Home Made DRL's
The Story:
There's something about those bright yellow glowing eyes that I've always liked on the 97 and up Camaro's. I really never pursued the idea of retro-fitting them on my car until my cousin bought a 1997 Z28 w/Factory DRL's.
As you may or may not know those bright gleaming beams are in no way to be confused with the parking lights. The parking lamps are way to dim to be considered a driving light. However if you notice that during the blinker flash or Emergency flashing the bulb is quite bright. This is the high intensity element of the bulb glowing on and off. I discovered a way to power that element with the use of a relay & a 12volt Source. A comparison of my home made DRL and the factory's DRL look identical in terms of illumination. So for those of you for whatever reason who have always wanted those high intensity DRL's these instructions should fit the bill.
Notes:
Factory DRL's employ a light sensing photocell to determine when to turn the DRL's on and off. In an effort to keeping things simple I opted to manually control when the DRL's are on and off by using a simple toggle switch. This design is intended on having the DRL's on during the day and off at Night.
Taking on this project assumes you have a basic knack for wiring. Nothing major here, just stripping and crimping.
Note: If you opt to turn the DRL's off during the day and do not have at least the parking lights on your front turn singals will not function. (No Biggie, just leave the DRL's ON)
Instructions:
Things your going to need:
We need to replace that wimpy turn signal flasher for an Electronic one. I bought mine at a local Autozone. It's made by Tridon Stant. I'ts a 12volt 2 terminal Electronic Flasher Model EL12.
(2) Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) Relays. You can pick these up at RadioShack. You might become overwhelmed by the number of relays on the wall at RadioShack. Just make sure it's automotive DC and not some Micro AC relay.
30amp Inline Fuse coupler. You'll find this at RadioShack as well. some include the fuse & some don't so check into it.
Female Slip on wire connectors. The ones that push onto wire terminals.
Small Toggle Switch. Simple 2 pole style will do.
Misc wire (18 gauge standard automotive wire) Electrical tape, butt connectors, inline wire splicers (no cutting), etc.
Putting it all Together:
Lets start by replacing the Blinker/turn signal relay. Remove the 2 screws just underneath the steering wheel and drop the panel down. The factory blinker relay is just to the right inside the opening. In an effort to help you locate it turn your key on and turn your blinker on (left or right who cares). Just track down the clicking sound and you'll find it. Once found pop it out of the little metal clasp and disconnect the old and plug in the new. Put everything back together and that part is complete.
Mount your toggle switch any place you want. I put mine on the side of the center console just in front of my seat with room to move the seat forward if the need arises for someone shorter than me to drive the car. You can mount yours in any convienant location. Connect one side of the toggle to a 12volt source thats powered only when the key is on. I ran a wire from the fuse panel marked "ACC" and snaked it under the dash to the toggle. Connect the other side of the toggle to your supply wire that will run to the front of the car. There's a rubber gromet located on the passenger side firewall just behind the kick panel. From under the hood your going to need to remove the ECM so you can get to the supply wire. If you don't know where the ECM is located just simply pop the hood, stand in front of the car and look for the big silver metal box in the upper left hand corner. (Looks like a big heat sink). There are (2) 10mm bolts holding it in. Simply remove those bolts and you can pull the ECM up and out of the way. There's enough slack in the wiring harness to move the ECM without having to disconnect it. With the ECM out of the way you'll see the rubber gromet. Poke a hole thru and run your wire from inside the car thru the gromet up along side the top of the fender. You can feed it down to the turn signal assembly by running it just to the right of the battery right on down. You'll need a length of wire to connect the drivers side relay to this same supply line. When your wiring up the drivers side just run a stretch of wire from the relay to the passenger side where you can splice it into the supply line. In other words your supply line powers both sides of the car.
Jack the car up so you can comfortably lay on your back and work underneath the front end of your car. Remove the black panels just in front of each wheel. There are several 10mm bolts and two 8mm bolts holding the plastic panel up there. When all the bolts are out, one side of the panel is clipped to the frame. Just give it a good jerk downward and it will pop off there. You'll need to pull down a bit on the air deflector to work the panel out of there. (beats removing the entire air deflector).
Start on the Passenger side and locate the turn signal assembly. You'll notice there are three wires connected to the bulb socket. Black, Brown & Blue. Black is your ground, Brown is the Low side element or parking lamp if you will and Blue is the high side of the element or Turn Signal/Emergency Flasher Element. Disconnect the bulb socket from the turn signal lens by holding the plastic lock in and twisting. The wiring diagram below is worth a thousand words. Below the diagram I will reference the connections. If you have any problems please don't hesitate to drop me an email.
Don't forget to power the driver's side relay by splicing into your supply line and running it over to terminal 87a.
That's about it. Twist lock the bulb assembly back into the lens. Test it out by flipping the toggle "ON" and turning the key to the ACC or ON position. Your Turn signals should be glowing quite brightly. Test each turn signal. Now turn off the Toggle switch and turn on the headlights and test your turn signals! Walah!
Before I reworked these instructions I ran a similar setup on my car for almost a year and am still using the very same bulbs. So don't worry about premature failure of the bulbs. Their pretty tough and last a long time. If one does blow simply replace it.
I am not held responsible for any damage you do to your car be it physical or electrical by following these instructions. So if you cross a wire or fail to understand something and damage anything don't come crying to me :) Use of these instructions are at your own risk!
ENJOY!
Brian Davis / bdavis411@msn.com