Greetings:

• My 2000 Expy came without Daytime Running Lights (DRL).
• I want Daytime Running Lights.

According to the information at my disposal, the two points don't seem to be mutually exclusive.

I've checked out these EXCELLENT instructions , which are for enabling/disabling DRLs on F150 trucks.

I've verified the appropriate Expy part numbers with a local dealer, and with ford-parts.com . The parts are:

• Resistor: 1L3Z-14A601-AB $41.76
• Relay Block: YL1Z-13B218-AA $25.94
• A 20a mini-blade fuse for location #9 in the engine compartment power distribution box

I've verified the location of the DRL relay module connector, under the removeable panel on top of the dash. As expected, it's capped with a loopback plug.

However, I cannot locate the underhood DRL resistor connector, using either this document's supporting photos, or printed harness layouts supplied by my local dealer, which were pulled straight from the current Ford Parts catalog.

I've pulled the driver's headlight and parking light housing, and poked and prodded from all angles. I've also checked the "mirrored" location on the passenger's side. Either I'm blind, or the connector was not included in my harness.

However, not including the connector in the harness flies in the face of unified construction of the F150 and the Expy. I can't believe that Ford would use a different underhood harness for each vehicle. If Ford did do that, I bet good ol' Henry sure wouldn't approve.

So, the DRL resistor connector must be there, somewhere under the hood.

Any ideas?

TIA,

Tim ==

 

sorry I can't help you enable the DRL . . . but even if I could, I hate DRL enough that I may not want to help anway . . .

 

^^ didn't mean to sound like such a jerk but I just twist the light switch when ever it rains when I drive or gets dark. . . I kind of look at DRL as yet another small bit of control over the vehical that I am not willing to give up.

 

. . . BTW, thanks for providing the useful links so that others who wish to may be able to find the info

and Welcome to the site

 

Have you ever seen an F150 with an air ride suspension? Kinda blows holes in the unified harness theory? Really what you have to consider is trim levels for the most part. Ford can save millions by having a cheaper line wiring loom. No 4 wheel ABS can save a bunch in itself. No DRL, No fog lamps, a little of this and that and you can see where it can add up when you build hundreds of thousands of them. My wifes Taurus S has leather, sport interior, floor shift, cd deck, Duratec 24v, all kinds of goodies.... but no auto head lamps and NO WIRING to allow it. So I just purchased the appropriate components and built an overlay harness myself using the EVTM as a guide. Its not real easy but she has factory Auto headlamps and DRL now.

 

LOL thanks guys, didn't mean to push any hot buttons...

So, has anyone actually seen this DRL resistor connector somewhere under the hood of a DRL-equipped Expy?

I a little wierded-out by the fact that the manufacturer's service documents clearly show this thing in a location where it clearly doesn't exist.

Is that a common problem for Ford? Revisions to designs, that never get tracked in the service documentation?

Is there anyone here with a 2000 or later Expy, equipped with DRL, that could take a peek to see if there's a resistor in this location? The blue arrow is pointing towards the capped resistor connector on a non-DRL equipped F150, and the photographer was lying on his back. Yes, those are leaves visible through the gaps ;->



TIA,

Tim ==

 

I see it right there in the PIC I believe. It is a two pin connector with Orange with Light green tracer wires. The one with the Blue arrow is my candidate.

 

I toyed with putting DRL on my 99 expedition a while back, followed the same instructions you did. Guess what, when I checked the truck I couldn't fine the resister wires anywhere. Even looked checked the wiring diagrams. It appeared from those that DRL would only come with the 5.4l engine. Gave up after that.

In general, the factories use different harnesses for different options. If the truck was not built with certain options then the wiring will not be there for someone to simply add the option later. I guess the factories don't want to make it too easy for people to add options later rather than purhcase them.

 

I'm not quite ready to give up on this yet.

I've discovered that the DRL resistor wiring does not exist, in my Expy. But the DRL module wiring is all there.

Fuse position #9 in the underhood distribution box does not contain the fuse contacts. It's a blank socket.

The wiring diagrams shows that sweet #9 feeds the DRL module. So the module would not be hot if I plugged it in at this time.

Is there any way for me to get inside the belly of the underhood distro box? I might be able to find the power wire for the DRL module laying there, unterminated. BINGO - 50% of the conversion, solved.

Then it would be a relatively easy thing to find the DRL output of the module, punch it through the firewall, feed it through a resistor, and tap the low-beam hot wires.

It would be easier still if the DRL output wires passed through the harness, inside the power distribution box.

 

just seems like an awful lot of work to get a couple weak lights to come on. why not simply twist the headlight switch to the on postion? or maybe install "auto headlights" and simply cover the photocell to trick the system into thinking it is always dark?

 

A lot of XL owners of the F150 want factory fog lights. The pigtails are there for the lamps but no switch wiring to the power distribution box. So we have to custom wire in the wiring through the bulkhead to get the factory headlamp switch with Fog Lamp option.. Its a pain.

 

I was under the impression that no one had worked out the aftermarket-installation of the OEM autolamp....?

 

After much thought, and a lot of delays, I completed the DRL install today.

My Expy did NOT have the #9 fuse in the distro, or the attendant wiring, so there was no supply line to feed the DRLs. It also does not have the DRL resistor connector.

(My Expy also did not have the DRL resistor or relay pack. I ordered the parts from ford-parts.com , as described in the first post in this topic.)

I ran a 14ga line from the positive terminal of the battery, through a 10a mini-fuse, to the resistor (mounted in front of the radiator to keep it cool, soldered the 14ga wire to the terminals), through the firewall, into the dashboard-passenger-side relay compartment.

I installed the relay pack, cut the or/gr wire and spliced the new underhood power line into the relay.

DRL success. Took about thirty minutes, start to finish.

Except for one small thing. The DRLs come on whenever the key is in run (they do cut over to full brightness when I turn on the headlights). The Owner's manual and the shop guide say that the DRLs can be prevented from switching on if the parking brake is set, but that functionality is missing in my Expy. It would require another SPDT relay in the pack, and a line to the parking brake lamp that don't exist.

In fact, since the OE DRL relay pack came with 6 wires, and the OE harness connector had 6 wires, I think that the functionality never existed. It takes 6 wires to manage the cutover between DRL and headlights. It would take 7 wires to have the parking brake cut-out.

Whatever. I'm happy to have DRLs. ;->

Hopefully this thread is of use to someone else.

Best regards,

Tim ==

 

So you have DRL now? Does this mean your Headlights are dimmer than they would be at night, and also that your whole lighting system does not turn on? Just the lights not the tail lights, and parking lights when your "DRL" is on???

I am interested in some sort of DRL but that works well with the Auto-Lamp feature on the EB.

 

When the headlamp switch is in OFF, only the headlights come on, at reduced output. When the headlamp switch is in PARK, the headlights are on at reduced output, and the running lights are on at full output. When the headlamp switch is in ON, the headlights and running lights are on at full output.

The difference in the headlight intensity between the DRL-reduced output, and full output, is immediately discernable.