In California, it's illegal to drive with only your parking lights on. I'm not sure about other states, but you might want to check it out before doing it. It's not that great of an offense, but still take precaution.

CA V.C. 24800 Lighted Parking Lamps
No vehicle shall be driven at any time with the parking lamps lighted except when the lamps are being used as turn signal lamps or when the headlamps are also lighted.

I don't know what you are talking about. On my HVAC controls there are lights that turn on or off to indicate the binary state of things, such as:

AC on/off: if the AC is on the light is on, if the AC is off the light is off

Recirculating air: if cabin air is selected for recirculation the light is on, if outside air is selected the light is off

Fan speed: for the fan speed selected the light is on, the lights are off for the fan speeds that are not selected.

Automatic control: the light is on if Automatic Control is selected, the light is off if automatic control is not selected.

These are examples of the HVAC lights that dim when parking or headlamps are turned on.

EXTEX, thanks for the little fact. I just ran down to my truck and tried what you said. It works on mine with DRL's. I never knew that the parking lights will go out if you open the door. Now I will ride with my parking lights on while I drive.

So, back to my question of earlier today:

So, just to confirm, if I want DRL on my truck all I have to do is go to Partznet and order:

TURN SIGNAL flasher, 4-Runner, w/DRL 2003 $40.58 $31.65
Electrical - Chassis electrical - flashers - Turn signal flasher

Has anyone actually ordered this part from Partznet and done this?

Yes that's the right flasher. Yes it's all you need to enable the DRLs. I believe Yosmany at Yotatech confirmed that this works. Go to the Yotatech forums and search for the DAC thread.

But if you're going to do that, why not just leave the headlights on? That way, at least, you're legal in all 50 states. Better still, it's only $30 bucks to get the DRLs. Not many upgrades can be had for cheaper.

You may even be able to swap flashers with somebody who has DRLs and doesn't want them.

And that brings up another point. There are 2 ways to disable DRLs. You can obviously go back to the non-DRL flasher OR they can be disabled with the OEM scan tool. The latter approach was confirmed by someone (either here or at Yotatech). That person even posted a repair order and invoice identifying the factory procedure that was used (labor only, no parts) to disable them.

dcampen - The reason you didn't understand is because we were talking about two different lighting functions. Your reference to the dimming effect of the binary, or status lights which you discribe is correct in every detail. I just verified, & they do, in fact dim when the headlight switch is activated. I, however, was talking about the complete set of backlighting [called 'dash lights' in the old days]- four for each fan position, and five each such selections on the other main A/C dials for air directon, mode etc. This backlighting is normally OFF, unless the headlight switch is placed in one of the ON positions, then it activates.

rando - I think burning headlights 24-7 is much less desirable than DRLs. And while the two methods of disabling DRL are available, both lack driver selectability. I was wishing I had your expertise at hand tonite while scattering my door & dash, installing the Tap Lock. I think I have it, but it got late & my knees needed a beer.

trk128 - good point. Makes you wonder how the cops are keeping it all straight with the ever increasing presence of DRLs?

My original intention was not to recommend, or to advise, simply to point out lighting 'quirks' I had observed.

I agree. I don't want my headlights or running lights on 24-7. As for the ability to kill the DRLs, it wouldn't be difficult to add a switch to enable/disable them. There really isn't a huge difference in the function of the two flashers.

With the regular flasher, the operation of the indicator lights and the turn signal lights go hand in hand. You can't have one on without the other. The lights come on based on the position of the combination (turn signal) switch and the hazard light switch.

The DRL flasher divorces the indicator lights from the front turn signal lights. It also picks up the (DRL ON) input signal from the body ECU. The indicator lights and signal lights function the same as before, based on the position of the combination switch and/or hazard light switch. Additionally, the front signal lights also come on when the body ECU sends the DRL ON message (whenever the headlights are off). Thus to disable the DRLs, you only need to put a switch in line with this signal. It's on pin 12 of the flasher relay. The flasher relay connects to a black 12 pin female connector (D2).

D2 Pin layout (female connector looking at the pin side)
01 02 03 xx xx 04 05
06 07 08 09 10 11 12

Look for the light green wire with a red stripe on pin 12.

I just reread the Yotatech thread and could not confirm if Yosmany ever installed the DRL relay or not. Also, I just relooked at the wiring diagrams and realized that the DRL flasher and regular flasher use DIFFERENT CONNTECTORS. They are both supposed to be in the same area (behind the fuse block in the lower left dash). I cannot say if both connectors are there or not.

OK, Yosmany now cofirmed that he installed the flasher to get DRLs to work. Both flashers connect to the same 12 pin connector but the non-DRL flasher uses a small harness in between to adapt to its connector.

Anyone with DRLs want to swap flashers for the non-DRL part?

My dealer told me this would cost a ton of money to enable.
IS this true?

Even if you pay for the part in pennies, I don't think it will be a ton of money. It's closer to $30.

Per Rando's message I found the thread (and many thanks to "Yosmany" on Yotatech for sharing his find!) Here's what was said regarding ENABLING DRLs on a non-DRL vehicle -- just reverse the part numbers if you want to disable your DRLs:

To enable DRLs:
<I><B>...All I did is replace the factory flasher relay (81980-50030) with the the DRL flasher relay (81980-35020). And the process can be reversed.</I></B>

NOTE: You will also want to change out the signal bulbs for the proper DRL bulbs as the manual indicates a diff. bulb for DRLs.
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Partznet:
Item Number List Price
8198035020 $40.58 $31.65
Electrical - Chassis electrical - Flashers - Turn signal flasher
TURN SIGNAL FLASHER, 4-Runner, w/DRL 2003
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