Daytime Running Lights + Switchback LED’s
 

One of the things my Z lacks is DRLs. I looked at some options and aside from running my headlights all the time was adding in some nice Daytime Running Lights. I didn't want to glue or drill things into my bumper and some of the headlight mods were a bit much for me so I went an alternate route. The first time I had an Audi behind me and noticed the switchback LED’s I was hooked. After some research it seems the turn signal bases in the 370Z have the extra wire from the JDM version that allows for dual filament bulbs. After some digging I found some switchback LED’s that fit the bases and headlight enclosures, did a small wiring mod to activate the 3th wire on the oem base (using solder, no crimp connectors or tape, I promise) and suddenly LED turn signals that switchback to DRLs. I also made sure to add a transistor to the turn signal circuit for good measure and to avoid the “look at me!” ricer fast blink. While I was in there I changed the parking lamps to LED as well all of which match the oem HIDs color temperature.

The whole job took about 45 minutes not including the better photos I should take of the DRLs at some point. The photos give you a basic idea of what I did but If you would like a DIY write up of the parts and process just PM me
: )

Video of the finished project at work:

View My Video

Some additional in progress photos:
http://www.the370z.com/members/thew3...nished-top.jpg

In for a DIY

^^^^ diy please^^^^^

Im in!

OP, we must have been thinking the same thing at the same time because I've been wanting DRLs as well and have been looking at the turn signal bulb more closely as well. Since it's a single-filament 7440 bulb, I didn't see why I couldn't mod the harness to accommodate a switchback 7443 bulb instead and presto: whit DRLs plus amber turn.

I bought the bulbs and new 7443 harnesses but from what you're saying, the Z already as a 7443 harness but the third wires are unused. I'm in for some DIY photos as well since I haven't started yet.

Sooo, while I was at it, I was wondering about the rear. It too uses 7440s for turn so why not get some switchbacks for them too but instead of DRL, they would be used to augment the reverse lights for more brightness. Even better if they're run through a pulse module so when you put the car in reverse, the lights will strobe a few times first.

DIY and Parts list please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks!

thats really cool!

Great work you have been repped.

cool. at last someone came up with a cool set of DRL's instead of pepboyz look. :tup:

DIY now!!

DIY with part# please!!

Another vote for DIY! Please list your parts BOM with sources cited! A schematic would be nice too!

Rep sent

:iagree: we need a DIY this is a great mod!
repped!

He's off line now but send him some reps for his trouble.

Don't want to take anything away from the OP's glory but just as a second option, these are the bulbs I ordered for my particular project. Got the same set for the rear as well.

7441 Dual Color No Error High Power Projector LED Turn Lights Resistors 7W 68C | eBay

P.S. Rep given. This is a cool project. ;)

Cool, reps to you also my good man.

im totally in.. thats freaking awesome :)

i think it would be kinda cool to have the orange lights on all the time too, Like the vettes do. just my opinion lol

I agree. Vettes have a really nice and bright amber that are hard to miss. I hope eomeone else does this mod with amber DRLs so we can have a look. I'm outta money to experiment.

Similarly, our Zs have dim white incandescent bulbs for front running lights but I got more powerful amber LEDs on their way to fix that.

Id be up to take on that challenge if someone can teach me how to turn my turning signals into DRL's, and still be able to function as turning signals :driving:

I think if we use the switchback 7443 bulb and have the positive (+) wire of the white LED connect to the relay and tap the relay to the battery and the sensing circuit to the cigarette's fuse and get the power from there (since it always power on when you turn on your car). Another way we can do is to connect the 7443 bulb to the cigratette's fuse without the relay. That way we can have the 7443 bulb (white LED) on when we power up the car and still have the signal (amber LED) working. This is just my 2cent. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I have a question... When you turn the actual headlights on do those lights shut off? I think it will look pretty sick to have those on together with the headlights.

You can probably run them on a switch...... but i may be mistaken, lol

I don't think it has to be that complicated. Depending on the choice of bulb, LEDs aren't going to draw enough current to require a relay.

No, the wiring is up to you. The 7443 bulb is dual filament meaning it's actually two bulbs in one. It has three contacts: common ground, power for one filament and power for the second filament.

The Z uses a 7440 single filament bulb, obviously just for the turn signal. (Other cars use a 7443 dual-filament bulb to as both turn sigal and parking/running light). So if you swap the Z's 7440 with a 7443 bulb, you're basically adding another set of bulbs within the bulbs that you can wire as you see fit, either to come on with the ignition or wired to a switch in the cabin.

So the premis here is to have a bulb that acts as a regular amber turn signal but also add white DRL function and that's why "switchback" bulbs are mentioned here, because they are one color for one function (white for DRL) but then switch back to another color for a different function (amber turn). Some switchback bulbs feature a very powerful forward element such as a white, 5W Cree for DRL while using smaller and less powerful LED arrays of amber for turn signaling.

As someone also mentioned, it would be nice to have amber DRLs like Vettes have so in that case, you'll just look for a dual mode 7443 amber bulb that flashes amber when turning but also glows amber for DRL.

By the way, this also applies to cars with 1156 (single filament) bulbs that one can customize with 1157 (dual filament) bulbs and harnesses.

I've done this on other cars and was preparing to do my Z until the OP created this great thread. In order to use 7443 bulbs, the wiring harness has to support that third wire. Usually, you can just get the harness for $2 each but according to the OP, the Z already has that third wire.

Since I haven't done this yet, I'm hoping the OP gets back soon with some picts because I'd like to see what he did with the stock wiring before I go taking mine apart.

I likes this. Sub'd

DIY w/ PN please!!

VERY cool! sub'd

Thanks for all the feedback and reps! Sorry about the delay in responding; hopefully this covers your questions. Like with most things DIY, you should have some basic understanding of vehicles and their electrical systems before attempting to modify them away from their original state. If you are doing this job and get stick, just send me a PM and I will try to answer back promptly! Remember you can refer back to the original post for some of the photos in these steps!


DRL Write up

This conversion replaces the existing turn signal bulb in the headlights on the 370Z with an LED turn signal bulb which “switchback” to Daytime Running Lamps. The LEDs do all the work of detecting and switching between the functions and if wired correctly will be on with the parking lights. This means that they will also be on when the headlights are on or in “Auto” mode when it’s dark. The OEM bulb socket is wired for a dual filament bulb which is not utilized in the US market cars but can be easily connected to the parking lamp circuit with the unused 3rd wire. Since you will have access to the current parking lamps in the headlights it’s a good opportunity to swap the bulbs for LEDs at the same time too!

1) Remove front wheels and the forward plastic fender well covers exposing the rear of the headlamps. Plastic covers have body panel retaining clips which require a small flathead screwdriver to pop the center lock portion out, and then pull the retaining clip out.

2) Locate the turn signal and parking lamp bases and pop them out of headlight enclosure.

3) Using a multimeter determine which is the positive feed for the parking lamp and tap wire for DRL power. You can use wire taps, splice the wire and solder or cut the wire and use connectors. I would suggest solder and heat shrink personally as it will be the most reliable. I ran the new feed wire through the existing wire shielding for the turn signal base to keep it clean.

4) Connect the new parking lamp feed wire to the unused third wire on the turn signal base. You won’t need to run ground as it already has shared ground. This will feed the DRL portion of the new LED switchback bulb and give positive power to the now used 3rd wire when the parking lights or headlights are on.

5) Swap the original turn signal bulb for the LED Switchback bulb and test your parking lights. The DRL portion should be lit. Then test your turn signal and ensure the LED switches to flashing amber, then back to DRL when turn signal is stopped. You can also turn your parking lamps on and then turn the hazards on and off to see them both “switchback” at the same time.

6) Install the transistor between the positive and negative wires for the turn signal circuit. Each side will need one as Left and Right are separate circuits. This transistor will get rid of the fast flash from converting to LED and is optional. You can zip tie this somewhere with adequate ventilation or some guys go as far as frame mounting it with thermal paste and some screws.

7) Button it all back up and that’s it!




Parts needed:

 Two Switchback 7443 base LEDs – These are available in a variety of configurations but I went with the ones that flash amber while turning and return to white. The other alternative is flashing between white and amber while turning but I felt this was confusing to other drivers and defeated the cool transition part of the switchback LED. The link is below and I took a screenshot of the correct ones I purchased since the page is super busy with various bulbs. The one I went for is the “AO” meaning Amber Off as the pattern it flashes.
http://autolumination.com/7443_7440.htm

 Two 6 ohm, 50 watt Transistors which I bought on eBay. The current listing is listed below but over time will obviously expire. Just search for “led load resistor fix” or something along those lines. I added a screenshot of those as well.
Load Resistor Fix LED Bulb Fast Flash Turn Signal Blink | eBay

http://www.the370z.com/members/thew3...chback-led.png
http://www.the370z.com/members/thew3...3-resistor.png


A couple more photos showing the above steps:

This first photo I posed in the original post shows the unused third wire on the turn signal base that you will be tapping into (step 4) so look to the original post for this photo.


This photo shows the positive tap off of the parking lamp wire (dark green) with my new wire (light green) run through the oem wiring loom to the turn signal base (step 4). Don’t rely on my wiring colors to identify your positive lead as they are not always the same.

http://www.the370z.com/members/thew3...ire-splice.jpg

This photo shows the new light green wire run through the oem loom to the base. The next step is to connect it to the unused third wire (step 4)

http://www.the370z.com/members/thew3...e-run-loom.jpg

Thanks for the info, more reps your way.

Beautiful! Very classy looking, not over the top and not trying to be a BMW. Sub'd to try one day.

Just ordered the Bulbs, thanks for This! REP+

Hi W3r3Wolf,
I think I may be misunderstanding DRL in your posting, I took it to mean that you created DRL with the new bulbs (all other lights off during daylight and only new white LED on) but I think you are really only replacing the current incandescent with these multi colored lamps that change from white to Amber when turn signal is active? I took DRL to mean that the white lamps were on during driving and during daytime driving when all other lamps were off... (headlights set to "auto")?
In your video do you only have parking lights on and headlights off, or is this true DRL configuration, because of the wiring you've described I don't see how that is possible? Please enlighten me if I'm missing something!

Question for you>
up here in Canada we have day time running light on all the time.
They are the main headlights.
They are on all the time when you drive the car. they will not come on till you release the parking brake.
Can they be disables so that the i can use the LED instead ?

thanks

Z

Will the White Led (switchback) turn off whenever the Headlamp is on ?

The way I have these configured to work (and the simplest way) is to power these using the parking circuit. The oem turn signal bulbs are two filament and thus only on when used to turn. The new bulbs are three filament and powered by the parking lamp circuit for the DRL function and switch to blinking amber when they receive power from the turn signal circuit. the LED does the switchback work itself. The DRL will not work in "Auto" unless the headlights are on also which would defeat the purpose.

If you want true DRL you would need to run power sourced by a relay powered by ignition-on that kicks off when it gets power from the headlight circuit. Very do-able but not what I was going for. I actually like running my parking lamps during the day in the rear for added visibility and saw no reason to go through the trouble of wiring DRL only!

Did that answer your question or did I miss the point? I'm not the brightest werewolf in the horror industry...

As wired, no. If you want to go that route the wiring configuration would need to change.

In this case it may be a function that is programmed into the light control unit and would need to be bypassed the hard way by wiring modification. If you know anyone that understands the computers in these cars better there may be a way to reprogram the computer or disable the function. Sorry I could not be of more help!

You answered my question perfectly! Thanks!

Looks good Tommy- I want to do this with mine now

OK I have a variation on thewerewolf's theme, please see below. My plan is to have the turn signal switchback bulb thewerewolf found used as DRL and Amber turn signals.
Please see the pic below:

PS I don't mean to thread hijack, just got a good idea from werewolf's work.