# How to disable DRLs



## Mrhawaiibound (Jan 12, 2014)

I installed oem fogs on my LS and I wired them to work on a separate switch so I could use those as DRL's and I disabled the factory DRL by taking the switch apart and removing the silver spring on the inside. My switch stays in the off position so everytime I start my car it shuts the DRL off automatically.


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## iTz SADISTIK (Apr 6, 2014)

^ that or a ECU reprogram but I'm rather positive this can't be done...


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## Mrhawaiibound (Jan 12, 2014)

The higher end Camaro's with the projectors and HID's have that feature stock. The fogs are used as the DRL's. I wanted to follow in those footsteps except my fogs are just on all the time. I really like how sensitive the light sensors are on those though. Right when it senses darkness it turns the headlights on. It seems like ours takes years in darkness before it turns on..


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## iTz SADISTIK (Apr 6, 2014)

Yup and a long time for the dash to be illuminated in early morning.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

If you take the spring out of the switch you lose auto headlights though, correct? I'm sure the wife would not be happy with that...

I had an idea that might work. I can run an upgrade harness like Xtreme posted and trigger the lows via the parking lights instead of the lows wire. This would disable parking lights without headlights but who cares. However, it would also keep power to the lows when the highs are on. This is not a problem with my truck or Beretta...I've already done the 4-hi wiring on those, but those have separate bulbs for high & low. Would that be an issue with the H13 Cruze bulbs? I assume there is not power to both when the highs are on stock, but I can check quick with my test light and verify.


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## Mrhawaiibound (Jan 12, 2014)

No, no. My Auto function still works. Just switch it over to Auto at night and when I drive in the morning I switch it back off. All the functions still work just fine, but you're just not forced to have the lights in auto anymore.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

She will want to keep it so she doesn't have to turn any switches though..guaranteed.

Ok, the high beams do drop out the lows in stock form, and they do share a ground. But they still might be ok at the same time, especially with the upgrade harness.


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## Mrhawaiibound (Jan 12, 2014)

Oh yeah the upgrade + a better bulb will make a huge difference. I wanted to do it that way too but i just didn't wanna lose the functionality of the highs incase i had to use em to signal someone. But that way works too.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

Oh the highs will still work, just the lows won't turn off when the highs come on. I did the same thing on other cars and it's great...the visibility is awesome. Since the Cruze shares a ground for the 2 circuits I'll just have to make sure it's big enough to handle the current.


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

No way to do this without pulling the spring. I did all the research and it was really the only option. So have to manually switch on the lights - who cares. At least I'm not waste the life of my hid bulbs on drls.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

I just realized if I trigger the lows with the parking lights rather than the lows wire I will lose the courtesy lights when you unlock the car too.


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## Mrhawaiibound (Jan 12, 2014)

Wouldn't the parking lights kick it on when you use the courtesy lights?


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## dhpnet (Mar 2, 2014)

I like the idea of removing the spring so that you can either leave them off or leave them on auto. I might do this. On the Saturn S seriies you could just bend a pin on the relay to disable the DRLs completely. I wonder if something like this would be possible on the Cruze.


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## Mrhawaiibound (Jan 12, 2014)

dhpnet said:


> I like the idea of removing the spring so that you can either leave them off or leave them on auto. I might do this. On the Saturn S seriies you could just bend a pin on the relay to disable the DRLs completely. I wonder if something like this would be possible on the Cruze.


I don't think it'll be that simple on the Cruze. Once the light sensor detects light it sends a low voltage signal to the BCM and that activates the DRL. No fuse or relay for it.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

Yup, the wire directly to the headlight for lows and DRL is shared.

I did check today though and saw the parking lights do come on for courtesy...I hadnt noticed that before. So that could still be a good option.


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## 11LTZ (Jun 26, 2014)

Hey Woody! Surprised to see a member from GMT400 on here haha. I'm 93SierraWT over on the 400 forums. I haven't been active over there in ages but you may remember me by my truck: 










(Sorry for the off-topic post)


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

Mrhawaiibound said:


> I don't think it'll be that simple on the Cruze. Once the light sensor detects light it sends a low voltage signal to the BCM and that activates the DRL. No fuse or relay for it.


Exactly - so unless you know how to program the BCM, you're stuck with just removing the spring.


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## 2014cruse+ls (Jun 26, 2014)

so how does one remove the spring and that will leave me with the auto on function if i choose right? and would taking the car to the chevy house be of any use? or giving them a call about it? to see if they can change the computer setting to make it not come on. 

on the gmas 10 cadi dts her drl is setup as parking lights come on in drive. vs my headlights come on in drive. (just saying)


thank yall.


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

If the dealer can do this, they will charge possibly half an hr or an hour labor if they know where to look. In daytime, most GM vehicles kill DRL if you have parking brake on and kills auto lights at night if parking brake is on before you turn the car on. Nighttime doesn't work for the newer vehicles, this was mostly those cars like the 98-05 Buick century/Regal where you had 0 ability to turn your lights off at all at night. The only fix to that was a resistor in line of the light sensor going to the BCM making it think it was always light outside.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

I unplugged the headlights and drove around my dead end street with no error messages, so it looks like a relay activated by the parking lights will work great! The only thing you will lose vs the stock configuration is the DRL (obviously) and the ability to turn your parking lights on without the headlights. Not a big deal there IMO.


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## Danny5 (Dec 22, 2011)

This is a great idea, but so many questions! Will I be able to flash to pass? Seems like a wiring nightmare...


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## nick993 (Dec 30, 2013)

I believe flash to pass engages the high beam. This a great idea, what relay did you use?


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## bscabl (Jul 3, 2014)

Mrhawaiibound said:


> View attachment 91922
> 
> 
> I installed oem fogs on my LS and I wired them to work on a separate switch so I could use those as DRL's and I disabled the factory DRL by taking the switch apart and removing the silver spring on the inside. My switch stays in the off position so everytime I start my car it shuts the DRL off automatically.


how hard was this to do?


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## Danny5 (Dec 22, 2011)

So I spent a lot of time thinking about this. And I believe I have a solution. But... There is one minor problem with my idea, and that is you cannot turn on the parking lights by themselves. Think about how many times you want JUST your parking lights on, and then decide if this modification is right for you.

Currently I have HIDs in my stock lights. They work via a relay from the stock harness. Get a signal from the low beam, relay turns on and headlights light up. It's important to note that this will ONLY work with a relay. So if you want to make this modification on the stock headlights, you will need to buy a relay to make this work.

Step one, CUT the low beam wire. Tape it up, put a crimp plug on it, do whatever. Set aside this wire if you are going to use a DRL setup that is NOT your headlights. If you haven't installed the relay yet, you want to now. The output from the relay should be powering the low beam on both sides of the car.

Now, you need a signal. Tap your parking lights and run a wire to the input on the relay. The one that triggers the relay on or off. Now your headlights will only come on when your parking lights come on. This, conveniently, happens when it gets dark enough out to trigger the auto lights.

One more piece, you may need is the ability to flash your high beams. Useful during the day time to signal people in front of you, or when passing. You'll need a diode, like this. Connect the input of the diode to your high beam power wire, and the output of the diode to the input of your relay. This will allow the low beam to fire when you hit your high beam switch. H13 halogen bulbs have two filaments in them that ignite when your high beams are on, and H13 HID bulbs change position. If you plan on running halogens, then you can probably leave out this step as you will still get some light when flashing with your headlights off.

The diode prevents the parking lights from back charging the highbeams, while allowing you to light the headlights with the highbeam signal. Genius!

Now, if you want your fog lights to act as DRLs, or say you have LEDs down there like I do, or you installed Halo's or whatever, you can connect these lights to your unused low beam wire. The lights will light up as if they were your headlights and be on when the car is on. 

I may tackle this when it cools down. I get pretty wiped out when the garage is 110 degrees...


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## GVR4 (Jun 14, 2014)

I hate the DRL's as much as anyone does, but why don't you just turn them off via the headlight switch? When the car is running turn it from auto to off and back to auto (you will notice the DRL green light on the dash turn off). This is now second nature to me. I have never looked but know that in other cars just pull out the DRL fuse and/or relay.


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## 2014cruse+ls (Jun 26, 2014)

GVR4 said:


> I hate the DRL's as much as anyone does, but why don't you just turn them off via the headlight switch? When the car is running turn it from auto to off and back to auto (you will notice the DRL green light on the dash turn off). This is now second nature to me. I have never looked but know that in other cars just pull out the DRL fuse and/or relay.


the light on the dash is to show you that your headlights are on. parking lights included. the drl will not cause that light to light up. 

but yes i turn mine off every time i start my car. then back to auto or park lights when needed.


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## cruzinred92 (Dec 4, 2013)

2014cruse+ls said:


> the light on the dash is to show you that your headlights are on. parking lights included. the drl will not cause that light to light up.
> 
> but yes i turn mine off every time i start my car. then back to auto or park lights when needed.


In some they have a separate light for the Drl's. My brothers 12 eco has a drl dedicated light where my 12 eco doesnt. Apparently there was a mid year change that made it inop. There's a light on the rpm gauge that lights when the parking lights come on. The only light that shows just the headlights being on was the drl light that was discontinued. 
 the red circle is the drl indicator light here. 

The red circle here is on the parking light. Hope that helps


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## jjducky (Oct 22, 2013)

I wired my LED DRLs to the side marker lights and just turn them on/off when I drive. It wasnt hard and I dont get carpel tunnel when I use the switch at all. It turns very easily in fact. <sarcasm btw.... LOL


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## 2014cruse+ls (Jun 26, 2014)

cruzinred92 said:


> In some they have a separate light for the Drl's. My brothers 12 eco has a drl dedicated light where my 12 eco doesnt. Apparently there was a mid year change that made it inop. There's a light on the rpm gauge that lights when the parking lights come on. The only light that shows just the headlights being on was the drl light that was discontinued.
> the red circle is the drl indicator light here.
> 
> The red circle here is on the parking light. Hope that helps


thanks
i just noticed that light icon, it wasnt lit, and it was on the rpm side. here the other day when the sun wash shining on the gauges. strange i never seen that light before? maybe its a older cruze thing? mid 12 below.


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## 2014RS (Jul 5, 2014)

I want to be able to run all the lights, including the fogs, except the DRL


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## tdc (Jan 24, 2014)

iTz SADISTIK said:


> ^ that or a ECU reprogram but I'm rather positive this can't be done...


I too am constantly turning the DRLs off during the day. ¿Why waste power that way?, I ask myself. 
I was thinking the same thing you mention here: ECU re-program. ¿Not possible? Too bad. 
There's prob some way, at startup, to negate the control signal to the on relay (that runs the DRLs). But then one may lose the automatic sensing of daylight function. ¿Are the DRLs run off a separate on relay (than the regular headlights)? (Removing this relay is then a solution). Comments welcome. Thank you. tdc


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## 2014RS (Jul 5, 2014)

Can you hook up a scan tool and disable them? Or is there s fuse you can take out?


2014 LT2 RS, 1999 F-150 FX4 Longhorn lifted


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## gfraser (Jul 28, 2014)

what's a DRL?


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## money_man (Feb 25, 2014)

Daytime running lights


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## giantsnation (Oct 11, 2012)

You guys are over complicating this - just pull the spring from the headlight switch. That'll keep it in "off", and then when its dark, turn it to on.


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## 2014RS (Jul 5, 2014)

How do you get to the spring?


2014 LT2 RS, 1999 F-150 FX4 Longhorn lifted


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## 2014RS (Jul 5, 2014)

Or is there a something you can do with the e-brake sensor?


2014 LT2 RS, 1999 F-150 FX4 Longhorn lifted


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## DMC1.4LTurbo (Sep 29, 2014)

The spring is located in the switch. You need to remove it from the dash and take it apart. There are 6 tabs holding it in place, but you need to remove the chrome ring that indicates the position of the switch first. Just grab the edges with your fingers and push the center in with your thumbs.

Also, does anyone have a photo of a switch with fogs taken apart to the pcb? I wonder if it is possible to put a simple push button in the non-fog oem switch. Thanks


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Moved to Audio & Electronics section. This thread does not belong in the How-To Library.


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## Dave1987 (Nov 21, 2014)

Find this step-by-step tutorial may help you: how to disable DRLs with tech2 scanner


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## DMC1.4LTurbo (Sep 29, 2014)

Did this work for you? I saw in a separate thread that the tech2 scanner wouldn't fix this issue. 

See post by Damitz in http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/36-a...anent-via-headlight-switch-2.html#post1595314


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## Dave1987 (Nov 21, 2014)

yes, it works. If it does not work, i suppose it was the tech2 itself (quality)

but if it can disable drls permanently, i am not sure


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

Ok, I got this figured out a while back and never posted anything about it. I did the harness and triggered the lows with the parking light circuit. Also has highs and lows on when the high is selected. And it all works just as I wanted without ever touching the headlight switch. Pretty awesome. I'll get some pictures up and a how-to soon...I have some more screwing around to do with the wife's car now that I bought her some leather seats. haha


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

So here is a write up:

I went on ebay and bought connectors for the turn signal bulb in the headlight: male & female. This made my tap into the parking circuit plug & play just like the high beam tap from the H13 headlight connector. I took the low beam tap out of the H13 connector and used the parking light circuit. So the lows only come on when the auto headlights turn on the parking circuit. The lows stay on when the highs are on too...so night visibility is better. I connected the load side of the relay to the battery junction block and the grounds to factory ground posts throughout the engine bay. I put the relays right next to the battery. Drilled no holes in the car and cut no wires in the factory harness. 100% plug & play.

From there it's easy for the DRLs. I just used a fuse tap in a switched 12v source. So key on = DRLs on.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

woody13eco said:


> I went on ebay and bought connectors for the turn signal bulb in the headlight: male & female.


Link please! (Pretty please!) That's exactly how I want to do my project.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

giantsnation said:


> You guys are over complicating this - just pull the spring from the headlight switch. That'll keep it in "off", and then when its dark, turn it to on.


What year/model do you have? I have the 2014 Diesel and this doesn't work. I didn't remove the spring yet, all I did was hold the switch to the far left position (the power option), and it didn't keep the DRLs off when driving. As soon as I put it into anything but Park the DRLs still turn on.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Shop manual sure isn't of any help, circuit diagram shows both brights in a parallel with each with a ten amp fuse in series. Hooked to a relay contact directly up to 12V, use to use the brights for DRL's, this is a switch.

Each dim bulb is connected to ground and terminate in a rectangular box called the BMC, only description is a very short paragraph is when DRL's are called for, apply a low voltage, don't even give the spec for this voltage. Assuming when night time voltage is called for, this voltage is high. With a 10.4 amp full load, doubt if they are using a resistor or a linear power supply to reduce the DRL voltage. Bet is using pulse width modulation, digging out a scope would verify this. Incandescent bulbs tend to double their life with each 10% decrease in voltage. If running 50% should be around 32 times their normal life, least in theory.

Could take apart the BCM and try to make my own circuit of it, ha, this would be a chore. HID's put on quite the surge load you don't see with incandescents, but haven't heard of anyone blowing their BCM. Know that just one click on the parking brake kills the DRL's with a MT, dash brake light comes on that can be ignored, but that warning alarm would drive on nuts.

Only two wires from a switched ground go to the BCM from the headlamp switch, they are not identified, matter of fact, nothing is. Really don't like playing around unless I know what I am doing. DRL's are not law, least not yet, worthless in the super bright sun and they must consider us as stupid for not switching on our headlamps, when fog or twilight calls for them.

Not nice to be considered as stupid.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

LiveTrash said:


> all I did was hold the switch to the far left position (the power option),


Far left on a 2013 LTZ is "off". And putting it there, even momentary turns everything off.


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## rportillo89 (Nov 20, 2015)

woody13eco said:


> So here is a write up:
> 
> I went on ebay and bought connectors for the turn signal bulb in the headlight: male & female. This made my tap into the parking circuit plug & play just like the high beam tap from the H13 headlight connector. I took the low beam tap out of the H13 connector and used the parking light circuit. So the lows only come on when the auto headlights turn on the parking circuit. The lows stay on when the highs are on too...so night visibility is better. I connected the load side of the relay to the battery junction block and the grounds to factory ground posts throughout the engine bay. I put the relays right next to the battery. Drilled no holes in the car and cut no wires in the factory harness. 100% plug & play.
> 
> From there it's easy for the DRLs. I just used a fuse tap in a switched 12v source. So key on = DRLs on.


hey woody13eco,

I've been looking at this all day and have tried to diagram how I would wire everything but apparently I'm not smart enough. 
Anyway you can post a detailed explanation or maybe a diagram as to how you wired everything and what kind of adapters you used? 

look forward to your response. thanks!


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

It's simple. 

Unplug the factory plugs from the headlights.

Wire in the relay harness. (High beam circuit is triggered by the factory headlight plug. Low beam circuit is triggered by the parking light circuit. Run both load circuits to the battery and the grounds to ground.)

Plug the relay harness plugs into the headlights.

For the new DRL you just wire the trigger circuit to a switched 12V. These ones I got also have a circuit to turn them back off with the headlights on if you want - would just need to tap them to the parking light circuit.

I used fuse taps and OEM plugs to keep from cutting any of the stock wiring.


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

woody13eco said:


> It's simple.
> 
> Unplug the factory plugs from the headlights.
> 
> ...


Anywhere in specific you bought this OEM plug harnesses? Or was it just a local shop you got them from?


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## Colink82 (Apr 10, 2015)

Hey Woody, would it be possible to sketch a wiring diagram? I've been trying to do this for a while, move the DRL's to the parking lights.
Nothing fancy, just trying to wrap my head around it and am missing something.


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## Colink82 (Apr 10, 2015)

Okay, I think I figured it out. Questions though, are you using 1 relay per headlight? And are you using SPST?

Livetrash, here is want you need. H13 connector with male/female connector. This is what I'll be ordering

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1x-H13-9008...m2a331f6651:m:mmpRuUTBBmCodiS8YBrYf0A&vxp=mtr


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## rportillo89 (Nov 20, 2015)

woody13eco said:


> It's simple.
> 
> Unplug the factory plugs from the headlights.
> 
> ...


Perfect!

Thanks, I was pretty sure I had it but wasn't certain. I'll try to get to making my harness within the next week, currently getting my series 6 and 63 so that's consumed my life for the last month. 
I'll take detailed pictures of what I do and report back with somewhat of a write up. 

Thanks again woody13eco!


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## LiveTrash (May 24, 2015)

rportillo89 said:


> So Here's a very simple diagram I put together using a generic hid relay diagram found online.
> I have yet to test this out, but it looks to me like this is similar to what woody13eco did except I'm incorporating HIDs.
> 
> As far as the wiring diagram for the actual LED DRLs...as mentioned before, its simple so I don't think that's needed.
> ...


If you're referring to the front sidemarker lights on the bumper, they're only on when the parking lights are on.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

During the day ONLY the low beam headlights are on at low power.

One concern I have about that diagram is it seems to tie the low beam and parking light output of the BMC together. That may trigger some complaints (codes).


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## rportillo89 (Nov 20, 2015)

ChevyGuy said:


> During the day ONLY the low beam headlights are on at low power.
> 
> One concern I have about that diagram is it seems to tie the low beam and parking light output of the BMC together. That may trigger some complaints (codes).


ChevyGuy, I get what you mean. I did mess up on that one.
woody13eco did mention to run both load of low beam and parking lights to relay I just didn't show it. 

I'll update it once I get some more spare time.
Just trying to make something so that others down the line can easily do this without searching for days!

Thanks LiveTrash, rules out that option.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

The OEM low beam wiring is unhooked from anything. I cut the low beam wire from the headlight plug on the relay harness and spliced it into the parking light circuit. Take a closer look at the pic here, it is the white wire:









The parking light circuit comes on with the auto headlights, so that's why the auto headlight feature still works without the OEM low beam wire being hooked to anything.

The relay harness I got from Amazon, it is the same one linked in some other threads...here is the link again:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MA5AXO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 
I just replaced the yellow sheathing with black to make it disappear.

Here is the breakdown of the connections on that harness.

Red ring terminal - relay load circuit input - to battery
Red ring terminal - relay load circuit input - to battery

Female headlight socket - headlight output - to headlight
Female headlight socket - headlight output - to headlight

Male headlight socket - headlight circuit input - to OEM headlight wiring plug on driver side
Be sure to cut the low beam input wire (white in my case) and tie it into the parking light circuit. You can do this with a wire tap with minimal intrusion on the OEM wiring. This is the easiest route. Or you can get a male & female parking light connector and connect them in a series with the stock wiring and make your splice on your jumper harness. That is the route I went, but the male plug had to be modified to accept wires, which took careful soldering and liquid electrical tape to keep it insulated.

The new DRL part is easy, just find a circuit in the fuse box that is only on with the key and use a fuse tap.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

Colink82 said:


> Hey Woody, would it be possible to sketch a wiring diagram? I've been trying to do this for a while, move the DRL's to the parking lights.
> Nothing fancy, just trying to wrap my head around it and am missing something.


This won't work the way I did it. I unhooked the low beam wire to disable to DRLs, and in order to have low beams at night, I tied the relay trigger to the auto parking lights.

If you wanted to delete the DRLs you could not trigger the lows with the parking lights if you want the parking lights on as DRLs. You would have to figure something else to trigger them with.



Colink82 said:


> Okay, I think I figured it out. Questions though, are you using 1 relay per headlight? And are you using SPST?
> 
> Livetrash, here is want you need. H13 connector with male/female connector. This is what I'll be ordering
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/1x-H13-9008...m2a331f6651:m:mmpRuUTBBmCodiS8YBrYf0A&vxp=mtr



I'm using one harness as posted above, which uses two relays (hi and low) that is split to both headlights. The harness you posted won't do what you want.


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## woody13eco (Jan 20, 2013)

Here are the how-to pictures for modifying the parking light plug.

Cut it apart.

Solder the wires in the correct pins.

Seal with liquid elec tape.

Ugly? Yes, but it means zero harm to the OEM harness.


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## Colink82 (Apr 10, 2015)

Where did you get those parking light connectors? Cant seem to find them, is there a certain part #?


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