Mazda Dealers can rewire DRL?

[RedRaptor]

Talked to a guy who lives in Kitchener who owns a Mazda 3 and he said he got HIDs by asking the Mazda Dealer to rewire his DRLs. I don\'t have any details on the name of the dealer or what the dealer exactly did, but he did say that it cost him half an hour of labour cost when he went in for his first 8k oil change and it didn\'t void any warranty.

How come the Mazda dealers in the GTA don\'t offer this? Its obvious that no one knows the cars schematic than the trained Mazda techs that work at the dealership. Or is it because we\'ve never asked them and assumed they won\'t do it for us even if we paid them?

Flipspeed, maybe you could enlighten us or ask the Mazda techs at Avante if they can do the DRL \"fix\" for a labour charge and not void warranty.

I\'ll post more details when I ask this guy more questions.

[bubba1983]

who was it that you talked too?

[RedRaptor]

Found out more information from this guy. Sorry I don\'t know his name, we are just exchanging emails.

He got his DRLs rewired at Ontario Mazda on Dixie for half an hour of labour. Then he got his buddy to install his HID kit for him. I\'m guessing half an hour of labour is about $40 to $80?

I called Speedstar, talked to someone very helpful. They do HID installations with their own XenonDepot kit or you can bring in your own kit. The cost is $180 CASH for the Mazda3. The problem is, they don\'t have a solution to the DRL issue. This is because the DRLs are on a low pulse which is like ON/OFF signal. If you rewire them to your Fog lights or high beam, this can actually damage them also. And of course if you leave them on your HIDs, they will damage the ballast. The only solution he thought of is this:

1)Rewire to Fog or Highbeam and risk damaging them because of the DRL pulse signal
2)Disconnect all DRLs, so no DRLs at all
3)Have your HIDs on 24/7

Obviously, these three solution isn\'t what we were hoping for.

SO, that leaves us with one choice. Contacting Ontario Mazda on Dixie and asking them details about rewiring the DRLs to fog. Maybe they have a way of doing it that is safe for the Fogs and also will not void warranty.

Any of you guys are welcomed to call up Speedstar and they will tell you exactly what I\'ve told you. I hope everything is clear now and the \"professional\" options you really have to choose from.

Next time call up Ontario Mazda service department and ask them details about rewiring DRLs.:sarc

[bubba1983]

where did this guy get his DRL\'s rewired too?
and, give him my contact....for msn that is adambarnes4@hotmail.com or give me his e-mail, i\'d love to talk to him..being he\'s from kitchener...and so am i..

[Xenon]

Originally posted by bubba1983


where did this guy get his DRL\'s rewired too?

This is what I\'m most interested in... When I get my HID kit, I want my Hi-beams to be the DRLs

[majic]

is it bad to have HIDs on all the time?

when i drive, the first couple of things i do when i get in the car are: seatbelt, mirrors and lights. I always turn the lights on no matter if its sunny or middle of the night. it doesn\'t really hurt your car b/c they run off the alternator and they increase your visibility quite a bit more than just DRLs. I guess 1 downside would be the bulb burning out faster and in the case of HIDs it could get expensive. so is that the only reason against having HIDs on all the time?

[RedRaptor]

Originally posted by bubba1983
where did this guy get his DRL\'s rewired too?


Since most of you guys don\'t like to read through the entire thread, I\'ll be nice this time and mentioned it again.

He got his DRLs rewired at his Mazda Dealer which would be Ontario Mazda on Dixie.

We really need a SEARCHMAN here...

[Xenon]

Originally posted by RedRaptor



Originally posted by bubba1983
where did this guy get his DRL\'s rewired too?


Since most of you guys don\'t like to read through the entire thread, I\'ll be nice this time and mentioned it again.

He got his DRLs rewired at his Mazda Dealer which would be Ontario Mazda on Dixie.

We really need a SEARCHMAN here...

i think you\'re misunderstanding the question:

The question is Where did the light get rewired to... as in his DRL is no longer his Lowbeam.... where is it? the foglights? Highbeams? totally disabled?

We know he got it done at Ontario mazda. We want to know which source the light comes out of.

[RedRaptor]

Talked to him again today and he mentioned that he had them rewired to the Fog lights. I also asked him why Speedstar would say that it does damage to the Fogs or Highbeams when DRLs are rewired there and he says he doesn\'t know why. He seems pretty knowledgeable and mentioned that the only thing is the fog lights will burn out faster if they were used as DRL (trivial).

I don\'t know if what Speedstar is saying makes sense about doing damage to the fogs or highbeams, I don\'t see what damage would be done? If what they are saying is true, then it means our low beams are getting damaged now due to the DRLs?

[Xenon]

Originally posted by RedRaptor


Talked to him again today and he mentioned that he had them rewired to the Fog lights. I also asked him why Speedstar would say that it does damage to the Fogs or Highbeams when DRLs are rewired there and he says he doesn\'t know why. He seems pretty knowledgeable and mentioned that the only thing is the fog lights will burn out faster if they were used as DRL (trivial).

I don\'t know if what Speedstar is saying makes sense about doing damage to the fogs or highbeams, I don\'t see what damage would be done? If what they are saying is true, then it means our low beams are getting damaged now due to the DRLs?




I don\'t think it would cause damage to the lights... granted the fact that they are always on may reduce the life of the bulb, but not by much. My plan for the HIDs is to get the dealership to send the DRLs to the highbeam and then get the HIDs at speedstar.

That way the dealership deals with the DRLs, (for which they are qualified) and Speedstar deals with the HIDs (for which they are qualified). Everyone does they\'re specialty.

[RedRaptor]

Xenon,

I think you are right, I don\'t see how rewiring something damages the actual light unit but of course the bulb will not last as long but this is trivial. I don\'t know what Speedstar was talking about regarding doing damage to the fogs and highbeams by rewiring the DRLs there.

Anyways, your planned course of action is what I would do at this point. I am going to visit Avante and see if they can rewire my DRLs to the highbeams while keeping it under warranty. I don\'t see how the techs at Avante can\'t do the same job this Kitchener guy got at nOntario Mazda.

FLIPSPEED, maybe you can give us some info on rewiring DRLs to highbeams?

As for Speedstar, they quoted $180 for a complete installation but I think once you get your DRLs rewired to the highbeams, they will just be doing the plug N play for you when installing the HID kit.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

more info on rewiring the DRLs to the Highbeams please :)

[Xenon]

Originally posted by MajesticBlueN


more info on rewiring the DRLs to the Highbeams please :)

As far as I know, just go to the dealer and ask them to do it for you...

I\m going to get it done at my 24K service... I\'m at 19.6 K at the moment. I\'ll watch them do it... I\'ll take mental notes and share.

[RedRaptor]

Here is an update:

I called Ontario Mazda (dealership) and talked to the Service Department. I asked if they do rewiring of the DRLs to the higbeam or the fog lights. The first response I got was \"WHY?...Why would you want to do that?\".

So I explained the whole HID kit installation and etc etc. He said \"Okay, let me ask my manager.\"

He comes back a few min and says \"Sorry, we don\'t do anything like this. Its against the Mazda\'s policies and etc\".

I knew he was BSing but they are entitled to not do it for us. So I emailed the Kitchener guy and he said that he got it done at Ontario Mazda for sure. In fact he was going to pull his parking brake up one level each time he drives (to disable DRL) but Ontario Mazda suggested the rewiring to the fogs. Maybe he got a nice tech, but officially, Ontario Mazda or likewise any other dealer won\'t openly rewiring DRLs for you.

So, I think unless we find a \"nice\" Mazda tech that will do the rewiring, most dealership techs won\'t do it.

The plan of having the dealership rewiring DRLs without voiding warranty doesn\'t look too good now. We might have to just bite the bullet and get a speedshop to do it voiding warranty on that part of the car.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

sounds like the whole timing advance thing that some maxima owners wanted...the maxima ran better with a +2 base timing advance, but the only way to do it was at a dealership with the CONSULT-II computer (available only at nissan dealerships or you could order one yourself for the low, low price of $10,000).

the thing is, the Factory Service Manual stated that base timing was 15+/-2 ...so bumping up to 16 or 17 was well within spec and shouldn\'t have voided any type of warranty. but the service people would be like \"we won\'t do that because it might blow up your engine\" yadda yadda yadda.

some people got it done because they knew a tech and paid him like $20...bring the car in for an \"oil change\" then walk up to the tech and say \"hey, can you do this for me ....\"

it was a hassle and a gamble as to making sure the tech was there that day... shimmy shimmy ya shimmy yam shimmy yay.

sounds like the song and dance wasn\'t limited to nissan dealers

[Xenon]

Westowne Mazda is really nice when it comes to mods.... they over look a lot of the mods that have been to the Protege\'s (including turbos and other major mods, opinion taken from TOprotege members).

I will talk to them. I will be going in for 24,000 KM service before the new year.

[Xenon]

Any word on whether or not Avante can send the DRL to the Highbeam?

if I could get this done by the dealer instead of Sam (not that I don\'t like him, just the warrenty thing) I would.