DTRL toggle switch mod (stealth mode)

Perhaps someone can help me out...

I bought the following switch to perform this mod.


However, the size is not a direct fitment to place in one of the OEM spots to the left of the steering wheel. It is smaller than the Tacoma switches.

Is there a way to utilize this switch without any cutting or trimming? Or if so, perhaps take a blank switch cap, and use a dremel tool to insert this switch into that spot. Or maybe a trim piece such as the following... any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Just performed this mod but changed it up a little. Instead of putting in a switch (Since I'll never want them back on again) all I did was pull the pin out of the connector, that way you dont have to ever bother cutting it. If you wanna put it back in you can no problem.

I wanted to remove my DRL's because I wired up my fogs to be my DRL's instead. Just curious as to how many people did this same option as I did by pulling the pin out and taping it up instead.

 

Great. 100% reversible. Good job.

 

I did the same thing minus hooking the fogs up for DTRL's. I didn't want DTRL's & I also would never turn them on with the switch so I just pulled the pin & taped it.

 

Great write-up OP! very helpful indeed!

Is a de-pinning tool needed for "pulling the pin"?

 

I just used my needle nose, grabbed the metal pin where it's crimped to the wire & pulled.

 

Just did this on my 2012 Tacoma and it worked flawlessly! Thank you for the info as I did not like the DTL. It was a bit of a pain to access the harness but, with some patience and a little luck, I was able to make it work.

 

Copying from my original post here: LINK

If it saves at least one person the frustration I went thru then it's worth it.

Hated DRLs on all the time so I did the same thing to my 2012. I wanted the ability to turn them off as desired so I got an OEM Fog Light Switch. I had to cut a little inside the hole the switch goes in but after that, it fit perfectly.



Once the switch was in and the wires in place, I found the Green/Red DRL wire and it was as described here but the other two wires were not red. Cutting the Green/Red wire disabled the DRLs but I can't get to it to splice in the switch.

After I got the switch in and wrestled with the splices, I saw this thread that shows how to remove the fuse box and I should be able to get to the harness this way: LINK

Parts needed:
-OEM Toyota Fog Light Switch Part Number: 0050-35976
-22-18 Splice Wire Connectors
-22 AWG wire
-12-10 AWG .250 Tab Vinyl FM. Disconnect
-Wire Stripper

The next day I FINALLY got the switch in, wired and working! Does the orange light come on when I press the switch? - No. Do I care? No. The DRLs can now be turned on or off as desired and that was the goal.

Not really knowing the best way to do this, it was a royal pain. Once I figured out the best method, it was not that big a deal, you just have to really be flexible to get under the dash and have a lot of patience. Detailed instructions are in the linked threads but here is how I did it:

-Remove the bottom dash
-Remove the 3 bolts holding in the fuse box and unplug as much as you can
-Position the fuse box so that you can remove the harness
>Do NOT try to splice in the switch with the harness attached, trust me, it's almost impossible to get to.

Once the harness is removed, you can EASILY cut and splice the Green/Red wire



What I did to make things easy is splice 12" extensions onto the original Green/Red wire.



This way, you can reassemble everything and leave the wires hanging out to work with.


Once everything is reassembled, trim the wires and splice the switch into the harness. The wires can then be tucked into the fusebox. There may be more efficient ways of doing this but I'm not a pro and it's working now.

 

I did this mod today by just cutting the light green and red stripe wire. I taped them up since I only wanted to disable. Now my Traction Control light will no go off on the dash. I disconnected the battery negative for 30 minutes and it went off. While driving a mile or so it came back on. I read for error code to no avail. What could be wrong here? It is an 09 Tacoma 4wd dbl cab. The light was never on until this wire was cut. Thanks

 

Hmm...not sure how that could have happened. Try reconnecting the wire and see if it goes off. I would have to guess that you pulled something else while you were down there. It is kind of tight quarters and a lot of wires in that same area.

 

I agree and plan to re check all connections. Pretty sure it is a bad connection since the airbag light is on now. Lol It rotates between airbag and traction control lights. Just my luck. Lol

 

The 09 may be a bit different that the 12, not certain of that. Did you confirm that the DRLs are indeed disabled when the wire is cut? If they are then you cut the correct wire. Make sure that it's reconnected securely either spliced back together or into a toggle switch and not touching any other wires. It's easiest to remove the entire harness. For the other indicator lights that are now on as a result, something may have shorted when you cut the wire. Use a OBD reader to try and find out where the error is.

 

Scott,

I just realized your profile says you have 7" of lift. I've heard of lifting our trucks causing weird traction control issues. It's possible you might have something else going on here. I would start with checking all wires for good connection and reconnecting the one you cut.

No idea about the airbag light though.

 

It is definitely possible, but I am leaning more towards a bad connection since it is super tight moving the fuse panel. The lights were not on and have never been on until I tinkered with the fuse panel. Lol Will update once I get back home Thursday with the results. Thanks for all of the suggestions.

 

I found the culprit! With the panel pushed down to where the DRL wire is visible there is a plug in the far back left corner that was not clicked all the way in. I am airbag and traction control light free again! Phew! Thanks for all of the input!

 

So, question, when you turn your low beams on, does the DTRL still turn off or no?

 

subd

 

Yes.

Everything acts the same as it does from the factory when the switch is on. All you are essentially doing is giving yourself the option to manually stop the flow of electricity when you want.

I will say that the DTRLs came in handy the last time I went hunting. I left camp early morning before the sun came up and didn't want my headlights alerting everything in the area of my presence. Turning the DTRLs on allowed me to still see the road while driving really slowly, but not announce my arrival. Very glad I added the switch and not just cut the wire.

Also, as a side note, I'm not sure if it's listed anywhere, but I got a 3-pole switch (or whatever you call them). It didn't work until I bridged the middle and one of the outer poles. I thought it would work without performing that step and just not turn on the light on the switch. Turns out, I needed a power signal to that middle pole as well.

 

Just did this mod, but just cut the wire. I have no intentions of ever needing them. I just Installed my HID conversion headlights and don't want the DRL burning through the plastic cover like my original headlight.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, I just want to be clear...if I cut the green wire with the red tracer, will my front turn signals still work on my 2011? I ask because there appears to be two different modes. When the DRLs are on, the turn signal operations turns off the DRL to simulate blinking. When the DRLs are off (headlights on), it turns on the lamp (then off) to simulate the blinking.

Seem to reason (at least to my dumb ass) if you cut the circuit for the DRLs, if the ECU thinks they should be on (parking/headlamps, and parking brake off) it would toggle to "no power" and they would not blink (stay off).

Am I missing something?