Headlight upgrade 2008 to 2013 with HID & DRL (1 Viewer)

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@Boston Mangler something I noticed on mine was that the turn signal bulbs were very dimly lit while the high beams were used in DRL mode. I suspected the turn signal bulb and side marker bulb were cross wired (my side marker bulb never comes on). So I asked for a replacement harness from AliExpress. Was hoping that plugging those on would solve my issue and if not buy the harness from eBay. Well it looks like you used the eBay harness and are having the same issue.

I unplugged my side marker bulbs from the sockets and walla the brightness of the high beam in DRL mode for passenger side increased. Might want to check if yours is the same, the turn signal bulbs are very dimly lit and difficult to spot in daylight.

I tried to rule out vehicle harness grounding by temporarily plugging in my old headlights, swapped pigtail harness left to right and even plugged in a spare used 2013-2015 style headlight assembly to rule that out… without any avail.

How did you turn off DRL? I don’t have the option on my dash or center stack. Tried looking around.

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Thanks for the info.

Yes, mine is doing the exact same thing.

Turn signals very dim also

I just checked and even though the look the same and have the same socket, the 2010 and 2013 bulbs have different part #s

Maybe they have different draws for some reason due to the HIDs?

This is a bit out of my wheelhouse, so hopefully others will chime in with their .02

I will try to swap the bulbs from my 2010 lenses in later on and see if that makes a difference

Did you see turn signals and markers for a 2013+ or for the actual year of your truck?
 
@amitbh234 I just took both bulbs out of the new ones and the old ones

Same as you, unplugging both turn signals out of the sockets and DRL Highbeams work fine, plug bulbs back in and pass side VERY dim

The 2013+ uses a 7444 turn signal bulb
The 2010 uses a 3457 turn signal bulb

Different ends, so not cross compatible and can’t plug in old bulbs from 2010 housings

Google shows one is dual filament and one is not, but I can’t find the draw difference anywhere

I’ll keep digging, but seems this MIGHT be the issue.

Will keep ya posted if I figure out anymore
 
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I used turn signal markers and bulb types spec’d for the 2013-2015 style headlights.

When you had your high beam in DRL mode was your turn signal bulb slightly lit? Take the socket out of the housing and you might see the turn signals slightly lit.

My question is why should they be lit in the first place in DRL mode? The side markers should not be the ones lit. Unless they were designed to be lit for some odd reason but that’s questionable. Not sure if you’ve seen/seeing this issue inside but when you turn on the turn signal when the headlight is in DRL mode, the high beams dance with the turn signal and the tuen signal lights in the dash act weird. On mine, the turn signal dash light is ever so slightly dim when my high beam DRL is on and the high beam bulbs dance with the turn signal when I turn either turn signal on - this is why I thought the side marker and turn signals are cross wired.
 
I used turn signal markers and bulb types spec’d for the 2013-2015 style headlights.

When you had your high beam in DRL mode was your turn signal bulb slightly lit? Take the socket out of the housing and you might see the turn signals slightly lit.

My question is why should they be lit in the first place in DRL mode? The side markers should not be the ones lit. Unless they were designed to be lit for some odd reason but that’s questionable. Not sure if you’ve seen/seeing this issue inside but when you turn on the turn signal when the headlight is in DRL mode, the high beams dance with the turn signal and the tuen signal lights in the dash act weird. On mine, the turn signal dash light is ever so slightly dim when my high beam DRL is on and the high beam bulbs dance with the turn signal when I turn either turn signal on - this is why I thought the side marker and turn signals are cross wired

Interesting. YES, exact same here

Turn signals are very dimly lit when high beam DRL is on
 
Ok, we seem to have the same issue. I’ll keep you posted if I find a fix but for now I’m just driving around with my low beams on all the time.

Let me know if you find a fix, and how you turned the “DRL off” like you mentioned in your post. Would really like to get this sorted to cure my pet peeve.
 
Ok, we seem to have the same issue. I’ll keep you posted if I find a fix but for now I’m just driving around with my low beams on all the time.

Let me know if you find a fix, and how you turned the “DRL off” like you mentioned in your post. Would really like to get this sorted to cure my pet peeve.

Sounds good, ill do the same.

On my 2010, to shut the DRL off: On the nav screen, hit the setup button, then Vehicle > Settings > Lights > DRL.

Lemme know if ya got any questions
 
Hey @amitbh234

I also noticed this.

With DRL turned OFF via the menu above, if I move the turn signal stalk one click, it illuminates JUST the LEDs while the truck is running and it shuts them off as soon as I shut the truck off. This is how I am going to run mine, until I have time to dig through the harness and diagram

Try this and lemme know if it works for you as well

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Hey @amitbh234

I also noticed this.

With DRL turned OFF via the menu above, if I move the turn signal stalk one click, it illuminates JUST the LEDs while the truck is running and it shuts them off as soon as I shut the truck off. This is how I am going to run mine, until I have time to dig through the harness and diagram

Try this and lemme know if it works for you as well

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@Boston Mangler interesting, just learnt there’s a difference between 08 and 10 center console navigation setup. I don’t have a “setup” button on my screen and last I checked no way to turn off the DRL from the navigation screen. I wish I had your temporary fix. But with even with that I’m guessing you have to modulate between DRL and low beam.

If you end up re-splicing/pinning or modifying your eBay harness I’d happily pay you for a second set for me, at this point. Would love to use the auto button for set it and forget it functionality. A shop nearby quoted me a ridiculous amount of money to splice into my vehicle harness (not using the sockets from the harness like you are). I’d love to retain the ability to go back to stock if possible.
 
@Boston Mangler interesting, just learnt there’s a difference between 08 and 10 center console navigation setup. I don’t have a “setup” button on my screen and last I checked no way to turn off the DRL from the navigation screen. I wish I had your temporary fix. But with even with that I’m guessing you have to modulate between DRL and low beam.

If you end up re-splicing/pinning or modifying your eBay harness I’d happily pay you for a second set for me, at this point. Would love to use the auto button for set it and forget it functionality. A shop nearby quoted me a ridiculous amount of money to splice into my vehicle harness (not using the sockets from the harness like you are). I’d love to retain the ability to go back to stock if possible.

There’s gotta be a way to get into the “lights” menu

Do you have an INFO or MENU button on the left side your nav? Do you have nav?

Maybe check owners manual?

Thanks. Not sure I’ll get to messing with the wiring anytime soon, but will definitely keep ya posted
 
@Boston Mangler how did you aim it properly? I tried to aim using the screwdriver hole up top but my housing didn’t seem to move much. Did you find clockwise turns to move housing up and counterclockwise to move it down?

Also I found out in the owner’s manual that I can’t turn off the high beam in the Navi screen but might be able to using tech stream. I’ve never used it before but might give it a try this weekend. When you turned your high beam off from the center console are you able to leave the headlights in auto and everything functions properly?
 
Hello There

My 08 LC needs some good lights, I've tried led upgrade and it worked very well. However it didn't feel good for me so I get a Chinese kit to upgrade and for me looks amazing.

All the car is OEM but I felt that headlamps needs to be upgraded. I really hope it works ok in time.

The question is that I've a similar problems if not the same problem


Once I could make the whole install (plug&play) without a manual, it didn't come with a manual, and burn some headlights fuses, I got a pretty decent result.


Alibaba link


However, the fail happens when I put drive o reverse on the day hours.

Only left side high beams remains on all the time. No matters if switch is off or auto. So It remains with low beams all the day on.

let me show you in video fail
Captura de pantalla 2025-02-06 a la(s) 12.00.25 p.m..png

I left you a video
 
@Boston Mangler how did you aim it properly? I tried to aim using the screwdriver hole up top but my housing didn’t seem to move much. Did you find clockwise turns to move housing up and counterclockwise to move it down?

Also I found out in the owner’s manual that I can’t turn off the high beam in the Navi screen but might be able to using tech stream. I’ve never used it before but might give it a try this weekend. When you turned your high beam off from the center console are you able to leave the headlights in auto and everything functions properly?

Aiming them is a bit tricky and a very odd and outdated mechanism.

You need a certain size Phillips head screwdriver to get the screw to turn and there is very minor adjustments per turn so it takes awhile

The screw adjusts both the low and high beam together. Mine ended up ok enough, but if not, @bloc has a post somewhere how to do them separately
 
Aiming them is a bit tricky and a very odd and outdated mechanism.

You need a certain size Phillips head screwdriver to get the screw to turn and there is very minor adjustments per turn so it takes awhile

The screw adjusts both the low and high beam together. Mine ended up ok enough, but if not, @bloc has a post somewhere how to do them separately

What size screwdriver if I may ask? I used the two I had in my craftsman toolbox and none of them did a great job.

So I ended up turning off the DRL like you not using tech stream and can finally just leave the headlights in auto mode and use the led accent as DRL in the stalk second position. Will probably live with this until a fix is found. My mechanic told me that he remembers seeing this before and it has to do with the ballast and there might be a fix that utilizes an additional fuse. I’ll take that with a grain of salt.
 
What size screwdriver if I may ask? I used the two I had in my craftsman toolbox and none of them did a great job.

For this I use a ~30yr old craftsman #2 Philips screwdriver with the long round shank that is maybe 1/4” in diameter. It fits into the adjustment slot perfectly. Technically doesn’t need to be this long but that’s what I had.

Glove added for scale.

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