kcrumbley

Is there a way to convert your sidemarkers to be able to blink ? Thanks for any Info on this.

Thorin78

Before those that will get on your case about search is your friend or that you should've used the search feature prior to posting or that did you even try search?

here it is
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...9&page=1&pp=25

granted most of the pictures are gone cuz this is very old and you may want to contact the original person

neuronbob

I agree with Thorin. need4spd still occasionally hangs out here, why don't you PM or email him and ask whether he still has the pix?

That was one of the first mods for the 3GTL.....aaaaah those were the days...

kcrumbley

As soon as I posted then I did a search and found it right away. Thanks for the info.

copter

OR

need4spd

Bob, thanks for remembering me yes those were the days.

NOTE - WIRE COLORS ARE FOR 2004 TL

This method turns on the LED side marker when the head/parking lights are off, and the reverse, when the head/parking lights are on, it turns the LED side marker off to cause it to blink.


Copter, thanks for posting the old drawings, one was from me and has extra protection to prevent reverse current from going back into the circuits, the other from anouther TL owner, but either one will work.

My circuit is the computer drawn version.

Basically you have to do the following:

Remove wheel, then wheel well liner
Remove LED light (push on the tabs on the back of the LED housing inside the fender)
Cut the wire indicated on the drawing for the LED light (red/black stripe with silver dots) in the middle so you can connect to both sides again.
Connect the relays as shown in the diagram, and use 1N4001, 1N4002, 1N4003, or 1N4004 diodes (the triangles in the drawing). They are easily available at most electronics shops or radio shack.
Connect one relay as shown to the red/black with silver dots wire of the front amber lights (I used a 3M connector that does not require you to cut the wire, it just clamps on and makes the wire connection, also avail at radio shack and other places)
Connect the two wires shown with lines at ends from relay to ground (I connected to horn bolt via a spade connector).
Connect one wire as shown to the LED side marker and the other to the other cut wire of the LED side marker (see drawing) to the relay.

You are done (I think, this was from memory).

Ask questions if needed, or PM me for a faster reply.

BlueSkyzz

Anyone in the Vancouver area who does this mod?

lrvace

Need4spd, The Relays You Are Using Are They The Bosch Type Spdt Relays? Thanks In Advance.

need4spd

The ones I used were not bosch, but can be, they were spdt, with normally open and normally closed contacts (NO and NC)

lrvace

THANKS, I KNOW WHAT MY LABOR DAY PROJECT WILL BE.

bluenoise

Does anyone have a photo of the sidemarker itself (not mounted)? I'd like to see what the back side of the unit looks like as I have another idea for a similar mod, but I haven't found the time to try removing mine.

bluenoise

Never mind...I found it here.

6MTPlease

Not to rain on anyone's parade, and I certainly don't care what others do with their cars--and I'm sure you don't care what I think of yours anyway--but I'm just curious. What's the big deal about blinking side markers? And why are they worth all this trouble?

Seriously, no criticism or judgement intended. I'd just like to know.

Nautica91

I personally feel it's a safety issue, the only purpose of having sidemarkers IMHO is to alert vehicles on the side of you that you are turning or switching lanes. The single scenario that comes to mind is traveling on the highway with one car in the left lane and one in the right. With a blinking sidemarker, the situation of both cars going for the open lane at the same time can be avoided.

I personally think having a sidemarker that does not blink is pointless, I always thought it did in fact blink, till I got on this board and found out otherwise. As soon as I get some time (which doesn't look promising in the near future), I want to do this mod, however I am still unsure even after seeing the drawings. Does anyone know of any place I may be able to go to have this done in the NYC area?

NYFENIXTL

The mod is actually quite simple to do and you can do it yourself for about $25. I have done both circuits on two cars and it's about a 2- 2 1/2hr job.

bluenoise

My only issue with this mod is that the side marker isn't very bright to begin with. I agree it should blink, though, and I was quite disappointed to learn it didn't. When I am alongside a car with blinking sidemarkers and they signal to move over, it's usually the sidemarker that I notice before slowing to allow them in.

I am trying to find a way to do a blinking sidemarker mod that adds very bright LEDs to the existing housing. I'm thinking I could leave the three stock LEDs in there and add a couple of superbrights between them that only light when the turn signal is on.

On that thought, does it look like the housing can be opened or is it a sealed unit?

Casper42

While your at it, you should consider if you want to change the color of the front Side Markers as well. I didn't pioneer the mod, but documented it with pictures when I did mine.

Its a little more work than the blinking, but is also only like $10 in parts to change the fronts to white. Sorry I dont have the link handy, its in the 3G Garage though.


EDIT:
PS: You dont have to remove your front wheels if you dont mind doing 1 Light at a time. If you turn your front wheels all the way to the left, you can access the 4 Screws and 2 Plastic Pop Rivet thingies on the left side, same for the Right side with turning wheel all the way to the right.
Once you remove the 4 bottom screws and the side and top plastic rivet, you just grab the far side of the plastic and give it a good yank towards the center of the car. It will come out of its groove and you can pull out enough to bend the plastic back (its flimsy, you shouldnt end up breaking it or anything) enough to access all the guts required for the Side Marker mods.

need4spd

Bluenoise, the unit is sealed, but, others have cut it open carefully (to replace the LEDs with white or blue ones), then sealed it up again, do a search on white LED and side markers.

BTW, you do have a great idea on this.

On that note, actually you do not need to add super bright LEDs (unless you really want to), but instead you can change out the resistor inside to 1/2 the factory value. Buy doing this, you will run the LEDs at a higher current and brightness, the down side to this, is that it will burn the LEDs out if they are left on at this level all the time, but if only at the higher brightness while the blinker is on, this should be ok, as it is very limited.

Two ways to approch this, after modifying the unit to be brighter, connect the positive wire of the yellow side marker to the positive blinker wire up front, so it only turns on with the blinker and not the parking lights (the simplest of methods)

OR

(after modifying the resistor value) Run a wire from the blinker up front to a diode, then connect to the side marker. Then take the existing positive wire from the parking light circuit to the blinker, connect it to a resistor (equal to 1/2 the OEM resistor value, then to a diode, then connect this to the side marker at the same spot you connected the blinker wire.

Operation will be OEM brightness with parking lights on, then higher brightness (double the current) durring blinker operation.

The diodes block reverse feeding the electrical wires. The tail/brake lights on the TL work EXACTLY this way (different resistances in series with the same LEDs to get low brightness for tails, and high brightness for brake lights.

I am sure that the LEDs in the side markers are set up for less than max current to extend LED life, blinking them for short durrations at higher current will be ok (not like the brake lights that can be stead on for long periods in traffic).

This is even better than adding the relays, however, it requires opening the side marker housing and replaceing the resistor (or adding one in parallel to get it to 1/2 resistance), and a mistake when cutting it open can cost you big bucks for a replacement unit.

Warning - Only Electrical Engineers or one skilled in the art of electronics should try this.