Headlight upgrade 2008 to 2013 with HID & DRL

[amitbh234]

Thank you for the replies. Upgrading an LC. Here are the before and after pics. Here the DRLs are the ones under the headlights. They are usually ON when ignition is ON.

Did you find that all the mounting hardware/spots were the same? Any issues mounting them? I am trying to do this for my 08 as well. I bought a plug and play wiring harness that others have found useful but looking at the back of the 2013 headlamp assembly and the 08 assembly they don’t exactly look the same. Just wanted feedback from someone who’s done this before pulling the trigger on buying expensive headlight assemblies.

 

[fcigoj]

Did you find that all the mounting hardware/spots were the same? Any issues mounting them? I am trying to do this for my 08 as well. I bought a plug and play wiring harness that others have found useful but looking at the back of the 2013 headlamp assembly and the 08 assembly they don’t exactly look the same. Just wanted feedback from someone who’s done this before pulling the trigger on buying expensive headlight assemblies.

There is one super-small glitch, namely a plastic tab at the bottom of the new assy that needs to be cut as there is no correspondent slot in the original bumper, in case you retain the original one. It takes two mins to cut with a Dremel or a sharp pair of pliers.

 

[amitbh234]

There is one super-small glitch, namely a plastic tab at the bottom of the new assy that needs to be cut as there is no correspondent slot in the original bumper, in case you retain the original one. It takes two mins to cut with a Dremel or a sharp pair of pliers.

Do you mean the two small plastic tabs on each headlight that are part of the polycarbonate shell that sticks out?

I’m getting this done by a shop while they are doing a radiator R&R so it’s gonna be best that I prepare the headlights for them so it’s plug and play. If you could point me in the right direction on which tabs to snip off that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[amitbh234]

Do you mean the two small plastic tabs on each headlight that are part of the polycarbonate shell that sticks out?

I’m getting this done by a shop while they are doing a radiator R&R so it’s gonna be best that I prepare the headlights for them so it’s plug and play. If you could point me in the right direction on which tabs to snip off that would be greatly appreciated.

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There is one super-small glitch, namely a plastic tab at the bottom of the new assy that needs to be cut as there is no correspondent slot in the original bumper, in case you retain the original one. It takes two mins to cut with a Dremel or a sharp pair of pliers.

Also if you don’t mind me asking how did you level the lowbeam? Since the earlier model does not have level sensors etc.

 

[HRTROB]

There is one super-small glitch, namely a plastic tab at the bottom of the new assy that needs to be cut as there is no correspondent slot in the original bumper, in case you retain the original one. It takes two mins to cut with a Dremel or a sharp pair of pliers.

That’s weird, I didn’t have to cut anything when I reinstalled the old bumper with the newer headlights.

 

[amitbh234]

It is indeed, except for the DRLs which you need to build the control circuit for with two relays as mentioned above.
However, there is no need to interrupt the yellow wires, as the two 12V+ both feed the LEDs, one upstream and one downstream of the voltage drop resistor, hence no issue from the momentary presence of both.

By that do you mean the LED accent lights don’t come on at all(using the plug and play wiring harness kit)? Or you mean they don’t function as Daytime running lights and only comes on when the low beams are on.

 

[Boston Mangler]

I'm getting ready to do this upgrade/mod soon, hard to decipher mixed info. Maybe the wiring changes slightly between years?

Question for those bought brand new OEM assemblies.

I know the ballast isnt included, and needs to be bought seperately, but what about the leveling motor? Swappable from old unit?

Any other misc pieces needed?

 

[amitbh234]

I'm getting ready to do this upgrade/mod soon, hard to decipher mixed info. Maybe the wiring changes slightly between years?

Question for those bought brand new OEM assemblies.

I know the ballast isnt included, and needs to be bought seperately, but what about the leveling motor? Swappable from old unit?

Any other misc pieces needed?

I wish I could be of more assistance but I saw in the forum someone mentioned they just adjusted them manually and let it be. I bought OEM assemblies and am planning to use the AliExpress harness to make things plug and play.

Just dropped of the car to get them replaced while the shop has my front bumper off for the radiator replacement. Will update this thread once the work is done. Really hope it works, just dropped ~$1500 on the headlight upgrade.

Fingers crossed everything works. There’s so much mixed info I got, some mention some tabs need to be clipped off the units for it to fit with the 08-11 front bumper. I still don’t know if the accent lights will light up at all.

 

[amitbh234]

Hi, I’m having an issue with my high beam which acts as a DRL. When it is in high beam mode the lights are fine but when in DRL mode my passenger side is very dim. I tried switching out the bulbs and the pigtail harness to rule those out but not sure what I can do to figure out how to diagnose and fix. Any fix from folks electrically inclined here would be highly appreciated.

I have a spare 2013-2015 assembly for passenger, I plan to try and plug that in to rule out the headlight assembly being damaged. I got used units but never ended up using them.

I have a feeling it might be a bag ground or a high beam relay but not sure how to check that. My DRL’s with the halogen units were working fine but I guess something with the new unit and power draw could affect wiring.

@fcigoj @hobie1

 

[Boston Mangler]

I just completed this mod and used

Hi, I’m having an issue with my high beam which acts as a DRL. When it is in high beam mode the lights are fine but when in DRL mode my passenger side is very dim. I tried switching out the bulbs and the pigtail harness to rule those out but not sure what I can do to figure out how to diagnose and fix. Any fix from folks electrically inclined here would be highly appreciated.

I have a spare 2013-2015 assembly for passenger, I plan to try and plug that in to rule out the headlight assembly being damaged. I got used units but never ended up using them.

I have a feeling it might be a bag ground or a high beam relay but not sure how to check that. My DRL’s with the halogen units were working fine but I guess something with the new unit and power draw could affect wiring.

@fcigoj @hobie1

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I just did this headlight conversion also and having literally the exact same issue with the passenger side DRL being very low when in DRL mode but fine when on high beams

Any ideas?

 

[propernorf]

Can this mod be done on 2008 LX to +2013 headlights?

 

[aM200]

Can this mod be done on 2008 LX to +2013 headlights?

No, 2008-2011 and 2013-2015 have different shaped bumpers and headlights so they won’t match. You can plug them in and they will work I believe, but it won’t match the bumper. There will be a gap below the headlight housing.

 

[bloc]

I just completed this mod and used


I just did this headlight conversion also and having literally the exact same issue with the passenger side DRL being very low when in DRL mode but fine when on high beams

Any ideas?

I realize these are long odds but any chance you guys got a wiring diagram for the adapter harnesses?

 

[TeCKis300]

I just completed this mod and used


I just did this headlight conversion also and having literally the exact same issue with the passenger side DRL being very low when in DRL mode but fine when on high beams

Any ideas?

If I had to guess, might be a difference of DRL resistors for HID. Simple solution would just be to disable the DRL function - unplug the resistor on the passenger side fender. It's about the size of a stack of cards, a black metal cage around a gray internals.

 

[Boston Mangler]

I realize these are long odds but any chance you guys got a wiring diagram for the adapter harnesses?

Ha…. No!

It appears we got 2 different harnesses from 2 different vendors and both have identical issues

I bought this harness half thinking would just use it for the plugs and terminals and cut and rewire it following the Toyota diagram.

Will likely be what I end up doing since the plug and build quality appear very nice and OEM-ish, opposite of what I was expecting

 

[Boston Mangler]

If I had to guess, might be a difference of DRL resistors for HID. Simple solution would just be to disable the DRL function - unplug the resistor on the passenger side fender. It's about the size of a stack of cards, a black metal cage around a gray internals.

Already disabled DRL function

Totally forgot about the resistor on the pass fender. Will try that next!!

Thank you sir

 

[Boston Mangler]

@TeCKis300, I just disconnected resistor turned DRL feature back on and the turn signal arrows on dash light up and don’t flash.

Plugged it back in and turned DRL feature off and this is how it will stay for a bit I think until higher priority things are handled

I don’t see the DRL as very useful anyway personally

Thanks for info/idea

 

[TeCKis300]

@TeCKis300, I just disconnected turned DRL feature back on and the turn signal arrows on dash light up and don’t flash.

Plugged it back in and turned DRL feature off and this is how it will stay for a bit I think until higher priority things are handled

I don’t see the DRL as very useful anyway personally

Thanks for info/idea

Interesting behavior. I have my DRLs off via unplugged resistor. I use fogs (modded relay) as my DRLs.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Interesting behavior. I have my DRLs off via unplugged resistor. I use fogs (modded relay) as my DRLs.

Thanks.

Yeah, I’m definitely going to look into this more at a later date and trace all the wires with the factory diagram

 

[amitbh234]

@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.