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My parking lights are always on..

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#21 ·
So is it normal for Canadian Foci to have the parking lamp icon displayed in the instrument cluster ALL the time? I had DRL's enabled on my US-spec Focus by the dealer at the Pre-Delivery Inspection, and the green light has been displayed constantly, no matter what position the switch is in. What's crazy is that when I put the switch in the "Off" position, the lights actually DO turn off - but the icon is still displayed.

Normal or abnormal?

Also, I can't for the life of me figure out if these DRL's are emitting at lower intensity or not. It sort of seems like everything is just always on at full power (dash illumination, too).
 
#22 ·
Canadian spec focii have the parking light dash indicator on ALL the time (ie. DRL dash light).

In full daylight, the low beams get about 70% voltage when headlight switch is OFF or AUTO.

In partial daylight or night, the low beams get about 70% voltage in the OFF position only.

There is no longer a parking light function with DLR. The only control you have is on Fogs and high beam.

In comparison, I like our 2006 Civic, only shows a dim high beam dash indicator (DRL). When you turn lights on, high beam indicator goes away, you see corner lights indicator on dash instead. You have control over corner lights, low beam and high beam.

In conclusion, Canadian DRL spec focii scheme is retarded.
 
#24 ·
VelociRacer said:
Canadian spec focii have the parking light dash indicator on ALL the time (ie. DRL dash light).

In full daylight, the low beams get about 70% voltage when headlight switch is OFF or AUTO.

In partial daylight or night, the low beams get about 70% voltage in the OFF position only.

There is no longer a parking light function with DLR. The only control you have is on Fogs and high beam.

In comparison, I like our 2006 Civic, only shows a dim high beam dash indicator (DRL). When you turn lights on, high beam indicator goes away, you see corner lights indicator on dash instead. You have control over corner lights, low beam and high beam.

In conclusion, Canadian DRL spec focii scheme is retarded.
Click to expand...
It seems more like 90% power, as there is barely a difference between the headlights and running lights.

Many refer to having the corners and tails lit in addition to the headlights as Scandinavian running lights... Volvos, for example, always have their full headlights and tail lights on as DRLs here in Canada even.

As for Hondas, the reason the high beam indicator lights up dim with the DRLs is because they use the high beams at low voltage... So the high beams are on and dim, and the indicator is on and dim too. They're currently the only manufacturer that does that, AFAIK.
 
#25 ·
Yeah, my BMW has LED strips in the tail lights that are on all the time. I think it's nice at dawn or dusk, it really makes the car stand out - there are enough distracted drivers on the road that that's important to me. That's actually why I opted to enable DRL's on my Focus - it cost me nothing, and there is potentially a slight increase in safety and even insurance savings.

Someone mentioned the license plate lamps. I looked at mine and I agree, they seem quite bright. The area of illumination is much larger than the actual license plate area. Is this normal? The other post implied that this was somehow part of the DRL's (license plate lamps on all the time) but even without DRL's, these lights would come on at night with the headlights, right? I mean that's the whole point, right? It just seems like it shouldn't be illuminating the entire rear hatch, but I can't see why there would be any more than two settings for the thing (on and off) which makes me think it must be normal. Looks odd, though, once I got the thought in my head.
 
#27 ·
cacophonous said:
srsly Bob you received an insurance premium reduction after you had DRL enabled?
Click to expand...
Well, actually not with my current company (GEICO). I think I did get one for the perimeter alarm, though.

The other company I quoted with (USAA) does give a discount for DRL's. Probably not much, but every little bit helps. I will probably switch to USAA either when my current policy expires (next month) or when I move to CA (end of the year).
 
#28 ·
drive in

The wife and I just had a night at the drive in.
I noticed that the dial to the left of the steering wheel that controls the lights has a setting feature from left to right as (off,parking,on,auto)
with the car in accessory mode if i rotate the lights to off....the headlights turn on. So the only way to watch the movie with out pissing people off was to turn the dial to parking...where the dim bulbs turned on at the front and back. an employee came up to the car...i showed him and he said that they should be dim enough it wont bother anyone.......but anyways. after maybe an hour the computer told me that the battery was low....so i idled for about 20 min to keep the charge....looks like we wont be going back unless someone has a trick.
 
#29 ·
yimmymerkaba said:
The wife and I just had a night at the drive in.
I noticed that the dial to the left of the steering wheel that controls the lights has a setting feature from left to right as (off,parking,on,auto)
with the car in accessory mode if i rotate the lights to off....the headlights turn on. So the only way to watch the movie with out pissing people off was to turn the dial to parking...where the dim bulbs turned on at the front and back. an employee came up to the car...i showed him and he said that they should be dim enough it wont bother anyone.......but anyways. after maybe an hour the computer told me that the battery was low....so i idled for about 20 min to keep the charge....looks like we wont be going back unless someone has a trick.
Click to expand...
Bring a portable radio or listen through the fm tuner on your smartphone. Thats about all you can do.
 
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#30 ·
yimmymerkaba said:
The wife and I just had a night at the drive in.
I noticed that the dial to the left of the steering wheel that controls the lights has a setting feature from left to right as (off,parking,on,auto)
with the car in accessory mode if i rotate the lights to off....the headlights turn on. So the only way to watch the movie with out pissing people off was to turn the dial to parking...where the dim bulbs turned on at the front and back. an employee came up to the car...i showed him and he said that they should be dim enough it wont bother anyone.......but anyways. after maybe an hour the computer told me that the battery was low....so i idled for about 20 min to keep the charge....looks like we wont be going back unless someone has a trick.
Click to expand...

You can power up the radio without turning on accessory mode ... just hit the power button on the radio. However you will still drain the battery before the movie even gets over. You'll also get the battery saver shutdown every 30 minutes or so.

Better use blackraven456's solution instead.

The US model lights turn off but the dash lights & MFT are always bright so it's easy to drive away at night without any lights on (unless in auto mode) if your on a well lit street.
 
#31 ·
noahsfocus said:
You can power up the radio without turning on accessory mode ... just hit the power button on the radio. However you will still drain the battery before the movie even gets over. You'll also get the battery saver shutdown every 30 minutes or so.

Better use blackraven456's solution instead.

The US model lights turn off but the dash lights & MFT are always bright so it's easy to drive away at night without any lights on (unless in auto mode) if your on a well lit street.
Click to expand...
This, or even just turn the key to Accessory, which allows the radio to be used without having any of the running lights on.

Not sure why you would watch a whole movie with the car running or even with the key turned to the On position.
 
#32 ·
I just looked in the manual, and the small blurb about DRL's specifically states that they will come on at a reduced output when in the "Off" or "Parking Lamps" position (I'm assuming putting the headlamps in the "On" position overrides DRL's with full power lamps). It also specifically states that the tail lamps will NOT be illuminated with DRL's. Clearly my car is not working like this, and it sounds like the same is true of those of you with Canadian-spec cars. On my car, it seems to be all lights, front and rear, on at full power, all the time. What gives?

Anyone out there with DRL's that are operating as the manual suggests?
 
#33 ·
Bimmer-Bob said:
Well, actually not with my current company (GEICO). I think I did get one for the perimeter alarm, though.

The other company I quoted with (USAA) does give a discount for DRL's. Probably not much, but every little bit helps. I will probably switch to USAA either when my current policy expires (next month) or when I move to CA (end of the year).
Click to expand...
Ahh ok thanks man!
 
#34 ·
Bimmer-Bob said:
Thanks for the verification. One more question: is it normal for tail lamps to be illuminated as well?
Click to expand...
Yes, tail lamps on all the time + front amber lights = corner/parking lights.

Altis said:
It seems more like 90% power, as there is barely a difference between the headlights and running lights.

Many refer to having the corners and tails lit in addition to the headlights as Scandinavian running lights... Volvos, for example, always have their full headlights and tail lights on as DRLs here in Canada even.

As for Hondas, the reason the high beam indicator lights up dim with the DRLs is because they use the high beams at low voltage... So the high beams are on and dim, and the indicator is on and dim too. They're currently the only manufacturer that does that, AFAIK.
Click to expand...
You are correct 70% seems low but I don't know if the beam is linear with voltage. I think the whole DRL system is retarded. [vommit]

I don't like lights on all the time, people tend to become more complacent. But products these days have to cater to the fringes of our population where laws of natural selection used to apply.

When I imported a US built car years ago, I had to buy a little doohickie from Canadian Tire that attaches to the battery and headlight wiring harness to keep the lights on all the time. The Focus reminds me of that stupid setup. Once I passed safety inspection, I promptly disconnected the setup. I wish I could do the same for the Focus. I really like the way our 2006 Civic does DRL, totally logical and the way it should be IMO:

OFF = HI@30% (no tail lights)
PARKING = corners + HI@30%
LOW = corners + LO@100%
HIGH = corners + HI@100%

yimmymerkaba said:
The wife and I just had a night at the drive in.
I noticed that the dial to the left of the steering wheel that controls the lights has a setting feature from left to right as (off,parking,on,auto)
with the car in accessory mode if i rotate the lights to off....the headlights turn on. So the only way to watch the movie with out pissing people off was to turn the dial to parking...where the dim bulbs turned on at the front and back. an employee came up to the car...i showed him and he said that they should be dim enough it wont bother anyone.......but anyways. after maybe an hour the computer told me that the battery was low....so i idled for about 20 min to keep the charge....looks like we wont be going back unless someone has a trick.
Click to expand...
Try doing what's in them middle of the following list and let us know if it works:
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4199151#post4199151

Bimmer-Bob said:
I just looked in the manual, and the small blurb about DRL's specifically states that they will come on at a reduced output when in the "Off" or "Parking Lamps" position (I'm assuming putting the headlamps in the "On" position overrides DRL's with full power lamps). It also specifically states that the tail lamps will NOT be illuminated with DRL's. Clearly my car is not working like this, and it sounds like the same is true of those of you with Canadian-spec cars. On my car, it seems to be all lights, front and rear, on at full power, all the time. What gives?

Anyone out there with DRL's that are operating as the manual suggests?
Click to expand...
Sorry, I believe the manual is wrong in this regard.

I have to verify daytime Headlight reduced output. But the tail lamps are on all the time.

You have to be in a dark garage to notice light level changes, it is soooo subtle. I bet your car works the same way (license plate and all), except when you say your headlamps do turn off:

Bimmer-Bob said:
What's crazy is that when I put the switch in the "Off" position, the lights actually DO turn off - but the icon is still displayed.
Click to expand...
I am jealous. [mecry]
 
#36 ·
yimmymerkaba said:
The wife and I just had a night at the drive in.
I noticed that the dial to the left of the steering wheel that controls the lights has a setting feature from left to right as (off,parking,on,auto)
with the car in accessory mode if i rotate the lights to off....the headlights turn on. So the only way to watch the movie with out pissing people off was to turn the dial to parking...where the dim bulbs turned on at the front and back. an employee came up to the car...i showed him and he said that they should be dim enough it wont bother anyone.......but anyways. after maybe an hour the computer told me that the battery was low....so i idled for about 20 min to keep the charge....looks like we wont be going back unless someone has a trick.
Click to expand...
In a previous vehicle, if I applied the parking brake the DRL's would shut off when in park.
 
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