DIY for turning on stock DRLs in 2013+ trucks

[firemedic10584]

Hey guys...

Like a lot of you, I've been wanting my DRLs (amber LEDs) to be turned on but the dealer just can't make it happen. With my studying I've come up with this - I attempted this morning to do it but I think my relay is bad. Maybe some other gurus out there with more wiring knowledge can try it or tell me if I did something wrong. Here's what I figured out/did.

I have the projector headlights on my 2013 sport. So, I figured out which wires on the headlight harness I need to work with.

Pin 4 - if you send 12v to that, it lights up the amber LEDs at full constant power.

Pin 2 - that's your parking light power

Pin 12 - that's your blinker power.

I took a 5 pin relay and did the following -

I ran pin 30 to a fuse on the fuse box that only gets power when the truck is on.

Pin 85 - I ran to a solid ground

Pin 86 - I ran to the parking light and turn signal wire to function as the "off" trigger to make the amber LEDs function properly when needed (turns or parking light)

Pin 87 - I ran to pin 4 on the harness.

My problem was I believe my relay was bad. But maybe not. Maybe I had a wire in the wrong place. Any of you out there who have more experience with relays and wiring, please feel free to tell me if I did something wrong, or had something backwards. I'm trying really hard to figure out how we can have our DRLs and still have the lights function properly. I know I'm on the right track, just need a little help from you guys!

 

[0212353]

I think thats right......

Any way to try another relay?

 

[firemedic10584]

Well, I went out and tried it again. I swapped some wires around and this time it powered up, but did not function properly. So the relays are good. I used pin 87A to go to pin 4 on the headlight harness this time, Pin 30 to the fuse block and pin 85 to ground. This setup caused the ambers to turn on with the truck at full power. However, when I applied pin 86 (the "off" switch) to pin 12 on the headlight harness which is what controls the turns. In theory, that should kick the relay off each time the turn signal flashes to make the light still flash as normal...however, this did not happen. I could see the light flashing somewhat, but the power to pin 4 was not being interrupted. Now I then put the wire from pin 86 to a power source on the fuse block just to see, and that kicked the power off correctly and the light flashed in turn signal mode then returned to DRL mode once pin 86 was removed from power. So...getting closer. Any input ??

 

[toofart]

Dealers cannot enable DRLs????

 

[firemedic10584]

Dealers cannot enable DRLs????

Well, yes and no. Out of everyone who has tried to get their dealer to activate them and everyone I spoke to on other forums..out of the 100 members and 100 dealers who tried, maybe 3 or 4 of them figured out how. But almost all of us get the "it cant be done, it's only an option on fleet trucks" answer. So for the most part, the dealers have no idea as usual when it comes to anything computer related with these trucks.

 

[myoung84]

First off, I think you said you tied pin 2 (park light) and pin 12 (turn signal) to the relay coil (pin 86)? You don't want to do that unless you isolate both of those wires with diodes. I'd first use only the blinker wire to get everything working then add the park light wire and isolate both with diodes. That way when the park lights are on, the relay is engergized (killing the DRL power) and everything works as normal.

Your revised wiring with the DRL output on pin 87a is correct. In theory, each time the blinker flashes the relay should energize and kill power to pin 4. Also note that during the day time (no park lights) the blinkers will operate in reverse of normal. Here's a couple of my brainstorm ideas of what could be happening.

1. The blinker output you are using is not 12V. Is this a lower voltage (5V) or ground signal by chance? Is the relay doing anything when you apply it to pin 86?

2. The blinker output is controlled by the truck's computer and it doesn't like seeing an additional coil load. When everything is wired up, do the rear turn signals work properly?

 

[sandawilliams]

Hey guys...

Like a lot of you, I've been wanting my DRLs (amber LEDs) to be turned on but the dealer just can't make it happen. With my studying I've come up with this - I attempted this morning to do it but I think my relay is bad. Maybe some other gurus out there with more wiring knowledge can try it or tell me if I did something wrong. Here's what I figured out/did.

I have the projector headlights on my 2013 sport. So, I figured out which wires on the headlight harness I need to work with.

Pin 4 - if you send 12v to that, it lights up the amber LEDs at full constant power.

Pin 2 - that's your parking light power

Pin 12 - that's your blinker power.

I took a 5 pin relay and did the following -

I ran pin 30 to a fuse on the fuse box that only gets power when the truck is on.

Pin 85 - I ran to a solid ground

Pin 86 - I ran to the parking light and turn signal wire to function as the "off" trigger to make the amber LEDs function properly when needed (turns or parking light)

Pin 87 - I ran to pin 4 on the harness.

My problem was I believe my relay was bad. But maybe not. Maybe I had a wire in the wrong place. Any of you out there who have more experience with relays and wiring, please feel free to tell me if I did something wrong, or had something backwards. I'm trying really hard to figure out how we can have our DRLs and still have the lights function properly. I know I'm on the right track, just need a little help from you guys!

I tried getting the dealer to activate my DRL's and they said they couldn't. I think I will just use the switch.

 

[firemedic10584]

First off, I think you said you tied pin 2 (park light) and pin 12 (turn signal) to the relay coil (pin 86)? You don't want to do that unless you isolate both of those wires with diodes. I'd first use only the blinker wire to get everything working then add the park light wire and isolate both with diodes. That way when the park lights are on, the relay is engergized (killing the DRL power) and everything works as normal.

Your revised wiring with the DRL output on pin 87a is correct. In theory, each time the blinker flashes the relay should energize and kill power to pin 4. Also note that during the day time (no park lights) the blinkers will operate in reverse of normal. Here's a couple of my brainstorm ideas of what could be happening.

1. The blinker output you are using is not 12V. Is this a lower voltage (5V) or ground signal by chance? Is the relay doing anything when you apply it to pin 86?

2. The blinker output is controlled by the truck's computer and it doesn't like seeing an additional coil load. When everything is wired up, do the rear turn signals work properly?

Well, you lost me lol. I've been out fishing all day and the sun wore me out. But to answer your questions -

1. The wires I was tapping into are the harness that is plugged directly into the back of the headlight housing. I unplug it from the housing and find my wire needed. That's where I tapped into Pin 2. I did not hear the relay closing when tapped into that, but it did close when I put Pin 86 to I believe a 12v plug on the fuse box and it made it work properly. It killed power to pin 4 and the turns flashed until I removed pin 86 from power.

2. I THINK the rear turns were working when I had it hooked up, but never looked. I think I remember seeing them flash on the garage door...

I'm willing to try this again...but I just installed some aftermarket DRLs today!

I tried getting the dealer to activate my DRL's and they said they couldn't. I think I will just use the switch.

I think if you do that, you would have to turn the switch off each time you want to use your blinker and parking lights?

 

[myoung84]

Do you have a multimeter? You really need to see what's going on with that turn signal wire.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

 

[firemedic10584]

Do you have a multimeter? You really need to see what's going on with that turn signal wire.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

I have access to one, but to be completely honest with you, I'm not to sure how to use it. I know...I'm a sorry excuse for a man lol

 

[myoung84]

Haha. Man card revoked!

Snag it, put it on DC volts (check across the battery to confirm), the leave the black lead on ground and the red lead on the turn signal wire. Let us know what the meter shows.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

 

[firemedic10584]

Haha. Man card revoked!

Snag it, put it on DC volts (check across the battery to confirm), the leave the black lead on ground and the red lead on the turn signal wire. Let us know what the meter shows.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

Lol. Dammit!! Not the first time my man cards been snatched lol.

Ill look at it tomorrow and get back to u

 

[firemedic10584]

Well, I tried to unplug the damn harness from the back of the headlight and couldn't get it off. I broke the little tab thing so now I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it off! I'm gonna let this project sit for a while. Maybe some others will take a stab at it and see what they can come up with. I've taken the truck apart like 10 times in the past 4 days. I'll revisit this in a week or two and see if anyone else figures something out.

So I couldn't get the volt meter to check what the volts were. Just hang on to my man card for a while...I'll get it back in a couple weeks lol

 

[firemedic10584]

On a side note, I installed the Philips LED DRL 8...Im happy with them for now. I would much rather have the stock DRLs, but these work pretty good too if we're not able to figure this out.