DRL Daytime Running Lamps - Disable Dash Headlight Icon?

[cworet]

I have a 09 with the automatic head lights and windshield wiper.I went to the dealer to have the DLR turned on and was told that it couldn't be done because i have the automatic sensors.Is this a fact?I would rather have the DLR on for safety reasons.Anyone know if this is so?

[SmartDigger]

Originally Posted by cworet

I have a 09 with the automatic head lights and windshield wiper.I went to the dealer to have the DLR turned on and was told that it couldn't be done because i have the automatic sensors.Is this a fact?I would rather have the DLR on for safety reasons.Anyone know if this is so?

Sad but true You can do what I did.... webelectric.com

[thx1200]

Carlarm - I'm tempted to try it when I take my Smart in to get the HVAC thermostat calibrated (mine is a litle bonkers - separate thread). If I get a chance, I'll let you know.

jwight - That's fantastic! Then I have nothing to worry about. Just hard to read my speedo until I turn it on, but everybody can still see me and I'm in compliance with the law (re: license plate light). I just falsely assumed the DRLs only turned on the front lights, like a lot of other models.

SmartChip - Black tape? lol. I wouldn't ruin my baby like that. As I stated, I didn't want the headlight indicator to go away completely. I just was under the false assumption that the taillights didn't come on with the DRLs and wanted an indicator for myself to know when that is the case. But since it seems the DRLs basically just turn on all the lights, all the time, well heck, I have nothing to worry about. :-)

[Black-ohio-brabus]

I wanna get DRL added but my dealership said it cost 200.00!

[jwight]

Originally Posted by Black-ohio-brabus

I wanna get DRL added but my dealership said it cost 200.00!

Cincy? More like $75 - 100 (and that's too high IMHO.)

[thx1200]

Originally Posted by Carlarm

I haven't seen anyone else complain about not being able to turn DRL back on again. But I suspect no one else tried turning them off. I don't know if it makes any difference, but my smart didn't originally come with DRL; I paid $75 for the dealer to install this software option.

I turned them off to see if it made any difference in my gas mileage and whether I seemed to be less visible on the road. I didn't see any difference in MPG. Neither did I see any apparent difference in behavior of other traffic. Never the less I felt uneasy with them off much like I do when I don't have my seat belt buckled.

Interesting side note. I installed the 451 cruise control this wekeend. After reconnecting my battery, my DRLs no longer worked! I followed the instuction for re-enabling them and voila! They came back. Glad you posted that before my install. ;-)

My guess is that some electrical transients from the surge when reconnecting the battery terminals back up caused the "DRLs are on" bit to get flipped. It's not uncommon for cars to act a little wacky after reconnecting the battery as the computer figures things out. That said, it seems the static RAM the Smart uses is a bit more suseptible to getting bits flipped than others. When I installed my amp for my stereo, the transmission did the three bars thing after connecting the battery back up. I did the "teach-in" process in the manual and it came back, so I just assumed the computer got confused about the state of the transmission.

[jetfuel]

Originally Posted by thx1200

Interesting side note. After reconnecting my battery, my DRLs no longer worked! .

..interesting!!!...I disconnected my battery last night to clear a CEL (don't ask) and my DRL came back up upon start...

jetfuel ... see clearly now...

[TMACK]

Originally Posted by Carlarm

Daylight Running Lights

How to Turn off DRL:

1. Engine off
2. Pull the high beam lever
3. push "unlock" on the key remote
4. car beeps - DRL is disabled!

To turn on, press "lock" in step 3.

EXCEPT pressing "lock" in step 3 does not turn them back on again!

This from a 07Jun09 thread/post:
Drl switch function

---

Confirmed: On a 2009 Passion Coupe with "factory option" DRLs, with the engine off, the high beam stalk pulled and held, the LOCK fob depressed results in a single beep. The DRLs are now turned off.

To turn on, the same procedure, (engine off again; this does not work with the engine running), pull and hold the beam stalk and depress the UNLOCK for again another single beep. The DRLs are now turned back on.


Now, let me get this straight: I was under the impression that for $50 I was getting discrete runnng torches installed. Are y'all implyng that what I got for my money was just someone at the factory or dealership doing a soft switch-on of a hardware feature all Fourtwo's have

[thx1200]

Originally Posted by TMACK

This from a 07Jun09 thread/post:
Drl switch function

---

Confirmed: On a 2009 Passion Coupe with "factory option" DRLs, with the engine off, the high beam stalk pulled and held, the LOCK fob depressed results in a single beep. The DRLs are now turned off.

To turn on, the same procedure, (engine off again; this does not work with the engine running), pull and hold the beam stalk and depress the UNLOCK for again another single beep. The DRLs are now turned back on.


Now, let me get this straight: I was under the impression that for $50 I was getting discrete runnng torches installed. Are y'all implyng that what I got for my money was just someone at the factory or dealership doing a soft switch-on of a hardware feature all Fourtwo's have

Distinct torches? No. A bit disappointing, I agree. That said, IMHO it's better than automatic lights because, frankly, what's the point of ever turning them off? Why ever want to make yourself less visible? :-D

$50 enabling fee? Well, yes, technically, but it's unclear if just anybody can enable them on any 09 Smart, but I'm betting no as well.

It appears that the "DRL" program cannot be enabled on a non-DRL Smart by performing those procedures (but this is based on the many reports of "it didn't work for me" posts I see in the forums when searching). So, I think it only works if you bought the DRL option. That means that although that procedure is good for enabling/disabling if you have them, it doesn't give you them if you haven't paid -- well, unless they messed up and programmed the computer to allow you to enable them in the first place. :-D

[thx1200]

Originally Posted by jetfuel

..interesting!!!...I disconnected my battery last night to clear a CEL (don't ask) and my DRL came back up upon start...

jetfuel ... see clearly now...

First time for me too. I have disconnected my battery a total of eight times now during various mods/tweaks/etc regarding my stereo and now cruise control. Of those times, one time the transmission got confused and needed to be taught-in and right after installing 451, the DRLs disabled. It was probably just random luck, but at first I thought the 451 wasn't compatible with DRLs. Clearly, that's not the case, but I was worried. :-)