Good evening to all Toyota drivers!

Today I tried out the method of turning on the low beam headlights when the car was moving, which I mentioned on the caribovod forum in one of the topics. This feature is relevant due to the new rules according to which you must always travel with your neighbor(!), unless, of course, you have daytime running lights provided by design. And as you know, almost no old cars have such lights :)

In this scheme, the light automatically turns on only when the ignition is on, as soon as you remove the selector from parking gear [P] (models with automatic transmission or remove it from the handbrake (models with manual transmission) or engage gear [D] (this option is for those who has a corresponding light [D] on the instrument panel, indicating that this gear is engaged).
The topic is interesting. Question: what is the best way to connect to the standard wiring, cut in and twist it, or is there something more interesting?
I myself tested the scheme on my AE95 Carib with automatic transmission - I will describe it in detail. For manual transmission and other Toyota models, nothing should change radically; appropriate amendments will be given in the text. The connection diagram is very simple, so you don’t have to be a whiz at electrical engineering to implement it - anyone can do it, if only they had the desire and the time for at least a couple of hours.

So, let's begin!

First, the theory (informative:).

Schematic diagram of the device (two different diagrams are given, explanation below):

The first is intended only for those who have a gear light [D] on the instrument panel, usually these are models from 91-92 with automatic transmission.
The second is for everyone else. Only if you have a manual transmission, instead of outputting to the parking gear engagement sensor (P- in the diagram), you will need to connect to the sensor hand brake.

Persons acting in the diagram:
D+ - positive terminal of the light bulb [D] in the panel, indicating that gear [D] is engaged.
EL and “ground” - taken from the connector of the steering column headlight switch
H - turn on the headlights from there
IG+ - “ignition” output from the ignition switch connector (provides 12 V when the key is in the ON position)
P- - output from the parking gear engagement sensor [P].

With the first one, everything is simple, if the [D] light comes on (let's go!), the relay is activated and closes the headlight switch contact of the steering column switch - the headlights are on!

The second one is more difficult, because The parking sensor is closed in the [P] position and open in other positions. Therefore, the second relay uses normally closed contact 87a to turn on the headlights. Why is the first relay needed? In order not to drain the battery! Because if you leave only one second relay and use constant 12 V instead of IG+, then the relay will always work when the car is stationary, which will someday lead to the battery being drained. Therefore, we will turn on our circuit only when the ignition is turned on - 12 V will be supplied to IG+, the first relay will close and “drag” the EL contact of the steering column switch to the second relay. The second relay will work and will not allow the headlights to turn on.

As soon as the automatic transmission selector is moved to a position other than P (or the manual transmission is removed from the handbrake), the second relay will stop working and close contacts EL and H and the headlights will turn on! By the way, it is not necessary to put the manual transmission on the handbrake in the parking lot (relevant in winter!), because... the circuit will not work when the ignition is turned off.

We've sorted out the theory, now let's move on to practice!

We will need the following parts and tools:
1. Standard automotive relays with connectors (one or two - see theory:)

Hint: if anyone has parts left after installing the alarm, there are probably a couple of relays and connectors lying around :) I got mine from there.

2. The wire is about a meter long. There are usually wires in the connectors to the relays, but they are short.
3. Electrical tape, double-sided tape is also possible, but not necessary.
4. Screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters (as a last resort, scissors).
5. It is advisable to have a tester (also known as a multimeter and a tester). Check once, cut once is our motto!
6. Reserve time for at least a couple of hours or more (depending on your experience in these matters, as well as your ability to disassemble the carib :).

Have you collected everything? Then go ahead and disassemble the car!

Unscrew the bottom cover under the steering wheel at the points indicated by the arrows:

We plug the wires into the relay connectors according to the diagram suggested above:

We connect the EL (ground) and H terminals from our relays to the terminals of the steering column switch connector. The connector itself is like this for Carib 95 bodies:

You may have a different one, and accordingly, the contacts may be located in a different place, look for yourself using the ABC book or at random using a tester.

We connect our wires with relays to these contacts (white crap - I already wrapped the electrical tape):

Unfortunately, in my photo everything is already secured with electrical tape, but I schematically marked the connections there with a dotted line. The idea is to connect the EL (ground) pin from our circuit to the white wire, and the H to the red wire. The colors may, of course, differ, but they will certainly be the same.

If yours is different, look in the primer or again with a tester :)

Everything is ready under the steering wheel, we move the P- wire deeper and further away, attach the relays somewhere nearby, and put the connector of the steering column switch in place:

The following is relevant only for automatic transmissions and a circuit with two relays:

Now, we unscrew the plastic decoration around the selector, along with it we will also have to unscrew the plastic on which the buttons, handbrake and armrest are located, otherwise we will not get to the inside of the selector.

Our wiring, run deep, can now be pushed through to the selector (in the picture above it is already routed :). Now, you need to connect it to the negative terminal of the parking gear sensor, but not to ground! Determining which of them is the mass if there is no tester can be very simple: open the sensor connector, switch to N. Since our circuit is almost ready and should, in theory, already work, you can turn on the ignition and the headlights should light up on their own. If this does not happen, then something from the above was done wrong. If the headlights come on, then with neutral and the ignition on, you should try to connect our wiring first to one of the contacts of the open connector, then to the other. If, when connected to one of the contacts, the headlights go out, then this contact is the “ground”, which means that our wiring must be connected to another contact of the same connector :)

If you have a manual transmission, you can, as in the previous case, run the wire there, but connect to the sensor parking brake. Or, disassemble the instrument panel and connect this wire to the negative terminal of the parking brake indicator.

If you are connecting a circuit with one relay (100th body with automatic transmission), you need to disassemble the instrument panel and feel for the + near the [D] light bulb (you can brute force until it works) and connect the D+ terminal from the relay to it.

Now we put everything back together in reverse order and are glad that we don’t have to remember to turn on the low beam during the day, that the clock doesn’t dim, the lights don’t light up during the day, and the panel doesn’t light up when it’s already light :)

I would be glad if the information provided was useful to someone! Thank you for your attention.

The topic is interesting. I have a Kaldina, I want to do something similar on it. Question: what is the best way to connect to the standard wiring, cut the insulation and twist it, or is there something more reliable?