Hey Guys!Just bought a new FX35 and would really like to activate the Daytime Running Lights. I have purchased the DRL relay and installed it. There is power to all connections save the ground circuit from (guessing here) the BCM via the Combination Meter. Since everything else is already in place including bulbs.... there has to be a simple solution to get those to turn on. Is there a connector purposely not connected somewhere?? I have scoured the wiring diagrams and there is nothing that pops up as being on Canadian Cars only.
Any Infiniti Techs wanna take a guess?? The DRLs have saved my hide acouple of times, so I'd really like to get them working.
Thanks for any assistance.
New FX35 - Want to activate DRLs
Hey Nistech, Thanks for the reply, I have scoured the Vehicle Electronics section & maint. sections on the control panel, but didn't find anything... then again, since it is law in Canada I'm betting they wouldn't give a way to turn them on/off. I went thru the Consult trouble shooting section in the Repair Manual, but all I could find was a option to manually turn them on for testing, along with the parking lights, headlights etc...so at this point I'm at a loss, but not defeated - LOL.One thing I did notice when I had the side panel cover off looking at the BCM, there was a green wire w/ a single connector taped to the harness not attached to anything... so where there is one, there may be others... I'll try and do some wire tracing this weekend.
turn your radio and your heater off if they are displayed in your screen. cycle the key off for 10 secs then turn keep back on. push and hold the pause button for radio controls and turn the volume knob back and forth rapidly till your screen goes in to diagnostic mode. once in that mode nose around in there and see if there is anything in there for activating them.
Man, that sounded like it might be there, but wasn't, thanks for the tip though!Does Nissan/Infiniti do Port Assembly - where the cars are shipped here, and the "US only/Destination parts" are added, like radios, accessories, etc.? If so, does anyone work at Port, and know if this is a Port added/activated item?Oh, and boy howdy, just found out the main connector plugs backs are covered... makes checking for wires impossible w/o disconnecting them, so my tracing plan is out right now...LOL
yes some items are port installed this may be one of them. but when the car is manufactured there are many different things required for canada to US models so it may be done during production. typically the cars are pre wired for the different options and have the software installed in the unit controls its just a matter of hardware and activation of the option in the BCM(body control module). I have made a quick scribble to check the ESM (electronic service manual) for your car when I go back to work monday. If time allows I will try to grab the info needed for you to turn them on. In older models the DTRL was controled by a seperate control module. Nissan over the last few years have been cutting back on the amount of control units in their cars and put them on a CAN (contoller area network) where all but the air bag unit communicate with each other. So I am pretty sure the DTRL is now controlled by the BCM.
ok as it turns out our 2003 infiniti ESM has turned up missing and from the looks of it as of 2004 we will no longer get infiniti service manuals. but since the murano and the fx's are similar in technical features I looked up the dtrl in the murano. what I will do is scan the info tonight and post it so you can see where to put all the components. but let me warn you this info in the manual is very difficult to read because it is obviously a direct japanese translation that wasn't cleaned up. it is very difficult to read. but is understandable if you drop a word here and there.
ok mike here it is. if you have difficulty reading it let me know and I can email it to you. IT will pretty much tell you what and where everything is on the murano all the parts should look similar to those pictured. go to the bottom of the page and read what it says needs to be installed and go to the pictures for a reference on what they are talking about. if you have any questions post back. I am very familiar with the murano and can cross alot of it over or figure out where it should be on your fx.
hi nistech, Thanks for the research you did above, and you won't believe this... it's totally different for the FX. It uses a double filiment bulb in the parking lights for the DTRL (instead of the fog lights), and has a separate DTRL relay which has pos. voltage to it at all times. The system is switched on/off from neg. voltage sent from the speedometer cluster (Unified Meter Control Unit in the Combination Meter) which in turn gets input from the BCM (for ignition on and parking lights on), and parking brake. I have the equivelent to the above page from the Service Manual CD for the FX... I got from the Nissan Publications Site (and you are right, I've found some in-accurate info, and mis-spellings and bad sentences... lol).
What I am beginning to suspect, is that the Combination Meter (Speedometer Cluster) for the Canadian Cars may have additional circuitry in it for controlling the DTRLs that the USA version doesn't. That is the only item in all of the wiring diagrams that has any side-notes saying "For Canada" on it. Which, if you are in an area that insurance companies are giving an extra discount for DTRLs, would make you kinda ticked that you can't turn them on... (But the same exists in cars from other companies too.)Oh, well, short of a Nissan Engineer helping us out on this one, I guess I'll have to rig up a small relay circuit & then tap into the proper wires (Yuck!)Thanks again for all your help nistech!!! I do appreciate it.
What I am beginning to suspect, is that the Combination Meter (Speedometer Cluster) for the Canadian Cars may have additional circuitry in it for controlling the DTRLs that the USA version doesn't. That is the only item in all of the wiring diagrams that has any side-notes saying "For Canada" on it. Which, if you are in an area that insurance companies are giving an extra discount for DTRLs, would make you kinda ticked that you can't turn them on... (But the same exists in cars from other companies too.)Oh, well, short of a Nissan Engineer helping us out on this one, I guess I'll have to rig up a small relay circuit & then tap into the proper wires (Yuck!)Thanks again for all your help nistech!!! I do appreciate it.
This thread was covered some months ago on Freshalloy. There needs to be a negative connection to the relay to get it to conduct. It can be bridged to go on all the time but some posters said that the brightness of the light at night was distracting to oncoming cars. There is apparently some different programming to the Canadian computers that gives the (-) signal to the relay when the headlights aren't on. There should be a way to get them to reprogram it. Mention it to your service advisor every time you go in (even some random phone calls may help). Infiniti did not answer an email I sent about it. It will happen by demand.
Hi powerdoc, Thanks for the response, I started out by mentioning it to my assigned service advisor. He said, "We have no idea, there is nothing in the manual on it, but if you find out something, let us know." Basically, "it's not warrantee, and we can't charge you to research it, so we ain't." I have a simple 3 relay circuit that I devised (have no idea of how to do it with transistors etc.), that will provide a ground to the neg. side of the DTRL relay, based on a pos. wire from a "Ignition On/Start" source and would be cut by either a ground from the parking brake or a positive from the parking lights. I'm just kinda chicken to tap into the wiring harness (because I'd have to disconnect some major connection blocks), and undecided as to where. I also haven't figured out a good way to thread 1-2 wires thru the firewall w/o compromising the water-tightness of the wiring harness. I was hoping to solve this by software rather than adding hardware...lolThe last time I went in to talk to a Service Advisor, I had to wait almost 15 min. for them to find one. Then the receptionist asked him if he'd mind talking to me, as I didn't have an appointment. (I about came unglued over just that fact) I doubt they are going to be very helpful. Sad, huh! (I'd better get off that soapbox, someone needs the wood! LOL)
What's really necessary is to power the relay from the headlight circuit, to make the ground when the headlights are off and to release the ground connection when the lights are on. It's just a car; we won't kill anybody (probably) by fiddling with the wiring. Do you have the service manual that you can download from Infiniti? It has the schematics for the electrics, but the problem is tracing down the wiring to a convenient place to splice it.
or you could find that wire he is speaking of that grounds the relay and hook it up on a SPDT(single pull double throw) switch at the ebrake switch. when the brake is applied the lights are off and when the brake is down the lights are on.
Mike can you scan the wiring page from the service manual circle the points you dont know where they go and put a square around the items you had to add. maybe i can figure out how this circuit would work. I am pretty good with electrical when I know the circuit.
Mike can you scan the wiring page from the service manual circle the points you dont know where they go and put a square around the items you had to add. maybe i can figure out how this circuit would work. I am pretty good with electrical when I know the circuit.
Ok... Here is what I need to do (hopefully)... I created a circuit that will provide ground to the DTRL relay when the ignition switch is in ON/START - except when the headlights are turned on OR the Emer. Brake is set.Here are the 5 connections to my "relay project box"& tap point:- Body Ground - Any Body Ground Point- Emer. Brake Ground - Tie in at H. Brake Switch- Ignition On (+) - Terminal 15A on plug M1 on Fuse Block J/B- Parking Lights On (+) - Terminal 4 on plug E215- DTRL Relay Ground - Terminal 7G on harness E211I've found where to tie into for everything above from under the dash, but...and here-in is where my problem now lies - I can't get to some of the wires. Like the DTRL GRND wire. It comes out of the Speedometer directly into the main wire harness block (M41 to E211) and exits w/ 70 other wires and about 7 of them are the same color (Blue), and they are inside a hard plastic right-angled shield then into wire wrap. To sort out that one wire, I'd have to cut about 6" of wire wrap and then disassemble the plug shield to figure out which "Blue" wire is the correct one going thru the firewall to the DTRL relay. This is one of the tightest wrapped wiring harnesses I've seen in a long time. If I don't tie into it there, I'll have to run a wire thru the firewall and out to the DTRL relay, and tie in at it's base.Hope this hasn't confused you even more...(I'm good at that... lol)
I cant make heads or tails out of that pic its pretty small. save it to the members ride section from the link in my sig in the first post in this thread. it will allow you to save a larger photo then I can download it from there and studdy it. If you can, also give me the wiring schematic of it which I believe is on the next page or precedding page of your service manual. so I can determine how it is layed out.
Well, I have them installed, except for a wire that I have to run thru the firewall to the emergency brake switch. They work great (except I can't turn them off w/ the emergency brake yet... lol) Do you know an easy way to thread a wire thru the firewall w/o compremising the water-tight seal of the wiring harnesses, and w/o having to drill new holes???Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys... Well, I'm off to get last minute Christmas shopping done...
I did a little of both, used most of factory wiring, and added a home-grown circuit to boot. I'll try and write up something that makes sense. It will take me a bit of time, so patience please everyone. I'll do a parts list, diagram, and maybe even some photos - if I can get ahold of a digital camera.
esemes & NISTECH,Well guys, after trying to piece something together, I'm looking at it, and it's messy real messy (lots of soldering and mounting relays to a project circuit board). I had gone this route partly because I tried to get the factory setup to work first, then tried to augment.
A far easier way to do it, would be to get a real cheap generic DTRL kit (not the kind that lowers your headlight output to 70%) and hook it into the base of the existing DTRL relay box. I can tell you where I tapped into.1) the DTRL output wire - to the DTRL lights2) the passanger side parking light wire - for lights on signal3) the foglight relay hot wire (active only when the ignition is on)4) chassis ground5) the DTRL input wire - for the hot lead to the DTRLs
The DTRL relay bracket is right next to the battery. You need to take the entire plastic section off, not just the quick access panel to get to the relay bracket. All connections are in the same general area except the parking brake wire. If this sounds feasable, I'll give more details... but the way I originally did it is too much work, and I think the parts cost more than a cheap kit would.
A far easier way to do it, would be to get a real cheap generic DTRL kit (not the kind that lowers your headlight output to 70%) and hook it into the base of the existing DTRL relay box. I can tell you where I tapped into.1) the DTRL output wire - to the DTRL lights2) the passanger side parking light wire - for lights on signal3) the foglight relay hot wire (active only when the ignition is on)4) chassis ground5) the DTRL input wire - for the hot lead to the DTRLs
The DTRL relay bracket is right next to the battery. You need to take the entire plastic section off, not just the quick access panel to get to the relay bracket. All connections are in the same general area except the parking brake wire. If this sounds feasable, I'll give more details... but the way I originally did it is too much work, and I think the parts cost more than a cheap kit would.
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YSWEATME
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- Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2003 7:30 am
- Car: Infiniti FX 35 Sport Package, Honda Accord EX, Ford Mustang GT, Honda CBR 600 F4
Actually I think you can block the sensor. I was visiting my fiance and I need one of those parking tags to park in her garage. Long story short, it's big so instead of hanging it on the rearview mirror I sat it on the dash right over the sensor (the round things on the driver's side by the speaker). It was mid afternoon on a sunny day and I wondered why my headlights wouldn't go out. That's how I found out where the sensor was. Just cover those up and your headlights should stay on all day.
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