Daytime Running Lights - where to tap in, and other thoughts.

[Brain75]

I am following this guide:

DIY DRL's

Canada, and some of the northern states require DRL's. (Daytime Running Lights) Many other states require you to have your Headlights on when you vehicle is on a highway or a interstate. Not all rangers came with DRL's and many owners are having problems with the Module that operates the DRL...

www.therangerstation.com

and was thinking about where the easiest place to tap into all this is... most likely right below the exterior lights switch (the pull knob on the dash, not the multifunction on the steering column).
Well silly old me was thinking where did Ford put DRL in factory... a few googles later and I find that Canada has had this requirement for forever, and Ford of Canada did it a long time ago -like even before my 1990, the module is behind the glove box in "everything" meaning Rangers/F-150's/Escapes/Explorers, etc.
So... in my 1991 manual (yeah, my 1990 came with a '91 manual from the used car dealer) it says there is DRL (Canadian vehicles only).
Behind my glove I find a connector that is just dead ending into a Relay or Dummy... grab the part number and can't find bupkiss... one number off is the Low Oil Level Relay. I find it hard to believe the low oil level relay would be behind the glove, not under the hood.

I haven't probed it out but can any number dummy confirm if this is the DRL dummy module?

The manual does not show any listing for DRL in the fuses pages that I see:

and the only place that the DRL is mentioned specifically is super useful

FWIW, all of my googling came up with DRL modules that have 2 rows of 4 pins for a total of 8 pins, NONE of them had 4 pins. I also did not find part numbers for anything older than 1993... I am beginning to feel like the world has disavowed all knowledge of Ford making a Ranger before 1993.

In other thoughts, I would like to add an On/Off switch to the guide - anything electrical should have a master disconnect. Any "feature" should have an user over-ride. The best place to put this is on the Red colored wire in the initial 1st picture right, thoughts / comments? (I was thinking of using a 15a on/off/reset circuit breaker switch such as a standard ST-001) - 15a cause the wiring to the headlight is not thick enough to warrant a ginormous 30a fuse/circuit breaker.

 

[Brain75]

oh, sidenote - there is no manuals here for models older than '93... if I get off my butt and scan it where would you like the scan of a '91 manual sent?

 

[rubydist]

Search is your friend.

The details are different by year.

Automatic headlights and daytime running lights

Maybe I've been living in the big city too long, but after driving a bunch of vehicles over the years with automatic on/off headlights, it seems too much to have to manually turn on/off the headlights on the Ranger. (Maybe I just don't want to be like those idiots driving at night with just...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[Brain75]

Didn't answer a single thing I asked... but I'll mark it down as a vote for "next to the headlight" rather than "behind the glovebox"

 

[Brain75]

Sidenote, Rock Auto lists a DRL module for 1990 Ford Ranger 2.9L XLT - part number Standard Motor Products LMD100 OR (Wells?) WVE 6H1475....

OEM / Interchange Numbers: E9SZ15A272B, F43Z15A272A, F7LY15A272AA, FODZ15A272B, FOTZ15A270A

They both have 8 pins like my comment in the 1st post.

So one of the other things I am asking here is where is the dummy plug if my 4 pin thing is not the dummy plug? That would be the ideal place to tap into the system.

 

[superj]

no answer for your questions but i have a question.

why are you wanting to add DRLs? the usa stopped making it mandatory because there was no change in the amount of accidents after they required car manufacturers to have DRLs.

 

[Brain75]

Honestly I'm split on "really" wanting to add them. I want them for both the insurance discount (same reason I added 3rd brake light & doing other safety things), and safety - really have proven less accidents. The reversal in the US was more red v. blue politics than actual science. If I can prevent loosing my truck to some a-hole who T-bone's me cause "they didn't see me".
I'm going to a lot of work to bring this truck back from a tired old girl to something I am proud to be seen in (note the clearcoat condition in my intro thread). If I go to all that trouble, I don't want to loose it the next week to some careless jerk.

But I do not like features that are so automatic as to be intrusive, unable to be disabled, etc. I had those automatic seatbelts in a car back in the 90's - the kind on a motorized track that you can't unplug (hard fixed at both ends) or otherwise CHOOSE if you want or not. That kind of "feature" drives me nuts, I want the ability to turn a feature on/off - hence why I plan on using a rocker switch bypass.

I am the kinda guy who also hates modern "courtesy lights" the kind that turn your headlights on for when you unlock your car with the FOB, and leave the lights on till you start the car.
The reason I hate them, I had to deal with a dead battery probably a hundred times in 3 years of living in an apt complex and parking outside.... What happened was thieves would come in at 3am bump the door handles on every car looking for an unlocked car to pilfer, my headlights and interior lights come on and then stay on for 30 minutes cause nobody opened the door, started the car, or did anything else to trigger the shutoff. When I finally figured out what was going on I made it a habit of parking the car, raising the hod, and pulling master relay 56 - disabling the BCM (Body Control Module - the 2nd brain in a GM that controls all the lighting)... Yet another "convenience" that turned out to be severely inconvenient.

I'm also being super cost conscious. I didn't spend $200 for a new 3rd brake light module in order to get a $6/yr discount... I spent $5 at the 'yard on one w/ bulbs & pigtail included. Nobody can convince me that I could get 33 more years out of an already 35 year old truck. The DIY DRL so far has cost me $2 ($1 each for the 2 relays from the 'yard). I'll have to throw another $0.50 of $1 or so in a few splice & spade connectors but I have those on hand already. If you want to count every last penny I plan on putting the whole affair in a project box, but again I have one of those on hand - I bought a 5 pack off aliexpress for $3 or $4.
I'm aiming for things that will pay for themsleves in the life the vehicle has left.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Here's something interesting. In your picture of the fuses page (p. 240 of the manual), the purpose of one 15 A fuse is entirely unlabeled. It's the one just under the 10 A fuse marked "AC switches / clutch coil" in the illustration. All the others are labeled except that one 15 A fuse. I wonder...

 

[Brain75]

That unmarked fuse and the Trailer/Tow is not fully there, they only have one leg (thankfully the hot), so it is an ideal location for an add a circuit kinda thing.

(I don't have a factory tow package or a dealer "I think", the trailer wiring is lights only done with a Farm store tap in, no trailer brakes.)

 

[ekrampitzjr]

If you have the factory tow package (I do), there's a Reese–style hitch with square receiver and the wiring harness and plug hanging to the left of the receiver. Interesting to learn there's no fuse in that spot if the truck doesn't have the tow package. Sometimes manufacturers will put a fuse in an unused spot anyway.

The tow package also automatically means a 3.55 axle ratio in later Rangers.

 

[rubydist]

no answer for your questions but i have a question.

why are you wanting to add DRLs? the usa stopped making it mandatory because there was no change in the amount of accidents after they required car manufacturers to have DRLs.

That is not quite true. Canada has documented a significant reduction in accidents after implementing DRLs some years back.

The issue in America is that many drivers are too stupid to realize that DRLs are not headlights, and drive around at night without turning on their headlights, so they have no taillights and people cannot see them and therefore crash into them. Its not that DRLs don't help, its that they cause other unintended consequences (like most government mandates) and people are more stupid by the day.

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

Just an idea, but if you have a spare ignition fuse that's not being used. Can't you just tap into that and run straight through an 12v ice cube relay. Would be very inexpensive. I do this a lot with different kinds of lights. Just run the DRLs across the normally closed side (breaking the ground, so it doesn't effect high/low beam function) then trigger the relay with the headlight switch to switch back to factory wiring at dark. That is assuming you have separate DRLs. I've helped a few people do this with the fancy LEDs built into their new lights. If you wanted to trigger per say the high beams for factory DRL look you could just break the hot wire to the high beams. Same scenario.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

why are you wanting to add DRLs? the usa stopped making it mandatory because there was no change in the amount of accidents after they required car manufacturers to have DRLs.

The US federal government never required DRLs on new cars because the safety benefit at first appeared to be limited. In fact, GM had to petition the federal government to allow them on US–spec cars starting in 1995. There has been noise every so often about requiring DRLs in the US, but the feds haven't acted on the noise.

The European Union, the Nordic countries, and Britain require DRLs. Australia does not, but, like the US, allows them. Most new cars sold globally now have them, even when sold in countries that don't require them.

 

[Brain75]

Just an idea, but if you have a spare ignition fuse that's not being used. Can't you just tap into that and run straight through an 12v ice cube relay. Would be very inexpensive. I do this a lot with different kinds of lights. Just run the DRLs across the normally closed side (breaking the ground, so it doesn't effect high/low beam function) then trigger the relay with the headlight switch to switch back to factory wiring at dark. That is assuming you have separate DRLs. I've helped a few people do this with the fancy LEDs built into their new lights. If you wanted to trigger per say the high beams for factory DRL look you could just break the hot wire to the high beams. Same scenario.

I considered that as it would be even simpler wiring, but I have a 2nd gen so no holes in the bumper (and it is stainless steel at that), guess I could mount them below the air dam or poke holes in the rubber air dam, but that would be pretty low and look kinda funny more like fog lights.... But I am doing this on the cheap, like I said no need to buy $50 aftermarket lights to save $6 insurance every renewal. It would take 5 years to break even. What are the chances in the next 5 years some jerk wont rear end me and wipe out the vehicle before that.

BTW, I couldn't find anything here but on a bronco site someone posted this excellent guide to the light switch on ?1st most likely? and 2nd gen (they claimed it as 2nd gen ranger & bronco ii) :

and on another site (I don't know where I found it), the description of all the pins:

Note the top/bottom reversal as one is looking down at the switch externally and the other is the mfg style readout which is insanely enough as if you were inside the switch looking out.

But all my wire colors match, and a little light probing things match up and make sense.

Tapping in at the switch makes a lot of sense, you just have to run a wire out to the low beams somewhere. I was hoping that if I could find the factory DRL dummy plug and that would have ALL the wiring ends there so you don't have to splice into or hide fuses in completely inaccessible places, making life harder for yourself down the road.

 

[Brain75]

From BlueOvalTech I found a guy who did a writeup where he tapped in at the DRL connector/dummy plug and he documented the pinout of 3rd gen/F150 and newer. He mentions that in 1990 they do not have both a resistor and a dummy, it is one plug and right behind the driver headlight - look there and voila. Got it.

How To Enable Or Disable Ford Daytime Running Lights

How to install (or disable) daytime running lights - for F150, Expedition, and more

www.blueovaltech.com

From here (TRS), looking at the wiring diagram:

https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/EDiagrams/files/Diagram_Headlights_1990andlater.JPG

I can see that my connector is C170 not C214F

https://www.therangerstation.com/forums/index.php?attachments/90-grounds-jpg.104005/

this pin numbers are a total guess left to right or right to left - numbers could be off.

but that wiring page shows me enough to confirm some of the pinouts
pin 1 (purple - wire 500) is the high beams
pin 2 (red/black - wire 13) is the low beams
pin 8 (tan/white - wire 87) is the high beam indicator lamp
a little light probing common sense, and intelligent deduction:
pin 3 (black) is the ground
pin 4 no connection
pin 5 (green) is battery continuous hot (large 12ga wire)
the only 2 pins that I haven't figured out are
pin 6 (purple/white)
pin 7 (purple/red)
both of those have voltage on em during key on lights off and key on lights on low/high
from the dummy connector's pinout I am guessing I want to tap into 6 for key on power but before I blindly do, thought I would check

Anyone with the wiring schematic have the page with that C170 connector (1990 ranger 2.9l)?