Stereo & Electronics - Daytime running lamp bypass

Does anyone know how I could bypass my daytime running lamps, but still have them work for blinkers and with the headlights on? The vehicle is a '97 T/A. Thanks.

If your's is an auto like mine, you can simply pull out the blue plug from the DRL module (you'll need to remove the radio first to gain access to the DRL module). If it's a manual, there's a different approach to it. Not sure where I saw it. I will post when I find it.

The reason it doesn't work on manuals is because the power trunk will no longer work as the brake light will not illuminate on the dash when you pull the parking brake.

The following was taken from www.f-body.org:

The blue connector on the DRL module has eight cavities, but only seven of them are used. Cavity B is empty. I discovered that if that terminal is grounded, your DRLs are disabled. The black wire in cavity A is a ground, so I took the DRL module apart (easy to do, the cover just slips off) and solder-jumpered the A and B terminals on the PCB. This leaves you with no DRLs, you power hatch and handbrake light still works, and it all looks factory. Easy to undo if you want.

Some people have expressed a desire for a switch to select whether you want the DRLs or not. This is very easy to do. All you need to do is put a switch inline with the wire that's jumping cavity A and cavity B, and that's it. You will not need to be concerned with fuses in this situation because you're jumping a ground, not a hot wire.

something new i learn.by any chance do u wat get damage when ur cabin lights dont work anymore?they told me it can be a sensor or relay behind the glove box

Sorry, but I don't know what you're trying to say.

Why do some people spend so much time on trying to figure out how to disable a safety item?

Don't get Me wrong, but the ambers do look pretty good in the daytime. But I have blackouts on them and I'm going for the blacked out front end look. During the day I want My entire front end to be black, thats all.

wat i trying to state,is that on my camaro all my interior lights use to work and now they dont.ive ask on the forums some members have the same problem and have no clue wat it can be.and i was wondering if any of u guys know something.they told me that it can be some realys or sensors behind the glove box

wat i trying to state,is that on my camaro all my interior lights use to work and now they dont.ive ask on the forums some members have the same problem and have no clue wat it can be.and i was wondering if any of u guys know something.they told me that it can be some realys or sensors behind the glove box
No, replace the COURTESY LPS fuse. Also, check the POWER ACCY fuse.

daytime running lamps look stupid on all cars. Every time I see a c6 during the day I cringe because of the hoaky orange lights. It just doesn't look clean.

Why do some people spend so much time on trying to figure out how to disable a safety item?


Id like to know the same. I really dont understand the people that disable airbags to put in a screen.

I don't agree with disabling safety items such as air bags. In fact, I always wear my seat belt.

But, I agree with whatbrown 100% as I don't like the way cars look with DRL's either. On top of that, the bulbs will last longer once the DRL's are disabled. Lastly, I don't recall seeing any Fords with DRL's. So until they become a requirement on all cars, mine are staying off. They're disabled on my dad's 99 vette as well.

Well, they're not there for you or for your car's looks - they're there for other drivers. It is much easier to see a vehicle with lights on than without (especially in poor visibility - rain, fog, dusk, etc.). Believe me, as a motorcycle rider, I know being as visible as possible is a great safety feature. Even in the car it's nice to see DRLs or even automatic headlights for those people who don't think of putting on their lights when it might difficult for others to see them.

Pull your e-brake up one click, no brakes and no DRL's

...and a "Brake" light on your dash all the time.

if i remember, there is a photo resistor on the top of the dash, take it out, and jump the connector, no more than 5 minutes of work

if i remember, there is a photo resistor on the top of the dash, take it out, and jump the connector, no more than 5 minutes of work
No, that disables the automatic headlights not the DRLs.

oh damn, i'm an idiot..............oh yea, why would you want to disable them then? I can see the headlights, but the DRL's?.........

Pull your e-brake up one click, no brakes and no DRL's
Hmmm, I remember my DRL's remaining on whether the e-brake was on or off. Even if that did work, I wouldn't have turned them off that way.

The brake light on the dash is the only thing htat happens with the E-brake on that low, besides the elimiation of DRL's

Or you can do like me, have your DRL's burn out, then you dont have them....

Only an idiot would remove an airbag to put a TV screen, but give Me a break are the amber DRL's really that neccesary? Besides, aren't We supposed to have our headlights on in poor visibility situations like rain,fog, dust etc. anyways? I could'nt agree with Jeff more.

The brake light on the dash is the only thing htat happens with the E-brake on that low, besides the elimiation of DRL's

Or you can do like me, have your DRL's burn out, then you dont have them....
Oh, I see...your front turn signals are also a safety item that you don't need (DRL and T/S use the same bulbs).

Only an idiot would remove an airbag to put a TV screen, but give Me a break are the amber DRL's really that neccesary? Besides, aren't We supposed to have our headlights on in poor visibility situations like rain,fog, dust etc. anyways? I could'nt agree with Jeff more.
Yes, you're right - you are supposed to use headlights in low visibility. The problem is the many people who don't. They figure "I can see fine why should I use lights" without thinking about whether others can see them.

And what about sunny days driving on a "canopy road" (trees cover the roadway)? It's often hard to see another vehicle with the shifting light filtering through the trees but headlights aren't necessary. That's where DRLs make you more visible.

It's a proven fact that DRLs reduce daytime collisions by between 7 and 11 percent (different countries). For example, Canada compared accident rates between 1989 model cars that don't have DRLs and 1990 models that were required to have them and found an 11 percent difference in frontal daytime collisions.

No offense but if you can't see a car unless it has its lights on in broad daylight you shouldn't be driving anyway.

No offense but if you can't see a car unless it has its lights on in broad daylight you shouldn't be driving anyway.
The point is not whether you see the car but how soon you see it. If DRLs help me notice a car sooner (or help somebody else notice me) then that's an important safety item. How often have you heard about someone cutting off another driver because "I just didn't see them" - it happens a lot even with motorcycles that have their headlights on all the time. With all the traffic these days and the number of fools on the road, I want every advantage I can get.

I agree with racn, thankfully the safety nerds havent gotten to all of us yet. "you'll shoot your eye out" :)

whitebird all my fuses are good

whitebird all my fuses are good
Did you test them, replace them, or just look at them? Sometimes a fuse will look fine but not work. This happened last week when someone else had exactly the same symptoms.

If it's not a fuse then it could be a bad BCM but that doesn't happen very often. There's really not a whole lot that can go wrong with the BCM.

Do the map lights work? If they do then it's not a fuse or power supply problem - it's likely the ground circuit in the BCM (the white wire). If the map lights don't work either then the fuse is the likely cause.

Id like to know the same. I really dont understand the people that disable airbags to put in a screen.

???? I have a screen and didn't disable either airbag. No reason too.

whitebird wats the bcm?and the only way the lights on the rear view mirror work is if i manually turn them on.if i open the doors trunks or move up the dimmer none of the light work.

The BCM is the Body Control Module. It is a black box about the size of a paperback mounted under the dash behind the glovebox. It controls various body functions such as keyless entry, alarm system, and courtesy lights. The white wire is the ground return from the courtesy lights to the BCM. The BCM gradually reduces the ground to provide the "theater dimming" effect of the courtesy lights.

I did the jumper thing, works great. It disables the DRLs and the auto headlights. I'd never disable and airbag, and always wear my seatbelt too.

A big problem with the DRLs in the late Fbodies at least is that GM just decided to turn on the front turn signals constantly, but they weren't originally designed for that. The heat melts the bulb sockets over time. Check yours - I bet they're pretty crusty if you have over 30k mi. How safe are you without turn signals?

I'm trying to figure out where this module is on my Silverado as well so I can turn the headlights off when loading my boat at night, so I don't blind others trying to back down the boat ramp.

What year is your Silverado? Recent models (2004+) should have an OFF position on the headlight switch to disable the automatic headlights. On earlier models you can disable them by pressing the dome override button four times within six seconds while the ignition is on. A chime will sound and the automatic headlights will be disabled until the next time you start the truck.

The DRLs have a separate fuse that you can remove to disable daytime running lights.

mine is a 99 model, and the dome override trick doesn't work on the 99s. :(

On a 99 model you should be able to turn the headlight switch to the Park position and the automatic headlights will shut of leaving just the parking lights on. You can permanently disable the automatic headlights in the same way as an F-body by shorting across the sensor leads (white wire and gray wire). Or you can also disable them by disconnect the white wire in postion A11 of the 24-pin white/gray connector at the BCM. There are two white wires in that connector - the one you want is the one second from the outside edge (not the one close to the middle of the connector). The BCM is mounted under the left side of the dash below the steering column. It has a big harness with three connectors - 24-pin brown, 24-pin white/gray, and 16-pin purple.

I have my DRL's on a switch. I cut the wire leading to the reed switch on the e-brake, ran it to a switch and connected the other lead of the switch to a ground. The switch is installed where the ashtray used to be next to the switch for my LEDs. Sure it makes the brake light illuminate on the dash, but I already had the center console out and haven't bought a new soldering iron yet. So this approach was easiest.

I have my DRL's on a switch. I cut the wire leading to the reed switch on the e-brake, ran it to a switch and connected the other lead of the switch to a ground. The switch is installed where the ashtray used to be next to the switch for my LEDs. Sure it makes the brake light illuminate on the dash, but I already had the center console out and haven't bought a new soldering iron yet. So this approach was easiest.
Problem is that only works if you use the switch before the DRLs first go on. Once the DRLs have turned on they won't turn off by pulling up the parking brake or flipping your switch.

thanks for all the help on the Silverado. i actually followed this write up and put in a resistor on a switch, which worked for a while but then stopped working. http://fullsizechevy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114544

(i've posted there as well)

The resistor isn't necessary (either on your your Silverado or on F-bodies). What happens is that people measure the resistance of the stock photosensor and try to find a matching resistor to replace/bypass it. You'll see wildly varying resistance values posted in various places because of this.

The sensor circuit is a 5-volt loop where the BCM determines daylight by the resistance of the photosensor. The lower the resistance the brighter it is outside. Using a simple jumper wire to bypass the photosensor produces zero resistance which the BCM interprets as full daylight so the automatic headlights never go on. In fact, this is how the factory disabled the automatic headlights in US Firebirds - a jumper replaces the photosensor that is used in Canadian models.

Problem is that only works if you use the switch before the DRLs first go on. Once the DRLs have turned on they won't turn off by pulling up the parking brake or flipping your switch.
I am aware of that and it's really not a problem. I always keep the switch turned off. Each time I start the car and release the brake, the lights stay off. If I want to turn the lights on then I'll flip the switch, but that rarely happens.

Oh, I see...your front turn signals are also a safety item that you don't need (DRL and T/S use the same bulbs).

:jest:

I have a question regarding this DRL Module. Thanks to this Thread I have finally figured out what the heck this box/module is called. The problem that I have is that this thing ticks like a time bomb. It will absolutely stop when you pull up on the parking brake enough to make the warning light come on.
I have an M6 car. I took this thing out and looked at it and can find no obvious problems. Does anyone have any ideas as to what is making this thing tick, literally? Should I just replace it?
Thanks for the help!

I'd bet it's a relay and that's what you hear. Nothing to worry about IMO.

There are four relays inside the DRL module - park lamp, headlamp, left turn, and right turn. It is possible one of those relays is causing the noise although I would expect that there would be other symptoms such as flashing lights. In any case, the DRL module is not serviceable (not by ordinary mechanics - if you're good with electronics and a soldering iron you might be able to work on it) so it has to be replaced as an assembly.

Unfortunately, the module costs over $100 retail at a GM dealer although you can find it somewhat cheaper online.