Side Turn Signals (and upgrade horn)

Right side installed today.

Removed the wheel well liner - simple. Removed right front underbody cover to access front turn signal connection. Limited access, so jacked up the front. Better. Tight quarters getting to the turn signal connector. Wanted to solder directly for secure connection. Then, before the drill bit hit metal I prayed to the Murphy's Law god. Measured and drilled. Inserted wire and wrapped around inside of wheel well liner.

Soldered switched 12V and found a very good ground connection and soldered other wire. Test and all AOK. Dabbed a bit of Goop on the hole and mounted the light with the 3M tape. Very solid mount. Put a dab of Goop on my finger and spread it all around the inside of the hole drilled and wire for watertight fit. Arranged the wiring and wire-tied to pre-existing bundle to secure. Buttoned up all panels. No left-over parts and works perfectly. LEDs should last the life of the car.

Total time about 2 hours. Big snafu was the lamp connector had a white/brown stripe and a green wire. One would assume the 12V switched input was the white/brown. After soldering both the 12V and ground, light did not work. Then after 1/2 hour of checking, found that the green wire was power...

Will attack the left side tomorrow. No doubt will take less than an hour. And no swearing.

The light looks good, and now a nice safety measure when turning, merging, changing lanes.should last the life of the car.

 

Kris,
I didn't feel in that area. But I only installed the right side today. Plan to do the left side tomorrow or Wed. Will report back...

Also while I'm in that general area, I may install the low-note horn I bought as well. To change from the Roadrunner beep. I live in Central FL - some retired folks down here have hearing issues - useful in parking lots...
Dean

 

Completed the job - installed the left side turn signal light. SO MUCH easier than the first/right side. Knew the ropes after doing the right side, and much more room around the left side front turn signal area to make the connections.

Also installed the low note horn - easy job, about 40 minutes. Few points, and answers to some questions:

1. The side 'Hybrid' emblem - yes it is mounted with posts, and 2 holes in the fender. Seems to be those snap-in mounts and perhaps tape on the back as well.

2. I was very surprised by the quality of materials as I checked under the front end. Took a pic of the aluminum extruded frame behind the bumper and the welded aluminum mount. Not cheap at all. Parts seem to be engineered beautifully, and assembly as well. Got to really hand it to Toyota. I tried to check out the ICE oil drain area and associated underbody panels, but only had the floor jack, no stands. Would love to check out the car while up in the air.

3. The horn - aftermarket from PepBoys. Universal fit - $15. Removed (actually just loosened) the entire top area facia to access the horns. It's part of the entire front bumper cover. 2 bolts and about 10 snap fittings. Just enough room to get into the horn mounts. Installed the additional horn on the pass side tied into the OE horn. Sounds good - evens out the tone. Now more midrange and louder.

4. While accessing the horn, noticed a large bug attached to the radiator fins. 4" wingspan. Probably not a Japanese bug...

 

Ask and yea shall receive (especially now that you're an Officer, Rick).
Of course, will need your PC sound up. Should be able to pick up the low note along with the standard beep.

$15 and 45 minutes. I think it was worth it. Too many hard-of-hearing older folks in Florida. (I've got to get a life - post-Prius).

 

I actually did not swap - I added another horn. The OE is two small beep-beep horns. Mounted near the top of the upper grill opening. Each on a bracket with one bolt. They're one-wire version with ground connection with the bracket. I simply connected the new low-note horn to the OE on the passenger side. Was just easier to access that side. The toughest part of the job was getting a cable clamp from the OE horn out of its mount in order to pull the horn and cable up to splice in the new horn. Had to use a large screwdriver to snap it out of the mounting hole. Just tight quarters around there.

Rick, re the sound. I know - the camera microphone didn't seem to pick up the true note. And was in the garage with echos. Actually, in real life, it's louder and rounds out the high-pitched OE beeps. I didn't want to completely change the sound to - like a Buick or Hummer. Just wanted to gain more DBs and pitch.