DIY: Replace Flasher Relay to Avoid Hyper Blinking with LED Turn Signals!
 

Now we can replace our turn signals with LEDs without performing complicated wiring modifications (as seen in Scion202's awesome DIY).

Stick your head down by your pedals and look up. You will see the OEM flasher relay (gray box with a blue connector plugged in):

Attachment 64347
-Photo courtesy of BeloZero

Unplug the OEM flasher relay from the blue connector and plug in a new electronic flasher (link below).

Removing the OEM flasher is somewhat difficult due to the tight and awkward work space you have. The easiest way I found was to pull it completely off of the frame where it is mounted. It won't be easy and will require strength, but once you get it detached from the frame, it is relatively easy to unplug and replace.

You may now use LED bulbs for your turn signals. Your keyless entry lock/unlock flashes will still function as normal.

Two things to note regarding the new flasher:

1. It is not load dependent like the standard OEM flasher, so it will flash at it's normal rate with any combination of LED and/or incandescent bulbs.

2. With the first statement being true, it also will not hyper-blink to notify you that you have a bulb out. You will need to periodically check all four blinkers to ensure they are functioning.
- Just turn on the hazards and make a lap around your car every once in awhile, or
- Pay attention to your lock/unlock confirmation flashes when approaching your car (I'm sure you all will do it any way to check out your sweet new LED blinkers).

Below are two flasher relays that have been proven to work with 2011+ tC AND retain lock/unlock flash confirmations:
http://www.vleds.com/flashers/toyota...ignal-fix.html
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...entifier=69840

Turn the power to the car on. Turn on the turn signal and listen for the clicking. That should help you find the relay.

I don't see the flasher relay in that pic at all. Ill take a look tonight and see if I can find it and send post a pic.

That would be fantastic, Bloodborn!

I already tried listening for the clicking before and could not zero in on where exactly it was coming from...

Hey I looked for it last night, its behind the gauge cluster some where I believe. It may be a little harder to get to than I thought.

Sigh...I really appreciate you taking a look for me man

I'm going to bump this back up and see if anyone may have some insight now...

the relay harness is located behind the head unit i believe?

The stock flasher is a tridon lm449. The led replacement part number is 81980-50030. They have them at autolumination.com. I don't know where its located yet but it sounds like its behing the gauges or under the driver side dash.

Edit: its an 8 pin relay and it will say "for led" on the side

Yeahh, I found the replacement part number a while back. Just can't find where the stock one is located so I can replace it! Behind the dash sounds like way too much work :(

actually, its not as hard as it sounds, i stripped the entire dash of my truck for re-paint and add CF, ill post the how-to-do with the 98 F150, havnt done it on a tC before though.

step 1) pop out anything that dont re-quire screws, held on with clips, you'll start seeing some scres / bolts behind them

step 2) get a big bag, and mark what pices are the bolts / scres for, it'll help in the long run

step 3) start unscrewing everything you find. theres ALOT more screws then you'd ever imagine

step 4) you'll know you got all the screws when you got a dump truck filled with them

step 5) remove the pices as you take screws out, you'll find MORE screws

step 6) remove gauge cluster thingy, its mounted directly on the main dash pice, witch would be the one bassically covering the hole front were everything connects to

step 7) you now have the gauge cluster out, you might have to remove the really big pice to actually do something under it though.


its alot more work then it sounds. trust me.

our cluster is cake to remove. check in ice interior forum on the led swap posts, they might have a write up, but our dash pieces just unclip, then there are handles of sorts on the cluster that say pull. might be 1 screw, i cant remember cuz its been awhile

Lol. That is pretty accurate for a ford...
Our tC however... maybe 2 screws?
However, you may have to pull on a few tabs that have the label 'pull' on them.
So.. be careful there!

Screws needed for removal of dash
tC - 1
Ford`s - 543788658937904568975438557354

http://www.trdsparks.com/install/PT413-21110inst.pdf

this shows how to take apart the dash and where specifically the relay harness is if that is what you are looking for.

^
I wish it were as easy as removing the head unit. There's no way the flasher relay could be behind there based upon where I THINK I'm hearing the blinker clicking originating.

im pretty sure its behind the gauges, i have to take mine back out to fix a bad LED so ill check it and let ya guys know. i dont think its the relays behind the radio because those all have wires coming out of them and the flasher relay is a 8 pin plug in

^
My thoughts exactly. Dude, if you could find it and snap pics that would be FANTASTIC.

ill get back here later today and let ya know

:bow:

well that didn't take long. its behind the dash just above the steering linkage. you can get to it pretty easily from under the dash without removing any panels.

Attachment 51345

Attachment 51346

Wow! But wait are you saying I can access it without taking anything apart??

true story

That's pretty sweet. I've been wanting to replace it with something significantly louder, for one thing, or tie it into some type of more audible beeper or somesuch.

BeloZero...awesome!

Can you please advise how exactly to get to it? Is it as simple as sticking my head down by the pedals and looking up?

yeah, its up between the clutch and brake, or just brake pedal if you're auto. use a flash light and im sure you'll find it.

This is exciting...I can't wait to look tomorrow. I hope I find it as easily! Been dying to replace my blinkers with LEDs pretty much since I bought the car last October.

lol, yeah i just ordered everything. after this is done, i will finally have 100% LED swap finished exterior and interior

Sweet! I found it! Finally...thanks a lot for your help after all the months of this thread being posted.

I have heard that if you order that replacement flasher, you will lose the lock/unlock flashes when you use your keyless entry. Is this true?

I can't see that being true since its an identical replacement just with more resistance. My parts were shipped today so I will let you know what happens after the install

BeloZero! You da man!

Where can I get the higher resistance relays? link would be awesome! :icon_biggrin:

Here you go:

http://www.v-leds.com/resistors-flas...ignal-fix.html

Much appreciated steve! :icon_biggrin:

Sure! And this one should allow us to keep our lock/unlock flash confirmations. Very exciting stuff.

ditto!

I'm starting to run out of stuff to mod on my car... LOL :rolling:

Just a quick question... so if I change the stock flasher to a LED flasher I will be able to change ALL 4 turn signal/7440 bulbs to all LED bulbs? All I need is 1 LED flasher? Sorry for the dumb question. Thanks....

Not a dumb question and the answer is yes :)

yup yup, that 1 relay controls all 4 blinkers, lock/unlock confirmation, and emergency flashers

Wow!! its as easy as that? :ponder::icon_smile:

I'm sorry Im lost. so you change the relay in order to switch from the stock filament bulbs to LEDs? And thus prevents hyperflashing?