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Front Tribar LED with Sequential Turn MOD! (new thread)

MakStang

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[MENTION=21781]Bazzie[/MENTION] can you explain what this is for? I am a bit lost here. Seems to be something interesting but I don't get it... :shrug:
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[MENTION=21781]Bazzie[/MENTION] can you explain what this is for? I am a bit lost here. Seems to be something interesting but I don't get it... :shrug:
He blackened out a pair of T10 led parking lights to have them 'off' without canbus errors.
Oh wait, but you should not get errors by removing parking lights.. he is referring to turning lights but these are parking lights indeed :)
 

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Yeah, I am a bit lost...
 

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[MENTION=21781]Bazzie[/MENTION] can you explain what this is for? I am a bit lost here. Seems to be something interesting but I don't get it... :shrug:
Sorry for the confusion.
I blacked-out the parking lights (don't need them and the car looks like a christmas tree).

Turninglights are 7440 (21W) and had to be cancelled by 6 or 8 Ohm-resistors unfortunately; still looking for a plug and play-solution.....
IMG_6635.JPG
 
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MakStang

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OK thanks. I don't like my front end fully illuminated either, but to be honest the parking lights don't bother me. I think they look nice after I replaced them with LEDs when I installed the tribar LED boards.
 

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Switching Diode Dynamics' DRLs off

The following has to do with Diode Dynamics' Switchback DRL LED Boards. This is going to be long, so I divided it in two separate sections.

A. The Problem

As you might remember, I installed the switchback DRL boards on my 2017 European Mustang EcoBoost back in May. I bought the boards from Diode Dynamics and I had someone else in Europe install them in my headlights. They work and look absolutely perfect. However, since I installed them I noticed the following behavior at the various positions of the light switch:

- At the β€œauto position”, the LED boards are brighter during the day (they behave as DRLs) and they dim at night (they behave as parking lights), when the headlights are on (this is OK)
- At the β€œon” position, the boards are also on (this is OK)
- At the β€œparking lights” position the LED boards are on along with the parking lights (this is OK)
- However, at the β€œ0” position the DRLs don’t light up at all. Now this is strange, because before installing the DD LED boards, when I was turning the switch to this position, the DRLs in the fog lights used to light up. Also, as most of you report here, when you turn the switch to the β€œ0” position, the LED boards come on and they operate as DRLs.

I couldn't figure out why the DD boards behave that way when I turn the switch at the "0" position. According to DD's instructions (actually Paul's instructions) back in May, all connections were made as described bellow. All connections are absolutely tight, waterproof and heat protected by self-fusing 3M electrician's tape:

- The white wire of the pigtail is connected to the parking light.
- The red wire is connected to the DRL wire of the fog light that used to operate as DRL.
- The yellow is connected to the turn signal.
- The black wire is connected to the ground wire of the turn signal.
- I removed the old DRL bulbs that were in the fog light, so that they don't light up along with the LED boards. The connectors hang freely and I kept the old DRL bulb on the headlight to avoid water/humidity accumulation. Also, to protect the connectors from humidity, I wrapped them in self-fusing 3M electrician's tape. Initially I thought that maybe this was the problem.

As I said above, the switchback DRL boards work absolutely fine in all other positions, which confirms my assumption that the connections are all secure and tight. The only problem is that they don't light up when I turn the switch to the "off position".

B. The Explanation

I discussed the issue with a person who installs a similar set of switchback DRL boards in Europe and I thought that those people who have installed Diode Dynamics' DRL boards might want to know what the problem is, so that they can act accordingly.

According to Diode Dynamics' instructions, the red wire must be connected directly to the DRL wire of the fog light that used to operate as DRL. It seems that if we do it that way, the BCM doesn't read the correct load and switches off the power to the DRL. The correct way to do the connection would be to connect the red wire that comes out of the wire harness to an ignition switched 12V wire, such as the violet one that goes to the connector right in front of the fuse box, or any other switched 12V wire (as many of you, including [MENTION=12253]papinist[/MENTION], have described). Doing that seems to work fine.

However, after giving it some thought, I decided to actually keep it as I have it right now, because this gives me the opportunity to go to "Dark Mode" (keep all the front lights off) when I turn the switch to the "0" position. Who knows, I might want to follow someone without being noticed :D

In other words, the connections suggested by DD seem to offer an alternative - and to my opinion better - way to operate the DRLs, as their setup allows the driver to completely switch off all the front lights, including the DRLs. Of course, another way would be to program the car using FORScan so that the DRLs can be turned off using the menu in the IPC, but using the headlight switch is also an option with DD's boards.
 
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Makis you just got the point: actually I can't remember if I reported in the first post of this thread or in the old front lights mod thread (the one that got closed), but at first I installed the tribars using the standard drl\fog wire. That way, they were able to stay on if the headlights were on too, but they stayed off if alone.
The reason is the one you said: the load is too low and the car switches the power off on these wires.

I was reluctant to splice another wire, outside the lights zone, but connecting to a switched +12v was the solution.

You are right, you can have a 'dark mode' that way, but on the other side you can't have a 'day mode' with all lights off except for the tribar :)
 

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In fact you have a "Day mode" if you turn the switch to the "Auto" position, but only during the day, when all lights automatically go off, except the DRLs that stay on (at least this is how my led boards operate). However you are right, you can't have this function when it's dark outside, but personally I would never use the DRLs alone at night.
 

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My second remark, after comparing Diode Dynamics' boards side by side with the alternative, is that the alternative boards are much MUCH brighter! At night the DRLs are almost as bright as the headlights!
 
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In fact you have a "Day mode" if you turn the switch to the "Auto" position, but only during the day, when all lights automatically go off, except the DRLs that stay on (at least this is how my led boards operate). However you are right, you can't have this function when it's dark outside, but personally I would never use the DRLs alone at night.
I was referring to using it during the day, not night! :thumbsup: and I thought that in 'auto' you will also get the parking lights on with your configuration :)

My second remark, after comparing Diode Dynamics' boards side by side with the alternative, is that the alternative boards are much MUCH brighter! At night the DRLs are almost as bright as the headlights!
Yeah our 'polish drl' are really bright and nice :) Hopefully at night they dim so it's like a perfect solution.
 

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MakStang

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I was referring to using it during the day, not night! :thumbsup: and I thought that in 'auto' you will also get the parking lights on with your configuration :)
No, with the switch in auto, during the day only the DRLs come on, which I absolutely like. The parking lights come on only when it gets dark!
 

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Papinist is right, there's some kind of power problems using the OEM DRL wires on this car. I saw a lot of issues by using this wires instead of a switched +12v as DRL power source.

But in fact, if you're happy like this, then everything is fine :D
 

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[MENTION=14834]John577[/MENTION] disregard the pm that I sent you. As you can understand, I got the solution from another source ;)
 

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[MENTION=14834]John577[/MENTION] disregard the pm that I sent you. As you can understand, I got the solution from another source ;)
Yeah, saw your PM after responding on the thread :headbonk:

So, everything is fine now for you ?
 

MakStang

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Yeah thanks. A common friend of ours explained everything in detail!
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