Roof rack lights flash on vehicle unlock?

[Jeffy]

I tried searching but didn't find what I was looking for... What I'm trying to do is have my roof rack lights flash when I lock/unlock the vehicle, like how the hazard lights flash briefly. That would make it sooo much easier to spot my car in a crowded parking lot at night. The simple fix would be to tie in to the hazard lights, but then I don't want my roof lights going off if I'm ever using the hazards, and I think that might even tie them into the turn signals also. Is there a separate control module I can tap into that will only flash them with the lock/unlock sequence? I'm pretty confident with my wiring skills but I get lost trying to read wiring diagrams and this is a bit above my level for that.

I also thought about tying into the puddle lights but I think that'll be a bit too much at night, I'm looking for just a momentary flash (I think it's actually 2 flashes with the unlock).

Any insight or other suggestions?

 

[Jeffy]

I may have thought of a solution for myself: Does anybody know where the wiring and/ or speaker is that makes the little "beep" noise whenever you lock/ unlock?

 

[nglayton]

Or wire them to the hazard lights as you originally mentioned only add a switch so that you can turn the rack off if you do indeed ever need you hazard lights and don't want the roof rack flashing anymore.

Also I don't think power to the speaker to make it chirp is the same as 12v to flash a light..I could be wrong. I also don't think its a speaker. More like a piezo buzzer, not real easy to tap.

 

[Jeffy]

Or wire them to the hazard lights as you originally mentioned only add a switch so that you can turn the rack off if you do indeed ever need you hazard lights and don't want the roof rack flashing anymore.

That could work, although I've already got far too many switches. I think if I can trace down the wire that triggers the lock/ unlock sound that'll be exactly what I need.

 

[LTDBLKTRD]

I have my amber backlighting of the rigid pods wired to the turn signals, they flash on the lock/unlock. Don’t think you’ll want the same for your setup exactly but just to chip in my experience

 

[nglayton]

That could work, although I've already got far too many switches. I think if I can trace down the wire that triggers the lock/ unlock sound that'll be exactly what I need.

I don't think power to the speaker to make it chirp is the same as 12v to flash a light..I could be wrong. I also don't think its a speaker. More like a piezo buzzer, not real easy to tap.

 

[Jeffy]

I have my amber backlighting of the rigid pods wired to the turn signals, they flash on the lock/unlock. Don’t think you’ll want the same for your setup exactly but just to chip in my experience

Lol, it's probably not a good idea to tie in very bright floodlights to a turn signal, I don't think other drivers would appreciate that much

I don't think power to the speaker to make it chirp is the same as 12v to flash a light..I could be wrong. I also don't think its a speaker. More like a piezo buzzer, not real easy to tap.

I just need it to trigger the relay so it should work just fine, as long as I can find the positive trigger for it.

 

[Jeffy]

I'm answering my own question here. Searched on the forum and found the location for the lock/ unlock beep speaker thing (inside driver's fender well, directly below hood strut). I'll dig out my multimeter tomorrow to verify the positive wire leading into it, then all I need to do is tap into that and run it back to my relay with a diode to prevent it from beeping every time I turn my roof lights on with my switch. Thanks for the help all.

:closed_2:

 

[JSparky]

I'm answering my own question here. Searched on the forum and found the location for the lock/ unlock beep speaker thing (inside driver's fender well, directly below hood strut). I'll dig out my multimeter tomorrow to verify the positive wire leading into it, then all I need to do is tap into that and run it back to my relay with a diode to prevent it from beeping every time I turn my roof lights on with my switch. Thanks for the help all.

:closed_2:

Be sure to follow up on your findings please!

 

[Jeffy]

Be sure to follow up on your findings please!

Will do, it'll probably be a week or two before I finish it up.

 

[Jeffy]

Success! The gray wire for the speaker/ beeper is the positive. I tapped into that where it runs back into the engine bay and ran it to my relays with a diode. My roof lights got backordered and won't be here until Wednesday, but the relays are getting triggered properly and I'm reading 12v bursts out of the wires that I ran up to where the lights will be.

Messy wire tap for reference:

 

[Big Country VA]

Success! The gray wire for the speaker/ beeper is the positive. I tapped into that where it runs back into the engine bay and ran it to my relays with a diode. My roof lights got backordered and won't be here until Wednesday, but the relays are getting triggered properly and I'm reading 12v bursts out of the wires that I ran up to where the lights will be.

Messy wire tap for reference:

How’d this turn out?! I was interested in the idea!

 

[Jeffy]

How’d this turn out?! I was interested in the idea!

Still waiting on the roof lights to be delivered, but like I said, the relays are getting triggered and it's working fine!

 

[Jeffy]

Ok I messed up somehow... Finally got the roof lights installed and while they're working great with the switches, they're not flashing on the lock/ unlock. Pretty sure I read my multimeter wrong when I was testing a few days ago, that's what I get for rushing it. I'll look into it and update because I really want this to work.

Current hypothesis: The cheapo diodes I used are dropping the voltage too low to fully trigger the cheapo relays I'm using. I was reading 12v volts where I tapped into the beeper/ speaker, but somehow it's not translating to the relay correctly. SOME voltage is getting through because the switches are lighting up with the unlock, but the relay isn't triggering properly.

 

[SurgicalApple]

The OverlandIowa guy has his 4R with lights on the roof-rack attached to his hazards and lock/unlock switch (I think). If he is on here he could probably help out.

 

[Jeffy]

The OverlandIowa guy has his 4R with lights on the roof-rack attached to his hazards and lock/unlock switch (I think). If he is on here he could probably help out.

Thanks. I definitely don't want them on with the hazards though. The beeper/ speaker tap has 12 volts, somehow that's just not translating to the relay to trigger it. I'm suspecting my diodes or relays, I'll dig into it tomorrow

 

[Jeffy]

Ok finally got it working. I still don't know why, but my relays were causing massive voltage drops and not triggering correctly from the tapped beeper circuit. The tap that I used coming from the beeper was reading around 12v by itself, but as soon as I plugged it into a relay it dropped down to about 2 volts. I'm suspecting the relays just had too much resistance and that's the cause of the voltage drop (I'm no electrician, so that's just a theory) Since my lights are only rated at about 3 amps max each, I decided to just forgo the relay and wire them directly to the beeper circuit (still with the diodes to separate the beeper from the switches). There's still a small voltage drop but they work great on the unlock/ lock function, although slightly less bright than when triggered with the switches.