So ive got a friend WS6_guyScrew and he was asking me if there is an easy way to change the DRL from the headlights to the corner lights. This is what ive figured out so far that seems the most logical way to go about doing this.

I was gonna just have him provide power to the lights when truck was on, but then remembered that the blinkers wouldnt work, and that would be a bad thing. So i looked up a wiring diagram, and ive pointed out where i think he should splice a power on wire. Hell he could even tap into the neibor "always hot wire" and it should work just fine right?



Thanks for any help or suggestions. I know he will appreciate it too.
-Patrick

 

I don't see where you are changing the function of anything.

You have posted in the diagram connecting a hot in run position circuit to a fuse that is already hot in the run position.

Also, you do see you are connecting this additional hot in the run position before the flasher relay and turn signal stalk, right ?

The power feeding the turn signal ( marked with the box allows operator to select right or left or hazzard ) lever is through the flasher. This is already alternating the power on and off, prior to making the circuit complete to the bulb.

The diagram you have posted, from what I see, is a net change of nothing.

If you look at the DRL circuit ( should still be under the oval on the dash in the '03 MY ) :


You can see where the actual DRL circuit is at. Are you looking to make this circuit operate the parking lamps or are you just looking to have the parking lamp illuminated any time the key is in the run position ?
Don't forget the truck's DRL circuit is via the DRL resistor, and runs the bulbs at a lowered voltage level, so they do not burn at full brightness.

Just trying to figure out how you are using the term DRL.

 

Basically, I love the way my truck looks with the parking lamps on, I drive with them on all the time, but hate having my tails & dash lit at the same time, so I want to get the daylight running lamps to funtion in my parking lamps whenever the key is on ignition setting 5, and not have my headlamps on. My 2002 Trans Am has this setup, so do 1997+ Camaros, Firebirds, and Corvettes, But since thats GM I doubt anything those cars lighting systems would help me. I want the parking lamps to be lit at the same amount of power as they are regularly, and then turn signal indicator activated it would blink ( maybe shut off & blink then once inactivated go back to DRL )

What I was hoping was possibly there is a wire in each headlight socket, I wanted to disconnect it, run it threw the parking lamp wire cord and connect it to the parking lamp, hoping that since the parking lamp bulb is a less powered bulb than the headlamp, it would light up the same as when the switch is on P.

 

thats exactly my point. Its hot when in the run position. I want it to be hot with out being in run position. Then the tails dont come on, and the signals act normally. Does that not make sense? Or are you suggesting that even if i jumper that to where its hot when vechicle is on, that the front blinkers wont work? Makes sense to me but then again i think ive been wrong once.

Edit the idea is to have DRLs in corners with the normal HL switch in the off (no DRL postition)
-Patrick

 

You want the fuse for the turn signals to be hot all the time ?
You only have so many choices:
1. Hot in Run position
2. Hot in Accy position
3. Hot at all times.
Hot in the start position is saved for the items needed to start the truck, no other items should be added to that setting.
You do realize this is the setting for the key...right ?

The other question I forgot to ask, is do you want the parking lamp on, or the turn signal element ?
You only called it the "corner lights", which I read as parking lamp, but that is the lower wattage element in the bulb, where your diagram is working from the turn signal element, which is the higher wattage element in the bulb.

ws6_guyscrew asks for the Parking lamp, which is on all the time ( this is not the turn signal element ), when the parking lamps are on, so there is no need to turn it off, to get the turn signal to work.

Also, is this for a 2003 or a 2001 ? ws6_guyscrew lists his as a 2001, but your diagram is for a 2003. I just want to make sure I use the correct diagram, in case there was a small change. Should be the same between then, but I don't want to assume.

 

his truck is an 03, i only have diagrams that go as far back as 03.

I say corner lights b.c they are the same lights as blinkers, or parking lights etc

When you have your headlights on at night and you signal, basically what happens is the blinker "cuts power" to the constant power to get the blink effect. I know thats not what actually happens but stick with me here. Basically what im trying to accomplish is all the lights acting like they trucks headlights are on, except for that only the corner (amber) lights are on.

Im suggesting with that branch over there, that the lights come on as soon as the key is in the "run" or "start" position. He could run the splice wire from a power source on the dash, that cuts power off during actual start up. Anyways it makes sense to me what ill probably just do is use some jumper wires (aligator clips) and just do a dry run before i start cutting and hacking. Not that i even want the corner light DRL like he does.... But yah.
-Patrick

 

I don't know what bulb you are talking about.
I look in the 2003 Owners Manual on page 50, and it shows:
I also check the EVTM, and there is only the same bulb layout shown, 2 elements ( i.e a 3157 ).
This is a lower wattage bulb ( 5 Watts ) for the parking lamp, and a higher wattage bulb ( 16 W or 20 W ?? ) for the turn signal.

Page 51 shows how to change the turn signal lamp, same as my 2001 was.

I am using the 2003 info ( ws6_guyscrew's profile still says 2001, not 2003 ).

No mention of what you refer to with a switched ground, tuning the bulb off, only the blinking of the higher wattage bulb. Take a look at the diagram you posted above, no mention of switching ground off on a single bulb. Open the EVTM to the paking lamp section, and you will see a different circuit and function for these from the turn signals. The diagram above dipicts applying power to the bulb, ( via the flasher ) when the MFS is in either the left or right position.

You might want to find out what is wrong with the truck you are looking at is, as the function you talk about is not the way it came from the factory. It might be that way on the test case, but per the EVTM and the Owners Manual, it is not to work that way.

 

hmmmm, i'm way lost, all i want is this,, the DRLs in the headlights, i want them in the parking lamps and not in the headlights, I just want to only have to slice the wire into the parking lamps, and thats it, i'm not a master electrician about this stuff

 

My understanding was there is only one fillament in the bulb, and only one wattage applied. Guess im gonna pull my corner light out and look for myself....

 

You do mean only 1 voltage right ?

Wattage is a result of the amount of resistance and current.
P=VI, which is Power ( Watts ) = Voltage ( fixed; give or take, +12V DC ) X current ( AMPs ).
To figure AMPs, V=IR ( Voltage = Current X AMPs ).
Take a google for Kirchoff's Law and Ohms law for the full description.
You don't apply Wattage to a bulb, you apply votlage, and depending on the resistance ( thinks how thick ) the element is, depicts how much current ( AMPs ) the element takes, which the votlage and AMPs makes the wattage, and the higher the wattage, the brighter the bulb.

Like I posted, read your owners manual, on page 50 for the front parking / turn signal lamp bulb type. 3157 Amber ( which is a dual element bulb, not a single ).

Maybe turn your key in your 2003 to the run postion, and turn on the turn signal, walk around and look at it.

Or you can always read the EVTM that you have. Remeber to read both the turn signal circuit numbers, and the parking lamp circuit numbers.

 

You want to run the Parking Lamp ( the lower wattage element in the 3157 ) in a reduced brightness ( due to the DRL resistor ) setting ?

I read your description above for what you are looking for, and it is to have the parking lamps on, when the key is in the run position.

Now I am confused which element and at what brightness you are looking for is.

 

hmm well all I want is for the factory DRLs to run the parking lamps as if the switch was on, and when a blinker is on the DRL in the light will go out, let it blink, then when blinker deactivated DRL come back on, just like the f-bodys & vettes

 

The output of the factory DRL has a resistor inline. It runs the headlamps at a lower wattage. This is due to the voltage being divided over 2 resistors ( DRL resistor and the low beam element in the headlamp ) vs. normal low beam operation ( voltage over a single resistor i.e. the low beam element ).

With this in mind, you don't want the DRL circuit to operate the parking lamp, you just want the parking lamp on when the key is in the run position ?
I get a description of what you want, noting both ways. DRL running the parking lamp, and the parking lamp on with the key in the run position, these are 2 completly different things. The picture looks like the parking lamps on, at normal brightness.

I need to ask, why do you want the parking lamp to turn off, when the turn signal lamp is on ?
Normal operation is the parking lamp stays on when the turn signal is turned on. This is why there are 2 elements in the bulb for the parking lamp and turn signal bulb. EVTM shows the same thing.




You can see from the EVTM, there is a circuit #14 ( brown wire ) that runs the parking lamps, and a circuit #3 ( light green with a white stripe ) that runs the left turn signal, and a circuit # 2 ( white with a light blue stripe ) that runs the right turn signal.

Sorry giving me the descriptor of does not tell me anything.
I don't know squat about f-bodys & vettes, and from what you are telling me they use the turn signal element for the DRL, not the parking lamp element, but then the picture you show, is something else.

The only reason I keep asking is I keep getting 2 completly different answers to what you want to have on, when the key is in the run position, which would be 2 different ways about changing it.

Is the picture jsut the parking lamps turned on ?
Do you want the truck to look like this every time you turn the key on ?

 

Well then it shouldnt be very hard. I was under the impression that the corner bulb only had a single fillament in it. So i could just run a hot wire from the cabin, to the back of the light, making sure to put it in the correct wire, and it wont be a big deal right? There isnt such a thing as overpowering the bulb once the regular headlights and corners are switched on right?

Oh and thanks scully for all the help so far, im gonna give you some rep points!
-Patrick

 

hmm, well yeah i want the DRLs to show up as if the parking lamps were on, I guess it doesnt matter weather a DRL goes out of not, on my Trans Am it does. So I just assumed.