DRL/Bulb Technical Question

I've done the WebElectronicproducts DRL Mod and swapped out the OEM 7440 Bulbs for some LEDs, but I'm not 100% happy with this setup.

I have a couple concerns and a couple questions I hope you folks can help me with...

1. Hyper Flashing and a replacement relay: I've ordered this relay to stop the hyper flashing I'm experiencing with the LED Turn signal bulbs, but I have no idea where this relay is located or how to access it.

a. Does anyone have any pictures or can explain where it's located and how to access it? I know it's somewhere under the dash, because I can here the clicking, but I'm wondering how deeply I have to dig under the dash to find it and replace it?
b. Will this flasher work with the OEM standard 7440 bulbs?​

2. The LEDs are not as bright as the OEM Standard 7440 bulbs, but I wanted LEDs because they run cooler. Related to Brightness:

a. I purchased these LEDs in the hopes they are brighter than the ones I have. Does anyone have any experience with these LEDs? Are they as bright as the OEM Bulbs?​

Related to heat:

a. Will the OEM Bulbs run too hot and melt the turn signal housing if there are used as the DRLs?​

Being as DRLs are intended to make you be seen during daylight hours, the OEM 7440 Amber Bulbs are really brighter than the LEDs I currently have installed. I want the visibility of the OEM Bulbs, but I don't want to run into problems where heat from these bulbs cause the housing to warp or melt due heat build up. I like the idea of lower current draw and less heat from the LEDs, but if they don't make an amber LED that can be seen during daylight hours, it kind of defeats the purpose of having DRLs. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thank you for the help in locating the relay! Do you have to remove any dash panels to access it?

I had the same issue trying to find an Amber Bulb, seems are the really bright ones are either white or red! Go figure...

I put the stock bulbs back in yesterday just because they are brighter and the hyper flashing was driving me nuts! Good to hear the new relay will work fine with both the OEM bulbs and LEDs. Not sure how many more LEDs I'll experiment with if these aren't any brighter than what I already have, the experimentation could get expensive!

 

Ryan,

This is good news! I'll let you know how bright they are, hopefully, I'll have them by this weekend.

 

Got the bulbs and the relay... I have looked up under the dash and have no idea what I'm looking for, so still don't have the relay installed. The new bulbs are in, still not as bright as the OEM bulbs but twice as bright as the original LEDs I had in it. I'm much happier with these, and if I can find and get to the relay, I'll get rid of the hyper flashing and will really be happy!

 

That picture helps a lot! Still don't know if I'll be able to get to it, I tried looking up under the dash yesterday, and this old body just doesn't contort like it used to! I'll let you know how it goes, and thanks again for the help!

 

UPDATE: Finally crawled under the dash and replaced the relay, what a PITA! There was no way I was going to get my head far enough under the dash to see the relay (I have no idea how cproaudio snapped that picture), so I had to go by feel. Essentially, I turned on the car, turned on the blinker and felt around in the general area of cproaudio's picture till I felt the clicking of the blinker. It took about an hour of trying to figure out how to release the wire connector from the relay going by feel, but finally figured it out. For those other adventurous soles, there is a clip on one side right at the edge of the connector closest to you that you have to squeeze pretty hard while applying downward pressure on the wire harness to get it to release. Once it's free, you have to plug the new relay in by feel as well, fortunately, it only goes one way, but it did take some manual dexterity to align it and squeeze the connector onto the relay using only one hand. At the moment, the relay is just hanging free under the dash, I'll figure out how to secure it another day, after my body recovers from the contortions I had to go through to just swap the relay! I'm sure someone will come along and tell me an easier way to do it, but without disassembling the dash, this was the only way I could figure it out.

Final result: Blinkers are back to blinking normally! All four turn signal lights still blink when you lock/unlock the doors, and I'm very happy with the new LED Bulbs that act as DRLs and turn signals. They are only slightly dimmer than the OEM bulbs during the day, and there no discernable difference at night. Plus, being white, you don't have the egg yolk look above the fog lights. It took awhile, but I'm happy with the final results!

 

Yep, it was a 2010, but 2011 should be the same if that's what you're wondering...

 

I had a local auto audio shop install the DRL module the same time I had the fog lights installed, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures. The LEDs I installed were amber, same as the turn signals. I have since removed them and replaced them with the OEM bulbs. The LEDs were not very bright and I felt they were worthless as DRLs because of that. I don'recall where I bought them. I have no knowledge of the relay you refer to, however, the relay I installed will work with either the standard bulbs or LEDs. I nexer removed it, and it's working fine. If I ever go back to LEDs, I won't have to worry about the relay!

 

None so far, and they have been that way all summer. Look at a Cadillac CTS sometime, their DRLs are amber and on all the time, my Prius looks very similar (meaning the DRLs not the car). The OEM bulbs are very visible in bright daylight (when they need to be) the LEDs, on the other hand, were not nearly as bright and it was hard to tell they were even on.