DIY | Enabling the European/10 Series 6-pin HID LED Low-Power with Headlights for $5
 

I purchased my 2013 FR-S 10 series at the end of October and immediately noticed that the LED DRL strip did not light up when the headlights were on. After doing research, I discovered that the rest of the world gets 7-pin headlights that turn on the LED's dim when the headlights are on.

Here's how to replicate this feature on Euro/10 Series headlights:
1. Purchase 400 ohm, 10W resistor. There are a lot of options here depending on how you want to mount it.

If you want to mount it to the body then you can get chassis mount resistors like:
http://www.mouser.com/images/vishay/images/rhnh.jpg

Or you could get a simple ceramic resistor like below and strap it to the harness:
http://www.talonix.com/images/res/PW10.jpg

2. Solder wires to the lugs/leads of the resistor ensuring you have enough length to reach from where you want to mount the resistor to the RH headlight connector.

3. Tap into #1 and #5 on the RH headlight connector. #1 is brown and #5 is red and they are the two wires on the end of the connector facing the middle of the car. You can either unpin the connector and wrap the ends of the wire around the pin and reinsert for a completely reversible installation or tap into the wires manually.

Here is what it looks like when you connect the wires to the pin.

http://i.imgur.com/Q37Ss0q.jpg

4. Mount resistor wherever you want.

5. Profit!

I found that the 400 ohm resistor was the perfect level of dimness for myself but feel free to experiment with lower ohm resistors to get the level of brightness you want.

Finally a shitty cellphone picture of the headlights with LED's lit up.

This is with 500 ohm of resistance.

http://i.imgur.com/HSWvTpD.jpg

These are with 400 ohm of resistance:

http://i.imgur.com/85hf7c4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Nr5AUw0.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Tqeg2PP.jpg

Nice job... I've been leaving this mod in the back burner, I planned on using a variable resistor on mine.

Thanks! Yup you could very easily use a rheostat in place of a fixed resistor if you wanted to adjust the brightness from the cabin. :)

Does this dim the DRLs only when the HIDs are switched on, or all the time?

Just when HIDs are on. They are full bright when HIDs are off.

I think you have a typo on the guide, I think you meant 50 ohm instead of 500 ohm, I tested a 100ohm resistor and they where almost off... tested with a 50 ohm resistor and they look perfect!

I'm also using a diode so that current doesn't backflow to the #5 pin.

Nope, I'm definitely using a 500 ohm resistor (actually 5 100 ohm resistors so I could add and remove to get the desired brightness).

Although I definitely have mine dim at 500 ohm. In the dark with the headlights on they are lit up just enough to be visible but not project light.

Please post a picture with the 50 ohm so we can compare.

Also, great idea with the diode! I'll incorporate that and update the first post.

I just went outside and took additional pictures in the different cycles.

http://i.imgur.com/85hf7c4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Nr5AUw0.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Tqeg2PP.jpg

in series or in parallel?



Here's mine with just the 50 ohm

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps5b88e5b7.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps14415633.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psbacb9666.jpg

Series. If they were wired parallel the total resistance would be 20 ohm.

Thanks for the pictures!

You said when you tested that the 100 ohm resistor on your car the LEDs were significantly darker? Would you say they were darker than my pictures?

I'll try a 100 ohm resistor tonight and get a picture to compare.

I know... that's why I asked if it was in series or parallel... to me the 100ohm made the LED's to dim, but then again, I was comparing it during the day, not at night.

with the 50 ohm resistor the LED's are still simmer than the headlights so it shouldn't cause any issue to oncoming traffic.

:thumbup::thumbup:Subscribe to see the end result... Very interest.

When I did mine I bought 560, 470, and 320 ohm resistors just so I could try a few to get the brightness right. Put the 560 in and I could barely see them, even with the lights in the garage off. Went straight to the 320, and that's still less bright than I'd like them to be. So mine are definitely less bright than the OP's and more in line with Luis's.

Also, the DRL on the passenger side, where I put the resistor, seems brighter than the one on the driver's side... I really don't know that much about electricity/physics, but this doesn't seem like it should be happening. I'm going to get a lower impedance resistor and add a diode. Hoping the lower impedance and higher voltage will make the difference either go away or less noticeable.

Here's a shot of my headlights with the 320 ohm resistor. It's hard to tell, but the passenger side DRL is a little brighter. And yes, it started snowing today. Come to find out my Blizzaks work pretty well in empty parking lots...sideways...

http://s10.postimg.org/ta5x7hkt1/IMG_2166_copy.jpg

I mounted mine on the drivers side, both look equal on mine

So, have any of you conclude which one is ideal working for 10 series?

Luis GT = 50 ohm
Siege = 500 ohm
Greenhorn = 320 ohm

I found this 50 ohm at Radio shack but just want to wait for final result on this before buying and put it in.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062292

Thanks for your help.

That's the exact one I used... if you feel it's to bright, the pack brings 2 and you can wire them in series to make it 100 ohm.

Thanks Luis, I will get on this mod sometime this week.

Just one clarification. You only need to tab to pin #1 & #5 on the RH side. No need on the left hand side?

yep, it's only on one side, I mounted it on my drivers side, since that side is cooler than the passenger side. Passenger side has heat concentration from the catalytic

I'm probably going to drop mine to 100 ohms or lower. The 320 is a little dimmer than I'd like.

Anyone know of any good compact rheostats for the purpose? The ones I can find are all so bulky that I'd rather just get a variety of plain wirewound resistors and rig it up so I can swap them.

I am using these from Amazon: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087YHZZ4"]www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087YHZZ4[/ame]

This past weekend and I removed one of the resistors and am now running 400 ohm of total resistance. This change made them just a bit brighter.

As you can see from others that have posted the brightness definitely comes down to personal preference. Hopefully we'll get some more pictures so others can make a more informed decision.

I didn't notice any difference in brightness between the two sides on mine.

Since you all have vastly different amounts of resistance, what percentage of light would you say you are putting out now (compared to full brightness in the daytime)?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I think mine is about 50%

sorry for the noob question, but why do some models have the led strip on the headlights and some dont? I bought mine last month and I don't have them.......They looks so nice!

Those are Toyota's HID lights, which isn't part of the standard FR-S trim.

They are either on the international Toyota 86 or the 10 Series "Anniversary Edition" Scion FR-S. The Scion FR-S's that are not 10 Series and have the HID/DRL lights, they special ordered and installed the JDM headlights.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I installed mine with a diode and 100 ohm resistor. 100 ohm is possibly a little bright ... I may add the other 100 ohm resister in series that came with the pack.

But ... glad I have them now working with the HID headlights either way! Thanks for the write-up. This was the only thing that bugged me on the 10-series. In fact, the salesman and I spent 15-20 minutes trying to figure out how to turn them on with the headlights before we realized we couldn't on day of my first test drive. lol

@SilverTipp , do you mind to post picture of diode installed? I have no electrical knowledge and want to make sure I install it correctly. thanks

Don't get too excited about that picture. It doesn't tell you the most important detail. That being, which end goes to pin5 and which goes to pin1. Diodes are designed to only flow current in one direction, which is why they are great for making sure you don't burn out circuits by flowing electricity the wrong way.

I have a question or two about this. If one resistor will do the job for both lights, then either they are in series or they are in parallel and the paths diverge in the connector, which is why the resistor before the connector would affect both.
How are they wired from the factory? Does anyone have the full pinout for this connector?

Goes from #5 (red) to #1

That still doesn't answer the question. Which end of the diode goes where? You know and I can certainly figure it out, but many of our fellow forum members have no clue which way to point the diode. Many of them have no idea why there's a stripe on the thing.

Edit: Damnit, you answered too quick. I edited too late.

The bag where the diode comes in says which direction the diode works... if it doesn't, only way to know is by using a voltmeter.
or you can just flip the cables between #1 and #5 if it's backwards, it's not that hard...

in the case of my diode, power flows from ring-less to ring.

For those of you wondering what the heck I'm going on about, here's diodes 101.
This is an incredibly simplified explanation of how a diode works. It really is an idiot's guide for people who don't need or want the scientific explanation but want it to be more than flippin magic.
With few exceptions diodes work the same way.
Picture the tube as having three areas: Positive end, negative end and what amounts to a neutral middle area. The ends are treated with material (technical term "doped") to make them have the charges they do.
Remember that opposites attract and likes repel.
Now imagine connecting the plus end to a voltage source and the negative (typically the one with the stripe) to a lower voltage. You hook the positive source to the positive end and the doped material is repelled towards that neutral center area. Same thing happens at the other end. They meet in the middle of that neutral zone. Now you have a complete path from one end to the other.
Now imagine something weird happens and for some reason the end that had the higher voltage suddenly drops so that it is lower than the other end. Opposites attract, remember. So now the doped material is pulled towards the ends, making that neutral zone bigger and turning it into the equivalent of a moat preventing movement through the diode, so the electricity can't go the wrong way.

So... any chance a similar method like this could work on the BRZ's DRL strip? :D

Just completed this mod today. Thanks to @Siege and @Luis_GT for your help on the instruction.

Can anyone post a picture of how you mounted the resistor?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk