Front turning signal wiring question

[Vovchandr]

I have a hodge podge of wiring going on with the headlights right now. 

 

I should have all the wiring sorted out except I can't figure out what is the wiring combo that makes front blinkers light up during the first click of the headlight switch, which leaves headlights off, but turns taillights on and DRLs on if you have them. 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but the turning signals on the front should glow amber during this mode? 

 

If not that solves all my problems. 

 

Also I don't have an amber light in the fender. 

 

I'm also converting to LED front lights, which are two wire. I believe the stock lights have a 3 wire setup. 

 

I have sourced my power for "DRL/taillight" power on the front. Headlights also work as needed. Blinkers and hazards work as proper. Just can't sort out the combo to have them stay on when you click on DRL/taillight with first click of headlight switch. 

[Vovchandr]

I figured it out. I need a 3 wire LED front turn signal to make this work properly. 

 

I connected back the old 3 wire bulb and it works as expected. 

[Vovchandr]

Alright the more I look into it, the more I find that almost all LED are two wire. Am I missing something here?

 

Can a two wire LED be wired to be a DRL with a constant 12v and he a repeater with a turn signal input? 

[CBuff]

Don’t have first hand experience but this seemed relevant. 
 

https://fz07.org/thread/3446/diy-turning-wire-led-signal/#:~:text=All you need to do,with the 3-wrie signals.

[Vovchandr]

16 minutes ago, CBuff said:

Don’t have first hand experience but this seemed relevant. 
 

https://fz07.org/thread/3446/diy-turning-wire-led-signal/#:~:text=All you need to do,with the 3-wrie signals.

 

That does seem useful and relevant! Thank you

[MV8]

The easier way is to replace the bulb with an led, keeping the original fixture and wiring. If it flashes at a higher rate, then the flasher is a traditional load based rate versus modern "electronic" flashers. Many different configs/designs and some have a knob to adjust the rate.

If you don't solder or want to do some arts and crafts, making your own board assembly, consider an off the shelf solution or just don't have the DRL function on these lights. I've found incandescent bulbs are better for brake, turn, and head lamps than leds designed to swap with a bulb base/socket for an existing fixture.

I upgraded an old mig welder by replacing the button diodes with schottky diodes intended for a high voltage battery charger and fit a more substantial heat sink. It was a significant improvement.

If you want to make the diode/resistor assembly, consider putting them somewhere  they won't get damaged or wet. I've used popsicle sticks, drilled holes to pass the leads through, and taped/heat shrinked the assembly. The components can be separated to be anywhere along the wires that is convenient. I miss Radio Shack.

[Vovchandr]

1 hour ago, MV8 said:

The easier way is to replace the bulb with an led, keeping the original fixture and wiring. If it flashes at a higher rate, then the flasher is a traditional load based rate versus modern "electronic" flashers. Many different configs/designs and some have a knob to adjust the rate.

 

If you don't solder or want to do some arts and crafts, making your own board assembly, consider an off the shelf solution or just don't have the DRL function on these lights. I've found incandescent bulbs are better for brake, turn, and head lamps than leds designed to swap with a bulb base/socket for an existing fixture.

 

I upgraded an old mig welder by replacing the button diodes with schottky diodes intended for a high voltage battery charger and fit a more substantial heat sink. It was a significant improvement.

 

If you want to make the diode/resistor assembly, consider putting them somewhere  they won't get damaged or wet. I've used popsicle sticks, drilled holes to pass the leads through, and taped/heat shrinked the assembly. The components can be separated to be anywhere along the wires that is convenient. I miss Radio Shack.

 

 

Thank you. I never liked the stock assembly look on the US cars and my original pod housing cracked so replacement was in order either way. Even the circuit board bulb housing on original is tied to the smaller housing and doesn't make an easy/weather proof transplant to the UK sizes lenses. 

 

I think at this moment I'll wire this up without a DRL option just to put everything back together and revisit this in the future with the suggestions listed above. 

 

Why do you find bulbs better than pop in LEDs? I've already swapped the electronic flasher as I recall because I have JAL tails. 

 

Thanks for advice on diode/resistor assembly. 

[MV8]

There is much variation from one led assembly to another. Brightness is offset by chip density and heat generation that causes them to fail or very long lasting but not as bright as the bulbs. The chips need to be arranged based on the fixture they are going into, which limits how much room there is for chips facing the right way. Often, the leds have no corrosion protection for the terminals and don't fit as well into the bulb socket. I've had good results with marker/parking, instrument, and interior lights. ATC has had led lamps assemblies on the cab and towers for about twenty years. Huge clusters of discrete leds in parallel. After a certain percentage has failed, the assembly is replaced. None last as long as they say they can due to crowding/heat.

 

Pre-covid, I sampled a dozen or so different design led bulb replacements and found the glare increase was increased while the distance the light reached was decreased, and little to no difference between high and low beams but fewer amps is nice. There is also lot of marketing spin to sift through so a crap shoot. They generally need to be adjusted with the key slot to make the most of the chip arrangement. I eventually went back to good quality halogen bulbs. The best head light assemblies I've seen are single element bulbs/leds in a projector with a servo door to block/control the HI beam. Hella makes universal stand-alone sealed lamps  and there are cheap retrofit kits designed to go within an existing oem head lamp assembly.