. I did that for my FJ80 and got it through inspection, then just "forgot" to reinstall it after the engine swap...lol.

By the way, you don't really want your DRL's to run off of your ACC circuit because if you're parked with the engine off and listening to your radio in the ACC position, that means your DRL's are on. You want a circuit that's live only in the ON position.

 

[ForealBoreal]

i hate drls to be honest. 90 % of people just take them out after inspection.
I just had someone ask me to post it up for them.
I know what you mean though John and Stone.
This took under 5 minutes to do, it was quick and does the job....

 

[ForealBoreal]

John you should do a Diagram for what your talking about.
I heard it through the grape vine that your hunting for some 77s.
Your first in line

 

[leusgs]

I have done the "relay to factory relay" trick twice... on my '06 Scion xB, and my '01 Tacoma, both US imports with that needed DRL to pass RIV inspections. Works great and meets the light requirements.

1) Get a cheap $5 20A relay at Princess or Canadian, and mount it under the hood near the headlights, you should be able to find an existing bolt hole.

2) Find a wire under the hood somewhere that is switched with the key. This is to trip the relay.

3) The "action" side of the relay will apply ground to ONE of the wires on your headlight plug. So ground one relay terminal and connect the other one with a wire to the orange wire on the headlight plug. On the newer Toyotas anyway, it is an orange wire going into the headlight plug. When you ground that wire it turns both headlights on. You can experiment grounding some wires 'till you find the right one if there's not an orange one.

The only downside vs. a more elaborate delayed-on DRL setup is the lights are on when you are cranking the engine. That's ok - I'd rather use the money I saved on a new battery!

 

[sailor]

Think it's better to have em on only when the engine is running too. Oil pressure switch is an easy way to find the ground, or relay from the fuel cut off? I was thinking of installing a LED in the back of the high beam of my Depos to mimic the low intensity DRL like a domestic.

 

[finderscuba]

The only downside vs. a more elaborate delayed-on DRL setup is the lights are on when you are cranking the engine. That's ok - I'd rather use the money I saved on a new battery!

I would definitely recommend not doing this - especially in colder climates. Mine was wired with a simple relay to power the headlights whenever the key was on. On really cold mornings in the winter (below -30°C) I'd cycle the glowplugs 2 or 3 times and then crank. All the while my headlights were on. No wonder my batteries were always going down. You want as much power going to the glowplugs and starter as possible when it's that cold.

At least wire it so it only turns on the lights when your engine is running. Or put in a parking brake defeat function (for a manual). Or something. Cranking with headlights on cannot be good for the headlight bulbs either.

 

[Stone]

Second relay to interupt power to the DRL relay when the glow plugs are on might be an option.

 

[finderscuba]

Second relay to interupt power to the DRL relay when the glow plugs are on might be an option.

I removed the DRL relay and now use my right hand as a DRL relay. I will be rewiring this now that it is warmer.

 

[crushers]

John,
DTRL are any light that is on while the engine is running. wattage is not a requirement.
i do understand what you are saying though.

i don't agree with DTRLs period so i do them just to pass the inspections. these are those people too ignorant to know when they shoudl have their lights on or not.

both ideas work for me...

 

[canucksafari]

The Nissan Safari has its own issues (with DRLs) as the headlights are not controlled by relays and the circuit is divided by left and right sides rather than high beam and low beam. Safaris can be easily set up for DRLs without affecting the factory function, but it takes a little more time to do than a Land Cruiser.

~John

Actually, adding the DRL with the new headlights and wire improved the low beams. The headlight wire for both the low beam and high beam appear to be only about 22 gauge. Now the low beam has 12 gauge wire to it. I really should do a new harness with all 12 guage; but, that's a little more complicated. Just one more thing on the to do list.

Oh, the other weird thing about the Safari is that although each headlight has its own circuit from the fuse box, they both draw power via one wire from the battery with a fusible link in-between.