Daytime Running Lights - can they be added to a earlier Buick?

[Guest imported_TheColossusofRoads]

Does anyone out there know if DRL's can be added to a vehicle that did not come with them? I used to think they were kind of silly, but I've had a few experiences lately where I'm beginning to understand their importance. I noticed someone on eBay that offered an after-market DRL device, but I believe his rig was designed so that all the lights on the vehicle were on, not just the headlights.

Does GM or anyone have a good quality kit to retrofit a Buick that was built before the were standard equipment?

Thanks for any ideas.

[Guest]

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[Guest Shaffer]

I am pretty sure that they do. I have seen a lot of cars around here, that I know that did not originally come with DRLs, equipped with DRLs. Possible that they are cars that made it down from Canada (where DRLs are required on all cars), but I doubt that many late model cars have made it down to Tennessee from Canada. I am guessing that there is a aftermarket add on DRL system out there. Good luck.

[Guest 70 Electra]

The common element of all modern DRL's is that they use relatively bright lighting (compared to a "normal" parking lamp).

I don't mean to be a smart a**, but why wouldn't you just run your low beams when driving? (That's what the bus drivers did for years and years.) Should achieve the SAME effect of making your car slightly more noticeable, and has the added benefit of no cost and no car mods.

[Matt Harwood]

I hate the DRLs with a passion. While they <span style="font-style: italic">may</span> increase visibility, they decrease the visibility of other vehicles such as motorcycles. They also are annoying to other drivers if the headlights aren't aimed correctly (we've all had the "shiner" in our rear-view mirrors, right?). Many people also assume that because their headlights are on, they don't have to turn their lights on at night, so we have a lot of bozos tooling around with headlights burning at 60% and no other marker lights. Also, with an old car, I'm guessing that you're more visible than most other cars anyway, and no amount of headlighting will keep a jerk from ramming you. Well, probably not, anyway.

But if you want to do it, the easiest way would probably be to rig a parallel headlamp circuit with a relay that is powered by the ignition switch. When you turn the car on, the headlights will come on. By wiring it in parallel with the stock wiring, you will still have 100% functionality in the rest of your lighting system and it will work as intended (though you'll never be able to use your parking lights alone unless you are, um, parking...).

It is important to note, however, that since most DRLs run at about 60% of normal, you probably wouldn't be able to accomplish this unless you use some sort of HUGE resistor to drop the current going to the lights with your DRL system.

I think you could put this together in an afternoon.

Or, as someone said, just turn on your lights whenever you're out for a drive.

[Guest Albert]

In Canada (Ontario) we have Daytime kits for the US car comming north as well as after markek, they are a real simple hookup, Ground, Ign, wires to light or lights( some cars have seperate headlight fuses ) and one wire that you wrap around one of the sparkplug wires to sense the motor running.

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I don't mean to be a smart a**, but why wouldn't you just run your low beams when driving? (That's what the bus drivers did for years and years.) Should achieve the SAME effect of making your car slightly more noticeable, and has the added benefit of no cost and no car mods.</div></div>

[color:"red"]<span style="font-weight: bold"> DO NOT DO THIS! Especially in an antique car. And <span style="font-style: italic">ESPECIALLY</span> in a 6 volt car!!! </span>

The auto manufacturers had to have laws passed in 1996 in several states that allowed the use of lights in daytime so that DRL's would be legal. The reason is simple, <span style="font-style: italic">if the tail lights are on in daylight the brake lights are that much harder to see!</span> Running your low beams in daylight runs the risk of a rear end collision, especially in cars w/o a third high mount brake light! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

By the way, DRL run on 60% power <span style="font-style: italic">to the high beams</span> on cars without seperate dedicated DRL fixtures ( i.e. new Buicks, Sliverados, and several other cars). A 60% current feed to the low beams will produce nowhere near the desired effect.

I stongly reccommend the use of an aftermarket system as opposed to jerry-rigging your own.

Also, when you're done, post a photo here to show the result for those of us who are curious. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Guest Shaffer]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Many people also assume that because their headlights are on, they don't have to turn their lights on at night, so we have a lot of bozos tooling around with headlights burning at 60% and no other marker lights.</div></div>

Not sure what all cars have it, but some cars with DRLs have a safety feature for DRLs that consists of a sensor that automatically switches on the headlamps to low beams and illuminates all other lights around dusk. My moms 1997 Oldsmobile Achieva (same as Buick Skylark & Pontiac Grand AM) has DRLs and it has a sensor in the defroster vents that sense when it starts to get dark outside and automatically turns all of the lights on. A little more sensitive on her car, as the inspection sticker (from the state it was previously from) is directly over the sensor and it thinks it is darker than it actually is, so all of the lights illuminate, even if it is cloudy. My 92 Park Avenue does not have DRLs, but still has the sensors that automatically turns the lights on at dusk. I am guessing since my moms 97 Oldsmobile has the light sensing sensor, that many other GM cars also have the sensor that automatically turns on all lights at dusk. Probably some other makes as well hav this feature. I know for for sure that the Achievas, Grand AMs and Skylarks equipped with DRLs have the safety sensor.

However, I do agree that there are a lot of crazy people that do not turn their lights on, but that could be with any car- even people without DRLs. I have even seen idiots before with no lights on anyway- at dusk or dark- even without DRLs which is even crazier. Many times I have seen these idiots and say I would like to write them a ticket for wreckless driving, which is actually what it is in my opinion.

[rocketraider]

Seems like I remember GM offering such a kit for 12v cars a few years back, about time they came out as standard on production cars. NTX, where are you?

[Philippe Racicot]

In Canada, daytime running lights are mandatory since 1990 and now, almost every car has it's headlights on during the day. I'd say it is a good thing but it decreases visibility to those who still drive their older cars with headlamps off.

When manufacturers began to offer DRL's on their cars, like Volkswagen for instance, some hooked up the entire lighting system the ignition switch's "on position" and this lead to annoying troubles like burning instrument cluster lights...

Toyota's had their lights on only when the alternator charged and GM had their DRL system connected only to the headlights and required that the car would be shifted out of park before they came on.

I was pleased to see that GM didn't take the cheapest way to conform to the regulation like other manufacturers did even if Canada is a small market.

I am thinking about adding DRL's to my 1975 Electra and if I do it, I'll use the automatic door locking system already in place to make the headlights work. This way, when the car will be in park, the headlights will be off just like those on my 1991 Park Avenue.

[Ted "Wildcat65" Nagel]

I remember when the DRL came out there was an advertising campaign from GM showing the front end of a 66 GTO with DRL's, said many of the GM engineers were installing them on their personal classic cars since they thought it was such a good idea. These musta been the same people that brought us the Aztec...

[NTX5467]

Here I am!

GM did market an accessory kit to install DRLs where they didn't come from the factory for a few years after they went on their advertising blitz about how good they (DRLs) were. As you might expect, they didn't sell well NOR did Ford or Chrysler follow suit to make DRLs standard on their cars (for the USA market) back then. I seem to recall that GM even went on a lobbying effort to get DRLs made mandatory for USA registered vehicles, which didn't happen either.

There was a print ad and poster to help sell the DRL kits that showed a man standing in front of a line of cars in the distance (seems like it was a main highway through the Florida Keys). Some had the headlights on and other didn't, to indicate the greater visibility of a DRL equipped vehicle.

Greyhound Bus Lines initiated the "drive with your headlights on" deal back in the early '60s. Their accident rates dropped significantly back then after they did that. JC Whitney even had kits to install an auxiliary light in the grille of vehicles back then to achieve the same effect.

In modern times, GM vehicle would turn on the DRLs anytime the vehicle was started AND the parking brake was released IN a drive gear. The tail lights did not automatically illuminate for obvious reasons. This led to some people driving after dark with no tail lights (but full headlights)! Seems like they were using full voltage to run the headlights as DRLs back then too?

As things evolved, they used an ambient light sensor (in the middle of the instrument panel pad) to turn on the DRLS and then the tail lights as light conditions dictated. This is how GM started advertising that their vehicle had "automatic headlights", that was different from the Twilight Sentinel of earlier times, as it also controlled the intensity of the headlights.

Another evolution was that high beams were used instead of low beams, due to the fact that all lights have an "hour rating" for their life. Low beams were the main head light and high beams weren't. I questioned the lower voltage for the DRL mode headlights as a light at a lower voltage might not last as long as a light operating at full design voltage.

In later times, the amber turn signals were used, as one Olds seminar pointed out, the turn signal bulbs were cheaper to replace when they burned out (and weren't related to the life of the headlights) to replace. In later years, DRLs became a separate light in more recent GM vehicle front light assemblies.

I used to drive with the low beams on all the time--and always remembered to turn them off before I locked the car. GM also markets (or used to) a real simple-to-wire-in headlight warning buzzer similar to what they used in regular production in the '70s (likes on my '77 Camaro). Something of that nature could be wired in or necessary items procurred from Radio Shack or similar, I suspect. All you have to do is detect reverse voltage flow and put a buzzer in the circuit to warn when that happens. Just for the record, there are also some simple "basic" vehicle security systems that sense negative voltage flow (i.e., when a dome light comes on and the alarm is armed) as their alarm trigger. Other security systems are wired such that you have to have something else turned on (i.e., head lights) before the vehicle will start (as a "starter circuit interrupt" feature). Many vehicles in the later '70s had "Headlight On" warning buzzers in their chime modules as standard equipment.

I concur that a "produced kit" approach to the DRL addition would be the best way to go, but then getting in the habit of turning on the headlights when you started the car and turning them off as the last thing you do before getting out of the car can work too. This is where the "headlight on warning buzzer" would come in handy.

I also like the idea of using the amber bulb parking lights as DRLs instead of using headlights, but that might be more personal preference than anything. Key thing is to make your vehicle be noticed instead of being invisible (as those Greyhound busses must have been before they turned on their headlights). If you go on a drive in the country where the roads are long and have few curves or hills, you can definitely see the oncoming vehicle a longer way ahead with some sort of DRL (where the headlights "full-on" are better). You'll hopefully see them anyway, but having the headlights on makes it happen sooner in any weather.

Hope this helps untangle some of the DRL situation.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

[Guest imported_TheColossusofRoads]

Thanks to all who took the time to reply to my question.

Here's what I found today - AC/Delco has a DRL kit that fits all but a few makes. It is GM # 12370445, and comes with good instructions, particurlarly for GM vehicles. A local dealer had one in stock and sold it to me for slightly over his cost, because he was tired of having it hang around his parts room. Retail is $67.50. Several dealers even told me there was never any such kit. (Evidently they aren't flying off the shelves).

Again, thanks to all.

RB