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Turning off DRLs on 2018 Grand Touring

23K views 65 replies 22 participants last post by  countrydrivin05  
#1 ·
When I went to the dealership today to get my Apple carplay and Android auto installed, I asked them if they could turn off the daytime running lamps because unlike my cx-3 I can't do it from the infotainment unit. They said that they would hook up their equipment and give it a try, but after they were finished with my service they said they couldn't figure out how to do it but they would continue to look into it. I'm not sure if that was a cop-out because they didn't want to mess with it or what.

Has anyone successfully turned off their daytime running lamps on their 2018 Grand Touring with the LEDs?

I can't find a DRL specific fuse.

Thanks.
 
#5 ·
Caution: If you ever drive into Canada and they're disabled YOU WILL BE TURNED AROUND AT THE BORDER.

It's one thing if YOU can shut them off (since you can turn them back on) but if it's dealer-only..... well...... yeah.
 
#6 ·
This is BS/not true.

Canada's Motor Vehicle Safety Act (MVSA) and its Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (MVSRs) require that all new vehicles sold in (or imported into) Canada and built after December 1, 1989, be fitted with daytime running lights (DRLs) that go on when you start the vehicle.
Vehicles built after December 1, 1989, that operate without DRLs are either:

United States licensed whose drivers are visiting Canada
have a broken or disconnected DRL function; or
were imported when they were more than 15 years old, (the federal government does not have jurisdiction over these)
 
#7 ·
You go ahead and argue with the customs dude. I prefer not when crossing a border, and I DO cross into Canada with some frequency.

I had them try to refuse me entry with my '03 VW Jetta in which I had the DRL's disabled. However, it was with a piece of tape over the pin on the switch (it's that easy on the 00-03 MKIvs) and when the customs dude garfed I reversed it in about 10 seconds at the booth -- at which point he waved me through.
 
#15 ·
No DRL fuse to be found on the 2018 with LED lights...
 
#11 ·
Border guards can turn you around at the border for any reason really. It is likely for some reason they did not like the looks of you or your car and decided to use that as an excuse.


As an American, I have never had any issue crossing into Canada, even when I moved here 14yrs ago with my US spec 1995 Cutlass Ciera which had no DRL's. Even when I imported it to license it into Canada I did not have to add them.


Now crossing in America is a whole other sh**show. I get pulled into customs almost every time for "you have a common name" line of shit. I cherish this because then I get to go inside and yell and scream until they deal with me. I usually threaten to walk out after 10-15 minutes because usually my wife and kids were left waiting in the car. I have 0, nada, none as far as respect for US border agents. They are raging a**holes and seem to love being that way.I am not kidding when I say I always get up and walk towards the door within 15 minutes. Only once did I sit there, I think it was the 1st or 2nd time. They left me there for almost 2 hours and my wife and 2 very young kids were sitting in the car. I finally lost my temper and that was the last time I waited for more than 15 minutes.
 
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#13 · (Edited)
I have to side with tickerguy on this one.


Border guards can turn you around "just because we don't like your face". I have no idea where this nonsense of "Canadians are all nice" came from, they are just as rude and arrogant as everyone else in the world. I've been here (in Canada) for 14yrs, they are easily just as bad as Anericans. I am born/bred in Massachusetts and they call us Massholes for a good reason. Not saying everyone from MA is an a-hole, but we just don't tolerate BS and we are not afraid to point it out.


It is all about appearances when you cross the border. I fully believe they turned tickerguy around for this, they probably even waved through other cars right after him with the same issue.



US laws are not applicable in Canada and you'd be amazed how many US cars are not importable into Canada without significant changes. It is better to say "they can" turn you around for no DRL. As I said, they do not need any reason at all to turn someone away if you are not a citizen of Canada.
 
#14 ·
This thread was turned into an issue about DRL's and if an AMERICAN licensed vehicle has to have DRL's to enter Canada and the answer is NO they don't.

It goes without saying that if they don't want to let you enter for whatever reason then so be it. That situation is beyond extreme unless there is truly a reason for not letting you cross.

Tickerguy made an inaccurate post regarding a US car being turned around for not having DRL's. Period. If you are not allowed to enter it isn't because your vehicle doesn't have them enabled.

You want to argue all the irrelevant points he has brought up to muddy the point here, knock yourselves out.
 
#22 ·
During poor light conditions like rain, fog, clouds etc. cars with DRLs are more visible than those without (especially the grey/white body colored ones). That alone is good enough reason for having DRLs. Stats don't tell us how many crashes were prevented because of DRLs.

As for people who forget to turn on the headlights because DRLs are on, they soon realize as it gets darker and turn headlights on. I have seen people with no DRLs on their car forgetting to turn on their headlights when driving on well lit roads, occasionally continuing like that on poorly lit ones. So human errors and stupidity is always there but no reason not to have DRLs.

if anything that needs to be banned outright is those blinding HID bulbs that IMO are very dangerous to oncoming traffic.
 
#24 ·
Yeah I just threw that document in as a data point. Totally agree. Ultimately, a manufacturer wouldnt include a feature unless there was a good business case for it. Or if it was required by law/regulation. Safety being one of them. Honestly don't know why someone would choose to deactivate DRLs.

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
 
#26 ·
Oh, and I love HID lights and if this car didn't already have LEDs it would be getting HIDs...

Now can we get back on track and talk about a solution to turn off the DRLs?
 
#29 ·
Just confirmed that the sequence used in Post# 16 works on a 2018 Sport Auto. Only have LED headlights and no halo so not sure if it would work with the higher trims.


Reason for disabling is that the DRL uses the LED headlight and Auto Leveling. So that's 2 things that are being worn out. Not sure why the auto leveling even needs to be on for a DRL. If there was a separate high beam for DRL I would not have minded as much.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Just confirmed that the sequence used in Post# 16 works on a 2018 Sport Auto. Only have LED headlights and no halo so not sure if it would work with the higher trims.
Works on an '18 Signature. :cheers: :dmetal:

:hide:

EDIT: No it didn't

EDIT AGAIN - YES it does WORK Follow the Directions in Post #48


.
 
#36 ·
One thing that was nice on my old Kia Optima was the "DRL Off" on the lighting controls.

I didn't think about it until one day I was parked in front of a store front and saw the reflection of my car on the glass windows. I noticed that there is no way to completely turn off the DRLs while in motion, and that the headlights are always on. I thought the whole point of the signature LEDs was so the headlights wouldn't have to be on all the time.
 
#37 ·
Because of the way the Law reads now, DRL's are required in many Country's, (Canada) the USA does not require them. As far as Mazda goes it makes sense to send all the cars with them enabled so regardless of where they are going they are going to meet requirements. IF you're a USA owner or someone in another Country that doesn't require them and you want them turned off, the Dealer can do that. Mazda no longer gives the consumer an easy kill so they're no longer on where they should be. Comes back to liability issues in our modern World.

I can't get the DRL's to turn off trying all the things listed here + a few more combinations with the lights switch.

2018 Signature
 
#40 ·
No luck for me either. Trying to see if they are on or off is a challenge if you don't have a shiny thing to drive by...haha.
 
#42 ·
#45 ·
Worked for me, been running without the DRLs for a month now. There's a YouTube tutorial on how to do it exactly on a Mazda 3 which works for our 2018 6 as well. I can just say that you must do each step quickly and continuously.
 
#50 ·
FINALLY got this working yesterday. Apparently, I wasn't doing it quickly enough the first times I tried it, but the vid definitely helped.

It's nice not seeing my lights on the rear of the car in front of me all the time...
 
#51 ·
Did it turn all the front lights off or just the headlight part of the DRLs?
 
#53 ·
Grr. Looks like I won't be doing that, then. I wonder how the other markets get just the parking lights on for DRLs?
 
#54 ·
I feel the same, I'd also only like to have the halo lights on for DRL.