Daytime Running Lights

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:10 am

OH man I forgot about this post- Thanks Kev for bringing it back up- Makes me Laugh my Butt off!!!! FYI- I was going to disable my DRL's- Until i saw the insurance reduction!!!! my agent let me know that if I disabled the lights- and I'm in an accident- that they may not pay!!! So I left them alone- Now if I could only figure out HOW to hook up the Fog lights to the DRLs- That would look SUper cool!

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:34 am

stefan wrote:OH man I forgot about this post- Thanks Kev for bringing it back up- Makes me Laugh my Butt off!!!! FYI- I was going to disable my DRL's- Until i saw the insurance reduction!!!! my agent let me know that if I disabled the lights- and I'm in an accident- that they may not pay!!! So I left them alone- Now if I could only figure out HOW to hook up the Fog lights to the DRLs- That would look SUper cool!

No mention on my policy about a deduction for DRLs, so I guess I'm free and clear.

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:30 am

Another thought.

A number of manufacturers, including Jeep and BMW/Mini are making DRLs an owner's option.

If there was such STRONG support for their benefit, I suspect they would not do so.

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:06 am

Bill Bourne wrote:Success!!!

2005 Baja Sport DRL disable:
Facing the steering wheel.
Electrical module on left side of steering column.
Pull off white connector.
Cut blue/black wire and tape ends.
Re-install white connector.
Start engine and check lights.

No more DRL.

Turbo model has different headlights so don't try this.

OK, So I'm finally going to get off my butt and give this a try this week.

I see that on NASIOC and lightsout lots of people talk about just unplugging the white connector to the DRL module. But I can't tell if that's only on certain years or models with certain headlights.

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it probably won't work on my 06 Sport, as it didn't on BB's 05 Sport (if BB I'm reading your post correctly that you tried that first).

Still, I've got nothing to loose, so I guess I'm just unplug first and test. And if that doesn't work, I'll try to safely wrestle the pin for the blue/black wire out of the connector, shrink it and put it away.

Depending on how much room I have to work, I might be tempted to install a small toggle switch, so I could always reach-under and re-activate.

I'll report back when finished.

Kev

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:32 am

Bill Bourne wrote:Success!!!

2005 Baja Sport DRL disable:
Facing the steering wheel.
Electrical module on left side of steering column.
Pull off white connector.
Cut blue/black wire and tape ends.
Re-install white connector.
Start engine and check lights.

No more DRL.

Turbo model has different headlights so don't try this.

BINGO - it appears that on 05 or 06 Baja Sports, you cannot just unplug the connector, doing so will indeed prevent the headlights from working at all.

In my case, I chose to free the pin for the blue/black wire terminal from the connector (I don't have a terminal pin tool, but I used a small O-ring pick, inserted into the back/wire side of the connector to depress the lock tang, while pushing on the terminal from the front using the ultra-thin jaw of a pair of needle-nose pliers. The pin popped out, and I coated it with electrical tape and secured it back to the harness).

The connector and DRL module was just where this thread and others said it would be, on the steering column. I didn't have to remove a single thing other than the connector. The DRL module is on the driver's side of the steering column and contains 2 connectors (the lower one was black, the upper was white). The black/blue wire is toward the center of the white connector.

Plugged everything back in and everything works, no DRLs!

Thanks all,

Kev

spazchicken · Post by **spazchicken** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:55 am

I'm always confused as to why anyone wants to disable DRLs? I remember seeing an ad for Chevrolet back in the early 1990's when they were first adding DRLs to cars and they explained why: you can see a car on a shady road farther away if it has lights on.

Would people also disable the seatbelts and the airbags for aesthetic reasons? I'm just stymied.

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:19 am

spazchicken wrote:I'm always confused as to why anyone wants to disable DRLs? I remember seeing an ad for Chevrolet back in the early 1990's when they were first adding DRLs to cars and they explained why: you can see a car on a shady road farther away if it has lights on.

Would people also disable the seatbelts and the airbags for aesthetic reasons? I'm just stymied.

Go back and read my post on the previous page and that might make it a little more clear.

I also tend to shut off the traction control on vehicles from time-to-time, based on their usage.

I wouldn't DREAM of doing anything to seatbelts or airbags however.

ABS, I'm split on, but I'm not a good enough driver to disengage it, so even if I had the option I wouldn't.

Kev

spazchicken · Post by **spazchicken** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:49 am

Fair enough. I know I've almost hit people enough times on shady roads in dark vehicles that are new enough to have been equipped with DRLs to make me wonder.

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:10 am

spazchicken wrote:Fair enough. I know I've almost hit people enough times on shady roads in dark vehicles that are new enough to have been equipped with DRLs to make me wonder.

As a motorcyclist I got one answer for you.

YOU STAY ON YOUR SIDE OF THE ROAD, and I won't have any reason to shoot you!

There is no reason to ever almost hit someone on ANY road, if both they and you are in the correct lane.

And if there is ever a question of visibility, ALL my lights go on, not just the ones in the front.

spazchicken · Post by **spazchicken** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:38 am

I live on a hilly wooded road. When I go to turn off of that road, say a left hand turn, sometimes it's easy to not see a swiftly moving vehicle coming around the bend. I never cross the middle line. No need to with AWD.

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:48 am

spazchicken wrote:I live on a hilly wooded road. When I go to turn off of that road, say a left hand turn, sometimes it's easy to not see a swiftly moving vehicle coming around the bend. I never cross the middle line. No need to with AWD.

Insert Thumb's Up Gremlin here!

I don't drive/ride swiftly on curvy roads that I don't know where the driveways are!

And I slow down coming around the bend at those spots!

Kev

spazchicken · Post by **spazchicken** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:55 am

The other day someone had a blacked out G35 and I know they must've defeated the DRLs for me not to have seen it until they were almost on me.

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 9:21 am

spazchicken wrote:The other day someone had a blacked out G35 and I know they must've defeated the DRLs for me not to have seen it until they were almost on me.

I suspect my Silver Baja or my wife's Electric Blue/White Mini Cooper S would stand out a bit more during the day... and we'd have AT LEAST parking lots on, if not headlights, if it was darker.

Question - G35? Inifinit? Do Nissan/Infiniti use DRLs? I don't see any listings on Lightsout.org? And I don't recall ever driving one or seeing one with em, but I haven't been paying that close attention.

spazchicken · Post by **spazchicken** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:20 am

Perhaps I just assumed most new cars have them. Am I wrong about that?

Kev M · Post by **Kev M** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:52 am

spazchicken wrote:Perhaps I just assumed most new cars have them. Am I wrong about that?

You might be.

Since they are still not required in the US I think there may be many manufacturers that don't use them yet (at least in the US, as all manufacturers have to have them engineered in if they sell in Canada and maybe parts of the EU?).

I know that Scoobie, GM, Toyota and VW all have them. Maybe some Fords and some of their subsidieries do too.

With BMW/Mini and DC (including Jeep) it is a no cost "option" that can be "activated" by the dealer at the owner's choice.

OK, rather than try and figure this out from memory, I looked it up at

lightsout.org

in the FAQ section

Q. Are DRLs available on all vehicles in the U.S.?

A. No. Currently, hardwired DRLs are offered as standard equipment on GM, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Saab, Volvo, Volkswagen, Suzuki, and Subaru vehicles, as well a handful of large trucks. Mercedes Benz, Audi, and BMW have "programmable" DRLs. Unfortunately, these companies have implemented DRLs on the headlamps, including high beams and the obnoxiously bright HID lamps. To their credit, these manufacturers will disable the DRLs for the owner, but until they change their implementation to use the parking or turn signal lamps, they will remain on our enemies list. Acura has recently fitted hardwired high beam DRLs to its RL series and is now an enemy of DADRL. Lexus has begun to switch to turn signal based DRLs on some of their vehicles, which is a step in the right direction.

Toyota has recently switched from hardwired DRLs as standard equipment and have accordingly be tentatively moved to our friends list. Daimler/Chrysler, Ford, and Isuzu offer DRLs as optional equipment only on a small number of vehicles, but otherwise have have not committed to full scale DRL implementation on all vehicles. For 2006 it appears that Honda will be fitting high beam DRLs to the Civic and Accord and have been moved to our enemies list. We have not seen DRLs on Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, Infinity, Kia, Jaguar, Porsche, or Ferrari vehicles. Of course, GM will sell a retrofit DRL kit for vehicles that don't already have them. The kits will be usable on non-GM cars, as well. Profitable, very profitable.

So the answer is kinda convoluted.