I do believe US vehicles don't have DRL but all Canadian ones do. Since you're in NJ, the border isn't too far from where you live.

 

I thought for that option on the newer gens that it was just reprograming the computer to make it think it was in Canada.

 

daytime running lights were only a option in the us for fleet vehicles, i have a 01 sport that has them because i ordered mine through the fleet div. to get a better deal, and they say i can have them programmed at dodge not to come on.so imsure they can program them to turn on.

 

Go to your dealer and they can set your country code in the body computer to Canada.

You could with the 02's for sure, as I had a few customers that we had to change as they were set to U.S.

Hope this helps

 

I've got, well the wife has, an '02, Sport, also Canadian issue. Bought it used. Is going to the dealer, and having 'em reset the puter to US, the ONLY way to cancel the DRL's?

 

Has anyone north of the border have any luck with having the dealer remove the DRL option?

One dealer I took it too didn't want to do it because of legal issues maybe I caught him by surprise by telling him that it was just a computer reprogramming.

 

It would be illegal to do as even US models have to be converted to enter Canada.
The safety factor of the running lights far exceeds any personal beliefs as to why they shouldn't be on.

 

Six pack.

Correct me if I am wrong but, the DRLs need to be active if a US car is to be registered and plated in Canada or for certification if you are re-selling a vehicle?

The safety aspect I respect, but so are seatbelts and not everyone wears those either, hence the air bags.

My point is, if it can be modded to suite your individual tastes safely, then why not? Why can I not have the DRLs shut off? Why can I not just turn the switch on or use other lights as DRLs? What did we do before this option was standardized?

Having a minivan already has a bad stigma attached ( no offense to sport moms or dads) , can we not make our vehicles out to be what we think it should or can be and still make it safe and fun to drive and own?

 

Why would anybody want DRLs activated in there car? All they do is waste gas, wear your charging system out faster.THere is No proof that DRLs prevent accidents.Any body looking to disable DRLs do a goggle search on: dave cole- lights out. The web site has many listings for disabling DRLs.

 

Why would anybody want DRLs activated in there car? All they do is waste gas, wear your charging system out faster.THere is No proof that DRLs prevent accidents.Any body looking to disable DRLs do a goggle search on: dave cole- lights out. The web site has many listings for disabling DRLs.

Huh ? How does turning on headlights waste gas ? The alternator is rated at a certain amp/voltage, and turning on any normal electrical component won't cause much or any drain on the charging system as the engineers have factored in the normal electrical usage in the car.

I had an 87 Horizon, 2.2L, and I had aftermarket fogs installed. That caused abit of drain on the electrical system as the normal charging system was never designed to accomodate fog lights.

What you're referring to means that no car should be driven at night because you'd have to turn on your headlights, which in turn means the lights on the dash and the rear tail lights will turn on, which means even more is gas used and even a bigger increase in the charging system wearing out faster. Sorry, I don't mean to flame you or anything but that makes no sense at all. If you said turning on the defroster and the car is equipped with a/c and that causes an increase in fuel consumption, I can believe that.

:huh: :huh:

I'd like to also point out, have you ever tried making a left hand turn with traffic coming the other way and the sun is in your eyes ? You can barely see anything, even with the sun visor down and sunglasses. If the oncoming traffic doesn't have DRLs or headlights, it is very hard to see them. At least if they have DRLs/headlights on, it makes seeing them in the sun that much easier.

 

When you turn on your headlights it adds more load to your alternator, this means it takes more horse power to turn it , that causes you to burn more fuel. It is a fact that it takes power to turn a fully energized alternator. Hate to burst your bubble. I saw a 3m.p.g. increase on my camary when i disconnected the drls.

 

I'm sorry, I can't believe a 3mpg increase :thatfunny in disconnecting your DRLs. .... no way.

Go ahead, burst away......

 

Go ahead don,t believe but it true i donot add funny faces .

 

I'm with Cliff. Headlights are a BIG drain. According to my on-board computer, my night time driving is usually 1-1.5 mpg less on the highway than my daytime driving, all other things being equal.

I've pretty much always known this.

I remember about 20 years ago when the alternator went bad in my 1970 Dart and I had a long drive home at night. As the headlights got dimmer and dimmer, the car started sputtering and dying on an unlit highway halfway between Detroit and Ann Arbor. As I rolled toward the shoulder, I shut the headlights off, and it roared back to life (well, as much as a Slant-Six Dart can roar). Guiding myself just by the orange glow of the parking lights, I got right behind a passing car and chased his taillights the last 12 miles home. The guy must have thought I was nuts. Along the way, I experimented. Headlights on, the car tried to die. Headlights off, the car ran OK. A new alternator ($29 in those days) and all was well.

Man, the crazy stuff you do when you're 20.

Rick

 

I'm sorry, I can't believe a 3mpg increase :thatfunny in disconnecting your DRLs. .... no way.

Go ahead, burst away......

:thatfunny


:huh: First of all I curse anyone not driving with their headlamps on while on the highway, how can you pass safely when you can't see the oncoming traffic properly, How can you be sure you been seen by oncoming traffic so they don't pull in front of you. I'm sorry but the benefits of human life far outway any measly amount saved on fuel or bulb and alternator life.

and 3 mpg.. :gr_bs: gotta call it. Less fuel mileage at night because the lights are on?? The air is also more dense as the temp is cooler which causes more wind resistance/power to keep an object in motion... :blah:

BABYGRAND,

Drl's must be installed on any vehicle 1990 or newer that has been imported into Canada, this must be done as part of the inspection procedure. 1990 is when the law was put into effect in this country for new vehicles.

Air bags were installed for more protection, not so people didn't have to wear seat belts, there is a risk of much more personal injury if a seat belt isn't worn in conjuction with an air bag deployment, newer Caravans also have seat belt pretensioners that are fired by the air bag module(ORC) to tighten on deployment so that there is no slack in the belt to lessen personal injury.

I would say mod away your van. But remember you can't see your lDRL's on while your driving, you can't see them while you are parked. Why worry :dunno:

 

:

I would say mod away your van. But remember you can't see your lDRL's on while your driving, you can't see them while you are parked. Why worry :dunno:

It wasn't the fact that I don't like them on, just thinking about the after market lights that burn out faster because the single headlight system uses the main lights as DRLs ( I know, I know, aftermarket is not what it is cracked up to be but hey it's just plain fun to mod.) Anyway the design of the lights require us to by more lights to compensate, like the sylvana (spelling) $24 CDN a bulb?

Why couldn't DC just keep the DRLs on the corners like the Gen 3? I think the brightness of the Gen 3 corners are far brighter than the Gen 4 headlights anyway, you can tell one coming from miles away.

Just my .02. :rck:

 

LOL man I hope none of you have a friend or family member die, you may be to cheap to drive in the funneral procession due to the high cost of gas spent driving the day with your lights on.
So what your saying is that any electrical item will cause lower MPG? how can you explane your radio, windshield wipers, brakelights, turn signals etc, come on if its that much on your wallet maybe try taking a bus, oh wait around here thay all have DRL's so that may not be a better option.

I have a better solution to your 1.5 mpg gas hike, take out all the rear seats and just tell your friends and family to walk or get there own ride the weight reduction from the 2 rows orf seats and 2-7 passengers will far excede the 1.5 mpg you will save withthe DRL's disconnected.

All you are saying is that on 20 gallons you can go 30 miles farther with no DRL's.

 

There is very little proof that Drls save lives, when your number is up it is, by saving a little gas we have a little less pollution, imagine if all the the drls were disconnected the amount of fuel saved would be in the tens of thousands.

 

I would disagree that DRL's don't save lifes, how many idoits do you see at night that are so overcome by cell phones and radios that they cannot remember to turn on the headlights, without the DRL's some would have more then likely hit or have been hit because they are not able to be seen.
Have you ever driven into a glaring sun, fog or rainny day when the same above mentioned moron fails to turn on the lights for bad weather or just the fact that their is a glare on the windshield making it harder to see an oncoming car?
Further more why am I wasting my time with you? this is the craziest idea I have ever heard of; someone actually researching to see if a headlight will give them better gas mileage, go by a hybrid oh wait they have DRL's on them as well and run on battery, man looks like you just cant win the automakers dont see your point and personaly neither do I

 

DRLs do save lives. Period

Stats-
http://www.sav-a-life.com/Drl_intro.htm
http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/DRLs/studies.htm
http://www.iihs.org/safety_facts/qanda/drl.htm
http://www.mynrma.com.au/safety_drl.asp
http://www.securityworld.com/lighting/daytimerunning.html

==================
Aftermarket
http://www.automotiveelectronicaccessories.com/

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And being fair, and a free Country :gr_patrio
http://www.lightsout.org/story.html

My complaint - the driver should have to option to turn 'em off or on, just like standard headlights. Personally, I'd like to turn them off when idling. Or, in the morning when she's warming up. Now, I have to apply the emergency brake to de-actaviate the DRLs. I find that a bit inconvenient.

 

I remember back when the CHMSL (center high-mount stop light, or third brake light) first came out, it was because there was all sorts of hoopla about studies that had been done showing they reduced rear-enders. Turned out it was only 2 studies (they used taxis, I believe), but they were pretty good studies.

Problem was, the study results came out, and in a knee-jerk reaction (or a sop to the safety crowd) the government passed a regulation requiring them, and every car got them. And then they learned about the Law of Diminishing Returns.

What we learned after years of having CHMSLs is that the reduction in rear-enders observed in the two studies was NOT attibutable to the fact that there was a third brake light, or that it was mounted at eye level. Cars in the studies had fewer rear-enders because they had something DIFFERENT than every other car on the road. Humans are still animals, and animals respond quicker to something different in their environment than to something that is normal.

So now the traffic safety data shows diminishing returns from the CHMSL. Adjusting for all other factors, we have just as many rear-enders as we ever did, because now, practically every car on the road has one.

The only reason I know all this esoteric BS is because I wrote an article on this topic citing data from traffic institutes in Michigan.

So, regarding the DRLs, I think I can safely predict that, yes, you may see some marginal safety improvement from them now that they are new (at least here in the states). But when every car on the road has them, we'll be back to doing the same stupid things humans always do.

And, welfarewagon, all the other systems on a car that you cite - radio, wipers, turn signals - draw far less power than headlights. Headlights are the single biggest accessory draw. That's why this topic is relevant.

Rick

 

Well, regardless of whether or not it affects MPG, I would still like to have the feature.

To our Canadian drivers, that have the '05 GC - which lights are used as DRL's - the "parking lights" or the headlights?

Thanks.

 

It's the headlights.

 

On the '05s the headlights are used for the DRLs but when you use your indicators the corresponding headlight turns off when you do not have the light switch in the on position.

 

Thank You

Very much! :crazy: