2011 Charger Taillight Flasher Mod

factorone33

factorone33

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Edit: It's been updated.


For those of you who have 2011 Chargers, you'll note that the factory tail lights run the length of the trunk lid, and are easy to get into. I don't have video or pics of it yet, but we've figured out how to make 'em flash with a standard automotive relay and pioneer flasher. It's simple (and I'm sure others have figured it out, too), but I drew up a schematic and threw in some instructions. It's in PDF format.


Use at your leisure!


2011 Charger Taillight Flasher Updated.pdf
 

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Check your diagram. It appears you have terminal 86 switched with terminal 87A. Then check the instructions. A couple of the lines aren't making sense.
 
shues said:
Check your diagram. It appears you have terminal 86 switched with terminal 87A. Then check the instructions. A couple of the lines aren't making sense.
Click to expand...

Yep, there's an error in there. I've updated it.
 
Any alterations of factory wireing will void factory warranty on anything eletrical. Just FYI
 
If you wanted to toss in two more relays you could do the reverse lights with this. As far as the warranty thing, I agree this could be an issue however almost anything we do could potentially void PARTS of a warranty. I have very good luck with local dealerships (we have been doing dealer upfit work for 20+ years) and I havent had an issue yet. I am sure this is regional but I wouldnt hesitate to do this (after double checking it all of course). I would also prob use a traditional tl/rl flasher for this and wire it differently.
 
kenton1979 said:
If you wanted to toss in two more relays you could do the reverse lights with this. As far as the warranty thing, I agree this could be an issue however almost anything we do could potentially void PARTS of a warranty. I have very good luck with local dealerships (we have been doing dealer upfit work for 20+ years) and I havent had an issue yet. I am sure this is regional but I wouldnt hesitate to do this (after double checking it all of course). I would also prob use a traditional tl/rl flasher for this and wire it differently.
Click to expand...

On the 2011 Chargers (and all Chrysler Products for that matter) they are using a different style of vehicle wiring. Every Individual light is monitored for specific voltages and Ohms,


When i was dealing with my 2011 Charger issue i got a pretty in-depth course on the Charger's electrics. it is all using a Can-Bus II system than makes modifying factory lights a HUGE no-no.


youre not putting the right voltage and Ohms to the decklight lights i can tell you this right now, and the car KNOWS this. You WILL have issues.


And besides all that you are modifying a safety aspect of the vehicle, the Taillights.


Now before you go whining about the brake lights flashing, the flashing is overridden by ANY input from the operator, hit the brakes, they stop flashing, hit the turn signals, they stop flashing, with your (and everybody else who modifies the taillights) the flashing is never stopped unless you turn the flasher on.


Anytime you modify the FACTORY functions of a vehicle, to enable a flash, the original fuctions SHALL be the primary function, NOT the flashing one.
 
First off... I love a good challenge but have no interest in arguing so here is my opinion.


I don’t disagree with the safety issue; however it’s all in the circuit you use. A few extra isolation relays for failsafe are part of any good install.


On the topic of can bus a, b, c, ihs, t, (w,x,y,z) etc.. bcms, pcms, "powernet" and any other term that a manufacturer wants to use.... These are things we have been dealing with for years. If one isolates a circuit and identifies its function one can replicate it easily. It’s only going to be a matter of time before devices will be available to do this via the canbus wires in the DLC. The canbus system isn’t scary unless all you know is the old systems where one wire worked one function (CROWN VIC?). Several car manufacturers have been using this type of technology since pre 2000 so over the last 10+ years we have learned to work with this not against it. The whole reason our company has got into the up fitting emergency vehicles gig was because up fitters of yesteryear are just now getting on board with systems we have been dealing with for 10+ years. I am not arguing that this is something everyone should do or mess with. We are just profiting from the mistakes of others, this isn’t always a simple gig everyone should get into and further more our business only got involved in emergency equipment based off of requests by our customers.


I don't recall whining about anything but as I have posted before I have no interest in changing the brake light feature of the car. The tail lights are not an issue if the emergency lighting is activated based on the laws of our state so as I stated before I have no issue with it.


I hope that I didn’t mislead or seem argumentative I am just trying to express an opinion and what works for us.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cory y said:
On the 2011 Chargers (and all Chrysler Products for that matter) they are using a different style of vehicle wiring. Every Individual light is monitored for specific voltages and Ohms,

When i was dealing with my 2011 Charger issue i got a pretty in-depth course on the Charger's electrics. it is all using a Can-Bus II system than makes modifying factory lights a HUGE no-no.


youre not putting the right voltage and Ohms to the decklight lights i can tell you this right now, and the car KNOWS this. You WILL have issues.


And besides all that you are modifying a safety aspect of the vehicle, the Taillights.


Now before you go whining about the brake lights flashing, the flashing is overridden by ANY input from the operator, hit the brakes, they stop flashing, hit the turn signals, they stop flashing, with your (and everybody else who modifies the taillights) the flashing is never stopped unless you turn the flasher on.


Anytime you modify the FACTORY functions of a vehicle, to enable a flash, the original fuctions SHALL be the primary function, NOT the flashing one.
Click to expand...

Impedence-matching is simple: obtain a schematic from a dealer, use electrical theory to determine the correct impedance necessary at the taillights, install resistors as necessary. Boone County Sheriff in Missouri, and Lansing Police Department have both done this with zero problems over the course of the last few months.


I should also point out that the amount of modulated current running to the taillights is what determines how they work, not the amount of voltage behind it. LEDs are not like halogen lights, where a reduction in voltage is going to have significant problems, however a reduction in current will cause them to either not work, or behave in an unusual manner. Regarding brake light operations, the brake lights are on a completely different circuit (as required by DOT regulations) and aren't tied into this circuit in any fashion (hence the warning I put on the text portion of the PDF).


This circuit provides current within the manufacturer's suggested impedance range (10-16V DC) and supplies sufficient current to do the job correctly without interfering with brake operation. Also, if you examine the circuit, the flasher is steady-burn override, which when the taillights are on, they will work so long as there is not power coming from a switch to activate the flashing portion.
 
the flashing SHOULD be overridden by the factory functions AT ALL TIMES.


in other words the steady burn SHOULD be the primary signal, NOT the flashing lights
 
Last edited by a moderator:
HILO said:
Any alterations of factory wireing will void factory warranty on anything eletrical. Just FYI
Click to expand...

FYI a full warranty can not be voided because of a modification. The only way a part of a warranty can be voided is if a portion fails and it can be proven that the modification caused the issue. But then the whole electrical warranty won't be voided. Here is some info for you, Magnuson-Moss
 
It could be improved upon by running the switched side of the tail lights directly to the "steady" of the flasher. It looks like the relay is not necessary at all.
 
EVModules said:
It could be improved upon by running the switched side of the tail lights directly to the "steady" of the flasher. It looks like the relay is not necessary at all.
Click to expand...

I am not familiar with this flasher but I assume if its like a ulf44 it would make the tail lights come on steady and override the flash when the user turns them on from the dash. The relay is preventing that from happening if the emergency lighting is activated.


If you did it this way the tail lights would function as normal and you would only get flash during times when the parking lights arent activated... If I am understanding his design properly that is.
 
kenton1979 said:
I am not familiar with this flasher but I assume if its like a ulf44 it would make the tail lights come on steady and override the flash when the user turns them on from the dash. The relay is preventing that from happening if the emergency lighting is activated.

If you did it this way the tail lights would function as normal and you would only get flash during times when the parking lights arent activated... If I am understanding his design properly that is.
Click to expand...

This is exactly why the relay is in place. The Pioneer flasher firmware is setup by factory default to have steady-burn side override the flashing side. The relay is there to act as a switch to kill power to steady burn when the flashing side is activated.


I'm sure you could avoid cutting wiring by making adapter plugs with Deutsch connectors and factory taillight plugs.
 
We have done this as well at the SHP. Due to monetary constraints we used 9 and 12 wire Sound-off rear tailight flashers. The Charger has a light outage feature as part of the BCM, or as a seperate module. We found without isolation the rear tailight flashers caused both visible errors on the dash display and unseen error codes in the BCM. This was depending on how they were hooked up. In the end for safety issues we used the diode method of isolation, relays caused errors while lights were running.


All factory lighting over-rides the flasher module, which in the end I believe is the safest bet. In ours the center park light and edges are off at night, due to the park lights being turned on. This wasn't seen as a issue since they still mark the car during night hours, even if they are blinking. I don"t have a schematic at home, but when I get to the shop I can drop them both in for evaluation by the staff.
 
9_wire.jpg


12_wire.jpg


The above pictures are the 9 and 12 wire Sound-off flashers (9/12 wire - ETFBSBK). The diodes shown are 1N589, which are 7.5A rated. We used the larger rating because we had alot of them for one thing, and other reason is due to the reverse lights being halogens. We are flashing all lights on the rear with this. That includes rear left and right park lights, center park light, brake lights, reverse lights, and side park lights. As i stated in my previous post all factory lights override the flasher outputs. Due to this when the lights are activated at night only the brake and reverse lights flash. Turning on the lights activates the parking lights so they are on continously.


If you don't have an old 9 or 12 wire Sound-off rear flasher the new version is #ETFBSBK.
 
I used a soundoff flasher, 12 wire, did not use any diodes or relays....is there going to be any problems by doing it this way? IE errors or BCM blow-ups?


Thanks, Beach
 
Beach said:
I used a soundoff flasher, 12 wire, did not use any diodes or relays....is there going to be any problems by doing it this way? IE errors or BCM blow-ups?

Thanks, Beach
Click to expand...

You're better off at least using diodes, otherwise the stuff you could fry is pretty important. Current backflow is bad juju.
 
Just an additional. The sho-me STT Flasher works awesome with no faults at all. Super easy install. Clip some wires splice flasher in and tie in running light override and your all set.


We use a sho me STT flasher to split the tail light portion only. We don't mess with brake lights. Added vertex in back up lights

 
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