1. Remove the black plastic cover on the passenger side of the engine compartment.

2. Locate a small relay box and open it.

3. Pull out the front most relay(usually brown in color), attachement #1, #2 and #3.

4. Replace it with a Toyota relay part #90084-98031, attachement #4.

DONE! If you want to have your DRL back, swap the relays again.

On attachement #5 you can see the difference between the two relays.

See the next post for additional info and pictures.

 

The rest of the pictures.

I got the black relay at a junk yard from a wrecked RAV4. Toyota uses these relay on all models, very easy to find.

 

who does this? there is a reason the put it on cars to begin with and another reason its law in many countries. does it really make your vehicle look that much "cooler". in fact in some provinces in canada if your vehicle does not have DRL you are required to manually turn your lights on each time you drive.

just another example of stupid people doing stupid things to there cars

 

It's a personal choice to do this or not, please keep your opinion to yourself. Don't like it, don't do it. We're all aware of the law and other reasons that DRL's are there.

 

In the USA, at least on the West Coast, DRLs are not requered by law. It's a Lexus overkill.

One of the main reasons for disconnecting DRL is that some "stupid people" live in rural areas, and they like more light at night. So, they replace halogen high beams with HID kits. Unfortunately, HID kits were designed by other "stupid people", and only work with full 12v power.

Also, I don't know if you noticed, but there is a whole lot of "stupid people" on this forum that modify all kinds of different things on their cars that were put in there for a reason. I am talking about lowering cars, replacing the factory wheels and tires, changing navigations so that addresses can be entered while driving, etc.

I am surprised that as smart as you are, you didn't understand such simple things.

 

While you are correct that many people choose to modify their cars with custom wheels, audio upgrades, etc, the DRL's are intended as a safety feature. Canada has felt so stongly about DRL's that they have been in use for many years.

Although DRL's are not required in the US, I wonder if insurance claims could be impacted (pun intended) if the DRL's have been disabled. I've wondered the same thing in regards to grill guards (aka push bars). How do these change the ability of the vehicle to absorb a crash or affect airbags?

 

i never thought of that, those are some good points.

i may have been taken the wrong way, i am all for modifying your vehicle, but in a safe manner. things like DRL mods dont really affect the driver (do you really notice the drl on or off when driving?), more other people seeing you in poor visibility.

 

arnieosp, thanks for sharing. Great write up. Just curious, what is the cost of the new relay?

 

I went to a local junk yard to get few things for my old Mercedes, and came across a wrecked RAV4. I pulled out 4-5 of them from that car, all for $2. Toyota uses these relays on all models for many different applications: lights, AC, etc.

If you want to buy one from a dealer, I think it's around $25 or so.

 

Great find! Just curious, how did you come across this DIY? You some kind of electrical expert?

But very good find!

I remember years ago we all discussed a DIY to bypass the DRL...quite involved. This one, plug and play!

 

I wonder of we can purchase a cross brand for this relay. All you need to give to the store is the Denso part number....TN156700-1072.

 

I wish! No, I found it on club-lexus.ru, a Russian website similar to this one.

 

Thanks for the info.

So what does the relay actually control aside from the DRL? What would not work if we just removed the relay?

Do your high beams still function with the new relay?

 

Yes, high beam, at least one of them, will not work without the relay. Another way of doing it is clipping or breaking off the "extra" contact from the stock relay, but then you won't be able to reverse the mod without putting a new 5-contact relay in.

 

Yes - just my opinion... but I feel it is foolish and insane to disable the DRLs...

If you ever have a friend or relative die in a head-on crash and there was even the slightest chance that they could have seen the oncoming DRLs for even a split second and make a defensive action to save their life - yada yada yada...

On the other side of the coin, If you or someone you love was the driver that disabled their DRLs, I see lawsuits galore and a life of debt and bankruptcy...

blah blah blah

Have fun