Indicator 3 flash lane change mod for £10 and 10 minutes.

[smurf]

One thing I missed when driving my gen 1 Alphard is the indicator lane change 3 flash that is in many newer vehicles these days, and I got so used to using it that when driving my Alphard I often forget and just flick the indicator to change lane and, of course, I get one flash. 

 

I'd seen someone was selling an alternative direct replacement flasher relay for upwards of £50 that was modified to give the 3 flash, but that price was too much for me to just avoid holding the indicator down a bit longer. A bit of research turned up a potential alternative for less than £10 on eBay. It didn't specifically mention the lane change function as it seemed to be more aimed at people retro-fitting LED indicator bulbs and messing up the flashing rate, but I had a suspicion so I took a punt and bought it. The original Toyota item and the replacement are shown below. Notice the knob for adjusting the flash rate, and poorly translated "about dodges three times" on the replacement relay. 

 

 

Fitting it was easy enough. Simply pull out the coin drawer thingy just above the bonnet and fuel flap release levers on the driver side of the dash and look in. The relay is fairly obvious. The relay put up a fight and was reluctant to release, but a bit of jiggling and a little bit of leverage from a screwdriver got it out. This photo shows the new one fitted.

 

 

I turned the hazards on and the flash rate was very fast, but with a quick twiddle of the knob on the relay I had the flash rate back to where it should be. Then the moment of truth - ignition on and flicked the indicator stalk. Three flashes and stop 👍. £10 and 10 minutes work. Bargain!

 

This is the one I bought on eBay, but there appears to be loads of sellers as the original Toyota relay was used on many different models, as you could imagine. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386806258020?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=xfg_a3ycs9s&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ql8_keC9RJe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[Picasso]

Well done Richard going to buy one myself 

[BigNev]

Marvellous!! 

[Philllx]

Brilliant 👍 great find, this is also something I miss with the vellfire

[Gamith]

I have just done this and can confirm that the flashers do blink three times before turning off - either by flicking the stalk or by turning it on and off. I didn't try the hazards but I'm sure they will work also.

Thank you for the heads up on this @smurf

Oh yes, and mine also started at a very fast rate and needed turning down - well worth a test before going on the road 🙂

Edited March 26 by Gamith
To add the last line re blink rate.

[smurf]

I had a motorway drive this week for first time since fitting it, and it was only after I got home that I realised I have become so used to having a three lane flash over the years that I was using it and not even mentally acknowledging that it was doing it 😆.

[Chris.ac]

This also works on the 20 series, confirmed. 

I didn't bother removing the old relay, just the connector, so if it does fail, it's an easy swap back.

[MSM]

On 3/18/2025 at 9:07 PM, smurf said:

One thing I missed when driving my gen 1 Alphard is the indicator lane change 3 flash that is in many newer vehicles these days, and I got so used to using it that when driving my Alphard I often forget and just flick the indicator to change lane and, of course, I get one flash. 

 

I'd seen someone was selling an alternative direct replacement flasher relay for upwards of £50 that was modified to give the 3 flash, but that price was too much for me to just avoid holding the indicator down a bit longer. A bit of research turned up a potential alternative for less than £10 on eBay. It didn't specifically mention the lane change function as it seemed to be more aimed at people retro-fitting LED indicator bulbs and messing up the flashing rate, but I had a suspicion so I took a punt and bought it. The original Toyota item and the replacement are shown below. Notice the knob for adjusting the flash rate, and poorly translated "about dodges three times" on the replacement relay. 

 

 

Fitting it was easy enough. Simply pull out the coin drawer thingy just above the bonnet and fuel flap release levers on the driver side of the dash and look in. The relay is fairly obvious. The relay put up a fight and was reluctant to release, but a bit of jiggling and a little bit of leverage from a screwdriver got it out. This photo shows the new one fitted.

 

 

I turned the hazards on and the flash rate was very fast, but with a quick twiddle of the knob on the relay I had the flash rate back to where it should be. Then the moment of truth - ignition on and flicked the indicator stalk. Three flashes and stop 👍. £10 and 10 minutes work. Bargain!

 

This is the one I bought on eBay, but there appears to be loads of sellers as the original Toyota relay was used on many different models, as you could imagine. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386806258020?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=xfg_a3ycs9s&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ql8_keC9RJe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Could no longer find this via the eBay link, but the equivalent on Amazon is here:

https://amzn.eu/d/1n8SGeD

[MSM]

I bought one of the flasher relays from Amazon linked above and it works great. 
 

I did find it very difficult to get the original relay out. It’s quite awkward to get to and grip. I couldn’t budge it by pulling and jiggling just by hand. I was a bit bothered about damaging it as it seemed stuck tight. In the end I did manage to get it out using a small plastic stick to alternately lever it up on one side then the other, doing this a few times eventually lifted it up enough to pull out by hand. 
 

In case it’s useful to others who want to try this, the reason it’s so tricky to get out is that there are are two plastic wedge tabs on each side of the relay connector on the car. The relay unit itself has a flap with a slot on each side that the wedge tabs on the connector lock in to. I guess if there was a way to lift the relay unit flaps outwards then it would be a lot easier to release, I can’t see that there’s space to do this though, but otherwise some careful alternate levering will do the trick.

 

 

 

Below shows the relay side flaps that the above connector wedges slot into.