Okay this probably sounds like a ridiculous question but I have to ask it because I couldn't find it in a search and even my 3G pre-07 buddies don't know the answer.

I've seen lots of pictures of 04-06 TLs running their stock fogs lights (in the headlight assembly) simultaneously with their low-beam HIDs.

I cant, for the life of me, figure out how to do this. They always turn off when I turn my HIDs on.

I'd like to put some yellow JDM style bulbs in there and have them contrast my HIDs when they're on. That's why I ask. But I have a feeling that maybe because my car is Canadian, I don't have the option to run them with my HIDs.

Thanks in advance!

 

I think this is the line the cinches it. From all the reading I've done, I think it's because those bulbs arent "fogs" for you but Cdn. government mandated DRL's (daytime running lights)., which would explain why they turn on when you turn on your HIDs (night time lights).

Cheers... Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

06 and up had DRL in the housing as mentioned. 04-05 had the foglight built into the headlight. I think those were the years. Gotta recheck to verify.

 

I believe 06 had fogs in the housing as well.

My car is canadian and ive always contemplated doing this... I never received any sort og help with this matter.

Canadian cars ALL have DRLs in the housing regardless of year (for those of you who do not know).
Generally DRLs run at 50% or so power.


I still want to know how to run DRLs with the lowbeams---or figure a way on how to change them to fogs,

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. Yup Canadian vehicles always have DRLs, even my 91 legend has them. They are definitely not running at full power either as komodo mentioned. I understand that when the low beams are off, it would be mandated that these lights be on. But when the low beams kick in, I would have assumed that the fog light feature be available for us to use, sending full power to those bulbs. I don't think the housing is any different than that of an 04-06? I know the ballasts are different but the internals inside the housing I thought were the same.

The first thing that provoked my curiosity on the subject is that in my parking garage I saw another TL drive by with his "fogs" or DRLs (however you want to refer to them) on at the same time as his HIDs. Even with the stock bulbs it looked nice.

There's gotta be a way!

 

That would be most likely because it was an American car that was transferred to Canada... or an American citizen visiting good ol' Canada.

All Acura TL headlights are the same... [ish].
The only difference is that...
o4-o6 american has a 'nipple' to provide a cut off for the fog.... canadian headlights do not have these.
Also one uses 9005 bulb and the other uses 9006.

07+ base and type s are exactly the same for both countries.

 

^ Do the Canadian TLs use 9005 or 9005 in the DRLs?

 

honestly i forget....

The one way i can think of having the "DRLs" on with the lowbeam would be to somehow eliminate it as a DRL and wire it to the vehicle as an aux. fog instead.
The issue i see with this is that the DRL light in the dash would more than likely appear.

Im curious if anyone in ontario has the knowledge to do this.

 

also, i wonder if we can somehow use the chinese headlights in this scenario to our advantage and use the chinese heads as they were designed for.
Somehow swap our current DRL to the "city light" of the chinese headlights then from there install the fog (or original DRL) as an aux. That way it would appear legal and we would have the option of fogs with low beams.

 

^ That would be nice. I'm still going to replace the bulbs with something yellow... might take a trip to the pacific mall to find some. I just don't want to buy the wrong bulb. (9005/9006)

This may sound too simplified as I am not too familiar with headlight wiring, but would it not make sense to just take the voltage from the HIDs, and wire it to the DRLs as well. That way when the connection is cut from the DRLs (when the low beams are on) the volts from the low beams will then power the DRLs as well.. at full intensity.. No?

 

I'll check my TL for you.
I bought bulbs from PMall too... I wanted Nokya but they only had Eurolite available [Nokya was sold out].

Something about running the DRL with the low beam sound unsafe to me...

 

^ Thanks Komodo... let me know when you find out.. I'll be picking some up this week.

Can you differentiate between the Nokya and Eurolite? Or do they appear the same...

 

They are 9005 bulbs.

I can't really differentiate much from the Nokya and Eurolite when they are on... The light output seems to be the same as well with the color.
Nearly all PMall stores recommended Eurolite over Nokya when I got them... I never heard of them at that time though.

My Eurolite 9005 yellow bulbs have been in there for about a year to a year and a half now. They are running great, I love them! If only they lit up the road more at night... but meh, it's "DAYTIME Running Lights" for a reason. I can just imagine if they were powered at 100% =D

 

Thanks so much! I would have otherwise followed the other threads here and picked up the 9006s. Saved me a trip back..

What do you mean about these lights not lighting up the road at night tho? Arent they off at night anyways? ...lol

 

Hahah! I made that mistake the first time... PMall wouldn't refund/exchange my product even though I came back three hours later!

Well, these lights light up the road a little bit, you notice the reflection on signs though... Hahah. You are right, they are "off" at night. I just every so often drive with the DRL on with the sidemarker/tails while in the city.
I just like that really yellow look in the headlight =]

 

Gotcha.. I think ill be using my park lights + DRLs a lot more when I get some yellows in there too...

sucks they didn't exchange.. but I guess they are trying to prevent people running to their cars, exchanging burnt bulbs.. and then returning.

Thanks again for the info.. I still hope we can find a way to run them at full with the HIDs

 

Sweetness!~
I got this mod done.

I now have my DRLs on with my lowbeams!~ It's also running at FULL power v.s 50%!~
Downside is that... it's VERY bright. There is no cut off shield so it "splashes" everywhere---which is neat [but blinding at times].
Another downside [or upside] is that I no longer have functioning DRLs.

It is either.. NO lights on, parking lights or [full power] DRLs + low/hi beams.

Perhaps a new pic+avatar coming soon

 

Ah! You know that post is absolutely worthless without pics, right? haha.. im excited for ya.. Although I'd have to say that I would be a bit apprehensive about giving up my sweet looking DRLs... I definitely need some lights during the day, otherwise the front doesn't look as exciting.

Does your DRL light come on in the cluster? Think there is any way to adjust the intensity while running with the low beams?

Can't wait for pics!

 

Yes.. I was a little sad about not having DRLs anymore.
To get DRLs back I'd need to purchase a DRL kit, which is lame and sounds a little redundant as the car used to have DRLs lol.
The DRL light is on in the cluster, sadly. It does not bother me, though.
Originally I wasn't supposed to lose the DRLs. Something weird happened during the wiring so I made the decision to lose my DRLs.
However, now I just have an excuse to do the Audi-Styled-LEDs or Angel Eyes CCFL and use those for my DRLs. Still contemplating on that though.

It is possible to have the DRLs run on a lower intensity with the low beams. The mechanic [if you can call him that] stated that I could run resistors with the DRLs.

I'm using Eurolite Yellow bulbs.
It's looks extremely yellow in the headlight... and shoots out a white-yellow mixed beam of light. It's more white than yellow---but on signs you can see the reflection of the yellow from the bulb.

Here are some pics:




For the rest of the pictures you can visit:
Holy-Bright-Lights-Batman!

 

What is that below your headlight? An intake port???