Canadian MM owners: DRL question.

[TripleTransAm]

Every car I've ever driven with DRLs has them OFF until the parking brake is released. This is not the case with my MM, and dealer says it's a 2003 thing.

The problem is that my DRLs are on ALL THE TIME. The moment I turn the key to ON, DRLs are on, parking brake or not.


This is a pain for many reasons:

1) Anytime you want to work on a car with the ignition key ON but the engine not running.... battery drain.
2) Sometimes you just want to sit in a parking lot idling with the lights OFF.
3) related to #2, last night I went to a drive-in theater (wife had never been to one, they don't exist in Sweden). So it's a hot and muggy evening, so watching the movie with the A/C on would have been fun, except the damned lights would be bothering the guy in front of me!!!! So I had no choice but to turn off the engine, and watch those cool fog patches form on the inside of the windshield due to the inoperative A/C. With the heat and humidity, the kid was sweating up a storm and crying big time. He finally fell asleep midway through the movie, but heck it was not the best of nights... thanks Ford.

So, any feedback from Canadian MM owners on DRL operation would be most valuable to me. Thanks in advance!

[yorks]

I've got the exact same thing. Before the MM, I had a Lincoln LS. The only time the DRLs were on is when you were in a gear with the parking brake released. IOW's if you were in park and/or parking brake on.....no DRLs. My wife's Escape operates this way also. See MM owner's guide, p39.....

Turns the lowbeam headlamps on with a reduced output. To activate:

the key must be in the ON position,
the parking brake released, and
the headlight control is in the OFF or Parking lamps position.


I just brought the MM in for first oil and questioned the DRLs.

Personally I think they're FOS. I know what you mean about the inconvenience. I like to sit in the parking lot on midnight shift at lunch and enjoy a frosty beverage. If I need to run the car (A/C,heat), I'm a sitting duck.

Attchd is service report saying manual is wrong. I called Oakville to question it, they think the MM is an import from the US.
There must be somebody we can call. Any other Canucks want to chip in their $0.02 ($0.015US)?

[yorks]

PS

Any of our honourable Wrenches familiar with the Canadian DRL setup. Any assistance would be most appreciated.

[TripleTransAm]

Okay, then, so it's not only me. I'm not relieved, though... looks like it will be a harder thing to get fixed. Unless I hear any differently from other Canadian MM owners, I will push the issue with Ford and ask for a fix.

Yes, I do think this is FOS. It's a freaking inconvenience and what it means is that I am forever forced to sit in the car with my windows open at any event where I need to be in the car and want fresh air. Say goodbye to drive-ins. Say goodbye to car shows. I have no problems with DRLs (and never have) but this is too freaking much!!!!

[jefferson-mo]

Well guys I just looked the SHOP manual(not the owner's manual) and it says the SAME thing that Yorks has highlighted from the owner's manual.........

this is the 2003 Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Marauder factory shop manual...............


I'd ask 'em to check again...................:uzi:

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by jefferson-mo

this is the 2003 Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Marauder factory shop manual...............


Yep, that's what I verified as well. Both owners' manual and the shop manual are in agreement, but my dealer said it was something to deal with the fact some people drove with the emergency brake engaged one 'click' (it makes more sense when referring to a hand brake, but you get the picture) just to defeat the DRLs.

Well, I don't give a crap. I don't drive like that, I don't mind the DRLs, so don't force it down my throat like this!

The whole lighting system on this car is driving me nuts. First the brake light switch/lazy-brake-booster issue, then the wiper/auto-lights issue, and now this.

Oh, in case I never mentioned the wiper-lights issue, the MM brochures mention that the auto headlights are activated immediately upon wiper activation. No problem, except my car AUTOMATICALLY turns on the lights with the wipers... PERIOD. No auto function... it can be in broad daylight under extreme sunlight, but if I turn on the wipers, CLICK come on the headlights (+ taillights, dash lights, etc.). It's a real pain on a partly cloudy day with sporadic rain when the slowest wiper setting is still too much... I turn the wipers on, lights on, turn the wipers off, lights off, wipers on, lights on... must look like a freaking light show to anyone following me on such a day.

BTW, Ford has an internal fix for those who feel the wiper-headlight link is too sensitive... cut the wire leading from the lighting control module to the wiper motor. *sigh* Now if they could only come up with something as easy for the DRL issue.

[jefferson-mo]

Hey one of you 2 Canucks PM me with your VIN and I'll see if there's any Bulletins or TSBs for this................

[RCSignals]

Sounds like a Government Regulation or at least interference, to defeat those defeating DRL with the "one click" trick.
Make everyone suffer because of the minority.

I agree it's stupid.

It should be as printed in the Manuals

[Mtl_CV]

My 2000 Vic does the same thing but I was told it's because I have an alarm/remote starter. I think I will just disconnect the DRL module...I love to go to the drive-in too and I keep the car running because of the audio system...

I read somewhere that the car must come with DRL, but you don't have to keep it. It would be nice to be able to add a switch...I like it when I drive, but I would turn it off otherwise.

Did you go to St. Eustache or Laval ?

Charles

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by Mtl_CV
It would be nice to be able to add a switch...I like it when I drive, but I would turn it off otherwise.

Did you go to St. Eustache or Laval ?


Laval. Online maps sent me on a wild goose chase to the southern shore of Laval, so I had to make that DOHC bark on the way back up the 15 to make it to the drive in before 8 pm (turns out the movie started at 10pm... WTF???)

The DRL switch is a good idea. I will study this possibility once I get a good look at the wiring diagram. I've had great success disabling the auto-headlights and DRLs on my WS6 (all switched by small rockers in the ashtray). I'll post some schematics once I figure it out.

I too thought it was all due to my remote-starter/ignition kill/etc. module.

[yorks]

TripleTA...
I don't have a remote start/alarm/ignition kill. I PM'd Jefferson-MO my VIN # so he can check for TSB's, etc.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by yorks
I PM'd Jefferson-MO my VIN # so he can check for TSB's, etc.


I'll be doing the same once I find it... the registration papers are in the car in my garage since my towing adventure on Thursday, and the car is nicely stuffed in my garage for the day at home. It's a nice day today so I figured I'd take the WS6 to work, plus it would give me a day off from thinking about all the crap I'm going through with my MM. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say...

Thursday, the car goes in for the brake booster replacement (to hopefully cure the lazy taillights), the seat squeak fix, the wiper-headlight fix (ie. snip the wire!), and hopefully we can do something about this DRL crap.

[yorks]

Good luck. Let us all know how it turns out. Any other Canadians reading this thread?

[jefferson-mo]

I found this about the wipers but nothing yet on the DRLs

SSM 15802

15802 HEADLAMPS REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN WIPERS ARE ACTIVATED AND THEN DEACTIVATED
SOME 2001-2003 CROWN VIC/GRAND MARQUIS VEHICLES ARE EQUIPPED WITH A HEADLAMPS-ON-WITH-WIPERS-ON FEATURE. IN DARK CONDITIONS ONLY WHEN THIS FEATURE IS ACTIVATED, THE HEADLAMPS WILL REMAIN ON EVEN AFTER THE WIPERS HAVE BEEN DEACTIVATED (EVEN IF THE HEADLAMP SWITCH IS IN THE OFF POSITION). THIS IS A NORMAL CHARACTERISTIC OF THE STRATEGY. IF THE VEHICLE OWNER IS DISSATISFIED WITH THE OPERATING STRATEGY IT MAY BE DISABLED. TO DISABLE THIS FEATURE, TAKE THE BLACK/PINK WIRE, CIRCUIT 28, OUT OF PIN #15 OF THE LIGHTENING CONTROL MODULE (LCM) AND TAPE THE WIRE BACK TO THE HARNESS. FOR 2001 VEHICLES THIS IS CONNECTOR NUMBER 2027. IF THIS A 2002 OR 2003 MODEL YEAR THE CONNECTOR IS NUMBER 2145C.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by jefferson-mo
I found this about the wipers but nothing yet on the DRLs


Yep, that's the bulletin that my favorite tech pulled out when explaining the wiper issue to me. However, it quickly became clear to us that my car goes BEYOND the trouble mentioned.

The bulletin claims in dark conditions only.

However, I can be right smack in the middle of searing hot sunlight, baking the s**t out of the light sensor with photons if need be, and gosh dang it the darned lights will come on within 5 seconds of activating the wipers. When deactivating wipers, the lights will turn off shortly. That's not what I'd call auto-headlights... that's more like auto-headlights-on-no-matter-what.

But that's not the biggest issue I have. Due to the fact that my lousy headlights are ALWAYS on thanks to Ford's messed up DRL implementation, it's really only the interior lights and taillights that come on/off during wiper operation.

So, in reality, the wiper issue is a mere annoyance compared to the real thorn in my side... the DRLs!!

I spent the better part of an hour cross-referencing circuits in the wiring diagram book (a separate 'appendix' to the shop manual - well worth the purchase!) and doggone-it there's no mention of a parking brake switch in the DRL circuit. That means the shop manual itself is incorrect. And it's not clear how the US cars are wired for NO DRL use. If it's a simple matter of not having the DRL module present at all, I believe I can hack together a little circuit and disable the mofos altogether with a switch. Can someone confirm that the US MM does not have a DRL module at all within the light circuit?

[RCSignals]

The US cars do not have a DRL module, the connector is there but has a dummy plug in it.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by RCSignals
The US cars do not have a DRL module, the connector is there but has a dummy plug in it.


RC, you have a unique way of popping into threads with *just* the right piece of information at the right time.;)

Any part# on this plug? It would help to figure what is shorted and what is left open. From there, I could fab a custom DRL on/off setup, for sure.

Thanks again for this crucial bit of info.

[jgc61sr2002]

Is there a way to hook them up so they go on when the car is put into drive? DRL's are required on all new cars manufacutred for sale in Canada. To totally defeat them would probablly be a violation of some rule and is also a safety factor. IMHO. John

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by jgc61sr2002
Is there a way to hook them up so they go on when the car is put into drive? DRL's are required on all new cars manufacutred for sale in Canada. To totally defeat them would probablly be a violation of some rule and is also a safety factor. IMHO. John


That's why I'm not totally hot on completely defeating them. Like I said, I have nothing against DRLs and in fact I welcome them... if anything, I find other cars are more visible with them and it makes it easier for me to spot them on rainy days as I'm backing out of driveways, etc. And any anti-DRL fanatic who claims the DRLs blind oncoming drivers should consider seeking medical attention at an optician, since pretty much all DRLs operate at a fraction of regular power.

I was at the dealer this morning and mentioned the Drive In issue. Looks like I stumped them, and gave them enough of a good reason to pursue this with Ford itself. I'll follow up and post anything that may come out of it.

Worst case scenario, I'll wire up a small switch up near the top of the radiator that I can flip should I want to kill the DRLs. It probably won't be as 'nice' as running the wiring all the way inside the cabin for quick and easy access to the switch, but it'll be functional (hopefully). I've been studying the wiring diagram again this morning, and I'm fairly confident I understand the wiring relationship between the DRL module, the Lighting Control Module, and the Fog Lamp Deactivation relay (ie. the mechanism that kills your fogs when you flip the high beams on... I can probably defeat that too while I'm at it).

About the 'activation in Drive', it used to be simpler than that. The shop manual states the emergency brake switch should be the trigger for the DRL module, but the wiring diagram has no mention of this switch. I agree it would be so much easier to just turn on the DRLs in any gear outside of Park... isn't this how the new Windstars operate?

[RF Overlord]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm

the Fog Lamp Deactivation relay (ie. the mechanism that kills your fogs when you flip the high beams on...

Fog Lamp Deactivation relay? Is this peculiar to cars from the Canada...?

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by RF Overlord
Fog Lamp Deactivation relay? Is this peculiar to cars from the Canada...?


I didn't think so... don't your fog lamps go off when you flick on the highbeams?

ie. low beams + foglamps = ok
high beams = foglamps go off.

I thought this was universal across North America.

[jefferson-mo]

what if i'm not in north america????


oh wait yes i am






never mind

[RCSignals]

Many places it's illegal to run fog lamps with high beams on. Oregon hhas some strict regulations for Fog lamp use.

[yorks]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm
I agree it would be so much easier to just turn on the DRLs in any gear outside of Park... isn't this how the new Windstars operate?

Thats how my 2002 Lincoln LS was and also how my wifes 2002 Escape is now. If in Park and/or Parking brake set...DRLs off.