12-pin DTRL LED Flasher Modification (2012 Tacoma)

You send it back. It is not compatible with your Tacoma.

 

I know this is an old thread, but does anybody make a replacement flasher relay for a 2012? I just want to replace the relay with another one and have LEDs haha. I'm a lazy SOB

 

This is not hypothetical for 12+

I experimented, took out the dtrl bulb, tested, got hyperflash on rear bulb, then added a test bulb (second bulb) in the rear; NORMAL flash. Confirms it's the same circuit (no separation by a relay)
It does not matter where the resistance (load) is in the flasher circuit at least for '12's.
SO; if dtrl leds in the front, per Kasnerd, the resistor in the rear will only heat when in turn signal mode/emergency flasher mode. Add led in the rear too, add second resistor....

This does not overload the circuit/wiring, as many with non-oem trailer harnesses connect to the taillight harness to get a 4-pin. Anyway it's a 15a fuse good for at least 5, probably 6 regular bulbs. And most trailers connected this way will probably be led's anyway and very low load. (OEM tow package isolates the 7 pin with a relay(s) from overloading the blinker circuit)
It's your answer to frying the resistor under the hood.
It's what I've done. Actually you can just splice in a second socket,attach it to frame behind the tail light and let it blink behind the tail light[ on each side-]don't have to buy a resistor, and the rear turn signal bulbs almost never burn out. And if you want to reinstall incandescents, take out the extra bulb.

For those with no oem dtrl the resistor under the hood is for the flasher circuit only and can be anywhere. It's only the oem dtrl-turn sighal combo on the same circuit, the resistor in front has to work full time..

 

This is an old thread, but looking it over, I see you pulled out the MOSFET for channel 3 and 4 on your relay and you left it as is even after you completed your project. What did you pull them off for?

Also, for whatever reason, this mod does not work for me. Either the turn signals work with hyperflash using the OE shunts or I put in any sort of resistor and it only blinks once. It does not matter what size the resistor is either. I even tried using a potentiometer to try and put in an adjustable resistance. No avail.

Does anyone on this board know where the load sensing circuit is on the IC chip for these relays? I am going to attempt to use a potentiometer that way instead because the shunt/ resistor method does not work for me whatsoever and no matter what I do I am stuck with hyperflash.

I'm borrowing this idea from the mod this guy did on the first thread, which later other people borrowed the idea from him and snapped better pictures:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...odify-turn-signal-flasher-work-led-bulbs.html

Post #7

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...2008/353712-2011-se-led-upgrade-issues-2.html

Post #20

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-1st-gen-2004-2009/689938-led-flasher-gx470.html

Post #8 & 9

 

Hey man how did this work out for you? I'm considering this option because I'm finding my shunts are too hard to adjust correctly. I shaved them down and it works for the two fronts being LED but I can't support the rear blinkers being LED as well. Also, the resistance still isn't right because after about 20 flashes they shut off meaning it is still too high.

I like this route cause I don't have to try and guess at the math or order a ton of components. What type of trimpot did you buy? I noticed this guy used a 500kohm rated for 1/2 watt. isn't that way too little power rating and way too coarse of sensitivity? Wouldn't a 1W 5ohm give you better sensitivity and power capability? I learned all this a while back but being a ME....electronics confuse me easily.

 

Try this link or this one to determine the correct resistance value.

 

Thanks man, I don't have a good power source to even check my led's in order to start these calculations though. a rheostat seems like an easy option, no?

 

I never was able to get it down. Nothing worked well except the stock shunts for me. So I have had hyper flash for a while now. I tried TONS of different configurations, all of which did not end up working unfortunately, even the adjustable variable resistors.

Those are mostly for 05-11 gens though. Ours are two shunt and for some reason more difficult to get right.

Maybe you have a good formula?

 

Hmm...do you have the specs on the var resistors you bought? Cause I'm surprised this guys even worked with those specs. They do seem very sensitive, but it should be achievable with the right one. 500kohm is a ridiculous range when the oem resistance is <1ohm.

 

I can't remember what the heck I did with them. They may be sitting on in my toolbox but I might had thrown away the boxes for them.

 

Formula is the same, Two shunts, just means there is a separate shunt for each side.

Need to know specs of the LEDs you are installing, or actual measurements of current.

 

That's the problem. I don't know them. I can show you what brand and type of bulbs I got. The tail lights are aftermarket as well, so that is also going to change the current draw readings as well.

 

Tailights: Are the signal lights LED or incandescant? If incandescent, what bulb#?
Send me links to the type of taillight.
Front signals: Yes let me know brand/type or send me a link for the same kind of bulb that you have (ie Amazon / Ebay/ Parts store ad)

 

Let me see if I can trace them down.

The tails were from ebay. The GM style ones with the LED bars on them. I'll get you some links here shortly.

 

Adjustable rheostat would have to be 0 to 1 Ohm range to test replace the shunt.

To calculate the current draw of one of the signal lights you could pull a bulb out, and set up a circuit from 12V source through a 1 Ohm resistor, then through the signal light /LED to ground. With a voltmeter, measure the overall supply voltage, and the voltage at the resistor to LED junction. the difference between the two readings is the Voltage drop across the resistor. The current the signal uses then is (Supply Voltage - Measured V at resistor) / 1 Ohm.

 

Tail lights:

https://m.ebay.com/itm/2005-2015-To...sc:ShippingMethodStandard!94565!US!-1&vxp=mtr

Turn signal/ DRL bulbs:

$18 Alla Lighting Newly Upgraded T25 Wedge 3156 3157 LED Bulbs, Amber Yellow Turn Signal Lights, 3457 4157-NAK 5702AK 360° Super Bright 3056 3757NAK Direction Blinker Lamps

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01EC3XUBG/ref=oh_aui_i_sh_in_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Taillights : from the images on ebay, the back of the light unit is labelled as 18.3W at 12V for the signal lights. (LED power + added resistors) = 1.5A load

Front signals: device uses 2835 SMD LED chipset, 39 of them - I estimated their configuration and came up with 0.7Amp load

Total load then when one side is flashing is 2.2Amp
Stock setup aims for a Voltage drop across the shunt of 0.075V. If a bulb quits, the amperage drops, and then the voltage drop goes down, and if it goes down below 0.049V, you get hyper flash warning you that one of your signal bulbs is out.

Shunt Resistance value therefore should be 0.075V / 2.2A = 0.034 Ohms.
Power (heat) dissipated by resistor = 0.165W max. (Its less than that because the signals lights are flashing at 50% duty cycle therefore actual power is only half that, but I digress, we'll overbuild anyhow)

best fit, and available, resistor I could find from Digikey.com is this one 0.040 Ohms, 2Watt, current sense resistor, axial leads, and it is in stock.
(Higher wattage rating just means bulkier packaging, and might not fit into case once board is modified. This resistor spec'd above should fit with no problems, a 5Watt resistor for example, would be difficult to fit within the case.)

Your application is a really good fit for filing the existing shunt down, if you're willing to do the file a little bit and try it routine. Just make sure you blow all the filings out of there before you plug the module back in, or you risk letting the smoke out of the flasher, and then it doesn't work anymore.

 

I had been trying to find specs on this stuff for a really long time. Thank you so much man! Tis the season to give! (knowledge) lol.

 

So I figured as an experiment I would get the trimpots and give them a try. The best solution I could find was this:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/bourns-inc/3059Y-1-100LF/3059Y-1-100LF-ND/2535059
It is 0-10 Ohm and has 25 turns, so I was hoping it had enough resolution (really it's 'unlimited resolution' but you need to be able to hit that with a screw driver..)

It worked! I tested it off the board first and while my MM isn't super high quality it allowed me to find the low side of the adjustment (theoretically should be 0 Ohm but probably isn't). It read 0.5Ohm but I don't think the MM is accurate below 5ish

I installed just one at first to see if it would work and then left the board hanging under the dash so I could adjust the screw. To my horror, at first it wouldn't work. It would only go one blink and then stop, indicating it was still too much resistance.
THEN I realized I had left the incandescent rear blinkers in so that my front LEDs wouldn't hyperflash (I had already modified my shunts but couldn't get the resistance low enough - went all the way through them multiple times)

Swapped in my rear LEDs and voila! Hyperblink, which is a good sign because now I knew somewhere in the middle of adjustment was the sweet spot. I turned it up about 3-4 turns and it started to blink normal, go too far and it goes once and stops. Confirms everything everyone has found out so far.



This way of doing it is nice, because not only can I adjust it so that I'll still get the light-out indication - but also if I change LEDs in the future or go back to incandescent - I can just adjust the pot. I also didn't have to do 20 trips to the store for resistors and resolder everything a bunch of times.

These are rated for 1W, but they have a cheaper 1/2W version that would probably also work - its also 25 turn:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/bourns-inc/3296Y-1-100LF/3296Y-100LF-ND/1088082
I got both, but kept the 1W in since I tried them first. So if anyone needs a pair of the 1/2 versions PM me

Oh and FWIW, I used the same LEDs as @12TRDTacoma above

 

I’ve been researching an LED swap on my 2011 with DRLs, and this thread has been amazing. So first off, thank you all for participating and adding an incredible amount of information. I know it’s an older thread, but I want to run these bulbs front and rear. Any help would be greatly appreciated.