Daytime Running Lights

[loz8]

happily drive on auto,but the other day was bonkers,on twisty narrow road when you need 2 hands on the wheel.

daylight but foggy when under trees and darker,mains came on briefly ,but not when thicker fog patches when I would have liked them on. I too when first drove at night,thought the lights were on,had'nt been told how they worked.

[Cyker]

15 hours ago, MikeSh said:

You've mentioned this a number of times but nobody else seems to have this problem ... or at least no-one on this forum has admitted to it. As a long time glasses user I've had many eye tests and mine have certainly changed over the decades.

So is it possible it's your eyes that are the problem rather than the lights?

They probably are, in the sense that I have very good night vision and it really doesn't like the massively high contrasts of modern headlights.

I think most people just deal with it, but I like to complain about things I have no control over  

But I'm sure everyone with bright headlights has experienced being behind a shiny vehicle in traffic at just the spot where your lights are being reflected right at you - It isn't nice!

7 hours ago, Catlover said:

I didnt know of problems with DRL until it was raised on her, in other words, I don’t have any problem.  And if my lights are causing me problems due to reflection of someone’s shiny car in front I will drop back a bit, or a lot, as I think fit.

Yeah, this is what I tend to do - try and creep forward until the reflection isn't right back at me, or hang back or slightly out of line if I know it will be an issue.

I think everyone experiences it, they just don't realise or notice, and later attribute their headache or tired eyes to something else.

I'm particularly aware of how damaging high light contrast is, as I'm always having to tell people at sites that the reason they are getting eye-strain and headaches is their monitors are too bright or too dim for their work environment. It's not so bad for short periods, but where you're staring at the rectangle of doom all day, it is definitely worth setting up your monitor correctly!

[Paul smith]

On 12/16/2021 at 10:03 PM, Rhonasaurus said:

Just bought a new Yaris Design and I'm a bit clueless because it's my first car and I can't find the answer in the manual. 

The manual does say that it has daytime running lights and I have the lights set to auto but I've noticed that the dash always shows the side lights symbol on during the daytime when I'm driving. Is this the daytime running lights? Just from what I can gather the symbol for that is something different so I think I have the wrong settings but I can't for the life of me figure it out

I have the sane problem,  my main lights are on all the time where as before they only cane on when light levels were low.  The problem with this is the information screen light is also lowered making it hard to read the information. I can't even see what is showing  on the radio as the screen is too dim now

[Roy124]

Paul. Check the media settings are on Auto and not night.

[jthspace]

No gripes with Auto setting, I've changed the setting to be less sensitive so they don't "flash" on and off under short bridges/tunnels etc.

What does bug me is that the DRL is front only. My Mazda DRL is front and back lights which is a lot more sensible in my opinion.

[Roker]

On 12/17/2021 at 10:21 AM, Trewithy said:

To the OP.  Ensure your light switch is in the auto position (it sounds as if it is in the sidelight position) this automatically controls the on/off of the side and headlights it has no effect on the DRLs which are illuminated (at the front of the car only) every time the car is powered up.  the symbol on the dash only lights up when the side/headlights come on.   

I am going through the same on my new Corolla, I noticed the DRLs come on when moved into Drive or Rev

[Cyker]

1 hour ago, Paul smith said:

I have the sane problem,  my main lights are on all the time where as before they only cane on when light levels were low.  The problem with this is the information screen light is also lowered making it hard to read the information. I can't even see what is showing  on the radio as the screen is too dim now

Do you have anything on the dashboard? My initial suspicion is you've covered up the light sensor so the car thinks it's dark all the time  

In the Yaris Mk4, it's a little dome near the left-A-pillar.

 

43 minutes ago, jthspace said:

No gripes with Auto setting, I've changed the setting to be less sensitive so they don't "flash" on and off under short bridges/tunnels etc.

What does bug me is that the DRL is front only. My Mazda DRL is front and back lights which is a lot more sensible in my opinion.

I never understood this about DRLs either; Why is only the front mandated?? But then TBH I'm not a big fan of DRLs - IMHO they've made roads more dangerous, not less. It makes other road users - Pedestrians, cyclists and bikers - harder to see when all you can see is a sea of powerfully bright DRLs in the mirrors!

 

31 minutes ago, Roker said:

I am going through the same on my new Corolla, I noticed the DRLs come on when moved into Drive or Rev

I found that out on my Yaris too - When I turn the car on (In day time anyway), the DRLs will NOT come on if I leave it in Park. As soon as I shift to a drive mode, they come on and stay on until the car is turned off.

At night, the light sensor triggers the headlights immediately and there's nothing you can do about that alas. Very annoying if I just want to sit and wait in the car. Why was it so impossible to give us the stalk with the Off position as well??

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Japan made auto headlights compulsory for newly introduced models from 1st April 2020 and for all new vehicles from October 2021.

So perhaps Toyota adopted this for the current Yaris (on sale in the UK from August 2020) in certain other markets.

[jimaros]

So. Is there any way in a Mk IV to be parked with your lights turned off?

I like to listen to music and since the car in acc mode tells me Battery low in a couple of minutes I tend to leave it running (sort of since it's hybrid)

I would love to have my lights turned off 

[Cyker]

10 minutes ago, jimaros said:

So. Is there any way in a Mk IV to be parked with your lights turned off?

I like to listen to music and since the car in acc mode tells me battery low in a couple of minutes I tend to leave it running (sort of since it's hybrid)

I would love to have my lights turned off 

In the daytime, yes - Once you've parked up, turn the car off - This will shut down all the lights.

Now hold the brake and turn the car on again, but do NOT move it out of P(ark).

The car will be fully functional - Power windows, Media playback, AC, etc.  - but the DRLs will stay off until you move it out of P, then they will be on again.

 

At night, sadly no - The sensors will detect it's dark and turn the head lights on regardless of whether you're in P or not and I've not found a way to defeat this. Best you can do is switch it to sidelights to avoid blinding everyone that crosses your path, but that's it.

In some markets, the Mk4 has an OFF position which may allow the lights to stay off, but ours only have AUTO so we're stuck with that.

[jimaros]

On 10/8/2023 at 5:56 PM, Cyker said:

In the daytime, yes - Once you've parked up, turn the car off - This will shut down all the lights.

Now hold the brake and turn the car on again, but do NOT move it out of P(ark).

The car will be fully functional - Power windows, Media playback, AC, etc.  - but the DRLs will stay off until you move it out of P, then they will be on again.

 

At night, sadly no - The sensors will detect it's dark and turn the head lights on regardless of whether you're in P or not and I've not found a way to defeat this. Best you can do is switch it to sidelights to avoid blinding everyone that crosses your path, but that's it.

In some markets, the Mk4 has an OFF position which may allow the lights to stay off, but ours only have AUTO so we're stuck with that.

Raising from the dead this thread.

I've seen you have found that there are different light switch light switch livers with off position. Is there a way to find the part number and order them?

I guess, even finding out what regions of the world use it would be helpful since I could probably scout ilcats.ru to find them.

I bet that OFF doesn't need EXTRA wiring from the steering column. It just cuts off the power probably.

[Mojo1010]

On 10/8/2023 at 3:56 PM, Cyker said:

In the daytime, yes - Once you've parked up, turn the car off - This will shut down all the lights.

Now hold the brake and turn the car on again, but do NOT move it out of P(ark).

The car will be fully functional - Power windows, Media playback, AC, etc.  - but the DRLs will stay off until you move it out of P, then they will be on again.

 

At night, sadly no - The sensors will detect it's dark and turn the head lights on regardless of whether you're in P or not and I've not found a way to defeat this. Best you can do is switch it to sidelights to avoid blinding everyone that crosses your path, but that's it.

In some markets, the Mk4 has an OFF position which may allow the lights to stay off, but ours only have AUTO so we're stuck with that.

Maybe a trick would be to put a flashlight facing down pointing at the sensor or use the flashlight of the mobile phone to do the same. Either way there will be some light in the car from those lights. 

[jimaros]

38 minutes ago, jimaros said:

Raising from the dead this thread.

I've seen you have found that there are different light switch light switch livers with off position. Is there a way to find the part number and order them?

I guess, even finding out what regions of the world use it would be helpful since I could probably scout ilcats.ru to find them.

I bet that OFF doesn't need EXTRA wiring from the steering column. It just cuts off the power probably.

That part is what I'm talking about.

[Cyker]

Sadly no - I haven't even figured out what markets have the Off position!! It seems none of the Euro-spec ones do from what I've been able to tell.

I'm wondering if it's only for the non-hybrid ones, as those are the only ones I haven't gotten much info on...

 

[jimaros]

19 hours ago, Cyker said:

Sadly no - I haven't even figured out what markets have the Off position!! It seems none of the Euro-spec ones do from what I've been able to tell.

I'm wondering if it's only for the non-hybrid ones, as those are the only ones I haven't gotten much info on...

 

2019 RAV4 Limited

found that hybrid RAV has a headlight stalk with off position

one part number is 3332043D104

 

Edited January 22 by jimaros