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Side Turn Signals (and upgrade horn)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by DeanFL, Jul 6, 2009.

  1. DeanFL

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

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    Right side installed today.

    Removed the wheel well liner - simple. Removed right front underbody cover to access front turn signal connection. Limited access, so jacked up the front. Better. Tight quarters getting to the turn signal connector. Wanted to solder directly for secure connection. Then, before the drill bit hit metal I prayed to the Murphy's Law god. Measured and drilled. Inserted wire and wrapped around inside of wheel well liner.

    Soldered switched 12V and found a very good ground connection and soldered other wire. Test and all AOK. Dabbed a bit of Goop on the hole and mounted the light with the 3M tape. Very solid mount. Put a dab of Goop on my finger and spread it all around the inside of the hole drilled and wire for watertight fit. Arranged the wiring and wire-tied to pre-existing bundle to secure. Buttoned up all panels. No left-over parts and works perfectly. LEDs should last the life of the car.

    Total time about 2 hours. Big snafu was the lamp connector had a white/brown stripe and a green wire. One would assume the 12V switched input was the white/brown. After soldering both the 12V and ground, light did not work. Then after 1/2 hour of checking, found that the green wire was power...

    Will attack the left side tomorrow. No doubt will take less than an hour. And no swearing.

    The light looks good, and now a nice safety measure when turning, merging, changing lanes.should last the life of the car.


     

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  2. krisirk

    krisirk Junior Member

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    Those side markers look good. :thumb:

    While you were behind there did you check to see if the side hybrid badges have pins going through?

    Kris
     
  3. DeanFL

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

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    Kris,
    I didn't feel in that area. But I only installed the right side today. Plan to do the left side tomorrow or Wed. Will report back...

    Also while I'm in that general area, I may install the low-note horn I bought as well. To change from the Roadrunner beep. I live in Central FL - some retired folks down here have hearing issues - useful in parking lots...
    Dean
     
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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  5. DCRC

    DCRC Junior Member

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    Where did you buy the horn? Is it a universal fit or specific replacement?

    Can you document and post the horn replacement as well?

    Thank you.
     
  6. DeanFL

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

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    Completed the job - installed the left side turn signal light. SO MUCH easier than the first/right side. Knew the ropes after doing the right side, and much more room around the left side front turn signal area to make the connections.

    Also installed the low note horn - easy job, about 40 minutes. Few points, and answers to some questions:

    1. The side 'Hybrid' emblem - yes it is mounted with posts, and 2 holes in the fender. Seems to be those snap-in mounts and perhaps tape on the back as well.

    2. I was very surprised by the quality of materials as I checked under the front end. Took a pic of the aluminum extruded frame behind the bumper and the welded aluminum mount. Not cheap at all. Parts seem to be engineered beautifully, and assembly as well. Got to really hand it to Toyota. I tried to check out the ICE oil drain area and associated underbody panels, but only had the floor jack, no stands. Would love to check out the car while up in the air.

    3. The horn - aftermarket from PepBoys. Universal fit - $15. Removed (actually just loosened) the entire top area facia to access the horns. It's part of the entire front bumper cover. 2 bolts and about 10 snap fittings. Just enough room to get into the horn mounts. Installed the additional horn on the pass side tied into the OE horn. Sounds good - evens out the tone. Now more midrange and louder.

    4. While accessing the horn, noticed a large bug attached to the radiator fins. 4" wingspan. Probably not a Japanese bug... ;)
     

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  7. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    Very nice, Dean!
     
  8. Jon S

    Jon S Member

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    the bug is the front half of a dragonfly....
     
  9. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Need a YouTube or mp3 of the horn now.
     
  10. DeanFL

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

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    Ask and yea shall receive (especially now that you're an Officer, Rick).
    Of course, will need your PC sound up. Should be able to pick up the low note along with the standard beep.

    $15 and 45 minutes. I think it was worth it. Too many hard-of-hearing older folks in Florida. (I've got to get a life - post-Prius).


     
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  11. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Kinda hard to hear honestly over the meep sound. With headphones it's a bit more distinguishable. I'll probably opt for the $89 dual-tone horn OEM swap for the JDM spec - should be a drop in replacement. Maybe Danny can find the same part for less $$ as well for PC Store?
     
  12. renpriv

    renpriv New Member

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    I would be interersted in the horn change when the times comes. Is it as you say a simple swap and cut into existing wires without the need for any additional relays?

    Having great horns at the moment, I don't liek the idea of the road runner type meep meep :D

    Thanks :)
     
  13. DeanFL

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

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    I actually did not swap - I added another horn. The OE is two small beep-beep horns. Mounted near the top of the upper grill opening. Each on a bracket with one bolt. They're one-wire version with ground connection with the bracket. I simply connected the new low-note horn to the OE on the passenger side. Was just easier to access that side. The toughest part of the job was getting a cable clamp from the OE horn out of its mount in order to pull the horn and cable up to splice in the new horn. Had to use a large screwdriver to snap it out of the mounting hole. Just tight quarters around there.

    Rick, re the sound. I know - the camera microphone didn't seem to pick up the true note. And was in the garage with echos. Actually, in real life, it's louder and rounds out the high-pitched OE beeps. I didn't want to completely change the sound to - like a Buick or Hummer. Just wanted to gain more DBs and pitch.
     
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  14. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Whereas the Toyota Premium horns (400hz and 500hz) are plug-and-play. Found them at SigmaAutomotive, including shipping to my zip code they're about $85.

    High-Performance Horns :: Sigma Automotive (scroll down for the Toyota Premium Horn)

    Dean's route is cheaper though and probably just as effective - I'd just prefer to lose the "meep" in favor of a pure "honk".
     
  15. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Moderation Note: ** Wanted to split this thread, but not easy to do, so I've updated the subject instead. **
     
  16. Prius Drive Thru

    Prius Drive Thru Road Warriors

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    Nice job on the added signal light. It's a great idea.
     
  17. drspielman

    drspielman Grand Master Chief

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    Very cool Dean...
     
  18. Sphyrna

    Sphyrna Priusite

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    Re: Side Turn Signals

    Dean, thanks for going first! It's always easier for the next guy.:D

    Well, I finally got my 2010 Model III on Friday night. So time to start modding! I followed your footsteps and got the same LED Amber side markers from PepBoys or Autozone I think they both had it. I also got a can of VHT Nightshade from Pepboys. I went ahead and blacked out the lights before installing them (my car is black and I'm going for that Disaster Area look, no chrome allowed). I also blacked out the tails and front turn signals. I masked the fog light blanks, which is unfortunate, I should have just sprayed them while I was at it. Now I'll have to remove them and paint them.

    Anyway, I pulled off the side emblems (the ones that say HYBRID) and found an unfortunate surprise. Yes there are holes, I know, that's NOT the surprise. I wanted to use the existing holes and was hoping there wouldn't be more than two and they'd be spaced in a way that the sidemarkers would cover them. The surprise is the holes are in different locations and positions from one side to the other.:eek: They are further forward and angle upward towards the front on the passenger side while they angle downward toward the front on the driver side.

    The goo used to attach the emblems to the car is a gummy sticky mess. I found a hair dryer and some mineral spirits took it off without damaging the paint. Start by heating up the goo with the hairdryer. Pull off as much as you can and start forming a gob o' snot. Then press the gob into the remaining snot to remove as much as possible. Small traces are removed easily with the mineral spirits on a rag.

    I mounted the LEDs with the wires in the rear holes and the front holes covered by the light housing, but it made for uneven distance from the door edge to the light. So the light is 1.5 inches from the door edge on the driver's side and about 4.5 inches from the door on the passenger side. My neighbor said he didn't notice it until I told him about it. So I'm probably being a little OCD about it. But I know I wasn't going to drill into the metal, so it's going to stay that way!

    It's night time now, so I'll post pictures tomorrow.

    Future plans include:
    * a horn swap (I can't hear my own horn from inside the car, I doubt other drivers can.) I know the Honda Excrement has a surprisingly good OEM horn so I might mix it up.
    * center caps so I can dump the plastic hub caps.
    * as soon as the tires wear out swap to 16" rims (black of course).
    * I'd love to find a way to replace the backing of the Toyo ovals with that seventies style double mirror 'infinite' look. Just to mess with peoples heads.
     

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  19. Ct. Ken V

    Ct. Ken V Active Member

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    Sphyrna,

    I'm guessing that the difference in angling of the holes on each side is so that only one emblem needs to be produced (stocked) that will work on both sides. That doesn't explain the holes being 3 inches different in distance from the door edge though unless the pair of pins on the emblem is off to one side of the emblem instead of being equally distant from the emblem centerline (that would have made more sense). I wonder if, in the '06 through '09, the holes (if there are any---I've heard there's at least one big one) are unequal distance from the door edge for the same emblem or if the older emblem is designed differently (or is even entirely without pins).

    Ken (in Bolton,Ct)
     
  20. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

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    The '06-'08s have the same situation: 2 equal sized holes under
    each front fender badge. The pins on the badge are not centered on
    the badge either horizontall or vertically. As a result, although the
    badges are equally spaced from the panel edge at the door, the
    holes in are at different distances from the panel edge. Bummer. :mad:

    I suspect, but do not know, that the '09s are the same.