DRL bulb ?

I know there are numerous threads on the DRL dilemma. But my 10DC is showing signs of burning. A spot on each about thumbnail size. Can I replace the 4157 with a cooler burning bulb until I can gather components and time to disable them ?

 

Ken14,

Having the same issue on my 09 just last week too...
No incandescent bulb i can find has less wattage/heat.
The 3157,4157's etc...all are ~8.5 watts...you can
find clear bulbs that are less wattage, but that won't work because
the lens in the headlight assy. is clear...the bulbs need to be amber.

So i think going with an LED bulb is an answer, but there is
the hyperflash issue, so i think they need a resistor change/add,
but i haven't found a true definitive answer yet on that?

I have an idea i'm going to work on this weekend hopefully
and will report back if my idea works.

Good luck with it...those damn things get stupid hot.

btw, called my local dealer and asked the same question about a cooler bulb.
dealer dude...'uh..never heard of that one, we'll just need to change
the headlight assy.' so i told him that was silly and also told him it was a common issue...
he suggested calling Toyota Corporate to complain..

yea right dude, thanks for the help.

PC

 

My selling dealer and Toyota customer service shot me down...im at 47800 miles...best of luck in your search as well.

 

You can go with a clear bulb if you want. Although they are supposed to be amber I used silverstars in mine with no issues. Didn't have issues with the amber either. I agree that this is a issue that needs to be addressed. I ended up doing a BHLM on mine so it was no issue. Admittedly you shouldn't have to do that.

 

I take awesome care of the truck and am crushed to find that they wont even consider helping with the concern. Perhaps a recall someday

 

So here's what i did and it works on my 09.

(standard YRMV disclaimer implied here...)

The 3157/4157's are dual filament bulbs. My idea was to disable
the 2nd filament...(Not sure if a single filament bulb will work,
but i didn't have any and this simple thing did work for me so far.

In this method i'm disabling the upper filament (the one closest
to the top of the bulb)

Pic1: Carefully pry those inside terms away from the base and
extend them upward to be trimmed.

Pic2: Trim the two leads very close to the base.

Pic3: Trimmed nice and tight...now do the other inside pin.

(Note, just trim the two inside terms on either side of the base)
Now the lower filament is the only one that comes on for both the turn signal and DTRL.

In the standard bulb, both filaments are on when the DTRL is on...
that is why they get so hot...so with this method the DTRL is
some dimmer, but seems ok to me, no difference in the turn signal
brightness btw.

I'm guessing i'm roughly halving the wattage by disabling the upper filament?
I will monitor actual temperature later with my IR sensor but by touching it with my hand,
things seemed cooler.

Anyway, a short term fix until i can find a cooler bulb and do the DTRL
stealth mod.
btw, a 3057 bulb is around 6.7 watts, but still a dual filament bulb...
so not sure it would be that much better, but it should work if you
don't want to trim terminals.

Also, my DRTL/Turn Lamp Socket is the 2 wire type...not three...
some year Tacoma's have a 3 wire harness??

Hope this helps...too bad i waited until my driver side started to melt.

PC

 

That is probably the easiest solution I've seen so far for this problem. Well done!

 

x2

 

So you're saying you clipped the 2 inside wires, right? One on each side of the base - clip one, flip it over, clip the other?
Also, what about just using 3156/4156's which I think are single filament. Would they burn cooler?

 

yes. that's correct...and make sure to nip them off close to the
base so they don't touch the metal contacts when putting the bulb
back in.

Not sure about the single filaments?...a quick check says those
are around 27 Watts, which would be way to hot i think??
It looks like the outer pins are right though...just no inner pins.
I'd have to get a single to know for sure, and my local place didn't
have any ambers Saturday.

oh, and thanks for the props guys!!

Actually i was just trying to disable the DTRL and only have the turn
signal with this...but was surprised that after disabling the upper filament,
the DTRL still illuminated?...like i said, i don't know how much cooler
it will be...but i'll do that temp. measurement this week and
get actual comparison temp. numbers between the mod'd and unmodified
bulbs.

Good luck with it.

PC

 

Im going to try some #3155 bulbs..they are cooler-less candlepower.I like the single filament disable as well.

 

I went with led's and slightly ground down the resistor like stated in the DIY here. Been working perfect.

 

Is it possible, instead of worrying about the amber DRL to add a module to make the headlights act as DRL as they do in Canada?. Would part be available in the States?

 

Depending on the year of your Taco, you could just leave your headlights on all the time. My 2010's headlights turn off automatically when I turn off the engine and open the driver's door. Not sure if all years do that or not. Also not sure if there's a law against headlights on during the day but I wouldn't think so.

 

I disabled my factory DTRL's cause I have aftermarket yellow bulbs and they started making the rear reflectors fade from the heat. I say go with some LED bulbs but high quality ones and not ones off of Ebay. I have first had experience with this and you will need in-line resistors as well to get rid of the hyper blink. It wont be cheap but if you want it done right then you will need to spend a little money.

 

I still believe that Toyota should step up and do the right thing....

 

100% agree

 

Hey guys,

Just to follow up on this. I made temp. measurements
on both my mod'd bulb and a standard 3157/4157 bulb
with the bulb harness removed from the Headlamp Assy.

My temp probe was directly on the top of the bulb.

They both were about the same temperature unfortunately.
I measured about 340F on both type bulbs after only 3 minutes!
After 30 minutes on who knows how hot?

Oh well, i guess going to the LED style with the shaved shunt resistor
is the way to go until another idea comes along or moding the headlamp
assy. to remove the melted lens? or whatever you guys do when
doing the BHLM?

I am going to try a single filament bulb to see how that goes, but
i'm thinking it will still be too hot...?

Stealth mode mod. happening soon.

COME ON TOYOTA!!! YOU HAVE A PROBLEM HERE!

 

Well damn... that sucks. Looked like you were on to something there. Yes, Toyota DOES need to do something about this. It isn't just cosmetic.

And yeah, I just took the lens out of mine when I did the BHLM. My lens wasn't melting though so I'm not sure why some do and some don't.



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Well team..scratch the 3155 idea..they have a tab on them at the base that is wider and will not fit in the bulb holder...damn the luck.Oh well..$ 4 bucks from the good guys at Oreilly auto..