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HOW-TO: disable DRLs in a 2008-up malibu

18K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  DrivenDaily 
#1 ·
This is how you disable day time running lights in a 2008-up malibu. You want to do this if your running hids, because the drls are sent lower voltage than normal. This lower voltage will kill the hid ballast and also causes flickering or causes one bulb not to come on.

here's how:

pop the hood
open the hood
removed the plastic cover over the battery, there's two tabs holding it on, push them in and pull up at the same time.
Then you will see the fuse box cover. Remove that cover the same way you removed the battery cover. Flip the fuse cover over for a fuse box schematic.
Find fuse 46 which is the DRL fuse. Remove this fuse from the fuse box.
PROBLEM SOLVED.
 
#3 ·
the hids will only turn on at start-up if its dark outside, which doesn't hurt them because it's full 12 volts, since we pulled the drl fuse out.
 
#4 ·
BigNick is indeed correct about pulling fuse 46 to disable the DRLs. You can also pull DRL Relay 48 and disable them.

What BigNick infers, though, is that the DRLs receive less than 12 volts when energized. That's true of vehicles that use High Beams for DRLs, but our 'Bus use Low Beams. They receive a full 12 volts, not less.

The DRL relay supplies 12V to fuseblock terminal B2, which is carried by a purple wire to fuseblock terminal A3, the low beam output from Low Beam Relay 38. It supplies voltage to the Low Beams first by a Tan/White wire and then is changed to Yellow before going to the low beam socket.

The DRLs on cars that use High Beams, such as Saturns and older GM products, are the ones that supply a different voltage/frequency to the bulbs. GM found out that halogen bulbs don't like to run on undervoltage, i.e. 6V-9V, because it causes them to burn out early. So what they came up with was a way of turning the 12V on and off at a frequency that kept the High Beams from coming on completely, resulting in the somewhat amber appearance when energized by the DRL circuit. If you look at incandescent bulbs you'll see that they are actually heating the wire, causing it to glow. If you turn that heat on and off they won't glow as brightly as when energized by a full 12V. Unless you have the LTZ with an LED for the brake light you can see that by turning on the blinker or hazard warning lights and watching it get brighter and dimmer as it receives and loses its 12V signal. Or go to the front and watch.

If you would like to keep the operation of DRL but also want to prevent them from being on during engine start, you can find a relay that delays being energized and is adjustable from a second up to 15 seconds. I got one last year but I'm using it to allow me to roll my windows up and down by the factory remote. (Yeah, I also had to install the express modules, but that was already done when I wired up the remote feature.)

At this point I don't know where I got the relay from, but anyone can search for it. If it turns out that there is a need I'll even find a source and come up with an easy-to-install wiring diagram, but you'll have to ask. The best way would be to send me a PM. If there's enough interest I'll post it where you can find it and let you know that I did.

But, yes, pulling either the fuse or relay will disable the DRLs.
 
#5 ·
DrivenDaily, a relay that delays the surge of energy sounds like a good idea. My concern with HIDs in the Bu are at start-up. They come on, then they shut off while actually turning the key, and finally back on when the engine has started. IIRC the HIDs don't do well with this kind of abuse and will lead to premature failure of the ballast and maybe the bulb.
 
#8 ·
Hey, I finally found the time delayed relay I'm currently using in a different mod on my 'Bu. Here's a link to one of the sites that sells it:

http://www.buy.com/prod/directed-528t-pulse-timer-with-spdt-relay/q/loc/111/90148468.html

It's the DEI 528T, can be set to delay from 1 to 90 seconds, and is adjustable from outside the case with a small screwdriver. Mine has worked everytime since I installed it.

And it's cheaper'n an H9 or H11, too!
 
#11 ·
I have to recant my statement above. The low beam DRLs operate at lower power than when they are low beam headlights. I was mistaken but have since learned differently.

Edit: The DRLs in Gen7 do not use PWM or any other method to lower the apparent voltage. The reason they appear to brighten slightly when the headlights go from DRL to headlights is due to the very small wire they use from the DRL relay to the headlights. It is so small that there is a voltage drop. Otherwise, they're running on a full 12V.
 
#12 ·
I have a 2008 Malibu LT1 with HID kits from DDMtuning.com. i pulled both the DRL fuse and Relay and the lights still stay on at all times even on the brightest sunny day. any other suggestions other than the foolish "must be a short in the wiring" or "someone must have modified the wiring".?? because neither of them are true. my family has owned my car since it was brand new.


Thank u
 
#13 ·
Check the headlight switch to make sure it's not in the forward position for full headlights. If so then as soon as you turn the key on the headlights will be on if they weren't already when you unlocked or opened the door. The lights turned off after the BCM timed out.

The DRLs turn on only when the trans is shifted out of P. Get a bright flashlight (very bright) and shine it down on the sensor. You can fake the sensor into thinking it's daytime by doing this.

Start the car and leave in P. If the DRLs or the low beams and running lights are on while in P then something's wrong to start with. Turn the headlight switch to the Off position to turn the DRLs and/or lights off. DIC says "Auto Lights Off" for several seconds. Turn the switch to Off position again and DIC says "Auto Lights On".

Now set the parking brake, then put trans in N (car still running). DRLs should turn on but none of the side or tail markers. If they do then the BCM is telling your headlights to turn on, which cancels the DRLs automatically. You might have a failed sensor or sensor wiring, or the BCM has had a failure.
 
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