Daytime Running Lights

My 1994 miata daytime running light module quit awhile back, so I bought
another one from the dealer. I suspect that in the intervening years they
either changed the module color or came up with with an upgraded part which
had a different color to retrofit my 1994 miata. In any event, I cannot
figure where the defective module is OR recognize it even if I had looked
right at it. The parts book shows it located close to the gas pedal but it
is unclear whether it is in the car interior or in the engine bay. Gosh, it
is crapped in the driver's side footwell when you are laying on your back
looking up in the area of the backside of the radio! Has anybody replaced
their module? I guess that the answer will come from a non-American, because
US cars do not have Daytime Running Lights.

They had that in 1994? Heck my 2000 didn't even come with that. But I'm
glad, not wanting to wear those bulbs out needlessly anyway.

Course my Wife's 97 Cevy Monte Carlo has them, and we are on the
original bulbs, but less then 45K mi. on the car. What I like about her
car is a sensor turns the full headlights on when needed. But they did
include a headlight switch, I guess for if/when the sensor gives out,
which it hasn't done yet :-).

In article >,
(S K) wrote:

> They had that in 1994? Heck my 2000 didn't even come with that.

Remember, he lives in Canada, where DRLs are required.

--
Lanny Chambers
St. Louis, MO
'94C

My 99 has some of the DRL and ABS wiring, even though it has neither.

"S K" > wrote in message
...
> They had that in 1994? Heck my 2000 didn't even come with that. But I'm
> glad, not wanting to wear those bulbs out needlessly anyway.
>
> Course my Wife's 97 Cevy Monte Carlo has them, and we are on the
> original bulbs, but less then 45K mi. on the car. What I like about her
> car is a sensor turns the full headlights on when needed. But they did
> include a headlight switch, I guess for if/when the sensor gives out,
> which it hasn't done yet :-).
>

In article >,
"Chuck" > writes:
> My 99 has some of the DRL and ABS wiring, even though it has neither.
>

US models have the plugin installed but don't come with the module. And
considering that it costs $100 I will not be adding it to mine. I have
never seen any viable evidence that it increases safty. Around here you
just have to keep your eyes open and watch for people running stop signs
and red lights. They are not even looking for your DRL.

bill

--
Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves
| and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton |
Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include <std.disclaimer.h>

On Feb 14, 5:23 am, (Bill Gunshannon) wrote:
> In article >,
> "Chuck" > writes:
>
> > My 99 has some of the DRL and ABS wiring, even though it has neither.
>
> US models have the plugin installed but don't come with the module. And
> considering that it costs $100 I will not be adding it to mine. I have
> never seen any viable evidence that it increases safty. Around here you
> just have to keep your eyes open and watch for people running stop signs
> and red lights. They are not even looking for your DRL.
>
> bill
>
> --
> Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves
> | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
> University of Scranton |
> Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include <std.disclaimer.h>

I always assumed that the DRLs were a manufacturers gimmick to get
their bulbs to burn out quicker, increasing sales of their over priced
bulbs. But like I said all of my Wife's 97 Monte Carlo's bulbs are
still fine. But that probably is due to the fact the car only has
about 45k miles, and hardly is ever run in the evening/late night
hours.

Thankfully I DID receive one useful reply by contacting this group, so I
replaced my module and they are working just fine. The gentleman responded
to the
question by email. I found it interesting how the other responders got off
onto any odd tangent to the question. The wear and tear on your
headlights? - rather silly notion compared to your life. By the way, I just
upgraded my original lights with Hella lights because I wanted better
headlights, but
the original lights were working perfectly. And yes, I am sure that they
were the original
headlights. Perhaps the rest of the world actually is wrong, but the US is
probably the only developed country that does not require Daytime Running
Lights due to the added safety. DRL's cause an immediate and substantial
reduction in traffic accidents - period. But wow, maybe it really is just
another government conspiracy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> My 1994 miata daytime running light module quit awhile back, so I bought
> another one from the dealer. I suspect that in the intervening years they
> either changed the module color or came up with with an upgraded part
> which had a different color to retrofit my 1994 miata. In any event, I
> cannot figure where the defective module is OR recognize it even if I had
> looked right at it. The parts book shows it located close to the gas pedal
> but it is unclear whether it is in the car interior or in the engine bay.
> Gosh, it is cramped in the driver's side footwell when you are laying on
> your back looking up in the area of the backside of the radio! Has anybody
> replaced their module? I guess that the answer will come from a
> non-American, because US cars do not have Daytime Running Lights.

Brian Minto wrote:
> Thankfully I DID receive one useful reply by contacting this group, so I
> replaced my module and they are working just fine. The gentleman responded
> to the
> question by email. I found it interesting how the other responders got off
> onto any odd tangent to the question. The wear and tear on your
> headlights? - rather silly notion compared to your life. By the way, I just
> upgraded my original lights with Hella lights because I wanted better
> headlights, but
> the original lights were working perfectly. And yes, I am sure that they
> were the original
> headlights. Perhaps the rest of the world actually is wrong, but the US is
> probably the only developed country that does not require Daytime Running
> Lights due to the added safety. DRL's cause an immediate and substantial
> reduction in traffic accidents - period. But wow, maybe it really is just
> another government conspiracy.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> My 1994 miata daytime running light module quit awhile back, so I bought
>> another one from the dealer. I suspect that in the intervening years they
>> either changed the module color or came up with with an upgraded part
>> which had a different color to retrofit my 1994 miata. In any event, I
>> cannot figure where the defective module is OR recognize it even if I had
>> looked right at it. The parts book shows it located close to the gas pedal
>> but it is unclear whether it is in the car interior or in the engine bay.
>> Gosh, it is cramped in the driver's side footwell when you are laying on
>> your back looking up in the area of the backside of the radio! Has anybody
>> replaced their module? I guess that the answer will come from a
>> non-American, because US cars do not have Daytime Running Lights.
>
>

I searched for a way to achieve DRL in my US-spec 2006 when I bought it
but found nothing. If it were as simple as plugging in a $100 module I
might well do it (or if I knew for sure what the wiring of the module
was I could probably make one for next to nothing using components in my
electronic junk drawers).

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

In article >,
John McGaw > writes:
> Brian Minto wrote:
>> Thankfully I DID receive one useful reply by contacting this group, so I
>> replaced my module and they are working just fine. The gentleman responded
>> to the
>> question by email. I found it interesting how the other responders got off
>> onto any odd tangent to the question. The wear and tear on your
>> headlights? - rather silly notion compared to your life. By the way, I just
>> upgraded my original lights with Hella lights because I wanted better
>> headlights, but
>> the original lights were working perfectly. And yes, I am sure that they
>> were the original
>> headlights. Perhaps the rest of the world actually is wrong, but the US is
>> probably the only developed country that does not require Daytime Running
>> Lights due to the added safety. DRL's cause an immediate and substantial
>> reduction in traffic accidents - period. But wow, maybe it really is just
>> another government conspiracy.
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>> My 1994 miata daytime running light module quit awhile back, so I bought
>>> another one from the dealer. I suspect that in the intervening years they
>>> either changed the module color or came up with with an upgraded part
>>> which had a different color to retrofit my 1994 miata. In any event, I
>>> cannot figure where the defective module is OR recognize it even if I had
>>> looked right at it. The parts book shows it located close to the gas pedal
>>> but it is unclear whether it is in the car interior or in the engine bay.
>>> Gosh, it is cramped in the driver's side footwell when you are laying on
>>> your back looking up in the area of the backside of the radio! Has anybody
>>> replaced their module? I guess that the answer will come from a
>>> non-American, because US cars do not have Daytime Running Lights.
>>
>>
>
> I searched for a way to achieve DRL in my US-spec 2006 when I bought it
> but found nothing. If it were as simple as plugging in a $100 module I
> might well do it (or if I knew for sure what the wiring of the module
> was I could probably make one for next to nothing using components in my
> electronic junk drawers).

I would take a look in the location it is supposed to be. I assume
you will find an un-occupied plug sitting there. You can buy the
module from miatamania.com for $97.00. The comment I found was that
it was cheaper to use one wiring harness and just not put the module
in for the US market. I believe there was some other item that the
wiring was in place for bu the US cars don't have. I guess the fact
that I usually drive with my headlights on, even during the day, is
why I never gave much thought to DRL's. Maybe I will. But I wouold
love to see a pointer to some legitimate research that shows that they
do, in fact, reduce the number of accidents. To me, I see too many
other factors involved for any possible valid corelation between DRL's
and accidents.

bill


--
Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves
| and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton |
Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include <std.disclaimer.h>

John, In my '94 car the module was just above and behind the brake pedal. It
plugged into a provided connector in the wiring harness and the module
attached to the firewall with a screw. The extra visibility is worth it. One
fellow above mentioned dodging other drivers running stop signs but he
mentioned that he saw no value to the DRL's. If the other driver saw you, he
probably would not run the stop sign in front of you unless he actually had
a deathwish. Being broadsided usually hurts. I doubt that you could just
make one but if you can go for it. The module operates the headlights at
about half intensity and leaves the rear lights off. I would not imagine
that the connector is completely missing from your car. Auto parts stores
sell a universal adapter kit for $20-$30 if you get stymied and/or don't
like the idea of getting the $100 OEM part.
_________________________________________________

> I searched for a way to achieve DRL in my US-spec 2006 when I bought it
> but found nothing. If it were as simple as plugging in a $100 module I
> might well do it (or if I knew for sure what the wiring of the module was
> I could probably make one for next to nothing using components in my
> electronic junk drawers).
>
> --
> John McGaw
> [Knoxville, TN, USA]
> http://johnmcgaw.com