are there still people in the usa that think daytime running lights are silly ? or is it just a matter of personal preference? here in canada, we have had DRL's since 1990 . here is an article on daytime running lights >>>http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/drl.html

 

Thanks for your replies! It appears I will learn to live with the headlights on during the daytime! Not that big of a deal for me.

 

YES! You'll notice that on the cited page, the nations that mandate DRLs are in the northern latitudes, where dim natural light conditions are more common. Not dark enough to *need* headlights, not light enough to easily see other vehicles without them. Even here in Minnesota, we don't really get those kind of conditions.

I turn my headlights on when I run on a two-lane highway, I turn them on when I need to run my wipers, I turn them on when it's dark out. Otherwise, they're OFF, as they should be. You used to be able to identify a string of vehicles traveling with their lights on as a funeral procession, now everyone has to run flashers. There was also a holiday... was it 4th of July? Veterans day? I can't remember for sure.

Is there a way to program these cars so that they default to manual control of the lighting systems? Police vehicles don't run DRL's, so it's GOT to be possible, and it's NOT illegal, so why not?

 

I still don't see what the big deal is with turning a knob. Is that not manual control?

 

In the city with almost every vehicle having DRL's, you don't even notice the difference, so whats' the point.

On my Grand Prix, you can pull a fuse and it kills the DRL's/Auto Headlights or unhook a relay and kill just the DRL's. Is there anything like this on the HHR?

 

Can someone post DTRL for the 2006 (with amber) and another like 2008 (with low beam, or whatever is run for DTRL) just for compairison purposes?

 

See post #5 in this thread.

 

In the US it's not illegial and vehicles can be specially ordered with that delete option. I have to do it every year for most law enforcement vehicles, and it is usually only undercover vehicles. Most normal partol cars still use the DRL's, but they can all be turned off as the driver needs.

 

I know it can be done on the Impala because a fleet guy forgot to delete the option when he ordered units for the Dallas police department a few years back.

I seem to remember that it had something to do with disconnecting a certain wire from the connector for the brake switch but I don't remember which one or if that is what we did for sure. I will see if our Shop Foreman remembers what he did when he gets back from vacation next week.

 

I modified the DRL relay and turned mine off completely. I've turned these off on every GM car I have owned since 1995. Remove the relay from the relay center (it's under the hood on the left side near the master cylinder) when you look at it from the top make sure the writing on it is right side up. Bend or remove the upper right prong. reinstall the relay. This works for sure on automatic trans cars. Never done it to a manual trans car.
Later Al