My wife and I have just moved to Canada and need to add Daytime running lights to a 1999 F350 and a 2004 E350. Both trucks are diesel and 4x4 but I don't think that should matter. Neither have the "auto" light position on the headlight switch. My 2004 F250 has the auto function and that's what I'm trying to accomplish with the other two trucks.

We went through the Import inspection by getting one of those cheap modules from Canadian Tire but it messed with the lighting on all of them and in different ways. I'd like to do this the right way and have the trucks behave like they were purchased in Canada.

Any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

So do you want auto headlights or DRLs? DRL is typically a low voltage sent to the head lights when the vehicle is running. auto lights have a sensor in the dash (typically) that turn the headlights on when it's dark.

If you want something similar to DRL, I would put a 194 or similar bulb into the headlight capsule. I've seen this headlights intended for germany, a little lamp added to light the capsule and draw low amperage.

There is probably a module in the DRL vehicles that you would need plus to have the computer reprogrammed to activate the module.

 

I looked at the 99 diagram, and took some notes on the DRL setup. They have a resistor and a DRL relay block added. The connector for the relay block is c245, so I thought if I could find a c245 in the regular headlight diagram, you could just plug the module in. But, I do not see a connector c245, so this may require a different harness.

I would go to the Ford dealer and see if they have a retrofit kit they sell for your trucks.

I believe I asked this question before, and I don't know if I got a adequate explanation. I was wondering what the whole idea behind the drl's is? I understand making a vehicle more visible on the road, and that down here we can't even get people to turn their headlights on when it's raining, but I don't understand the technical part the resistor plays in the drls. Why don't they just turn the lowbeams on all the time? Is it just a bulb life problem? It would be very easy to wire the lowbeams to come on all the time when the key is on.

 

I've understood they lower the voltage to lights, the DRLs function is "light up" the lamps not case light so you can see. Similar to what Chevy had to with the T84 headlamps in Germany.

 

I think what I'm trying to accomplish is that I have the "Auto" headlight function so that I can just put the switch in that position and every time I turn the truck on the headlights will come on. I don't want to get pulled over because we forgot to turn them on. We live out on the grid roads so for the most part, it's not an issue but if we go to town and forget to turn them on, we could be stopped and the truck would be made to be towed and fixed before it is driven again.

It's really just a formality but it seems, at least for Saskatchewan, that having any lights on while the vehicle is on is OK. The guy that installed the module in the first truck we had inspected installed it so that the running lights came on whenever the engine was running. This was OK except that if I was in town at night and started the truck, I didn't realize that the running lights were the only thing on until somebody flashed me that I didn't have my lights on.

If anybody has any better ideas about what I should be after, please feel free to offer an opinion. To me this is just so I don't have problems with the LAW....

 

If that's all you want, the way I would do this is with relays. Pull the headlight switch out, find the brown wire for the parking lights and the headlight wire (not sure on the color). 87a to the switch, 30 to the headlight/parkinglight side, 87 and 86 both get connected to (on the 99) either the gry/ylw or dk red/blk wire under the column. This will turn on your head lights and parking lights when the ignition is on. Automatically, and you will have the ability to turn the headlights/taillights on with the switch when the ignition is off.

 

Yea, but if I do that then it's almost like the Canadian Tire widget....and there wouldn't be any way to turn any of the lights off ever.

What I'd really like is to have them function like the lights in my 04 F250 Pickup. If I leave the switch in the auto position, when I turn on the key it will light the running lights only. If it's dark outside, the headlights will turn on without me doing anything. It makes the operation idiot proof and I don't want to get a ticket because I've been an idiot.

Remember one other thing, I need to do this to an 04 E350 Van also.

 

On the 99, if it was me, I would pull the headlight switch, skin the insulation back on the darkblue/orange and the red/yellow wires(or use those squeeze wire taps), and solder one wire each to these wires and run them down to a 30 amp relay. I would then hook the coil of the relay to a fuse tap inserted in the fuse box to something that is on with the key in run. This will power the headlights only, not the running lights or the dash lights, when the key is on. The only dummy proof problem you would have with this is the lights could be on highbeam or lowbeam, depending on what position the high/low switch would be in, but I don't think this would really be a problem would it? It's not like the highbeams are going to blind someone in the daytime.

I have a detailed diagram for a 2003 e350 van, and it's setup the same way with the same wire colors, so I am figuring a 2004 would be the same also. All the relay is doing is bypassing the headlight section of the switch.

 

Franklin2

I like your idea and can accomplish that very easily. One last question. Would there be a way to do the same thing but to power the running lights instead of the headlights without powering the dash lights? That would get me past the inspection thing, would provide lighting all the way around the vehicle in the daytime and with the dash lights out, it would remind me to turn the lights on at night.

My biggest reason for not liking the Canadian Tire solution was that the dash lights were on and I'd forget to turn on the Headlights and I don't really like that I could never turn off the headlights with the vehicle running.

Sorry to be such a pain in the butt except that it looks like I'm going to have to live with whatever I come up with for a while. We are really enjoying being in Canada and I don't think these folks are going to change their laws any time soon.

Thanks for all the help. Chris

 

I looked at the 99 diagram, and the instrument lights are powered by a brown wire jumper right at the switch. This jumper takes the running light power and puts it over to the dimmer control which then feeds the instrumentation lighting.

So, the best I can come up with is this; You could use that little gizmo they put on your truck to make the running lights come on, but insert a relay in the brown jumper. The relay coil would be tied to the red/yellow from the post above. So the brown wire gets fed by the thing they added in, which will feed all the running lights, and the instrument lights will get fed only when the relay closes, which will be closed by the coil getting voltage from the headlight circuit.