[geunther]

I know we've talked about this before but...

The projection headlamp bulbs above the bowtie bar are the main headlamps. They work fine. My questioin is about the bulb below the bowtie bar. They never come on?

When I am in daytime mode, the projection lamp is illuminated and I have no other (marker) lights on. When I turn on the headlamps, or the auto kicks in, the marker lights come on.

I originally assumed the smaller bulbs below were the drls, but it does not appear so. What the heck is the purpose of them if they are never on.

 

[mike454]

lights

Those lights below the silver bar are your high beams. Turn your lights on turn the high beams on and your see they come on.
MIKE:cheers

 

[LuvRam13]

Are you asking about the Driving lights on the bottom of your grille?
If so to turn these on, push the light switch in, and they will come on along with a small yellow lamp to notify you that they are on.

 

[beer100]

Yep, what they said.

DRL = Daytime Running Lights. When the switch is in auto mode the low beams (top) are on. Pushing the turn signal away turns on the high beams. Pulling the turn signal momentarily flashes the high beams, but drops them back to low beam. Pushing the headlamp switch turns on the Fog lamps.

By default the headlamps are always on. There is a small sensor on the dash (windshield ctr. next to glass) that reads the ambiant lighting. At sundown the marker lights come on.

The headlamps can be switched off/on by pulling the parking brake up slightly and letting it down. IMHO this is flawed operation. If I'm pulling the emergency brake for a real ememgency, I don't want the lights going off.

I just can't figure an automatic mode of operation for setting the parking lamps only. Every scenario seems to have valid exceptions.

BTW: The turn signal stalk. It has way to many functions on it. Hi/low/passing beam, turns, Speed control, wipers, window wash. Either the speed control or the wiper functions should be off loaded to some place else.

 

[nostoc]

Park only

Beer,

Turn your headlight knob to the center position and you have park lights without headlights.

 

[beer100]

I actually knew that. What I was commenting about was that gm seemed to be trying to make the exterior lighting completly automatic. Right down to setting the H/L to parking mode.

But using the emergency brake operation to turn off the H/L just dosen't compute. It should not happen especially if you are rolling.

 

[DetTweety]

fog lights

Here's a question for this group
When I turn on my high beams my fog lights go off, is this normal
Bard
"05 :ssr

 

[LOP]

Here's a question for this group
When I turn on my high beams my fog lights go off, is this normal
Bard
"05 :ssr

Yes. On most vehicles I know of.

 

[Donnysan]

Here's a question for this group
When I turn on my high beams my fog lights go off, is this normal
Bard
"05 :ssr

Yes. It's like this on other brands as well. Some states only allow four headlights at a time, and count driving or fog lamps as headlights. Turn signals or parking lamps don't count.

Also, the purpose of fog lamps is defeated if you drive with the high beams on as well. The idea is to aim light under the fog to improve visibility. Shooting a high intesity beam into the fog makes visibilty worse.

 

[JAustin]

What I found most interesting is that the low beam headlights extinguish when the high beams are switched on.

In my experience with other vehicles, the low beams have always stayed on with the high beams.

 

[DetTweety]

Thanks for the quick reply
I have an Audi and the fogs stay on when the HB are on
I was thinking I was having another electrical problem
When they installed my remote starter and Sec system, they crossed a couple of wires, when I open either door both windows go down the 1/2" and when one door is open the display shows both doors being open. They can't fix it until after the holidays. I was jsut wondering if this was connected
thanks again
Bard
'05 :ssr

 

[Mike in AZ]

There are legal limits to the number of watts that can be projected forward in some states. The auto makers have found the common legal ground by eliminating the fog lamps when the high beams are on. I don't have the details of all the state laws, but 55w low beam, 65w high beam and 37w fog are legal, as long as the fog lights go off when the high beams are on.

There are wiring kits that you can add to your vehicle that will keep the low beams on when the high beams are clicked on. These are not legal in all 50 states.

The exception to this is when you have your low beams on (with or without the fog lights on) and you use the "flash" function by pulling the lever toward you. In this case, you will have everything lit.

Mike

 

[SSRENITY]

DRL = Daytime Running Lights. When the switch is in auto mode the low beams (top) are on.

I'm pretty sure DRL's are not full low beam voltage. Voltage is reduced to help lamps last longer and full voltage applied when auto mode comes on or switch is manually turned on.

 

[Mike in AZ]

Correct on the reduced voltage.

 

[Bad_Bob]

How do I test for low voltage

My 05 doesn't seem to increase the voltage on the low beams when night time comes around, like in my garage when I fire Ruby up. I would expect that it would be noticable as I backed out into the sun light that the light would dim after a while, but I haven't seen happen. The low beams don'r seem very bright compared to my wife's Lexus RX300.

Any ideas how I can figure out if there is a problem?

Thanks,

 

[SSRENITY]

My 05 doesn't seem to increase the voltage on the low beams when night time comes around, like in my garage when I fire Ruby up. I would expect that it would be noticable as I backed out into the sun light that the light would dim after a while, but I haven't seen happen. The low beams don'r seem very bright compared to my wife's Lexus RX300.

Any ideas how I can figure out if there is a problem?

Thanks,

If you want to check it, why not start out in a bright condition and check to see if DRL's are on without the green headlight on indicator...then pull into the dark garage and see if the headlights brighten when the light sensor kicks the headlights on (green indicator lights up)

 

[Bad_Bob]

Green Light?

If you want to check it, why not start out in a bright condition and check to see if DRL's are on without the green headlight on indicator...then pull into the dark garage and see if the headlights brighten when the light sensor kicks the headlights on (green indicator lights up)

Oops, I have no green indicator light at all, but the dash lights come on after dark. I checked my '05 owners manual and didn't find any reference to a headlights on indicator. I didn't see any difference in the brightness of the headlights. Sounds like a trip to the dealer is in order.

Thanks,

 

[Mike in AZ]

Bob,

The DRLs are headlights only. No running lights or instrument lights. The sensor is on the center of the dash, just aft of the windshield. Small black dome-like sensor.

If I start my truck at night and shine a bright flashlight onto the sensor, the system switches from night operation (all lights on) to DRL (low beams only at reduced output). The visual difference is not much when looking at the headlight, but the fact that the rest of the lights switch off is a dead giveaway. Be aware that there is an 8 second delay in both the on and off functions.

Any position of the headlight switch ( other than "Auto" )will disable DRL.

No big deal, just really hard to see if you are only looking at the low beams.

Mike

 

[Bad_Bob]

Mike,

I'm not noticing a increase in the brightness of the low-beams when the auto headlights kick on after dark, in-fact manually turning on the headlights doesn't seem to increase the brightness above the DRL level. So something seems to be not functioning as expected.

:willy:

 

[Mike in AZ]

I'm assuming the rest of the lights are switching off and on as they should.

There is a separate pair of series diodes in the power line to the headlamps for DRL mode. I assume they are high power diodes, since they drop 1.4 vdc at the current draw of both headlamps. Most likely a heat sink monster somewhere near the rear power panel.

Have your tech look it up. In the 2005 Service Manual, it is on page 8-502. You may have a pair of shorted diodes supplying full voltage to the low beams in DRL mode.

Good Luck. Let me know what they find.

Mike