Ping Clare part II

Sep 29, 2019 24 Replies

I hope you don't mind another vehicle wiring question since your expertise is abundant on the auto industry.



I have a Honda with daytime running lights, which I bypassed the fuse to install a switch allowing me to turn them off when needed. I have a 2013 Town & Country van which I want to do the same, but I cannot locate a designated fuse for those lights. Do you have a suggestion how I can go about this if I cannot located a designated fuse?



Thanks.


The only way to turn off the DRL on the chrysler is by either having it programmed out in the BCU by the dealer or tricking it in to thinking the parking brake is on. Put a switch in parallel with the parking brake switch. Turning ON the switch will turn off the drl (and put your brake warning light on - and possibly a beeper/bell.)

It's all done by CanBuss

FTR, since it worked on the first car, even though you use "fuse" three times, I'm sure you don't mean "bypass the fuse". Bypassing the fuse will....bypass the fuse. It won't change anything except you won't have a fuse. You must have meant "interrupt the circuit [with a switch] near the fuse" Because when there is a dedicated fuse, you know which is the right wire.

Clare has a great answer. I remember getting my first "fancy" car that turned the headlights on when I turned on the engine at night, and having trouble turning off all the outside lights when parked with the car running, and iirc turning some on when parked with the engine off. These things used to be simple.

The things above don't matter anymore but even now on a 2005 toyota with GPS and a map screen on the radio, I'd like to also turn off the bright radio screen so I could I sit in the dark playing the radio.

Programmed out? Does that mean permanently off or can it be programmed to be switched off and on?

Just curious- why do you want to turn them off?

I wondered that also. All our friends & family's cars & trucks, since ~ early 1990's have had them - with no problems ..

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John T.

DRL's are more common in the US but I was once stopped by a cop who noticed the headlights were on but no taillights. He assumed I had defective taillights. I'd also had regular people tell me the taillights weren't working.

I don't know if it was state or federal laws but since the '80s motorcycles have has always on headlights. These aren't reduced output DRL's, just the normal headlights. The effectiveness of the increased visibility in reducing accidents was studied extensively.

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I do not know if there ware follow up studies after mandatory DRLs were introduced in Canada and other countries. My current Toyota does not have them but my previous 2007 version of the same model did. That's surprising since car makers have tended to include anything that is required anywhere in the world and submit the bill to the purchaser.

Good question. The local concrete company trucks run with headlights on. It's surprising how much more noticeable those big white things are because of the lights.

Cops know this stuff - but still use it - as an excuse to pull-over people .. John T.

  I dunno if that motorcycle headlight law works or not ... February 2007 , 6:30 AM on my way to work on Bag Lady ('76FLH full dress/hand shift/all original - kinda) rollin' down Summer Ave in Memphis with headlight and "passing lamps" - tight beam aircraft landing lights , properly aimed - all on , that drunk "citizen of color" turned left right (RIGHT!) in front of me . RIP Bag Lady , almost RIP Snag .

Not 100% sure but I THINK it ia "all or nothing" There is a lot of programming that can be "hacked" but the dealer setup most likely only enables or disables - and if your state requires DRLs on that year vehicle it may be illegal for them to program them out.

There is no "bill". It's a few lines of computer code today.

I started "day lighting" back in the seventies when I was rallye driving.

The only thing I can';t quite figure out is why they don't just tuenon the full lighting system - INCLUDING tail lights so morons don't drive down the road in the dead of night with only the front lit by the DRLs and no tail lights

As an investigator who follows people, I often like to change the front appearance of the vehicle to throw them off, especially for a subject who may be slightly suspicious. I change from headlight, to DRL to nothing when following. Having the lights off also allows be to slowly sneak up on the side of the street without being noted of my movement. When in gear, the lights always illuminate and I cannot sneak up.

I see this almost nightly. There are several vehicles on the road without taillights every night and the obvious is they don't have the switch set to auto and/or obviously the headlights on.

I've had people apparently fail to see a bright red Volvo White diesel with a 53' trailer in tow. The only difference in that case is they'll be the ones removed from the gene pool.

I ride (and drive) like everyone is trying to kill me.

  We had a '96 Chevy Corsica with DRL's . It had a photocell in the dash that turned on the full set of lights when it got dark enough . Took me a while to become habituated to turning the lights on when we changed cars . The current Toyota 4Runner will turn them off then back on only if you leave the switch on the turnsig stem turned to "on" . Her '09 Harley gives you no option , key is on so are the lights . My 1990 has a separate key switch position .

Hmmm. Well, I guess if I ever do anything which would end up with me feeling slightly suspicious, I'll be sure to be on the the lookout for this new 'givaway' of people who have illegally modified their vehicle wiring.

So if we see anyone doing that, can we be sure it's a 'Dick'?

One *could* call 911 to report a driver suspected to be sufficiently impaired that he does not notice that his legally-required lights are off or malfunctioning.

Even the police won't risk illegally modifying a vehicle, because if an accident happens, they may end up 'at fault'. And your insurance won't cover you if you have made illegal mods.

That may be the case today although I believe some of the schemes require additional circuity.

  It's not so bad up here where we live now , but in Memphis I believe they ARE trying to kill me .

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