Disabling DRL? Only with a Ford dealer?

[Mehcoib]

hi,

 

(too bad we can't do searches with less than 4 characters words... I'm sorry if this topic has already been discussed here, just give me the link!)

 

I'm living in Canada, so my '14 FFH comes with DRL and I can't just switch them off from onboard computer.

 

Why do I want to switch them off?

1. at the end of the day people (and me) forget to switch their regular lights on because you see enough with DRL. Unfortunately DRL don't turn rear lights on, which is very unsafe after sunset

2. I ALWAYS turn my parking lights on, so that I am visible from front and rear

3. I'm planning to install HID and despite I found DRL-compatible HID kits I'll have more choice if my DRL are disabled

4. having the DRL on drains power from the battery

 

Just for your information before you ask why I want DRL off ;-)

 

My questions: where can I have my DRL disabled? I guess no Ford dealer in Canada will accept to do it? Maybe an independent mechanic? But will he have the Ford program to do it? Maybe my best chance would be to go to a US Ford dealer? Again, will they accept since I have a canadian car?

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

[SteveB_TX]

Interesting question. You can bet since they are required in Canada that a dealer there will not turn them off. As for a USA dealer? Maybe if you ask reaaaaaal nice. :) I must assume you don't have auto headlamps since you mention you have to turn them on after sunset. ????

Edited June 4, 2014 by SteveB_TX

[Mehcoib]

Interesting question. You can bet since they are required in Canada that a dealer there will not turn them off. As for a USA dealer? Maybe if you ask reaaaaaal nice. :) I must assume you don't have auto headlamps since you mention you have to turn them on after sunset. ????

 

um... I think I DO have auto headlamps (not every Fusion?) but DRL will still switch headlamps at 30% during the day => not good for an efficient battery use. But you're right, if I ask really nice to a US dealer...

[corncobs]

I had my DRLs enabled to add safety so your request is kinda odd to me and as far as battery efficiency goes not that I have noticed any disadvantage.

 

I would say you can waste more gas but jump starting a traffic light with some good open throttle than with the DRLs enabled.

[Mehcoib]

I had my DRLs enabled to add safety so your request is kinda odd to me and as far as battery efficiency goes not that I have noticed any disadvantage.

 

Here in Canada DRL are mandatory which means all cars have this feature. But all cars don't have auto lights. I drive a lot and EVERYDAY I see cars with DRL on and taillights off after sunset because drivers don't think to switch their lights on. I think it's more dangerous to have the taillights off at night than head lamps off during the day. If you don't have DRL activated then you will think to switch your lights on at night, just because you won't see enough with your head lamps off.

 

This was my 1st point. 2nd point is that thousands of hours with head lamps on = a lot of energy I'd rather spend in EV mode.

 

When I got my Nissan Sentra 1st thing I did was to switch the DRL off (easy: 1 fuse), to replace regular parking lights with LEDs, and to add fog LEDs. Those fog LEDs + parking lights are always on (so people can see me), my taillights are always on, and at night I switch manually my head lamps on because the front LEDs are not powerful enough.

 

When DRL will be LEDs-only and include taillights, I won't switch them off.

 

 

I would say you can waste more gas but jump starting a traffic light with some good open throttle than with the DRLs enabled.

 

true. That's why I don't do that.

[Mehcoib]

and as said in this article, "They obscure the directional signal lights" => when you look at your rear mirrors, you usually don't see the turn signal of the vehicule behind if its head lamps are on. Except for those cars which have one of their head lamps off when turn signal is on.

[corncobs]

See for me auto head lamps would be mantory no exception. I drove home a bit later than usual and for every 20 cars there is on without any lights.

 

In such a case I take DRLs with no rear lights over no lights at all.

[GrySql]

I did that thing when I first got my DRL's, drove at night because I had the light switch set to Manual.

I've never had an issue since I set it to Auto. During the day my headlights come on in the garage but shut off as soon as I back out.

 

If Canadian law says your car has to have them I'd be a little worried if an accident occurred and that was pointed out as part of the cause, meaning, low visibility because you circumvented the safety equipment.

 

[corncobs]

and as said in this article, "They obscure the directional signal lights" => when you look at your rear mirrors, you usually don't see the turn signal of the vehicule behind if its head lamps are on. Except for those cars which have one of their head lamps off when turn signal is on.

OK that one you need to explain! I would agree for cars opposite to you but cars behind you I don't care what they do?

[Mehcoib]

OK that one you need to explain! I would agree for cars opposite to you but cars behind you I don't care what they do?

 

I do. I want to have as much information as possible so that no surprise.

 

here's an example: you are in left lane, another car is in right lane, behind you. You both want to go to the middle lane. If you don't see his turn signal you might be in danger.

[SteveB_TX]

No worries about that in the US. Drivers here have no friggin clue what a turn signal is! ;)

[corncobs]

No worries about that in the US. Drivers here have no friggin clue what a turn signal is! ;)

You hit the nail on the head Steve!

[Mehcoib]

If Canadian law says your car has to have them I'd be a little worried if an accident occurred and that was pointed out as part of the cause, meaning, low visibility because you circumvented the safety equipment.

 

 

Canadian law does not say your head lamps have to be on => some stock cars only have fogs or some kind of strong parking lights. And this is fine since they will have to turn their lights on at night. That's what I do too, I don't drive with no light, I do have some front lights on, just not head lamps.

[Mehcoib]

No worries about that in the US. Drivers here have no friggin clue what a turn signal is! ;)

 

unfortunatly same here in Canada! But sometimes, someone somewhere find the command and use it... so I don't want to miss it!

 

edit: I don't know why the hell I wrote "find" instead of "want"... :detective:

Edited June 4, 2014 by Mehcoib

[Waldo]

and as said in this article, "They obscure the directional signal lights" => when you look at your rear mirrors, you usually don't see the turn signal of the vehicule behind if its head lamps are on. Except for those cars which have one of their head lamps off when turn signal is on.

 

Your 2014 Fusion does turn off the headlamps when you use the turn signals, at least my 2014 does.

 

Please, please please, do me a favour (note Canadian spelling) and do not turn off your DRLs. People like me that will be driving towards you really, really, want to see them. The electricity consumed to power them up is really very small. The electricity used to power the parking lamps and tailamps is likely more than the DRLs alone. The DRLs on your car are not for you, they are for me. The fact that you would rather save a little bit of electricity over concern about my safety bugs me.

 

I have the unique circumstance of driving in both the US and Canada every day. From my observations the number of people in Canada driving around in the dark with just their DRLs on is exactly the same as the number of people driving around in the US without any lights on at the same time. So I say the theory that people see light from the DRL and assume all lights are on is BS. In the city you can't tell that you have any lights on anyway.

 

Leave your DRLs on, put your headlamp switch in Auto and never, ever, ever worry about it.

[Easy Rider]

 

um... I think I DO have auto headlamps (not every Fusion?) but DRL will still switch headlamps at 30% during the day => not good for an efficient battery use. But you're right, if I ask really nice to a US dealer...

 

If you have auto headlights, you might be creating your own problem........by NOT leaving the switch in the AUTO position.

 

Having your tail lights on in the daytime is NOT a safer thing to do because it makes your brake lights and rear turn signals LESS visible.

 

And running the DRLs might consume a gallon of gas over.......maybe 10 years.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Easy Rider

[Mehcoib]

 

Your 2014 Fusion does turn off the headlamps when you use the turn signals, at least my 2014 does.

 

Please, please please, do me a favour (note Canadian spelling) and do not turn off your DRLs. People like me that will be driving towards you really, really, want to see them. The electricity consumed to power them up is really very small. The electricity used to power the parking lamps and tailamps is likely more than the DRLs alone. The DRLs on your car are not for you, they are for me. The fact that you would rather save a little bit of electricity over concern about my safety bugs me.

 

I have the unique circumstance of driving in both the US and Canada every day. From my observations the number of people in Canada driving around in the dark with just their DRLs on is exactly the same as the number of people driving around in the US without any lights on at the same time. So I say the theory that people see light from the DRL and assume all lights are on is BS. In the city you can't tell that you have any lights on anyway.

 

Leave your DRLs on, put your headlamp switch in Auto and never, ever, ever worry about it.

 

OK, I'll switch my DRL off and I'll try not to drive when you're around :dance:

[Mehcoib]

Guys, initial question was not "should I switch my DRL off or not" but how can I do it?

 

Anyway, I guess I'll give a try with some Ford dealers and independent mechanics, either here in Canada or in US... I calculated that a round trip to the closest US city will only cost me $13 with this beautiful car :wub: ... and a lot of pleasure!

Edited June 4, 2014 by Mehcoib

[Waldo]

Guys, initial question was not "should I switch my DRL off or not" but how can I do it?

 

Anyway, I guess I'll give a try with some Ford dealers and independent mechanics, either here in Canada or in US... I calculated that a round trip to the closest US city will only cost me $13 with this beautiful car :wub: ... and a lot of pleasure!

 

That's about $8 more than it will cost you to run the DRLs for the life of the car...

 

But to answer your question, yes it has to be done with a dealer's scan tool. There may be independent mechanics out there that have purchased Ford's tools, but they are expensive so it would have to be a fairly large shop. I've certainly heard of some people in the US who had cars that had DRL enabled from the factory (as part of a fleet sale) that were able to have it turned off, but I don't know if there is some "lock" on Canadian vehicles that would prevent the dealer's scan tool from turning it off without some sort of special password.

 

Also I saw a Chinese version of the Fusion (Mondeo) today that had LED DRLs very similar to the current US Escape. Something you might consider as a mod in the longer term.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Waldo

[Mehcoib]

just wondering how you can be that precise... and you forget I'll have to PAY to get those DRL switched off!!

 

anyway, I won't go only to disable the DRLs, a lot of items are cheaper in US ;)

[Easy Rider]

OK, so one thing I don't understand here......besides the stubborn insistence that you ARE going to do it, good advice being ignored........

What's going to happen when the RCMP stops you for something else and notices that your DRLs don't work ?

Do they not write tickets for that kind of thing ??

 

Did you get the part about tail lights in the day time being a BAD idea ??

Do you care if any of this is a bad idea ??

 

It appears not.

 

P.S. When you ask a question in a forum like this, most people will give you the best advice that they know.

Sometimes the best advice IS: Don't do it.

 

You are free to ignore any and all replies but suggesting that people stop giving an honest answer is just rude and impractical.

[Waldo]

To be fair, I believe the laws are written such that DRLs must be installed on any vehicle sold in Canada and must be working when the vehicle is registered. I don't think the law actually states that DRLs must be on at all times when you are driving on the roads. After all, would that mean that all Americans visiting Canada would be vulnerable to getting a ticket?

[SteveB_TX]

And there we have it. He-who-shall-not-be-named strikes again!

[Easy Rider]

After all, would that mean that all Americans visiting Canada would be vulnerable to getting a ticket?

 

After all.......It would be a simple matter to make it apply ONLY to vehicles with a Canadian registration and driver, would it not ??

 

But assuming that you are right, that answers the question.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Easy Rider

[Mehcoib]

What's going to happen when the RCMP stops you for something else and notices that your DRLs don't work ?

Do they not write tickets for that kind of thing ??

 

Did you get the part about tail lights in the day time being a BAD idea ??

Do you care if any of this is a bad idea ??

 

It appears not.

 

P.S. When you ask a question in a forum like this, most people will give you the best advice that they know.

Sometimes the best advice IS: Don't do it.

 

You are free to ignore any and all replies but suggesting that people stop giving an honest answer is just rude and impractical.

 

I think you need to read post #5 once again: I DO HAVE SOME FRONT LIGHTS TURNED ON on my other car. So RCMP won't bother me about DRL, since I do have lights, and since there's many cars here in Canada without any front light on.

 

I didn't mean to be rude, but you also need to read post #1 once again: I never ask "should I turn my DRL off or not?", I asked "HOW can I get my DRL turned off?". So far only SteveB_TX gave me an answer, all the others were off-topic.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Mehcoib