How to make US DRL's meet cdn standard?

[ogopogo]

hello everyone,I just brought a 1ss rs in from oregon and have it booked for inspection on saturday.I need to know if i can make the DRL's fulltime myself or do i have no choice but to take it to the dealer?I read on another thread here about disconnecting a green wire on the back of the switch but there are actually 2 wires on the back of the light switch.
Apparantly i have to remove all the window tint that a previous owner installed to meet BC inspection as well,should be fun !! Thanks !

[CanadianCamaro]

well.... if I'm not mistaken, I think the difference in the DRLs between the US and Cdn cars is that the US DRLs can be shut-off and will stay off when the car is in gear (i.e. while you're driving). This is done by turning the headlight switch counterclockwise to the spring-loaded portion. In the Cdn cars, doing this does absolutely nothing. So, one would have to think that doing this temporarily interrupts a circut. The green wire referred to may be the feedback wire that does exactly that. Is it on a pin connector? Why don't you disconnect it to see? The inspector might not even know that it does this. If you start the car and put it in gear the DRLs will come on so that may be all they're looking for

[ogopogo]

I actually did disconnect one of the green wires out of the plug today and it made no change,i was still able to turn off the drl's manually.perhaps i have to remove both green wires from the plug.

[RCLapCar]

I could have sworn that the DRL's work the same way no matter where the car is sold. Might want to ask in the general section to see if someone from the US will chime in. Also the off position DOES work for our cars but only when you are in either park or with the engine off (I forget which). You can use the off position to turn off the lights earlier then the built in delay they have.

[RCLapCar]

Originally Posted by ogopogo

I actually did disconnect one of the green wires out of the plug today and it made no change,i was still able to turn off the drl's manually.perhaps i have to remove both green wires from the plug.

Oh you already have the car and the switch does turn them off. Can you try to see if it still does it with the car in gear?

[OUR72GTO]

I did this on two Silverado's from the US for the Fed inspection, then put it back the way it was.

It has to be with the Ebrake off and in drive. This is the # 1 THING THEY CHECK other than tint.

[Rickerbucks]

Originally Posted by OUR72GTO

I did this on two Silverado's from the US for the Fed inspection, then put it back the way it was.

It has to be with the Ebrake off and in drive. This is the # 1 THING THEY CHECK other than tint.

Sorry guys.....can you get a little more specific here....I'm not sure I follow.

[Merc]

Originally Posted by ogopogo

hello everyone,I just brought a 1ss rs in from oregon and have it booked for inspection on saturday.I need to know if i can make the DRL's fulltime myself or do i have no choice but to take it to the dealer?I read on another thread here about disconnecting a green wire on the back of the switch but there are actually 2 wires on the back of the light switch.
Apparantly i have to remove all the window tint that a previous owner installed to meet BC inspection as well,should be fun !! Thanks !

You should only have to remove the drivers and passenger window tint. Tintinting rear side windows and back window is allowed.

[OUR72GTO]

Originally Posted by Rickerbucks

Sorry guys.....can you get a little more specific here....I'm not sure I follow.

All US GM cars can turn off the DRL.

That will get you a fail in Canada and the reinspection is more $$$.

That function has to be disabled for the RIV inspection.

You can pull the wire OR pay a dealer to re program the BCM.

[SleepWarz]

Should also be a law that DRL's can not operate while driving at night ever.

Tired of the suv's 4 feet off my bumper with those lights blasting in every one of my mirrors.

[CanadianCamaro]

Originally Posted by SleepWarz

Should also be a law that DRL's can not operate while driving at night ever.

Tired of the suv's 4 feet off my bumper with those lights blasting in every one of my mirrors.

They are off when the headlights are on. At least in my Avy they are. Now having the fog lights on at the same time is another story. Remember, on the RS Camaros the "fog" lights (down in the bumper) ARE the DRLs and without some wiring their is no way to get them to come on along with the headlights.

I have my Avy fogs wired to come on every time the headlights are on. I also have 2-beam driving lights on a bull bar that are wired to allow me to turn them on even when the low beams are on (they're supposed to be wired to ony get power when highs are on) but I never use those puppies in the city b/c they're super bright. What you need to remember about suv's and trucks is the headlights are mounted higher than cars - and many are above the trunk line of most cars. Now at distance, their low beams should be properly aimed to shine on the road and not in the eyes of oncoming traffic. But as that gap decreases, the hieght of the centre of the light naturally gets higher. I drive a truck and I know that my lights get in the rearview of many cars. I try to stay back but this is reality. It's also why cars have some kind of dimming feature on the inside rearview - so I say to those drivers use it. I dislike when people complain about my truck around the city here. They don't complain when I pull them out of a 6" snowbank. And quick frankly, I can't tow a boat (or anything really) with a Honda Civic.

[Canadian_Stig]

Your vehicle is just required to have DRL, it does not matter if you have the ablity to turn off the DRL in the vehicle. As long as the DRL turn on when the car is turned on a ebrake off, then it should pass inspection. Out of the 4 vehicles I've imported two had the ability to turn the DRL on or off from inside the vehicle. As long as they were set to on when the vehicle was inspected at Canadian Tire it passed. Two of the other vehicles did not have DRL. One (PT Cruiser), Canadian Tire turned on the DRL for me at no charge, they even allowed me to pick which DRL (fog or headlights) I wanted to use and it didn't cost me anything. The second car (RX-8) there was a DRL module that could be installed in the car that would turn on DRL, however, Canadian Tire didn't supply them and they had to be bought for a dealer for $$$, therefore it didn't pass inspecition the first time. Eventually with a little (5 minute) rewire under the hood we had the fog lights come on as soon as the car was started. Took it back to Canadian Tire and they passed the vehicle, no issues, not extra cost.

So, IMO, it will likely depend on your Canadian Tire inspector as opposed to the "official rules". Best to do some research at your local CT centers before deciding which one to take it to, maybe go in and ask these questions at CT. If the inspector says the DRLs just have to come one when the car is started with the ebrake disengaged then you should be fine. If he/she says the ability to turn off the DRLs inside the vehicle has to be disabled, then go to your next CT center and ask again.

[ogopogo]

Thanks for all the responses guys.I pretty much only have one canadian tire to work with here in town so I may try and speak to the inspector today ( if they are open,today being good friday)about the specifics of this.I disconnected one green wire from the HL switch and I was still able to turn off the DRL's so it must be a different wire that has to be disconnected,I would expect there must be a way to do this right at the switch. OUR72GTO, can you explain exactly what you did to your switch to disable the turnoff feature?

[OUR72GTO]

Maybe in Ajax... RIV does require the DRL be incapable of being turned off.

Federal requirement.