2008 Sierra... Drls?

C. Charles Hahn · October 21, 2008

As the topic says, I am planning to convert the lights on my 08 Sierra to HIDs in the low beams and fogs (similar to what Daddy has on his truck). My concern is that in the past, I've always had to either disable or alter the DRLs so they didn't feed 70% voltage to the low beams and fry the HID ballasts. Is this still going to be the case on the NBS Sierra?

What I'd ideally like to do is set it up so the parking lamps in front are used as DRLs instead of the low-beams. Not only do I think that will look better than using the low beams all the time, but it would also keep the ballasts safe and keep my truck street legal during the day. I don't however know if that is possible, since I haven't had the chance to tear into a GMT-900 yet and thus at this point I am unfamiliar with the wiring and computer controlled functions on this platform.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions how I can make this work?

Thanks!

Darkanion · October 21, 2008

What I did on mine was pulled the fuses for the DRL's. The AHL's still work, for night-time driving, but the DRL's don't come on during the day. I'm not sure of how you could wire the parking lights to work in lieu of the DRL's. It can probably be done, but I'm not sure how.

On my 2007 Sierra, I pulled the following fuses :

That will keep the HID's from coming on during the daytime via the DRL circuit. If you want the parking lights on, you could always flick the headlight switch to the right one click, to turn on the parking lights..? I believe that'll fire-up the rest of the outside lights too (except for the headlights, of course).

I usually just leave mine all off unless it's getting close to dusk or it's real overcast...

huero626 · October 21, 2008

Pull the fuses for the DRL's, that's what I did.

jrrod2004 · October 21, 2008

What I did on mine was pulled the fuses for the DRL's. The AHL's still work, for night-time driving, but the DRL's don't come on during the day. I'm not sure of how you could wire the parking lights to work in lieu of the DRL's. It can probably be done, but I'm not sure how.

On my 2007 Sierra, I pulled the following fuses :

That will keep the HID's from coming on during the daytime via the DRL circuit. If you want the parking lights on, you could always flick the headlight switch to the right one click, to turn on the parking lights..? I believe that'll fire-up the rest of the outside lights too (except for the headlights, of course).

I usually just leave mine all off unless it's getting close to dusk or it's real overcast...

good 'writeup'

C. Charles Hahn · October 21, 2008

Thanks for the pics, Darkanion! That does look like a workable solution in the interim; much easier than some of the vehicles I've worked on that don't have a fuse dedicated to the DRLs.

I could probably wire up a relay to turn the parking lamps on via the switch when I first start the truck, but I'd still like to figure out how to get the parking lights to come on without anything else lighting up, if it's even possible.

Darkanion · October 21, 2008

Thanks for the pics, Darkanion! That does look like a workable solution in the interim; much easier than some of the vehicles I've worked on that don't have a fuse dedicated to the DRLs.

Your welcome! Yeah, pulling the fuses solved most of my concerns. So, I just left it at that. I'm sure someone else has come up with a snazzier solution that turns on the parking lights instead of the headlights for the DRL function.

By the way : Where are you located? I noticed that you mentioned keeping the truck street legal re: the DRL's. The only place I've heard of that they are "required" to be functional is Canada... I'm sure someone will correct me on that, though...

Darkanion · October 21, 2008

good 'writeup'

Thanks! I've answered that question a few times. So, I kind of have it down in my head.

pwall · October 21, 2008

<snip>
By the way : Where are you located? I noticed that you mentioned keeping the truck street legal re: the DRL's. The only place I've heard of that they are "required" to be functional is Canada... I'm sure someone will correct me on that, though...

I'm not sure what the law is up here for DRL, but the vechicle must have them to pass safety inspection when you license the vechicle. After that, not sure if it really matters. ;) ie. don't think you'll get pulled over for no DRL.

The DRL on my 2002 YukonXL where burned out for many years. I never bothered to replace the bulbs.

I'm planning on putting HID's in my current truck, and the DRL are the low beams. So, I'll be pulling the fuses out as in the above description. Thanks for that btw.

ujtruck · October 21, 2008

I did the same as Michael did, and I flip headlamp switch 1 click to the right (parking lights) its nice and save low beam bulb.

MS3DALE · October 21, 2008

Just double check the DRL fuse number location,I think they changed the location of the DRL fuses for '08.

MarkPMB · October 21, 2008

Same location, but different fuse numbers on the 08. The pics were still a great help and got me in the right area. I don't remember what the numbers were, but that is the right spot.

MS3DALE · October 22, 2008

Same location, but different fuse numbers on the 08. The pics were still a great help and got me in the right area. I don't remember what the numbers were, but that is the right spot.

OK,I knew they changed something,wasn't sure if it was the number or the location.

Darkanion · October 22, 2008

I'm not sure what the law is up here for DRL, but the vechicle must have them to pass safety inspection when you license the vechicle. After that, not sure if it really matters. ;) ie. don't think you'll get pulled over for no DRL.
The DRL on my 2002 YukonXL where burned out for many years. I never bothered to replace the bulbs.

That must be one of those "if it came with 'em, it needs to still have 'em" laws, since all vehicles do not have DRL's, so it can't be a requirement that "all" vehicles don't have them from the factory.

Same location, but different fuse numbers on the 08. The pics were still a great help and got me in the right area. I don't remember what the numbers were, but that is the right spot.

Cool! Glad I could help!

CopperHead3 · October 22, 2008

Is there a fuse for just the parking lights?? If there is you could use a jumper wire from the DRL's fuse position to the parking lights.

This is my first post on here, My dodge is curently for sale, when it sales i'm buying a Sierra, so i'll be researching on here alot!!

Kenny

C. Charles Hahn · October 22, 2008

Is there a fuse for just the parking lights?? If there is you could use a jumper wire from the DRL's fuse position to the parking lights.

This is my first post on here, My dodge is curently for sale, when it sales i'm buying a Sierra, so i'll be researching on here alot!!

Kenny

That's a good thought; though I'd imagine you would also have to stop the signal from going to both the low beam headlamps and the parking lights then, and I don't know if it feeds more power to the headlamp circuit than the parking lights could handle. Also don't know what kind of effect that could have on the turn signals.

Kinda sucks when everything is tied together in so many different places.

Darkanion -- I'm in Michigan, but I do go into Canada from time to time. I've never heard anyone say they have been pulled over for no DRLs, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. The tint on my front windows is already illegal enough, don't want to give them any more excuses to pull me over!