Daytime Running Light Question

[thom4782]

My 01S has Litronics. I've read about several hacks to enable daytime running lights. The easiest one seem to be the jump A6 and A9 fuses. I have two questions.

1) Will the A6 and A9 jump hack word for Litronics without my having to change fuses to ones that tolerate hogher amperages?

2) If I wanted to spend a few extra bucks, can I just order a Canadian car DRL relay and plug it in and have things work. I've heard that the change relay approach requires the dealer to reprogram the car. I also heard the more parts need to be changed out for the relay replacement approach to work.

Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide.

[BoxsterSteve]

Originally Posted by thom4782

My 01S has Litronics. I've read about several hacks to enable daytime running lights. The easiest one seem to be the jump A6 and A9 fuses. I have two questions.

1) Will the A6 and A9 jump hack word for Litronics without my having to change fuses to ones that tolerate hogher amperages?

2) If I wanted to spend a few extra bucks, can I just order a Canadian car DRL relay and plug it in and have things work. I've heard that the change relay approach requires the dealer to reprogram the car. I also heard the more parts need to be changed out for the relay replacement approach to work.

Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide.

You'll have to install a fuse with a high enough amperage to be able to power up the Lits, or the fuse will pop when the ballasts light up.
This would be the easiest and nearly free way to get a DRL effect. The headlights will light up when you start the car.
On my Boxster, all exterior lights power on when I start the car. I personally find this to be overkill, as the only thing the headlight switch really controls is the dash lighting.

If you don't have a Canadian spec vehicle, your fuse panel may not be equipped with the associated plug-in and not accept a DRL module.

[thom4782]

BoxsterSteve:

I appreciate the advice. When your talking about a higher amperage fuse are you referring to the A6-A9 jump or using the Canadian DLR relay. In both cases, what amperage fuse do I need to use and in which fuse slots.

As a follow-up question, I agree all light on is overkill. I read somewhere that the Fog light only hack will eventually damage the lenses because the standard bulbs generate a lot of heat that doesn't dissipate on very hot sunny days. The person who said this suggested replacing the fog lights with H7 LED bulbs. Do you have any advice to share on this point.

BTW: I'll check the relay box this morning to see if it has the necessary slots for a DLR relay. If it does, I'll need to find a way to see if slot 6 is wired before I buy a DLR relay. Hopefully, the wiring diagram will show me a way to test this.

Thanks

Thom

[BoxsterSteve]

Read up here. http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/35094-drl-hack.html

Should cover what you need to know.

[thom4782]

Upon further review (I actually inspected the relay box this morning), the Canadian double relay option isn't possible because the relevant relay sockets aren't wired. So it's down to the A6-A9 hack or the fog light hack. I'm leaning toward the fog light hack, but I am concerned whether the standard bulbs will eventually discolor the lens because they put out too much heat. The scuttlebutt is that the fog lights overheat on high temperature bright sunny days.

I assume that the Canadian DLR doesn't turn on the fog lights. Rather, it turns on the lights as if the headlight switch was turned to low beam. If this isn't the case and the Canadian option turns the fog light on, then I'm less concerned with heat discoloration. Do the fog lights come automatically when Canadian spec cars start?Do folks who have done fog light hack agree that the standard bulb wont cause discoloration?

As I mentioned in my prior post, I've seen suggestions to convert the fog lamp bulb to a H7 LED arrangement. I don't know much about LED's, but I assume they put out far less heat than the standard fog light bulb. Is this right?

Again, thanks for any insights you can provide.

[thom4782]

After reading the URL BoxsterSteve provided, now I'm 50/50 on A6-A9 or the fog light route.The URL was very helpful.

I'm still interested in seeing what folks think about the potential heat problem with the fog light solution. Depending on what they say might tip the balance in favor of one DLR solution over the other.

I'd like to go the fog light route for looks, but I don't want to damage these extremely expensive headlight assemblies.