Daytime Lights

[cbeck]

Following up on sierrap615....

I'm not sure about it, but i think the thing to do would first be to find what ever wire activates the relay (I'm guessing it's the 592 that has been mentioned) and bring it to the swich location.

Unless I'm getting too old, I'm pretty sure if its the wire that activates the relay, it's gonna be a ground. So you'll want to bring another "full-time" ground there too (I just mostly repeating what other people have said.)

As far as the way to set it up, I threw this diagram together to give you an idea what the switch needs to do and a simple on(1)-off-on(2) should get the job done as Sierra said (PARDON the bad drawling)...

http://www.usabecker.com/images/switch.JPG

This way, you don't actually bypass the relay, you just chose whether you want to tell it what to do, or if you want to let the car tell it.

ps, if it ends up being a hot that activates the relay, just replace that word up there, but it shouldn't. hope that helps a little further

[mysatilac]

cbeck- THANK YOU!
it may not be the best drawing but it clears up my confusion, yeah it helps alot further because you were the first to jump in and draw it up.


With this info I WILL try this mod myself and repost (soon I hope, time to experiment permitting), also I will try to find out whether this is a ground or hot connection (592) with my mulitmeter before I test this

but I should be able to wire up a ground first (shown in always on position in your drawing) to test without hurting anything, then if that doesn't work try a hot right? and hot "should" be the normal 12+V from the battery, or some different voltage? regardless I will test first

This does seem very easy if I'm understanding it all right

Again, Thanks to cbeck and sierrap!

[mysatilac]

By The Way
HAHAHAHA ROFLMAO LOL and anything else I can think of because what I'm assuming is your web site has the funniest oil change story I've ever seen on it - and its SOO true

if this is your web site you should write a new thread labled "how to change your oil" just to post it, if not everyone please go to

http://www.usabecker.com/

and read the how to change your oil story... Its WELL worth the trip
Again thank you all for the help

[cbeck]

ha! I'm afraid you've caught me. the oil story, while i might have written one half as funny if i thought of it first, was stolen from the jokes page here. *hangs head in shame* i didn't provide a link-back because i found similar to it on a few other websites and just treated it as i usually treat emails. (think it mighta been dave barry?)

but I should be able to wire up a ground first (shown in always on position in your drawing) to test without hurting anything, then if that doesn't work try a hot right? and hot "should" be the normal 12+V from the battery, or some different voltage? regardless I will test first

yup, that's about right, the worst you could do is maybe blow a fuse, but that's an easy fix.

[mysatilac]

regardless it was a good joke- i cant blame you for "borrowing" it,

Went to autozone (got wrong switch- a 2 way with a third contact point...), a computer parts store (told me to go to radioshack), and finally radioshack (was my first choice but they were closed the first trip)
and decided on a center off (on-off-on) switch that I think is way too big, but not too many choices unless i want to go with a switch rated at 120vAC 5A, and have to wire up and risk repeatedly blowing a fuse...
So I just went with a big Automotive switch rated 12vdc 20A that doesn't look cool or light up, and just had to rethink where I will mount it (new hidden location near the hood release)

cbeck-Thanks for the confirmation-thats what i'll do then,

Again, will repost when I get this done, may snap a few pics for a DIY post...

[mysatilac]

Thank You, Thank You...Please hold your applause 'till the end.

I knew this would work and I'm VERY suprised no one else had tried or asked about it!

Yes it was a ground that activated the relay (thanks cbeck) so that was much more simple than trying to run a hot (+) wire.
Although the space was tight and wire strippers (and my arms) barely fit I managed to pull it off (wire stripper pun).

I did not go through the top of the dash to get to the Instrument Panel wires though (sierrap). This seemed too difficult and instead i just slid underneath the steering wheel and found where the wires ran away from the I/P (up high but directly above the accelerator pedal), located the light green / black striped wire -cut it, -stripped it, -and ran an extention from each side down to my switch (relay side of the grn/blk wire to the middle contact), and a ground to the third contact on the switch, then soldered all points

cbecks drawing helped tremendously as it shows the correct way to wire up the "center off" switch
http://www.usabecker.com/images/switch.JPG

My DRLs now function 3 ways as I see fit,
1. normally as controlled by the relay...
2. never on...
3. and (my favorite) on whenever I want them on including with the headlights on or e-brake up!

This is my favorite mod yet done to my saturn perhaps because I (am the first to have) pulled it off or maybe because I've wanted to do this since I got the car

as promised I will post the pics if i get a reply/request or will gladly e-mail them to anyone with questions

i can't decide whether everyone should do this because its so great
or no one so I'm the only one out there with fog/DRls

Well its either way now, with the info readily available it should be no time before I see someone elses saturn on the road with headlights and DRLs on

Ok you can applaud now

[mysatilac]

Oh as a quick follow up,

I was just driving around and testing my lights... I had seen some mention of your high or low beams not functioning properly with the relay bypassed,

well my low beams and DRLs look and work great both on, but when I turn on my highbeams, DRLs go off and the right high beam doesn't function when the switch is in the always on position,

but highbeams work normal with the switch in the always off or the normal operation positions...

Looking at a wiring diagram this obviously has something to do with the
fact that the right high beam obtains power through the DRL relay,

but I'm not complaining because it still works with the DRLs off or operating normally, so I just have to remember to flip the switch when I switch to HB.

NO BIG DEAL! they'd be overpowered if they worked anyway, and I barely use my highbeams.

[cbeck]

Yay! and uh, bummer 'bout that last bit. that seems pretty odd to intentionally wire something up like that that. I guess they split the beams up to aviod burning out the relay? You could always add another relay in one of the empties (if you have em) and jump the hot over, splice back into that 592 on the front end of the switch and run it over to the new relay... but I'd have to actually look at a wiring diagram to be sure what to jump, and that's probably more effort than you want to put into it...

[mysatilac]

Thanks for the tip, but when using my HBs I just have to put the DRLs into normal operation or always off, which is fine by me, plus I rarely ever use my brights.

Its a fine trade off to have to make... I'm confused but all the lights work fine in one position or the other, and they're all legal with the option of normal operation on the switch

Good enough for me
and again thanks for all the help (cbeck and sierrap) this thread has finally been beat!

[sierrap615]

Good work buddy.

mysatilic do you have the stock or aftermarket fog lights?

Originally Posted by mysatilac

I did not go through the top of the dash to get to the Instrument Panel wires though (sierrap). This seemed too difficult and instead i just slid underneath the steering wheel and found where the wires ran away from the I/P (up high but directly above the accelerator pedal),

if you can get to them from underneth easiler then from top then you are a smaller man then i am ( 6'2" 200lb )

Originally Posted by cbeck

I guess they split the beams up to aviod burning out the relay?

the reason GM/Saturn does it this way is so the DRLs are not are fully bright as regular high beams, the relay converts the high beam circuit from a parrallal(SP?) to a series connection, spliting the 12 volts between the two bulbs. each bulb uses 6 volts. its a easy and cheap way to dim the lights for DRL needs.

[mysatilac]

No fog lights wired up, want to get them later (sorry if I misled you somewhere) I wired my DRLs up on a switch and may have refered to them as DRL/fog lights at some point, b/c this is the way I see them (second set of lights, on a controllable switch..I know fog lights are mounted lower...)

I'm not TOO much smaller than you at 6'0" and 165lbs. but I'm young and limber, but i really wasn't all that comfortable down there, just barely fit as mentioned before, enough to get the job done, my dash didn't want to pop up though so i looked at my options...

Splitting up the voltage makes sense, damn sierrap you sure know your saturns

[sierrap615]

my concern was that the stock fog lights are wired to turn off when the high beams are on, but i don't know how the DRLs affect the stock fogs.

[mysatilac]

Ahhh... Yeah no stock or aftermarket fog lights, but good you caught this

LOL, so many new posts new readers wont realize we've come up with a DRL switch

so if you're interested please look below at post #21

[cbeck]

Oops, didn't realize the brights and the running lights were one and the same. My sl2 was a wee bit older, not quite so advanced.