Drl......

[luminaowns]

I hate day time running lights.... they are worthless.... today i pulled out the fuse that controls them.... they still came on..... WTF
Aside from leaveing the parking brake in one knotch... or takeing it to a dealer, anyone know what i can do to stop these bastards?

[cadgear]

I hate DRL with a passion, mainly due to the fact I can't flash people without turning on and off my headlights. So I yanked my fuse and they're no longer working. Dunno what yours are like..you sure you got the right fuse?

The module that controls the DRL is right under the steering column, to the left a bit. Its got two connectors coming from it, but I warn you, when I pulled mine out the passenger high beam quit working.

Quirky wiring, or funny GM engineers? Dunno.

[goldwinger]

I don't understand why so many people hate DRL. it is a proven safety device. Look at motorcycles, they have their head lights come on with the ignition, and they cant be truned off,been this way for about 20 yrs now, why? increased visability and that = increased safety. Just my 2cents worth.

[cadgear]

I know some of the newer cars have DRL that seems like regular high beams; you just see spots when driving past one. The luxury cars seem most notorious.

GM's new line of trucks and SUV's have the right idea it seems: have a seperate, regular light bulb that's completely seperate from the headlights as the DRL.

I had foglights on my 1991 cutlass supreme, you could see me just fine. My mom's car, a Grand Prix, was foolishly colored road-grey. You couldn't see it at all in the rain. I put foglights on it for $30 and it made all the difference in the world. No fancy system needed. Foglights are made low to the ground and aimed forward; no blinding light hitting you straight in the eyes with every bump. They're not rediculously high powered like high beams (even ones that are 'reduced voltage' like the lumina's are)..at least, not the six pair I looked at.


DRL has a good idea with it, I wholly agree, but a horrible implementation in 99% of cars thusfar.

[richtazz]

the passenger high beam quitting when the drl module is disconnected is engineered in. It is a government required safety feature to keep people from disabling DRL's. As far as I know, there is no easy way to diable them.

[cadgear]

Pretty slick, but the fuse bit works for now. I'm sure you can rewire the sucker to activate only when needed? I've toyed with the idea of a "switchable" low-power hibeam by simply wiring a SPST switch through the fuse wire for DRL, but then there's the retarded automatic headlight crap (on at dawn, off at dusk) that I can NOT stand. I don't like computers controlling the most mundane and simple features of my car (such as what volume my radio should be, when my lights come on, and so on).

I have the wiring diag from a haynes manual, I'm sure you could fool the thing into thinking its non-existant.

[tblake]

good idea, Maybe I'll get a wiring diagram and a junkyard drl module and gut it to see if I can get rid of all the drl's and annoying automatic headlights. Does anyone know if a drl module from any 95-2001 lumina would work in my 2001? Cause there are a few late 90's luminas at thelocal junkyard, and I really hate to mess up my drl module and have no headlights. Any ideas? Thankyou.

[cadgear]

I'm not too sure, Blake. Fuzzy memory quotes as thinking the 2000 and laters have a BCM in them, instead of seperate modules for things. I'm not entirely sure, because to be honest I've never gotten hold of a 2000+ Lumina (Olds/Buick dealer), but seems like I read it somewhere in a GM document.

Its possible to strip and connect two wires to enable the high beams once more, one is blue and I'd have to go look up what the other one is. But just strip those wires and join, and you -should- have highs once more.

I rigged up a simple rocker switch to supply fused battery voltage to the DRL module to enable a sort of flash-to-pass system, all it does is break the flow of power from the fuse to the module. Simple and somewhat effective, though I still don't like them.

[tblake]

Hey cadgear, I only had a few minutes to dink around with the computer at school today, but I managed to print these out. I really dont know whats going on with them, so, maybe they will help you in disabling your crappy drl's. If you have any ideas, let me know. I will try to get more pictures and wiring diagrams coming. Also if you would need a wiring diagram for anything else, let me know. Thankyou

[cadgear]

I'll give these a pour tomorrow on lunch, I've got my 99's shop manual I'd like to compare to. Like I said, I'm not sure if the 2000+ has a BCM or not, which could make some difference. Thanks, I'll give them a look-see.

[tblake]

sorry they got a little big, oops. Thankyou