DRL dimmed with headlights on (How to Guide)

[Seamust]

Just finished doing this.. I would say 4/10 difficult if you have some idea of how to wire things up.

It's more just time getting to everything and making it fit nice and look good in the engine bay

 

[Redline 2017]

Just finished doing this.. I would say 4/10 difficult if you have some idea of how to wire things up.

It's more just time getting to everything and making it fit nice and look good in the engine bay

What did you use Seamus?

 

[Seamust]

Everthing 3rspecb has said and brought in this thread I also did! eBay for the wire kit and then Jaycar for the relay and fuse tap.
After I was done I relosrea I should of made a viedo to help everyone else out there is some tricky steps but if you take your time and think about it, it will all be clear

The only problem I had was engine light on but just disconnected the battery for 10 min and went away

 

[AAAC]

I have a DRL module that I am looking to install down the track. I have read the various posts but I am looking to install it in an alternative way. To do this I require the location of the DRL fuse. I cannot find this in any of the fuse boxes. It may not have an obvious name/abbreviation. Does anyone know where it is?

 

[Seamust]

Good work. We have done 5 VF2's now with the same module and all good. The relay is just for added safety from what my sparky mate said, so no you don't have to use one.

My engine light keeps coming on now! I disconnected the battery and it will go back come back on the next time I turn it on.

Any ideas why ?

 

[3rspecB]

My engine light keeps coming on now! I disconnected the battery and it will go back come back on the next time I turn it on.
Any ideas why ?

Not sure TBH. Maybe cause you have a Calais with DRLs and fog light. Ours have been VF2 Redlines and SS with DRLs only.
Page 3 or 4 mentions something about the fog and drls sharing the same ground and a work around for them.
Else, check all your surrounding connectors to ensure they plugged in. Haven't encountered an engine light on any of our installs.

 

[RFC]

``

heres how I did my install on a 2014 sv6
picture album: http://min.us/mbms4FWFSYURXd

on the drivers side I took the 4 screws out to get in behind the front bumper.

there is a plug in there that has the wiring for the drl's.

this is the plug with the red clip on the back, you pull that clip down then press in on the little release lever on the plug and pull down on the plug to unplug it.

there is a hole on the bottom of the bumper, feed the plug and the drl dimmer wire (DRL R in the op) through that hole so you can work on the wiring at the front of the vehicle.

on the plug you will see the following wires...

the purple with the green stripe is the +(positive) power wire for both left and right drl's
the 2 black ones are the -(negative) wires one for each side

this is where I hook up the drl dimmer to the drl's in the vehicle.

make sure you cut the black wires do not just splice into them, the drl dimmer puts resistance on the negative side not the positive so leaving them connected will cause issues.
you also need to cut the purple wire to install the dimmer.

once that's done tape it all up and push the plug back up into the bumper and plug it back in.


for the parker light wire/power...

find this plug on the back of the drivers side headlight.

splice into the grey with brown stripe wire.

you wire up the relay as the op shows


for the 12v+ power to the dimmer and relay you can choose 2 different ways.
ignition switched power.
or
always on(battery) power.

I use ignition switched as I don't want the dimmer drawing power when its not needed.
if you use always on power the dimmer has voltage sensing and will shut off about 15 seconds after you stop the engine.



for ignition switched I tap into the fuse box on an empty fuse

for always on battery power you connect to the jump start point under the red plastic cap

make sure you put a fuse on the this wire

this is the 3rd vf I have done this to and each time it has worked perfectly.

bit hard to see but they are dimmed

For some reason I cant see the images to the above instruction, could you repost? Cheers.

 

[VF_CalaisV]

Hi, I'm also looking at getting my DRLs running dimmed with the headlights on.
Some thoughts...
These $20 kits will run the LEDs at full power when the headlights are not on. This may be even brighter than standard since I believe that the factory setup runs PWM. This is for a mixture of reducing brightness and possibly for durability of the LEDs. So running them at full power could make them too bright and make them fail early...
As a possible option I thought of, the battery, acc(or ignition) and headlamp wire could all go to a +ve wire going to the headlights. That way the unit only works when the headlights are on and puts out a crude reduced voltage.
The DRLs could power up from the factory PWM supply during daylight.
This would mean that the DRL power wires would be spliced into not cut. Also if there is any issue of power back feeding up the factory wiring, when being powered in dimmed mode with headlights, then maybe some diodes could be added on the factory wiring.

What I am thinking of is just getting some eBay PWM adjustable power supplies (e.g. eBay: "PWM Dimmer Controller LED Light Lamp Strip Adjustable Brightness 12V-24V 8A"). You can tune the brightness via the knob.

I would connect it to headlight power (or parker power with a relay) and power the DRLs via that (spliced in). Again maybe the factory DRL power wires might need a diode to stop any possible back feed issue.

Any thoughts?

 

[brindle_staffy]

Just completed this mod over the weekend on my Series 2 VF SV6 & followed same method as 3rspecB including soldering / heat shrinking & cloth taping everything to make it all look OEM but I have noticed I’m having the flickering issue for approx 20-30 seconds when I first start the car but it seems to stop flickering after that (no idea if it flickers at anytime while driving).

I also used the relay even thou people have suggested it’s not required & I don’t have the fog lights or anything so unsure what the issue is there or if anyone else has flicker just on startup?

Is everyone else’s setup working fine? Any suggestion?

Cheers,

 

[3rspecB]

@brindle_staffy, Check your grounds for the relay and DRL harness. A mate did this install on his VF2 SS sedan and had flickering DRLs on initial start up. Went over his connections and found he didn't tighten up the bolt that he used to ground both. He hasn't had flickering issues since.