00 T/A No DRL Sensor. Help me play hide'n'seek
 

All I have to say about this is wtf :confused:.

Am I an idiot looking in the wrong place or what? All the writeups said it was right there. I dug around -- the WIRES aren't even there. And the DRLs still work, obviously, so nobody has done the mod before me.

I'm probably going to snip the other wire by the light controls, but it'd still be nice to know where the hell my DRL sensor went. I was cursing at the car about it. Been working on it for a while, heh :bang:.

:pics: so here ya go. PLEASE don't quote them. :eyes:

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...RCE/DRLwtf.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...CE/drlwtf2.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...CE/drlwtf3.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...CE/drlwtf4.jpg

i know that firebirds dont have automatic lights, and not to insult you at all but i would imagine that they dont have a sensor. I have a 2000 camaro and it has one, but my buddys 96 firebird i dont think has one because they are not automatic. There is the BCM behind your radio which controls your DRLs which is what you would need to mess with in order to disable them if thats what your trying to do. Let me know and im more than willing to help, PS i have disabled my DRL's so i have experience with it.

97 camaro
headlights turn on by them selves, but only when parking brake is down(off)
i guess ill have to re look but i dont think there is a sensor there....

so how does it know when its dark...

Its not for the automatic headlights, its for the daytime running lights. Are they activated on the T/A by the normal headlights being off? If thats it, I'll cut that reddish orange wire like the FAQ says and try that. I've got my whole dash apart anyways.

I read somewhere that canadian firebirds have automatic headlights too, but I think thats BS. Sideways, if it's got a sensor, that tells it when its dark... I guess on the non-automatics its the absence of you turning your lights on. Parking brake on first notch (where its off but the light says its on) will disable DRLs and I guess the automatic lights.

Wow. Daytime running lights some on with the car. Pop out the stereo and there is a black module back their with two plugins. I know it controls the DRLs. I THINK you just pull out the small connector with the blue/orange wire. I am not sure and I cannot find the writeup.

^^^^ or u can cut th red wire (make sure u put a tape round it coz is a hot wire). it will stop the DRL and at the same time the e-brake indicator will show on the dash when pulled :D

the day time running lights are controlled by the e-brake and not by the ambient light sensor, which in your car is not present because you dont have automatic lights and your car doesnt need to know when it is or isnt light out. There is a black box behind your radio about the size of a pack of cigs and you need to open it up and solder 2 connections together which are both grounds, and that disables DRLs or i believe you can just unplug the small connector like someone before me said and that should do the trick. ill find the write up for you in a sec

This is one of those "DUH!" moments.

Daytime Running Lights aren't called that because they're only on in the daytime - they're on whenever the ignition is on after the parking brake has been released. So, they don't have a light sensor because it doesn't matter if it's daytime or not... DUH!

Automatic headlights are designed to come on when it gets dark - so they need a light sensor. All Camaros and Canadian model Firebirds have automatic headlights (whether you think it's BS or not) so they have light sensors. US model Firebirds don't have automatic headlights so they don't have light sensors... DUH!

There are several ways to make DRLs stop working but almost all of them have side effects such as preventing the remote hatch release from working or disabling the brake warning light.

Personally, I think it's a really dumb thing to disable DRLs because they are an important safety feature but if you insist on doing it then you should do it right. You can do the "solder inside the DRL module" modification or you can just take four wires out of the DRL module plug and connect them together. The four wires are dark blue, dark blue with white, light blue, and light blue with white. Connect the two dark blue wires together and the two light blue wires together - otherwise your front turn signals won't work. You could just cut the wires and splice them but it's better to pull the wires/pins out of the connector so that you can put it back to stock later.

In terms of safety I'm gonna have to disagree, plenty of studies have found DRLs don't really help. On the other hand, plenty have found they do. Personally, I don't see a car any better regardless of lights in the day.. I'm usually looking at the big hunk of metal, not the dim lights.

Other'n that, thanks for all the help everyone, I'll take care of it after I paint my bumper cover tomorrow, via connecting all the light and dark blue wires respectively.

Like you, I've seen some studies that show no improvement in safety and others that do - the most notable one being the Canadian government where DRLs have been required since 1989.

I speak from personal experience. Many of the roads in north Florida are canopy roads (oak trees create a "tunnel") and it is much easier to see a car from a distance when they have lights on. As a motorcyclist, I prefer cars that have amber DRLs so that bike headlights don't get lost in a sea of lights. But since GM and others are using highbeams on low power as DRLs, I've had to go to a headlight modulator to make the bike more visible.

I personally like the DRLs. You can tell most GM LsX cars that way from FAR away.. Even the cts-v has the same look as the birds/vettes.

it's true, canadian vehicles are mandated to have drl's americans cars arent. as far as either the drl or headlights coming on im not sure, I have a 2000 ws6 and i dont believe the headlights auto turn on.