Shift-E

I tried searching, but didn't find anything.

I have an 01 Civic LX. I've noticed that when I'm running on DRLs, the symbol for the high beam comes up on the dash. When I turn the lights on it goes away (unless of course I turn the high beams on). Is this a problem, or is it normal? BTW my DRL light is on, and one of my lights is burnt out just so you know.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

drl light means there is a problem with that system. change the bulb and i bet it goes away. the hi beam light too. it needs two bulbs to work properly, since it runs them in series to get 1/2 power (6v) per bulb. and if one bulb is missing, you dont have the needed resistance.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

On the 8th gens ( I know yours is a 7th ) The high beam indicator will be faintly lit when the drls are on, and it is normal operation. Possibly the 7ths work the same way ?

It actually helps under low light conditions to let you know your headlights are not on by seeing the dimly lit indicator.

Maybe someone from Canada will chime in on this, never saw a 7th with drl.

Shift-E

You know what, mine was dimly lit before but after the DRL light came on it was like full blast. What Gearbox said makes sense, if one light is out then it's not getting the right resistance, causing it to go full blast. I'll just buy a new pair of bulbs and everything should be fine.

PS. I'm Canadian :P

Shift-E

Thanks Gearbox! That makes perfect sense actually. I'll just switch out the bulbs then. Been meaning to do that for a while... lol

I wasn't really concerned, cuz I knew what the DRL light meant. I was just wondering if the high beam dash light thing was normal, which it seems it is.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

The system puts the 2 high beams in series so they run at 1/2 voltage.

Brian1037

In Canada DRL's are mandatory on all cars built after 1990. Canadian Civic's come with a DRL system.

When your lights are OFF (apart from the DRL's of course that you can't turn off) then the highbeam indicator will be ON (but only dim) to denote that your DRL's are on. You cannot change this or turn it off without removing a fuse, and it's illegal to in Canada.

When your parking lights on ON then your DRL's are ON (still dim highbeam indicator), and your tail lights are on.

When you illuminate your night lights, the DRL's turn OFF, and the night lights turn ON. Your tail lights will be on. Your highbeam indicator will turn off completely.

When you turn your highbeams ON, then of course then highbeam indicator is on.

It's completely normal to have the highbeam light on (but dimly) during the day, it just indicates that your DRL's are on.

btw, when the DRL light is on, then your DRL's are OFF. The DRL light should be on right when you turn your car on, before you release the hand brake (on manual cars, not sure about auto's).

As gearbox said, the DRL light being on while driving means a problem.

This is all in your owner's manual

Shift-E

Very well written explanation I knew most of it already, except for maybe the legal stuff. I just noticed it recently because the high beam light was on, not dim but fully lit.
Gearbox explained it well. One of my headlights was already burnt out, but only the low beam filament (since the bulbs have 2 filaments). When the high beam filament burnt out a couple days ago, that's what caused the DRL to come on and have the high beam dash light fully lit. Since I did not have both high beams to create a resistance.

Let me know if I got anything wrong? Thanks guys for your awesome feedback!

Shift-E

UPDATE: switched the bulbs out for new cheap ones since im retroing soon. All lights disappeared, which was expected. High beam light back to normal.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

cool. i wonder what type of drl system honda uses? i thought about using it for my car at one point but thought the wiring might be too complicated/messy. usually they do too much unneccesary wiring and tie it into all sorts of systems.

also if you do a retrofit and you have 01-03 civic, you need to disable the drl or it will fry the hids.

Shift-E

Do you disable it just by taking the DRL fuse out? Wouldn't that cause the DRL light to come on the dash? Is there a way of disabling that light?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeyeah there are two fuses for drl. that should kill the drl light too, but if not just put a piece of electrical tape behind the gauge faces to block the light.

Shift-E

Alright, sounds good. Hope I dont have to use the tape cuz thats just extra annoyance for nothing lol.

Thanks for the quick response!

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

I considered adding drl to my 05 when I got it...quickly learned it is not simply plug & play.

Everything under the sun is tied to the multiplex with Honda, On the 8th gens the entire headlight/drl/parking lamps system is MICU controlled and the headlight switch is just switching logic lines.

DarkSouljur

Wait, when i install my morimoto mini's is there a way for me to have DRLs since it's illegal to not have them in canada?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

not on 01-03 heads. does turning on your headlight qualify as a drl over there? i know its not as bright, but maybe they allow headlight lo beam too. otherwise youre kinda stuck maybe get driving lights for the fog location.

Shift-E

I think it's illegal for the manufacturer not to put DRLs. Whether you use them or not I'm not sure, but if you're beaming then you'll probably be fine.

DarkSouljur

It's just as long as there's light showing ur fine. Like i could hook up my halo's as my DRLS if i wanted to and i'd be fine :P

Brian1037

Use some fog's as DRL's. That's what I'm going to do when I get my yellow fogs this summer. I'll pull the DRL fuses and just have the fogs on all the time.

And yeah you can use pretty much any light as a DRL. The cop wont pull you over if you have some kind of lights in the front.

DarkSouljur

I most likely won't be getting fogs

I mean when i drove my family's 4-door civic i had driven it around for pretty much a year and i didn't have DRL's cuz the module kept breaking or something. We got new ones so i could take my last drivers test cuz they check ur car's lights before the test, then 2 weeks later the DRL light came on again. But point is the chances of being ticketed for not having DRL's isn't very high lol