Disabling Auto Headlights

Hello

I am currently the new owner of a 1991 red Volvo 460. This is the first time i have owned a Volvo and have a hit a minor niggle with it. Everytime i turn on the ignition the Headlights come on. I have been told these are referred to as 'day running light'. What i would like to know is - is it possible to disable these lights ?????

Thank you for any help you can supply

Stephen Cooper

It's different for every model - but hopefully a 400-series owner will respond.

Best to keep your head down when asking a question like that though - because lots of people will tell you that daytime running lights are a safety feature and shouldn't be disabled - or some similar cobblers!

[I assume that you're in the uk from your blueyonder address. Did you see the Jasper Carrot piece a few years ago about the Volvo which *still* had its lights on after being crushed into a bale at a scrapyard?]

Hi Stephen

As far as I know, these lights should be left alone. I believe its a safety thing for some countries. Btw if you had asked, I could have told you this on the phone.

I'll be joining your volvo club before the end of next week!

Regards

Your sister

Yes, it seems that in the developing countries, like the renegade colonies of the Americas, they have not yet figured out how to design a headlight that does not shine to the oncoming driver's eyes. Here in the civilized world we have found out that the daytime running lights make the cars much more visible to other motorists and pedestrians. And we also have discovered the advanced technology needed to shape the lamp and reflector in such a way that the light does not blind another drivers.

Unfortunately I do not know the answer the original question, I am just exercising my liberal spirits, after having imbibed some excised spirits.

kiravuo

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 04:39:07 +0000, Stephen M. Henning wrote: (Regarding Day Running Lights being other than dipped headlights)

I drive a UK spec 850 and it's as the previous poster said - start the car at night and there is a low intensity light, turn the headlights on (in dipped position) and there is the world of difference.

I do!

Cheers,

AJ

I disagree :-) I live in the Highlands of Scotland where we have some of the most narrow winding, twisting, hilly roads in the first world - and there is _NO_ chance of day running lights dazzling other drivers (especially as we're talking about daytime here). Dazzling from even dipped beam headlights at night is a problem, but not day running lights.

I think the confusion seems to be that your car(s) seem to be set up with the ordinary dipped beam setting being used for daylight running lights. This is not the case here, on my car at least, and judging from the other Volvos I see on the roads mine is not an exception.

Cheers,

AJ

Ahh, so true that's why I run the illegal but oh so much better E-code headlights on all my cars. Dave Shannon daveshan_at_spamsoneonelse_cox.net (Spring Valley CA)

1988 240 DL 19X,XXX 1984 245 DL 20X,XXX 1984 245T 19X,XXX '01 Jeep Wrangler Sahara 14K

The idea is that whenever the ignition is "on" the dipped beams are fed with a reduced voltage so limiting their ability to dazzle. To obtain normal dipped beams it is necessary to rotate the headlight switch fully to the right. In this position the headlights are automatically extinguished when the ignition is turned "off". The fully left position gives dimmed, dipped beams and side/tail lights whenever ignition is on.

Cheers, Peter.

The daytime running lights on my 2000 S40 are just the regular low beams. If they bother other drivers in daytime, they need to be aimed better. They must dazzle other drivers dangerously at night.

That is true of a lot of roads here, but not most of the ones I drive on - they tend to be about "one-and-a-half-track" minor roads, which, even if painted with white (centre) lines, vary from only-just to not-actually wide enough for two cars to pass without using the verge as part of the road. The single track roads are probably safer, as most people recognise the need to slow down/ get off the road to pass, not just close their eyes and hope for the best at 60 mph!

The sheep are just a *completely* random element thrown in to make our roads even more "exciting" :-)

I seem to remember that later 850s and s/v70s have a little screw or switch that regulates the type of day running lights? Probably done via software on the latest ones I'd imagine. Not that any of this helps the original poster of course!

I did once have a 340, but it didn't appear to have day running lights - now and again (mostly if it was wet) the headlights would feebly flicker on and off but I could never work out if they were meant to be constantly on or off!

Cheers,

AJ

Some countries have hills and crests of hills where when you approach each other, even the lights from advanced technology countries like yours blind oncoming drivers.

Some countries have curves where when you approach each other, even the lights from advanced technology countries like yours blind oncoming drivers.

It is too bad that all roads in the world are not flat and straight like they are in countries with advanced technologies like yours.

Gee, what kind of a car do you drive? None of my US spec Volvo's which included 240's, 850's and a V70XC did this. The same voltage is on the low beams in both the "off" and "on" positions. The only difference is that in the "off" and "park" position, the high beam switch just flashes the high beams while in the "on" position the high beam switch toggles the high beams on and off unless you just move it part way, then it flashes the high beams.

You can easily test this at night. Just quickly turn the switch back and forth. You won't see any difference.

This feature I believe, is unique to, and mandatory on all cars in the UK.

That is primarily because they are mostly single-track roads with passing places. You only pass oncoming cars at passing places. Also, the sheep on the roads tend to block the lights. ;)

On my USA spec V70XC, I have the choice of using dipped beam lighs as running lights OR the front "fog lights" which don't help to see the road in fog but are excellent running lights. To do the latter I turn to the "parking light" position and turn on the front fog lights. I just have to remember to turn the parking lights off.

In the cities of France they drive around with parking lights on. They seem to go out into the country with these also, forgetting to turn on the headlights. Old VWs used to have a small bulb in the headlight that was used for city driving.

Mike, could you confirm this? I'm now quite intrigued - is there a UK requirement that there is a difference between day running and dipped beam? I don't quite get which "feature" you referenced in your post. The reason is that my V40 has identical day running and dipped beam headlights - turning the switch from far left to far right makes no difference in intensity at all. Infact in the past I have forgotten to put my main headlights on at night, and only notice this when I try to change to full beam and they don't remain on (the lights flash instead). I'm mainly interested as mine's a European import, so there may be a difference between EU and UK regulations.

Regards, Mark

Near the headlamp switch is there a small recessed slotted screw head? The manual for my '99 V70 says that on US-spec cars this screw controls the Daytime Running Lights; a partial rotation disables them. My Canadian spec car has no such thing but the manual is for both countries, so it's documented.

This question is heavily discussed on the watercooled vw groups, where it is well known that a certain fuse can be removed to cut off the DRLs. (VW has put DRLs on US cars for several years and opinion on them is sharply divided.) I'm sure I don't know if this is possible on a Volvo but there are only so many fuses.

(I do believe that on my car the DRLs are implemented simply as the low beams. Many US marques implement DRLs as low voltage on the high-beam filaments, which I believe contributes to the complaints of glare.)

Chip C Toronto

I think this is referring to a requirement known as "dim dip" which existed a while back - probably in the 80's - but I'm pretty sure that it no longer exists, because newer cars don't comply.

At the time, the lights had to be wired in such a way that if the parking lights *and* ignition (but not headlights) were switched on, the headlamp dipped beam lights would also come on dimly. This was achieved by wiring them in series rather than parallel under these circumstances. The logic at the time seemed to be that this was suitable for driving in areas with street lamps - where the dipped headlights would help cars to be seen without causing dazzle.

They used to do that in New York City, whenI learned to drive in 1946. Not sure when it changed. In my first trips to Europe in the 1960-70s, it was common to drive in the cities with no lights, except that they flashed them when approaching a corner. It scared me, as a passenger.