LED DRL and Flasher Conversion - No Hyper Flash (1 Viewer)

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It's worth noting that the resistor solution I posted should not be used with a mix of halogens and LEDs. It should only be used for LEDs all around.

Using the resistor in place of the shunt with halogens runs the risk of heating up the resistor too much and potentially is a fire hazard.
 
It's worth noting that the resistor solution I posted should not be used with a mix of halogens and LEDs. It should only be used for LEDs all around.

Using the resistor in place of the shunt with halogens runs the risk of heating up the resistor too much and potentially is a fire hazard
I am confused with all of this because I did exactly what is listed in post #30 but still have hyper flash if I run LED's turns in the front and rear, but if i have LED turns in the front only the turns are fine.
 
I am confused with all of this because I did exactly what is listed in post #30 but still have hyper flash if I run LED's turns in the front and rear, but if i have LED turns in the front only the turns are fine.

Can you send me a picture of the inside of your flasher?
 
Can you send me a picture of the inside of your flasher?
I didn't get a picture of the inside of my flasher, however I am certain it looked exactly like the photo in post #30. I even looked at it again while I soldered to make sure I aligned the resistor in the same direction.
 
I didn't get a picture of the inside of my flasher, however I am certain it looked exactly like the photo in post #30. I even looked at it again while I soldered to make sure I aligned the resistor in the same direction.
The alignment of the resistor doesn't matter. I was more wanting to verify the resistor value (color bands) were correct, and that the solder connections were good -- no offense, don't know you so I don't know if you're experienced with soldering. :)
 
The alignment of the resistor doesn't matter. I was more wanting to verify the resistor value (color bands) were correct, and that the solder connections were good -- no offense, don't know you so I don't know if you're experienced with soldering. :)
None taken, I may dig back down into the dash and see whats going on.
 
I'm having the same problem, I ordered the exact same resistor and still have hyperflash. Soldering went smoothly. The only thing I can think of is that I am using different LEDs from superbrightleds.com. Their wattage isn't listed on the website, is there a way to measure?
 
It's possible it's hyper flashing because the wattage of the LEDs you're using is different. You can measure the amperage with a multimeter. You may need to measure and then calculate a different resistor value to be used. Attaching an old document from when I did this on my NSX.
 

Attachments

  • NSX LED Conversion with Hyperflash Solution.pdf
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Not to hijack the thread but it belongs here rather than a new dedicated thread. I noticed today that my drl no longer work. Turn signals work, hazards work. Bulbs light up when I unlock or lock the vehicle. No clue what is going on. Hi beams work right beams work. Literately just the drls don’t function anymore. Any ideas or things to check?
 
Nvm, I just never noticed that the drl’s only light up after you put it in drive and have speed. They work as always.
 
if this warrants a new thread, then i will make one. this seems like the most relevant thread to add my question. i snagged morimoto switchback halos (100mm and 70mm) to add to both projectors when i paint the housings black. where im stuck is how to wire them.

i want them to come on whenever the DRL or headlights are on, and then switch to amber when the turn signals are used. since the turn signal light is the DRL in this truck, i'm a bit lost with which wires to splice. the halo led drivers have 3 wires: 1 ground, 1 for the turn signal, 1 for the white light.

is it just a matter of amber to the red wire for the turn signal and white to the white wire?

does it make more sense to just do amber to turn signal and white to the headlight harness - thus having halos light whenever the headlights are on?

Here's How To change Front Right turn signal bulb (with photos) in your  Lexus GX470 - Club Lexus Forums | Lexus gx470, Lexus, Bulb
 
i want them to come on whenever the DRL or headlights are on, and then switch to amber when the turn signals are used. since the turn signal light is the DRL in this truck, i'm a bit lost with which wires to splice. the halo led drivers have 3 wires: 1 ground, 1 for the turn signal, 1 for the white light.

is it just a matter of amber to the red wire for the turn signal and white to the white wire?

I don't think so. The flasher module takes the input for why the turn signal bulb should be on -- DRL, hazards, or turn signal enabled -- and outputs only a single 12v signal to turn on that bulb. So to wire it up the way you want (white halos on with DRL, amber halo with turn signals) then you need to tap into wires that are inside the cabin (near the body ECU). The attached wiring diagram may be helpful. I'd look to tap into the wires near the flasher -- probably the LG-B (DRL) for the white halos, and then G-B (EL) and V (ER) for the left and right turn signals to drive the amber switchbacks.
 

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  • hl.pdf
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I don't think so. The flasher module takes the input for why the turn signal bulb should be on -- DRL, hazards, or turn signal enabled -- and outputs only a single 12v signal to turn on that bulb. So to wire it up the way you want (white halos on with DRL, amber halo with turn signals) then you need to tap into wires that are inside the cabin (near the body ECU). The attached wiring diagram may be helpful. I'd look to tap into the wires near the flasher -- probably the LG-B (DRL) for the white halos, and then G-B (EL) and V (ER) for the left and right turn signals to drive the amber switchbacks.
Huh, that’s quite different than the guidance from morimoto’s and the retro fit source’s help lines.

I’ll have to take a look at that wiring diagram once I pick up the halos. That seems like a ton of extra work relative to how folks on the 4runner forums are wiring them up.

appreciate the info!
 
Huh, that’s quite different than the guidance from morimoto’s and the retro fit source’s help lines.

I’ll have to take a look at that wiring diagram once I pick up the halos. That seems like a ton of extra work relative to how folks on the 4runner forums are wiring them up.

appreciate the info!

You could wire them up directly near the bulb, but then the same halo color will be on with the DRLs and turn signal. You might be able to get more creative adding a relay into the mix to achieve what you want. I'm not familiar with the 4Runner setup much but from my understanding (from what I've read/seen elsewhere online) the 4Runner's don't have the same combined DRL/flasher setup as the GX. I could be wrong though.
 
Huh that’s interesting. If I temper expectations a bit to just be on (white) with DRLs and amber for turn signals, but don’t need them on otherwise, would that make the wiring approach I laid out feasible? Just tap the turn signal to amber and drl to white?

I do not understand electrical wiring at all, and want to keep this as basic as possible for me. Probably don’t need / want these on with the low beams anyway. Figure the HID bulb would drown them out.
 
Want to confirm my understanding of options…if you want to:
  • Keep DRL
  • Stop hyper flash
  • Replace only the front turn signals with LEDs

Then the only option is wiring in 1 resistor per bulb. Is this correct?

Those resistors would go…to the turn signal bulb harness that just has the 2 wires?

If you replace front and rear turn signal bulbs with LEDs, then you can grind down / replace the shunt on the flasher module in place of using resistors?
 
Want to confirm my understanding of options…if you want to:
  • Keep DRL
  • Stop hyper flash
  • Replace only the front turn signals with LEDs

Then the only option is wiring in 1 resistor per bulb. Is this correct?

Those resistors would go…to the turn signal bulb harness that just has the 2 wires?

If you replace front and rear turn signal bulbs with LEDs, then you can grind down / replace the shunt on the flasher module in place of using resistors?
Yes, you need resistors at the bulbs if you aren't going to replace all the turn signals (front and rear) with LEDs.

You can grind down the shunt, but that's a lot more effort to get it shaved down the right amount. See the attachment in #68 -- there should be details there to calculate the right resistor for LEDs and still get hyperlink if/when one of the LEDs stop working.
 
As some may have seen in another thread, I had some issues where the amber lens inside my housing had melted from the daytime running lights. This happened before I bought my 2007 with 102k on it. one of my turn signal bulbs died recently, so to keep the melting lens from getting worse, I wanted to swap to LED. Many may know that LED draws way less current than incandescent, so the car thinks the bulb is out and the turn signal relay does a "Hyper Flash" which is flashing 2x the normal rate. There are currently no LED compatible 12 pin flasher relays, so the 4runner guys, tacoma guys, and probably many others have this issue as well. Tacoma guys do this a lot because it was common to have the DRLs melt the lens like I had.
There are a few ways to solve this:

1. Add a 50W 6 ohm resistor in line with the bulb's wiring.
You can buy a pack of 4 from Amazon for about $7. But there are downsides: You have to break your factory wiring to install (higher likelihood of failure down the road), the resistors get extremely hot, so be careful where you mount them, and you lose the efficiency you would have gained from going LED.

2. You can add a trim pot to the relay to control the flashing time.
User Mann777 on clublexus posted photos and instructions on how to do this here: LED Flasher GX470 - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion I decided against this way for a few reasons. Mostly not sure what he meant by "Bourns Trim Pot ( 500 ampere)" was it 500 ohm, or 500 kohm? It also requited buying some parts and possibly swapping parts out and disturbing solder on the circuit board of the flasher relay module.

3. You can replace the shunt on the flasher relay module with the correct resistors.
This is probably the best way to go if you are doing front and rear LED flashers. Buy 2 watt resistors somewhere in the range of 0.33 - 0.66 ohms depending on if you are doing the rear signals too (I was not). A good write up was here (Thanks jad3d!): 12Pin DRL Flasher Relay LED Modification (Another One)

4. You can grind down the shunt to increase its resistance.
This method requires no extra parts and no soldering on the circuit board. This is the method I used. a good instructional for the tacoma can be found at:


5. Install a SmartTap LED relay module. You will need an adapter harness from Lexus to plug the 8 pin relay in. You will also have to lightly modify this harness. This method disables the DRLs. Thanks @Vlad for the details in the following posts.


I installed "Alla Lighting 54-SMD 1156" amber LED turn signal bulbs, $20 for the pair. Not sure how they will hold up, but they look very good and produce at least as much light as the original bulbs (correct color as well) I think any 1156A (amber) bulb will work, but these had good reviews on Amazon.

1. Install these by laying underneath the front bumper and reaching up.
2. Turn the socket CCW 1/4 turn to remove.
3. Twist and pull the old bulbs out.
4. Reverse for install.

Getting to the flasher relay is a bit more challenging.
It is located on the back side of the fuse panel inside the car by the drivers left knee. There appears to be a clip on this that lets it slide out (mine was pretty stuck and ended up breaking the clip) Im not sure if there is a better way to do it, but this is how I got to it:
1.Remove philips screw at the bottom center of the trim under the steering wheel. this releases the panel with the little LED for lighting the foot well
2. Unplug the light on this and remove panel
3. Remove the 3 10mm bolts for the main trim panel under the steering wheel. There are 2 bolts on the bottom corners (one behind the kick panel trim which can just be flexed out of the way) and the 3rd bolt is just to the left of the steering wheel behind the piece of wood trim that can gently be pried out.
4. Laying down in the footwell reach up and dislodge the flasher relay from the back of the fuse box, if you are unsure what it is, turn on the hazard lights and you will feel it clicking.
5. Reposition yourself kneeling outside the door.
6. Use your right hand to squeeze in and depress the clip on the flasher relay's wiring harness.
7. Reach under the dash with your left hand and pull the module out.
8. Once the module is removed, remove the outer casing by gently prying open near the 4 little retainers
9. The shunt you need to grind down looks like a silver metal hoop that is soldered into the board. (pic below)
10. Carefully grind down the top and 2 sides of the shunt. (Just grinding the top did not work) I used a Dremel tool for this. The shunt was at about half the original thickness when I was finished as seen below.
11. Reinstall the relay cover and plug the relay in to check functionality. If you still hyper flash, remove more material.
12. Reverse to reinstall.
View attachment 2047069
Picture ^^^ Shows the area I ground down. A bit uneven because I tried to only grind the top, but then late ground the legs as well. If you completely screw up the relay, I think it is about $50 to replace, so not too risky. The shunt can easily be replaced by resistors as in option 3 above if you manage to break the shunt somehow. *EDIT* - I ended up needing to grind more off the shunt than pictured. It only worked that night, then went back to hyperflash. It would flash normal when the headlights were on though... But I took off another 15-20% from what is pictured and it works right all the time now.

Well, I hope this helps someone down the road!
View attachment 2047071
Tough to tell from picture ^^^ but its blinking at normal speed haha.

Fantastic write up, thanks. Grinding the shunt worked perfectly!
 
Thanks all. I went with the smart tap and re-pinned harness. Worked perfectly. Leds up front and in rear. No hyperflash.
 

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