Disabling DRL - 2018 Yaris (Canadian model)

[senioryaris]

Added Aux lights, want to disable DRL as it is no longer needed.

N.B. 2018 Yaris (Canadian model)

Thanks for feedback, Adam

[stidnam]

I'm intrigued. Why would anyone want to disable their DRLs given it's a safety feature?

I wish my car had DRLs

[Leegamer]

https://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=894

Pretty likley it's the same for your car. Worth checking. I did this on my 2008

[senioryaris]

@stidman: ADDED Aux lights... controlled by the ignition circuit... do not assume too much

@Leegamer: The design has apparently changed, according to the search on this forum

STILL looking for a solution!

[mitch9521]

https://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=894

Pretty likley it's the same for your car. Worth checking. I did this on my 2008

Doesn't work on gen 3s. The DRL function is run directly from the ECU. There is a DRL relay in the engine bay but pulling it out disables ALL of your lights, including low beam, DRL and high beam.

If someone has a gen 3 ECU pinout kicking around, I have a theory I wanna test.

[stidnam]

@senioryaris: wrong spelling on my name bud. No assumptions made in my original question, just a question. An assumption would look something like the following: You've installed additional lighting and you no longer like the look of the DRLs in combination with the new lights you've installed.

Anyway, doesn't really matter. Try disconnecting pin 2 from the HL / DRL relay. Should be green and runs to the main body ecu. Controls the DRLs. Assuming it earths that relay point to turn them on.

Mind you though, if the DRL is always on by default and that trigger wire only dims the DRL, then might not work to eliminate them completely.

[mitch9521]

@senioryaris: wrong spelling on my name bud. No assumptions made in my original question, just a question. An assumption would look something like the following: You've installed additional lighting and you no longer like the look of the DRLs in combination with the new lights you've installed.

Anyway, doesn't really matter. Try disconnecting pin 2 from the HL / DRL relay. Should be green and runs to the main body ecu. Controls the DRLs. Assuming it earths that relay point to turn them on.

Mind you though, if the DRL is always on by default and that trigger wire only dims the DRL, then might not work to eliminate them completely.

Pulling the hand brake disables the DRLs. however if you release it and then pull it back up while the car is running, the DRLs stay on regardless, its strange.

[stidnam]

Pulling the hand brake disables the DRLs. however if you release it and then pull it back up while the car is running, the DRLs stay on regardless, its strange.

The parking brake switch earths out a pin on the main body ecu, which is the same ECU that controls the DRLs. Must be some logic in that computer to trigger that under those specific conditions.

If you turn the headlights on, do the DRLs just DIM or do they go off completely?

It may be a case of needing to see how the DRLs are actually wired in the headlight units and disconnect from there.

[mitch9521]

The parking brake switch earths out a pin on the main body ecu, which is the same ECU that controls the DRLs. Must be some logic in that computer to trigger that under those specific conditions.

If you turn the headlights on, do the DRLs just DIM or do they go off completely?

It may be a case of needing to see how the DRLs are actually wired in the headlight units and disconnect from there.

If I leave the parking brake up, the lights will go on and off. If I release the brake and pull it up again, the lights will just dim and brighten.

[stidnam]

It'd be interesting to see how the DRL is actually wired in the headlight unit. The wiring diagram doesn't show any specific wiring for the DRL itself. It just shows the two HL units. The HL relay has 6 pins

- HLOR - low beam right
- HLOL - low beam left
- +B - receives power from the main head lamp fuse through the dim relay when the high beams are not powered
- DRLS - goes to the main body ecu DRL
- H - goes to the main body ecu HRLY
- E - Earth

I just don't know what's happening inside that relay. I would have ordinarily expected to see the DRLs themselves in the wiring diagram and some kind of resistor controlling the dim function of them...unless the DRLs are part of their own diagram somewhere.

I'd still try disconnecting that DRLS wire if it were easy enough to do.

[senioryaris]

Thank you guys for snooping how to disable DRLs on 3 gen Yaris.
Maybe one day we can find the solution...
Lots of folks might benefit
As for auxiliary lights I put on (which can serve as DRLs with lower power consumption & hopefully greater longevity), I highly recommend those.