Thedbarz

Seeing these posts of the various types of installations of daytime running lights encouraged me to venture in to install my own. I was not so adventurous as to disassemble the entire front bumper, but rather opted for an install that allowed 8 individual LEDs to be mounted in the false lower front air vents of my 2010 G37 Journey Coupe.
Materials
• LED lights -Carking™ 12V 1.5W 18MM Auto Car LED Eagle Eye DayTime Running Light Reverse Lamp-White Light from Lightinthebox.com - link

• These LEDs are 1.5w and cost $2.99 per pair plus shipping.
• They ship from China so allow for the shipping time or pay for expedited shipping.
• 6000k temperature (4300k is available along with 3W versions from the supplier. I found the 1.5w to be very bright and the total 12w power is well below the power rating of the DRL controller, below.)
  

• DRL Controller - Car LED Daytime Running Light DRL Auto On Off Controller DC12V from eachbuyer.com - link
  
• 5a total current output (60 watts max), (this installation uses 12 watts – (8) 1.5w LEDs )
• Eliminates need for Accessory or Run wire tap in the passenger compartment.
• Dims LEDs when connected to Parking lights.
• $5.99 plus shipping

Preparation

The LEDs have threaded plastic shafts that are hollow. I filled the hollow with silicone caulk to reduce the possibility of water infiltrating and damaging the electronics. Also, the lenses on the front of the LEDs screw off easily. I glued the lenses so that they were water proof and more secure.

Installation

Mounting the LEDs –

• There are numerous variations of bumpers for the G37; my car model is the 2010 Journey. Per the photo there are a pair of false vents that have a diamond pattern. The diamond pattern provided an easy template to drill the mounting holes for the LEDs. I elected to install 4 LEDs per side but purchased more in case of failures or if I changed my mind to add more. In the end, I elected to keep the look understated and functional and installed 4 per side in a straight row.
• Remove the plastic pan from the underside of the front end to gain access behind the false vents.
• Choose the locations of the LEDs and use a 3/8” drill bit to create the mounting holes. The diamond pattern of the vent provides an easy template to provide even spacing by carefully drilling in the center of each diamond. The LEDs have a good viewing angle, so I drilled perpendicular to the center of each diamond to allow the LED to be mounted flush.
• Use one of the LEDs to ‘self thread’ the hole. I suggest using some soapy water to provide some lubrication when threading the LEDs into the holes and take care so the wires do not become tangled when screwing in the LEDs. I did not use the backing nuts. (By gluing the LED lens and mounting the LED through the front, it should be easy to replace a burnt out LED in the future by simply unscrewing the LED.)

Wiring the DRL controller

• My G37 has a small fuse box located next to the driver’s side air filter box. I chose to mount the DRL controller in this box to reduce the possibility of water intrusion and to reduce clutter in the engine compartment. (see photo).
  
• To gain access to the parking light wire, remove the driver’s side air filter box by unbolting the 10mm bolt, disconnecting the air flow meter cable, loosening the rubber duct and pulling the box straight up and out.
• Locate the connector to the driver’s side headlight/parking/fog light assembly. Using a voltmeter, locate the wire in the connector that supplies voltage to the parking light and note the wire. Tap into this wire and connect it to the white wire from the controller. (Note that the photo of the controller shows a black wire instead of a white wire.) This optional connection will cause the LEDs to dim 30% when the parking lights come on at night.
• Route the controller’s LED output wires (red/black) to the previously mounted LEDs and solder.
• Finally, connect the controller’s black ground wire to a suitable ground and be certain to connect the red input wire directly to the battery. I tried to use a nearby constant +12v source, but the controller did not perform properly. Only after routing the +12v supply wire directly to the battery, did the controller turn on and off as expected. For safety purposes, I relocated the included fuse to be as close to the battery as possible by cutting and re-soldering the +12v supply wire. I also inserted additional connectors to allow the entire system to be easily disconnected from the car’s wiring system, in case the dealer has issues with the aftermarket modification.

Finish and test

• Reinstall the air filter box and the plastic underpan. Check that the DRLs turn on when the engine runs, dim when the parking lights are on, and turn off after a delay when the engine shuts down. In my car, the DRLs remain on after the engine shuts down and turn off when the car’s headlights turn off automatically after their preset delay. Nice.
• Total time to install was around 3 hours. I could probably do it in 2 now. Total cost of materials is around $30 including shipping.

ifixpc2

Thanks for the nice write up. I was looking to add DRL LEDs as well.

Randy Johnson

iTrader: (1)

Not too shabby!!! I love to see these types of writes. Gives me motivation to try something similar. Thanks for posting links of where you all the parts.

sydnrusty

iTrader: (2)

Looks pretty good!

I've been thinking of doing something like this as well but here in Canada the fogs are factory wired to function as the DRL's whenever the car is running. Does anyone know how I could go about wiring it up so that LED's like this would function as the DRL's rather than the fogs? (2009 sport coupe with the fogs integrated in the headlight case, not separately down below in the bumper).

xorbitman

Kudos to you for such a nice post with pictures!

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Nice work! And keeping the labor to a minimum gets another thumbs up

Thedbarz

An update to this post: I've had the DRLs installed for about a month now. I am not happy with the control module as it frequently fails to work properly. Specifically, it lights the DRLs when the engine is turned on, but often they turn off after a few minutes. It seems to work better at night. Once it failed to turn off the DRLs after the car was shut down. Fortunately I saw the lights on and cycling the ignition on/off turned them off.

So, I'm in the market for a replacement DRL controller, if anyone has some suggestions.

Dan

wirth315

Dan, It's not your controller. It's your Car... Infiniti uses a system called IPDM (Infiniti Power Distribution Module) To save gas, your car will not provide 14 plus volts every time you drive your car. Or it will start at 14 plus volts, then bump back to 12.6 volts etc... thus your controller turns the LED's off.


If you go back and read the earlier pages of my post... you will see I had the same issue. For a while, I simply turned the parking lights on... this will light your DRL's every time in the dim mode... but occasionally your Controller will hang up as it does not sense a large drop in volts when the car is in IPDM mode... thus will fail to shut them off.


So simply turn your IPDM off, and your car will charge at full 14.1 volts each and every time you drive your Infiniti. I've been doing this for many months. No issues and EXCELLENT gas mileage. Just got 26.3 mpg!


Google IPDM and you will see many M35 and M45 owners who drove short trips only had dead battery issues... the IPDM system was kicking in to much and infrequent driving or short trip driving, wasn't charging the battery enough... so Infiniti allowed the mechanics to disable the IPDM.


Simply find your ground side of the battery. You will see a plastic housing next to the battery. Kinda rectangular. This is your IPDM module. At the base is a single connector. Simply unplug it. Bingo, no more IPDM. Your DRL controller will work 100% as intended EVERY time you drive the G. And, you can plug it back in any time. :-)


I started this post back in Jan. 2015. Mine are going strong. NO ISSUES


Good Luck and let me know how it works out for you.

Landshark

would you mind snapping a photo of the module/connector?

wirth315

You have to take the cover and panel off to access it... It's the only thing there on the negative side of the battery area. I'm not going to take mine apart just for a pic, but it's there. :-)

Landshark

ok, thanks ... ill check it out tomorrow ...

Abramite

iTrader: (1)

Looks like all your LEDs are various colors... Also they are the blue ish white, not pure white.

But I like the placement.

BlackGSedaN1027

I was looking for this fix. Thanks!

Thedbarz

Thanks for the suggestion regarding disabling the IPDM. I performed this last weekend and it does fix the problem. The control module now works perfectly. (I now have an extra control module that I bought to replace the first one, but will probably mount it in my daughter's Mustang with some new LEDs.)

The connector was a bit tricky to detach. Unlike most connectors where you squeeze the tab to disengage it, this connector requires you to push the tab away from the connector body. BTW, the connector is attached to a plastic ring that mounts around the negative conductor coming off the battery in the battery compartment about 4 inches from the negative terminal. I suspect that it is an inductive sensing circuit. I have received no error messages from the control module due to the change, which was a worry.

Thanks, for the tip.

Also, I see that some people don't like the bluish tint of the LEDs. This is a personal choice. You can buy pure white (4300k) or bluish white (6000k) LEDs at the following website in either 3w or 1.5w power. Purely personal preference. The 1.5w units are plenty bright and will run cooler and stay within the amperage limit of most controllers assuming you are installing 8-10 LEDs total. (http://lightinthebox.com}

Dan

Thedbarz

So, I got ambitious and replaced the cheap halogen fogs with an HID kit. Wired the HIDS with a relay and they work well (might be too bright). But now I have a check engine warning light and think it is related to the fog light install since the error message popped up the first time I started the car after the install . I double checked that the air induction sensors are reconnected after removing the air filter housings. So, does the G37 monitor the status of the fog lights and report an error if it doesn't sense a fog light (as when a bulb burns out)?