'93 J30 Daytime Running Lights (DRL)

[nikoz]

Hi, I'm new here & found this forum totally by accident. Had I known, I'da been posting like mad the last few years.

Ours is a '93 made for Canada car with DRLs. The left side no longer works; it started as an intermittent prob, but has become permanent. I now wanna sell the car & have to certify it so I'd like to spend the least bucks possible to fix them. I suspect the DRL relay. Does anybody know a non OEM substitute & where to buy online? Does anybody know where this relay is physically located? The schematic in the manual shows there is a separate relay for each side, but I suspect it's one unit including the 2 relays in one housing. Can someone enlighten me?
Modified by nikoz at 9:59 PM 12/10/2008

[93jdirty']

Come to the resque NALA, ( because he has canadian J)

[kbflip02]

Hi, I'm new here & found this forum totally by accident. Had I known, I'da been posting like mad the last few years.

Ours is a '93 made for Canada car with DRLs. The left side no longer works; it started as an intermittent prob, but has become permanent. I now wanna sell the car & have to certify it so I'd like to spend the least bucks possible to fix them. I suspect the DRL relay. Does anybody know a non OEM substitute & where to buy online? Does anybody know where this relay is physically located? The schematic in the manual shows there is a separate relay for each side, but I suspect it's one unit including the 2 relays in one housing. Can someone enlighten me?

Modified by nikoz at 9:59 PM 12/10/2008

best bet get the FSM from phatG20...also for cheap parts call everythinginfiniti.com and ask for joe....

[driverdriver]

Welcome to Nico!!!

I would echo kbflip and and suggest everythinginfiniti, however factor in that the Canadian dollar isn't doing so hot as it once was and shipping and excise tax and then compare local price with your dealer.

It's possible this part wasn't available in the USA (it was Canadian spec) and everythinginfiniti may not have it.

There are no aftermarket parts for the J's DRL.

[naladude911]

Umm. I have the Canadian J30 as well. In the fuse box located in the engine bay, you can find the DTRL relay. It is brown and is labeled DTRL cut. On the right side of the engine bay (driver's side), by the strut tower there is a grey box, with two plugs coming out of it. Il take pics later, but this is the DTRL actuator. Check to make sure the plugs are in tight, DO NOT TAKE THEM OUT. This makes the headlights and highbeams fail to work. You can't disable the DTRLs. Ive tried, and nothing works. Even the mechanics at Nissan had no clue.

[nikoz]

Thanks, Naladude; I had finally managed to locate the DTRL relay on my own. I thot the grey box on the driver's side was the headlight relay. Doesn't removal of the DTRL relay deactivate them or does that deactivate the headlights as well?

[naladude911]

It does nothing. Ive pulled it out and nothing happens. Dont mess with the DTRL actuator though. The headlight relay is located by the brake booster (giant black disk bolted to the firewall).

[nikoz]

If you say pulling it out does nothing, are you saying the DTRL's stay on? If so, what's the relay for? That being the case, my pulling out the relay wud fix my prob as they are out on the driver's side only.

I'd read a post on a Cdn forum referring to that grey box, but I can't find it now. I think some guy fixed his headlight prob thru that.

[naladude911]

Well when I pulled my DTRL cut nothing happened. And ya, when you unplug one of the grey box's connectors one side of lights doenst work. idk.....

[nikoz]

When I pulled the DTRL relay in the fuse box, I got the same result as you, except my DRLs remained out on the driver's side & the headlights both lo & hi beams still worked, which is the prob I started with. My conclusion is the DTRL in the fuse box has been bypassed in the Canadian versions of the J30 & is wired thru the DRL activator on the fender well, The electrical schematic does not show the circuit in this mystery box, so I still don't know how to cure my prob nor yours, but I suspect the probs are in the gray box.

[naladude911]

dam. I want to dissable mine to, so I can stop using my headlights for my HIDs. I have to keep them on you see, cause the DTRL's have a low wattage, not enought to support the HIDs, so they flicker if I dont turn on the headlights.

[nikoz]

Here's a thot for connecting your HIDs w/o needing headlights on. I didn't do this test while I was trying to fix my DRLs, but with engine running & DTRL relay removed, test to see if you have power at the 2 parallel prong openings where you removed the relay. If you have power there, you might use it as a power source for your HIDs; they might only work in when your headlights are NOT on. A couple of spade connectors could be crimped on to your HID wires to plug into the openings.

The DTRL relay is rated @ 20A, if memory serves, so bear that in mind for thinking of the load on existing wires. I dunno the rating of your HIDs.