Need Some Wiring Assistance...

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Alright so I recently installed Side Markers on my sedan and have them wired so they blink with the turn signals. I was thinking about it today and thought it would be pretty sweet if I had them on when the parking lights are turned on, but still blink with the turn signals. Would it be as simple as running another wire out of the marker harness to the parking light wire behind the headlights? If that's the case, could someone tell me exactly which wire it is?

UPDATE: The markers signal correctly when the parking lights are off, but when they're on the markers stay lit up: no signaling.

[yaris2010RS]

jsut a heads up, make sure its not illegal in your area to have all the time side illuminated lights. i had a friend who got busted for having them on his car but his were 2 coloured (red on the back, orange on the front) i dont know what the exact details on his ticket were...just a heads up

[Focus_Sh1ft]

That's pretty lame...

Btw, a little more info on my setup: I have two wires running from each marker. One wire taps into the turn signal wire behind each headlight and the other is a grounding wire.

[Tamago]

you'd need two SPDT relays to pull this off, not a big deal.

change the "power" wire hookup from the signal light to parking lights
2. use the signal light to power the relay
3. with the common wire on the relay hooked up to the parking light circuit, and pin 87A hooked up to your sidemarker, the sidemarker will now be ON whenever the parking lights are ON, and OFF whenever the signal bulb flashes.

http://img.hisupplier.com/var/userImages/2009-04/14/k-shoi$183403401(s).jpg

it'll need that center connector to work.

pin 85 to ground
pin 86 to signal light circuit (on each side)
pin 30 to parking light circuit
pin 87a to your sidemarker + wire
pin 87 not used, tape it off

[CTScott]

An even easier way would be to use two diodes. The diodes let the two functions feed the single indicator without feeding each other:


31889

[Focus_Sh1ft]

The diode idea sounds perfect. I'm assuming I can pick some up at a place like radioshack? The only thing I'm unclear about as to which wire controls the parking lights.

[CTScott]

1N4003 Diodes from RadioShack would be fine:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2036269

http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2077855w345.jpg

The end with the white stripe goes towards the LED indicators.


You can tap the parking lights at Connector B13 in the under hood fuse panel (the left connector pictured below). Any of the 4 green wires in the first row will work.

31893

[Focus_Sh1ft]

CTScott, thanks so much for your help so far. Do you know which wire controls the parking lights behind the headlight (on the 4 pin plastic connector)? That would save me the effort of having to run a wire across the engine bay to the fuse box. Obviously if I have to it's no worries though.

[CTScott]

CTScott, thanks so much for your help so far. Do you know which wire controls the parking lights behind the headlight (on the 4 pin plastic connector)? That would save me the effort of having to run a wire across the engine bay to the fuse box. Obviously if I have to it's no worries though.

On the 4 pin connector there is one row with a green and a white/black wire and another with two greens. Grab either green in the two green row.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Alright so I used diodes, but no dice. The markers signal correctly when the parking lights are off, but when they're on the markers stay lit up: no signaling. I tried both of the two lower green wires but no difference. I'm not sure what to do now... the diode idea seemed flawless :iono:

Out of curiosity, what purpose does that black and white wire serve?

[CTScott]

Alright so I used diodes, but no dice. The markers signal correctly when the parking lights are off, but when they're on the markers stay lit up: no signaling. I tried both of the two lower green wires but no difference. I'm not sure what to do now... the diode idea seemed flawless :iono:

Out of curiosity, what purpose does that black and white wire serve?

That makes sense. The diodes act like OR gates, so if either is on the LED will light. To have them still be able to flash when the parking lights are on is a bit more tricky.

What I would do is to add a resistor in line with the parking light wire. This will make the LEDs glow, but less brightly from the parking lights. Then, when the signals flash, the LEDs will pulse from dim to bright. For the resistor I would experiment with 1K, 5K and 10K to see which looks best.

The white/black wire is ground.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

That makes sense. The diodes act like OR gates, so if either is on the LED will light. To have them still be able to flash when the parking lights are on is a bit more tricky.

What I would do is to add a resistor in line with the parking light wire. This will make the LEDs glow, but less brightly from the parking lights. Then, when the signals flash, the LEDs will pulse from dim to bright. For the resistor I would experiment with 1K, 5K and 10K to see which looks best.

The white/black wire is ground.

Once again, thanks so much. This has me wondering though... how do the parking lights accomplish what I'm trying to do? They obviously don't have this problem.

[CTScott]

Once again, thanks so much. This has me wondering though... how do the parking lights accomplish what I'm trying to do? They obviously don't have this problem.

The parking lights and turn signals are separate bulbs. What you are doing is very similar to what is required for trailer lights, where the tail and turn signals feed a single bulb.

[Focus_Sh1ft]

Hah, you're right. I can't believe I never noticed the parking light just simply brightens for turn signals when it's on. I'm gonna go pick up some resistors :biggrin: