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Any Prius v Five owners switch their fog lights to DRL?

Discussion in 'Prius v Accessories and Modifications' started by TPBC, May 13, 2012.

  1. TPBC

    TPBC Junior Member

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    Five
    I figured since the Prius v Five has the fog lights. I wonder how difficult it would be to have the fog lights on as the DRL. Maybe the ability to turn the fog lights on with the parking lights (like my previous BMW and MINI). :confused:
     
  2. Aeto

    Aeto New Member

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    I've actually done this. It was a little tricky, but not too hard.

    The bulbs themselves, I replaced with LEDs, both for longevity and reduced electrical load. They're dimmer than the original ones, but fine for this use. They're also more blue, like the headlights, so match better (at the same time, I replaced the parking light bulbs with LEDs as well, for a consistent color set from the bulbs).

    To power them, there's an unused fuse in the under-hood fuse box, which provides 12v at all times. I paid the $15 for three days use of the Toyota wiring diagrams, and found the point on one of the connectors in the same box which is live only when the vehicle is READY.

    Then, mounted an automotive relay in a plastic box, driving the relay from the READY control signal, switching the 12v line (with a fuse in it, of course), then running that down to the lamps themselves, into which I spliced a connector, disconnecting the fog light line, using my new one instead.

    This does mean it's on all the time the car is on, rather than just when it's in gear/headlights off, but given the frequency that people around here ALWAYS use their fog lights with headlamps, plus the fact that I put dimmer bulbs in, I'm not too worried about that.

    Took me around 1 hour digging through the wiring diagrams before I found the magic point on the connector to tie into for the READY signal, then maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours to assemble everything, get the wires run, dressed, and so forth.

    I'm about to take it in for my first 5K service; kind of curious if I get a call from the shop, warning me that, for some reason, my fog lights are stuck on. :>
     
    Bmr4life likes this.
  3. TPBC

    TPBC Junior Member

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    Aeto,
    Wow that's great! I knew someone would figure it out. I'm not that strong of a DIYer...especially when it comes to cutting and splicing wires. It would have been much easier if Toyota just left the DRLs on the US models and gave us the option to leave them on or off. Thanks for sharing. Maybe I'll get the courage to do it. Not to mention I need more tools for this task. Thanks again!!
     
  4. Aeto

    Aeto New Member

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    In another thread (with DRL in the title) in this forum, someone else did something similar, using a fuse adapter on one of the three switched fuses under the fusebox. If I'd even known such adapters existed, I'd have used that instead of tapping into the connector, which would have made the project much easier. In fact, if ever need to redo it, I'll probably go that route, as the tiny cable pinched into the plug is the one place I consider the job somewhat "hackish."

    I'll still probably keep the relay in line, just to be a bit more "protective" of that switched circuit, since if you blow the main fuse on that, it would be a Bad Thing. Of course, with LED lights, I'm not sure they take much more power than the relay. :)

    I can try, sometime in the next few days, to take some pics of the points in the fusebox. The relay and splice points into the actual fog light wiring are rather buried, though.
     
  5. Chazz8

    Chazz8 Gadget Lover

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  6. tanasit

    tanasit Member

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    Many said there is no DRL for the V in the US but when I browsed through the manual I saw the diagram below clearly shows the DRL: (ATP package of course)

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Chazz8

    Chazz8 Gadget Lover

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    Ah yes, nice pic of p 419 of the Owner's Manual. I went looking for "if equipped" qualifier but could not find it anywhere near that page. I guess it is best explained by this post;
    From this thread; http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-v-main-forum/107608-manual-not-accurate.html

    Or maybe they just didn't want to create a new version of the Owner's Manual for Canada, where they do get DLR on the Prius v (wagon).
     
  8. Chazz8

    Chazz8 Gadget Lover

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  9. TPBC

    TPBC Junior Member

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  10. tanasit

    tanasit Member

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    HID Ready Projector Fog Lights w/ Halo CCFL Angel Eyes | eBay

    I saw something similar to the above, so you can just replace the OEM fog lights with them then run one extra wire for the outer ring DRL light.
    Now you have BOTH.

    Better yet found the ones below later:

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-2013-P...+V&hash=item3cc52c427f&vxp=mtr#ht_5984wt_1185

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-TOYOTA...es&hash=item27c06fb380&vxp=mtr#ht_1091wt_1185

    I have to make sure which one will fit though.



    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    For now this will do for me.
     
  11. tanasit

    tanasit Member

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  12. M8s

    M8s Retired and Lovin' It

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    I turned off my headlights last night and, when I turned it one click past "off," the little lights labeled "Parking Light" came on (as well as the "Marker Lights" and dash lights). Wouldn't that work as DRLs for people who want DRLs?
     
  13. tanasit

    tanasit Member

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    I think ones who want the DRL don't want to turn anything on or off BUT rather have the DRL come on whenever the power is on.
    At first I didn't understand either when one said the V has no DRL?
     
  14. TOizBerry

    TOizBerry Junior Member

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  15. tanasit

    tanasit Member

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    If you mean the front license frame, it came from the factory like that and I don't need the front plate in PA, but now I have the one below:

    [​IMG]