Daytime running lights (DRL)

[fortresspainting]

Originally Posted by RallyGuy66

Have dealer hook up ids and activate modual. Some fords you can do this, not sure on focus. worth a try

Somethings not adding up here: two Ford dealers have been unable to activate the DRLs. They claim the US made 2012 Focus has a different module that cannot be programmed for DRL.

It's all become very confusing. I find it hard to believe Ford could be bothered to put different modules in Canadian cars than for the rest of the world. Especially on this car which they are trying to bill as an international platform.

I wonder if anyone has a 2012 Focus and taken to have the DRLs turned on - perhaps there is someone who knows how they did it.

[fatfocus]

Originally Posted by cobie56

I'm not sure why the dealer said they weren't avail. I had the dealer activate mine tho i'm not sure they did it correctly... The h'lights do go on but so do all the other lights, side marker, licence plate, tail lights, etc.
Is this normal??!! It doesn't seem right to me.
I live very close to canada and the canadian fords (all of them) have DRLs by law and ONLY the h'lights are on... no other lights.
Any opinions? thnx

Drive up to the Great White North, find a Ford store, buy the parts, find a Canadian who is smart enough to own a Focus.......buy them a beer or lunch, see where the parts go. I'm sure the stuff is all ready to be install, just need a module...

[Macsleuth]

beer and poutine and I'm good to go eh!

[cobie56]

Surry's not all that far from the border.. just cross over to a u.s. ford dealer and have them do it..

[e350 coupe]

Wow he's trying to activate DRL's and I am trying to deactivate mine

[DarinS]

Any chance something like the Phillips LED DRL system would void the factory warranty?

[bkoester]

Originally Posted by fortresspainting

I just purchased a US 2012 Focus and imported it to Canada. Federal law up here requires daytime running lights or you cannot register/insure the car.

I knew this beforehand, so I asked the dealer to look at the car and see if they could activate the DRL - they were unable to do so. No exact reason was given except that they contacted Ford and were told it was not possible.

I imported the car and took it to my dealer for the same reason - activate the DRLs: they initially claimed it was a setting in the car's computer and it would be no problem.

They tried for about an hour to figure it out - called Ford - and were told the software set-up was different on US cars and DRLs could not be activated.

Now, I am forced to go with an aftermarket option.

None too happy about this. Anyone out there have a similar experience. I am not convinced that they cannot be activated. This is primarily because I don't feel I've been given a reasonable explanation as to why they cannot turn them on.

Hard to believe as DRLs are a fleet option in the US.

[fortresspainting]

The final answer on this (from Ford) is that the module for DRLs was not put into my car. Apparently, it is put into other cars (such as the Focus SE - mine is the Focus SEL). I was told the module may become available in 9 months or so.

I was able to purchase an aftermarket device. This particular module had instructions to connect into the low-beam lamp wire, high-beam lamp wire, and parking light lamp wire on one side of the car. I took the lamp assembly off and could see that this was not going to be so simple as the unit was designed for lamps that are combination high/low beam units.

I decided I did not want to touch the high-beam lamp on this car at all: so, I wired the low beam into the low beam on the left side, the parking lamp wire I extended to the low beam on the right, tested it, and it works. In terms of power, I ran a power and ground wire as described and used a piggy-back fuse link wire off the fuel-relay fuse for the accessory power feed. This meant there was no splicing required.

Now, this was enough to get me past the government inspection and I received the RIV sticker which says my car is up to Canadian standards (i.e. DRLs required by law).

This is a brief description of the fix - if anyone wants more detail, I'd be happy to provide that.

[e350 coupe]

I sent you a pm

[Mayonaze]

There is a company called Echo Master that just released an LED DRL kit for the 2012 Focus. I went to their website and it says that they're already shipping. I sent them an email to find out where to purchase them. They also have step by step instructions with pictures on how to install. Look pretty easy but I do not know how much the kit costs.