Tacoma DRL mod: The difinitive solution (please sticky or move to tech)
12-29-2007, 02:43 PM
#1
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Tacoma DRL mod: The difinitive solution (please sticky or move to tech)
Excellent. It's been solved. Well more exactly I looked at the circuit diagram and confirmed what Lou had siad way back when:
Well Lou's luck wasn't actually luck. Just have a look at the circuit diagram for the 2001-2004 DRL harness and it's quite obvious why you want to cut the WHITE-GREEN (wire 1) and not WHITE-BLACK (wire 2).
Concisely, cutting your ground is never a good idea, granted it can work for the desired result; but, it has the side effects of tripping other relays and the dimly glowing HI-BEAM indicator. Simply follow the WHITE-GREEN on the diagram and you will see why it is the best way to impede the flow of current into the relay for the desired result.
I hope this give more people the confidence to the DRL mod properly without having the side effects that cutting WHITE-BLACK does.
I tried it on my Taco today and everything worked great.
Again a little circuit analysis goes a long way.
Originally Posted by loudawg88
Hello All,
I was paranoid to go for it with wire clippers on a $25,00 computerized hunk-a-steel, but danger is my life, and sometimes results in success.
So, first I cut wire 2 on the 2003 Tacoma DRL relay and wired a high amperage switch inline using beefy wire, soldering all connections and in general being super careful. Using the switch, I could run truck with DRL on or off, but with DRL off the headlight relay in the engine compartment fuse box appeared to be cycling incorrectly, and buzzing. This was probably caused by my fancy driving lights, cornering lights, etc. , which were tough to get working with the DRLs. Bummer. Cutting and switching wire 2 might work for someone else, but not for me.
BUT, after splicing wire 2 together (everything back to factory normal, thank God) I went ahead and cut wire 1. Success. Was able to place a switch inline on wire one, and even have an indicator light working (dim because of low voltage) with switch to show if DRL is on or off. For what it's worth, it appears that wire 1 is the + wire, and wire 2 turns the ground on and off for the relay, or DRL, or both...
I took photos and if I have time I'll write the project up. Above will have to do for now. Time taken was about 5 hours including the experiments. Tip: If you do this, take the knee panel off, and remove the vent behind the knee panel, then remove DRL relay by backing out an obvious 10mm bolt. Once the relay is dangling, it's easy to pull the plug, and semi-easy to cut/solder wires. Battery disconnected during all, of course.
'best, Lou
Hello All,
I was paranoid to go for it with wire clippers on a $25,00 computerized hunk-a-steel, but danger is my life, and sometimes results in success.
So, first I cut wire 2 on the 2003 Tacoma DRL relay and wired a high amperage switch inline using beefy wire, soldering all connections and in general being super careful. Using the switch, I could run truck with DRL on or off, but with DRL off the headlight relay in the engine compartment fuse box appeared to be cycling incorrectly, and buzzing. This was probably caused by my fancy driving lights, cornering lights, etc. , which were tough to get working with the DRLs. Bummer. Cutting and switching wire 2 might work for someone else, but not for me.
BUT, after splicing wire 2 together (everything back to factory normal, thank God) I went ahead and cut wire 1. Success. Was able to place a switch inline on wire one, and even have an indicator light working (dim because of low voltage) with switch to show if DRL is on or off. For what it's worth, it appears that wire 1 is the + wire, and wire 2 turns the ground on and off for the relay, or DRL, or both...
I took photos and if I have time I'll write the project up. Above will have to do for now. Time taken was about 5 hours including the experiments. Tip: If you do this, take the knee panel off, and remove the vent behind the knee panel, then remove DRL relay by backing out an obvious 10mm bolt. Once the relay is dangling, it's easy to pull the plug, and semi-easy to cut/solder wires. Battery disconnected during all, of course.
'best, Lou
Concisely, cutting your ground is never a good idea, granted it can work for the desired result; but, it has the side effects of tripping other relays and the dimly glowing HI-BEAM indicator. Simply follow the WHITE-GREEN on the diagram and you will see why it is the best way to impede the flow of current into the relay for the desired result.
I hope this give more people the confidence to the DRL mod properly without having the side effects that cutting WHITE-BLACK does.
I tried it on my Taco today and everything worked great.
Again a little circuit analysis goes a long way.
12-29-2007, 03:27 PM
#2
great work 
Don't think the mods will automatically add this to the tech section, but you can surely submit it:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f166...ssions-131829/
Don't think the mods will automatically add this to the tech section, but you can surely submit it:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f166...ssions-131829/
12-30-2007, 03:08 AM
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LuminoZ,
I'm wondering if you've experienced any side effects thats plagued many others by cutting the #2 wire?
Keep us posted. Even more stumbling, how on earth did it take so many years for someone to figure out the correct wire?? It's hard to believe that cutting the #1 pin solves everything when all the threads, write-ups, & research out there never mentions it. Not doubting your results but this is great news and it appears you discovered a perfect solution!
If your findings are accurate, my bro and his '01 Taco will both be very happy. He's done that e-brake "click & start" feature so many times that i think his first 'click' is almost worn out.
I'm wondering if you've experienced any side effects thats plagued many others by cutting the #2 wire?
Keep us posted. Even more stumbling, how on earth did it take so many years for someone to figure out the correct wire?? It's hard to believe that cutting the #1 pin solves everything when all the threads, write-ups, & research out there never mentions it. Not doubting your results but this is great news and it appears you discovered a perfect solution!
If your findings are accurate, my bro and his '01 Taco will both be very happy. He's done that e-brake "click & start" feature so many times that i think his first 'click' is almost worn out.
12-30-2007, 11:31 AM
#5
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Thread Starter
Yeah you can ghetto-rig the parking brake... But that's like cheating on your wife with Oprah. You may love what it (Oprah) does. But in the long run things aren't going to work out so well for anyone ( or any cheated E-brake component) any then everyone is sad...
I wasn't the first person to figure out that cutting WIRE #1 was the best way to do it. If you read the my first post in the thread you will see that I quoted Lou; who from what I know was the first person to figure this out.
IF you look on places like TTORA and other Toy enthusiast sites you will see lots of reference to cutting WIRE #2. HOWEVER, lots of people who did this expirenced side effects, but since the mod worked; people were content with that.
I wanted to do the DRL mod, but I didn't want any odd side effects to I poked around a little and looked for the best answer. It seemed odd to me that everyone cut WIRE #2 and Lou had cut WIRE #1 but is comment about the ground make me wonder if he was on to something...
So armed with a few EE circuits classes under my belt I had a look at the DRL circuit diagram...
Lou was right.
Concisely speak both ways (cutting wire 1 or 2) get the job done, but Lou's method is way better for the circuit than taking away the ground.
I think alot of people just lived to the maxim of: "If it ain't broke; don't fix it." And called wire #2 good.
I wanted to make sure I did things right... so I cut wire 1.
I wasn't the first person to figure out that cutting WIRE #1 was the best way to do it. If you read the my first post in the thread you will see that I quoted Lou; who from what I know was the first person to figure this out.
IF you look on places like TTORA and other Toy enthusiast sites you will see lots of reference to cutting WIRE #2. HOWEVER, lots of people who did this expirenced side effects, but since the mod worked; people were content with that.
I wanted to do the DRL mod, but I didn't want any odd side effects to I poked around a little and looked for the best answer. It seemed odd to me that everyone cut WIRE #2 and Lou had cut WIRE #1 but is comment about the ground make me wonder if he was on to something...
So armed with a few EE circuits classes under my belt I had a look at the DRL circuit diagram...
Lou was right.
Concisely speak both ways (cutting wire 1 or 2) get the job done, but Lou's method is way better for the circuit than taking away the ground.
I think alot of people just lived to the maxim of: "If it ain't broke; don't fix it." And called wire #2 good.
I wanted to make sure I did things right... so I cut wire 1.
Last edited by LuminoZ; 12-30-2007 at 11:42 AM.
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