SR/SR5 to TRD headlight conversion harness

So, here is my latest creation:
Now, to what it does: It converts SR/SR5 to TRD headlight plugs. Specifically, the turn and DRL (everything else is the same between the two, so no conversion needed). I know there are other options for this, but here is what makes mine different: Mine will make the headlights act just like the TRD models do. The only exception to this is when you turn on the DRL, there is a 1-2 second delay. That's it. Other than that, they act like stock TRD headlights in every way.

When you turn the stalk switch off, the DRL turns off (as opposed to the kits that use the ignition fuse to drive them, causing the DRL to be on full brightness all the time, regardless of stalk setting). When you turn the stalk to DRL or AUTO, the DRL lights come on full brightness. When you turn the stalk to parking/running lights, the DRL stays full brightness. And lastly, when turn the stalk to low beams, the DRL dims. So just like TRD headlights are supposed to act!

There are three parts to this harness. One wire that goes to the passenger side headlight, one that goes to the drivers side headlight, and one that goes to the fuse box under the hood. I will post installation instructions next weekend, but it isn't hard. Maybe a half an hour job. The only tool that is required is a small flat screwdriver, and that is just to pry a tab with.

This kit does require resistors (included) and changing the front turn signal 7440 bulb to an LED (not included. I figure you would want to make a choice as to which bulbs you want).

I asking $150 for the headlight conversion harness (that might go up with future builds. These take over $100 in parts, and a lot of time. I plan on timing it when I do the next batch, but I am guessing I have 3 or so hours in it).

I have a second option that I am asking $175 for. This version will have a 2 port plug on it for grille lights. The grille lights will act just like the DRL does. off with the DRL, full brightness when the DRL is on full brightness, and dimmed (the amount it is dimmed can be adjusted, so it's up to you) when the DRL is dimmed. This one may be a one off, I haven't decided yet. It will not include the grille lights, but will include a male plug for you to hook the grille lights to.

As of right now, I don't plan on making more of these for a while, but if these have a decent amount of interest, I might make more down the road. So if it's sold, but you are still interested, let me know.

Thanks for looking, and feel free to ask any questions you might have.

UPDATE: the version without the grille lights has been sold. I am ordering parts to make a few more, but it might be a bit before I get around to it. My original intent was to teach @daveeasa how to do these, but even that proved to be a daunting task. So I’ll get the install thread done this weekend still, and there will be more of these… eventually. If you’re interested, please let me know. Thanks again

UPDATE 2.0: The version with the grille lights sold as well. I am still planning on a few more of these down the road, but it might be a bit.

 

Super cool!

 

The version without the grille light plug is sold. But please let me know if you are interested in one and it will hopefully motivate me to build a few more. The version with the grille light plug is still available though.

 

The version with the grille lights sold as well. I am ordering stuff to make a couple more of these, but it will be a bit before I do it. If interested, let me know. You can either reply here or shoot me a PM.

 

How to install:

First, a disclaimer. I suck at explaining things.

Okay, now to it. The harness consists of three main parts coming out of a little black box. The box itself is mean to be mounted between the battery and the drivers side headlight. There is a little flat spot there that works great for it.
--Holding for a picture of said mounting spot--
Now as to the three wires coming out of that box; First we will deal with the one that goes to the fuse box. This one:

You will want to route it behind the OEM cables to the passengers side of the battery (I tried using a brown extension cord here just so it would show up better). Be patient and just work it a little at a time so it doesn't snag, and you'll get it through. If you are really impatient, you can alternatively just run it on the outside of those stock cables and zip tie it I suppose. I like running through them though as it keeps the wire out of danger and looks cleaner. We are aiming for the back passengers side of this fuse box:

Hopefully you can see the route I took with my tan cord here:

Once you are back to there with that bundle of plugs and fuse tap, we now have to route it to the inside of the fuse box. So find this plug and go ahead and unplug it. Yours may have more wires it in than mine, but the plug itself will be the same. It's the black one seen here:

Now right to the passengers side of that plug is a little tab. You can hopefully tell which one here:

Here it is with my screwdriver next to it:

Pull that tab toward the drivers side. It should move really easy, so not a lot of force is needed here. While holding that tab to the side, put your finger on the other side of that bundle of wires. feel to the bottom of the fuse box right where that bundle is, and lift it up.

Now, toward the back of that little plastic housing, there is a door. You just need to lift the top and pop it open:

You can now feed the skinny portion of the heat shrunk part through there. The heat shrink is there to hold it together and off additional chaffing protection.

You will be running it up the side of the existing bundle of wires. Insert it like so:

Now go ahead and close the door, and slide that whole thing back into place. That little tab you held earlier should click back into place. If you're still with me, congratulations, you've finish the hardest part IMO.
Now, to do something with that bundle of wires you just ran into the fuse box. Remember the black plug we unplugged earlier to get out of the way? Well, you can now plug it into one side of the harness we just ran there.
Now, the way I do this part is unplug the harness next to where the black one was, and run the bundle of wires under that bundle of wires, except the fuse tap part. Once its under there, you can plug that one back in. We should now have something resembling this:

Now we will take the part of the new harness that is still not connected to anything and kind of loop it back, going around where that bolt is. Once that is ran, go ahead and plug the new white plug where the old black plug was.

Now to the fuse tap portion: Pull this 10A fuse.

And plug in the new tap there. Make sure the 10A fuse is on the bottom (it should be shipped like that, but double check) and the 5A is on the top.

That's it for that part! Go ahead and close that fuse box up. Be cautious of any wires hanging out of the box as you do it. Now to the headlights themselves!

@Hogbaseball06
@chstaco
@no vtec 4me
@daveeasa (you're my proof reader if you don't mind )

 

Saved if I need the room

 

Also holding, just in case....

 

Instructions worked great. No issues with the harness during install or with final function. Thanks @Puppypunter for this harness and all the 'tech support' along the way.

 

What signals are in the red and yellow outputs? +12 and ignition switched?

 

The fuse tap?

 

It was a little harder to see on the phone.

Power, ground, ignition?

 

I'll get mine in tomorrow. Can't wait to get this installed with my new headlights. You'll be getting a tag @Puppypunter as soon as it's done just like @no vtec 4me will be. Thanks so much for making this for me!

 

Great write up so far. I was very impressed with the harness, clearly a lot of time was spent making this as neat and clean as possible

 

Red is power. It goes to the INJ1 fuse (don’t quote me on that, I could have the name wrong). The 10A replaces the factory 10A fuse, and the 5A piggybacks off of it. So it is only hot with ignition. I have heard from some that use it for grille lights that it can become hot at random times for some reason, but even if it did in this case it wouldn’t matter. There isn’t any draw because there isn’t any trigger.
The black is the right turn signal and the yellow is the left turn signal. They are tapping the rear signals. This is why LED bulbs have to be used with this, so it doesn’t overload that circuit. Ground is actually pulled from the turn/parking lights. The exception to that is the one I made that has the dimming grille lights. I made it a separate chassis ground just because the grille lights could use a better ground. Without the grille lights, the only thing that ground is getting used for is the relay, so not a lot of added draw there. Sometime you’ll be getting the how-to on these. I’m not opposed to sharing that info, it’s just that there is a LOT going on, so writing instructions is kind of a daunting task.

 

Thanks! Always nice to get compliments from a fellow craftsman

 

Turning off the DRL feature in the Head Unit and adding a $5.00 relay would be cheaper.

 

I thought the EFI circuit is the one which comes on to test stuff and INJ is a-ok but I might have mis understood that part?

So the purpose here is grab fused ignition power and also rear turn signals and then use that to disambiguate front turn from front DRL. I get it. Thanks. Saves a massive run from the rear taillights back to the engine bay.

 

But where is the fun in that?

I wanted something that still utilized the stalk switch and would perform as close to stock as I could get it. The other option would have been to use your & Kyle’s stalk tap and run that to a relay to control the DRLs. That would be the preferred way IF you have the option to turn off the DRL. But with so many ifs, I just went this route because it will work on every SR/SR5. The main issue with a more simple set up is you have the DRL on all the time, and lose the dimming function. Or you have them on with just parking lights, and lose the dimming function. Or you tie them to a separate switch and have dimming function as long as you remember to turn them off when your headlights are on?

You might be right on that EFI vs INJ thing. I didn’t look into that far because it wouldn’t affect this one anyway. And yeah, this harness just grabs the actual blinking from the rear and uses the solid DRL signal to trigger the relay for the DRL. The reason I have it grabbing from both sides is so it doesn’t lose that trigger when the turn signal is on. And the reason for the delay built in is so the DRL don’t light up if they are turned off and the turn signal is turned on. I programmed the timer to require a signal for greater than a second so that doesn’t happen. That is where the delay comes from when you turn on the DRL.

 

And nothing in the fuse box for “DRL is on” type of knowledge? That part has to come through the headlight connectors and washed through the timer?

instead of a 1s delay could you somehow do a DRL defeat when turn is activated on each individual side which latches for >= the duration of the flash? Some sort of capacitor and relay?

 

Nothing for the DRL only, unless you use Caribe and KMorgans stalk switch tap. Same thing for the turn signals. No where to get a good solid signal to have them activate any kind of override except that stalk switch.

Oh, and Kyle and I did do some messing around with capacitors to do it to. It took such a large one that I didn’t think it was worth pursuing further. Also, that would still activate the DRL when the turn signals are on but the DRL isn’t.