I finally pulled this off :nerd: oh boy! Positioning lights running as DRL...one of the most tedious mods I've done....Although I don't see it as a mod, since I literally did not modify anything in the vehicle, I could take the module off without anyone telling I ever did this.
DRLs only:
No wire splicing, tapping or cutting. Complete in-house solution without bringing any external cables into the headlamp housing.
I'll have it running for a week, if the electronics keep up to the task I'll build the second module and write the DIY.
Turn on Youtube's Close Captions (cc). Flickering is unnoticeable to the human eye, I might need to add some capacitors to smooth a bit the signal, but so far I'm satisfied with the outcome.
Because there is no module there yet. Only driver side so far. No change on aiming, the driver-side seems brighter (or aiming higher) because both lamps (High beam DRL + positioning) are ON.
It's a shame Kia didn't do this to begin with. Went with my neighbor this past weekend to pick up an 2016 Optima SXL turbo and it has LED daytime running lights looks great. While at the dealer and going over the car we discovered that Kia eliminated the home link feature. Why would they do this on a top-of-the-line model, nobody had an answer at the dealer.
Sometimes one desn't know all the aspects of a business...perhaps the royalties paid to patent's owners were too high and passing on that cost to the customer will put kia in a less competitive segment...who knows.
For those interested, I recently did my headlights with ExLED mods.
very nice DRL units.
Side switchback signal led, halos, and eyelid switchback sequential. Mod looks pretty stock due to the fact that they are custom made for the Sorento. High quality parts. Highly recommended. The side signals has the same design motive as the front tiger nose grill with dots. Even fits the groove design that the stock lens had, fixing it on was simple. Wiring is not too bad but they provided pictures so we just matched it.
Halos could switch back to yellow for signal but I opted to turn them off. Definitely a cool mod for our Sorentos.
They carry nice products. Got my bumper led reflector from them.
Getting this back for that link:
"The page you requested cannot be displayed right now. It may be temporarily unavailable, the link you clicked on may be broken or expired, or you may not have permission to view this page."
Yup, it's not a hard install at all. as long as you're comfortable with heating up headlights and prying them open. I'm no electrician but it worked out fine. Does make the Sorento feel more futuristic. I also swapped over the HID bulbs to 5500k instead of 4300k stock. Now those were a bit hard to remove, they have custom retaining clips and unless you have a tool for it. It's hard to get out without the headlights out.
Yup, it's not a hard install at all. as long as you're comfortable with heating up headlights and prying them open. I'm no electrician but it worked out fine. Does make the Sorento feel more futuristic. I also swapped over the HID bulbs to 5500k instead of 4300k stock. Now those were a bitch to remove, they have custom retaining clips and unless you have a tool for it. It's hard to get out without the headlights out.
Would have been nice that you made a how-to (open the headligths housing) video. I'd like to do the eyelids only but afraid of messing up the headlights enclosure.
Ah there are plenty of tutorials online on headlight removal. basically take a heat gun and heatup the surrounding sides till the glue softens. the prying open is pretty easy no way of messing that up. To reseal simply heat it up again and put it back. I sent mine to a guy who does these things regularly, just figured out the wiring with him.
You could, but it would make it more complicated and adds another point of failure. Something like adding a separate relay past the DLR divert, this way relay will only be triggered by the 12 volts coming to the high beam bulb. Reduced volt will not trigger the relay thus keeping the bulb completely off.
Even though reduced voltage wont engage the relay, it keeps current flowing through the relay's coil which ultimately reduces the lifespan of the relay.
Another option could be just replacing the halogen bulb with LED......LEDs shouldn't turn on reduced voltage, some might flicker then you need to find the perfect suit.
Soaking period for the first module finished today. It performed well so I'm going to build the second one and write up the instructions.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Kia Forum
702.4K posts
206.7K members
Since 2004
Kia Forums is a community dedicated to all Kia models. Come discuss the Kia Sorento, Rio, Sportage, Soul and more!