How to disable / disconnect DRL - with pictures

rme

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Location
Georgia
TDI
Jetta
Thanks Burningmoney....I've got two left hands that are all thumbs and I'm blind in one eye and can't see out of the other and I was able to do this mod....
 

graeme86

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Location
Brisbane, Australia
TDI
Not yet - fuel is too cheap! - 3.2 VR6 R32
In OFF position - push knob straight in as far as it wants to go and turn to right and it will stay locked down and recessed within the switch face. Knob should be approximately vertical in this position, but recessed down inside the face.

Then you just pull the whole switch assembly straight out (don't try turning whole switch assembly left or right)

:)
 

romad

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
Prescott, AZ
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS Wagon "Cranberry"
I just read this entire thread and thought I'd post some interesting history. Way back in the mid 20th Century, people who wanted to be "safe" and "seen" during the daytime would wire a low wattage bulb in the center of the grill. After some years of this various "safety studies" were done and it was determined that anything less than fullpower low-beams were either NOT helpful or were a HAZARD because the lights caused problems when determining the distance/speed of the car. So several states banned these lights. Fast forward to the late 20th Century and DRLs start showing up on Saabs & Volvos. Now, because the Swedes are considered very sharp and intelligent people, their "safety studies" had determined the reverse of the previous ones so the "no low power lights" laws stopped being enforced.

Only one problem: that of determining distance and speed of an oncoming DRL-equipped vehicle remains, BUT it also exists with ANY front lights on in the daytime, be they DRL, fog, parking, or headlights. I can determine when it is safe to pass during the daylight if the oncoming vehicles do NOT have any lights on; I can't if they do have lights on. Why? Because fog/DRLs make the vehicle seem farther away than it actually is (safe to pass), while normal headlights make the vehicle seem closer than it actually is (unsafe to pass).

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the old no-low power lights on in daytime laws are still on the books, just waiting for a cash-strapped government entity to start enforcing it as a means of "revenue enhancement". :)
 

romad

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
Prescott, AZ
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS Wagon "Cranberry"
Did you just put electrical tape over the TFL pin of the switch? That is all that I did and all other lighting remained functional.
 

Jarrod B

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Location
San Antonio, TX
TDI
2014 Passat TDI
I got new headlights for a 97 Passat.
they end up beeing euro parts, and have 3 bulbs instead of 2 on the old US headlights. I have DRL, regular headlight and high beam. But the car does not seem to be wired for this. I m not sure how far back i d need to go to get the specific wire for DRL, so i can just use the 5 watt bulb for drl.
i would like to use that 5w bulb for drl instead.

Personally I simply cut the wire on the back side of the switch when i replaced it with a euro switch and soldered (yes soldered) on a set of male / femal connectors so if i for some reason want to DRL's again i just pop the switch out and connect the wire.
Personally I know DRL's are supposed to be a safety thing but i think they are over rated and simply burn out headlights even faster. Its also rather annoying because it seems there are a lot of people with DRL's in poor driving conditions that now forget to turn on their headlights because they can see fine, problem is their tail lights are not on so you cant see them till you are on top of them.
i see this too. they rely on the drl for their lights...doh.
said room's occupant shall appreciate my modification.
hahahaha
 

Boatdocktor

New member
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Location
Massachusetts
TDI
2003 JET A
W/ loose cable lift E brake just 1 notch whala no lights ! It is how you sneak home at night!!!! hey did anbody try a sw. at the e brake wire as a cut out?? the ebrake light will remind you that you are not in "lights on for safety mode"
 

TriviaSteve

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
Location
central PA
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS Wagon, 550K miles, 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI S, 100K miles and a 65 beetle
i wondered the same thing...

what happened to the pictures?
I wondered the same thing...

This is something I want to do to mine as well. My reason is actually for night-time driving, of which I do a lot.

To signal to trucks that they're clear to pass, I can't dim the lights due to the DRL's. Flashing high beams, IMO, has more of a tendency to temporarily blind other drivers. I'd rather be able to dim my lights for an instant, which is impossible to do because of the DRL's.

Signaling to drivers also indicates to them that you're at least somewhat coherent and not driving while impaired, be that by alcohol or sleepy or whatever.

And that, I think, is pretty safe.
 

A-Dub

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2013
Location
GTA, Ontario
TDI
2009 Touareg TDI
I turned off DRL lights on my Touareg.. It is way nicer this way.. At least i am the boss: i decide when they need to be turned on or needed, rather than being treated like a robot by Canadian Transportation Authority and have it on all the time...
 

Jarrod B

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Location
San Antonio, TX
TDI
2014 Passat TDI
W/ loose cable lift E brake just 1 notch whala no lights ! It is how you sneak home at night!!!! hey did anbody try a sw. at the e brake wire as a cut out?? the ebrake light will remind you that you are not in "lights on for safety mode"
I did that on my 06 Jetta when we were in a Christmas drive through park. By the end of the trail, I smelled rear brakes bad lol.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
2003 NB: TFL pin does nothing.
Pulling the 173 relay did not turn off DRLs but did lose the e-brake warning light.
Taping pin B in the switch worked. Pulling the B pin wire off the female plug on the back of the switch would also have worked, but I don't have a release tool for the female jr. timer pin part.
 

Rustydog

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Location
Palm Desert, Ca
TDI
2014 JSW TDI
Anyone do this for a mk6 Jetta tdi?

Bump on this.

I must be missing something on my 2014 JSW TDI; is there no way to sit with accessories on and not have my DRL's on?
 

ar2013tdi

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2014
Location
Maine
TDI
2014 Sportwagen DSG
Anyone do this for a mk6 Jetta tdi?
Bump on this.
I must be missing something on my 2014 JSW TDI; is there no way to sit with accessories on and not have my DRL's on?
Applying the emergency brake will turn them off.
 

Drunken_Unicorn

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 16, 2015
Location
Idaho
TDI
'05 Jetta Wagon
Hey can someone post a picture of what pin needs to be taped on the switch? Links to the pictures are broke.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
I bent the little tab down and yes my DRL are disabled but now when I lock the car the horn doesn't honk. Could I have lost anything else by doing this?
 

austintg

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Location
Texas
TDI
2016 Audi A6 Technik
I bent the little tab down and yes my DRL are disabled but now when I lock the car the horn doesn't honk. Could I have lost anything else by doing this?

Did you double check to see the setting wasn't changed? That's just a simple option that you can turn off and on yourself. I've always turned mine off on my TDi's.


Austin
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Did you double check to see the setting wasn't changed? That's just a simple option that you can turn off and on yourself. I've always turned mine off on my TDi's.


Austin
I'm an idiot my hood wasn't latched all the way.
 

austintg

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Location
Texas
TDI
2016 Audi A6 Technik
I'm an idiot my hood wasn't latched all the way.

Well at least you figured it out. It's nice when there is a definite explanation for what's going on no matter how palm-face it might be.

Also I am just so freaking happy I stumbled on this thread. I've been searching for ways to disable my DRL's on my 10 Jetta and finally found it. How do y'all figure this stuff out??


Austin
 

Mike Morriss

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Location
Ponca City, Oklahoma
TDI
99 New Beetle, 91 Vanagon TDI conversion, 05 New Beetle, 2014 Jetta Sportwagen
Another option -

I have an 05 Beetle that was made in Mexico. I tried to do the mod where one puts plastic in the TFL slot in the headlight switch connector. The TFL slot had no wire/connector in it. I saw somewhere someone else had a beetle made in Mexico. That person couldn’t use the TFL slot either and had used the B slot instead. I put the plastic in the B slot today and then tested all positions of the headlight switch. It looks like that did the trick. All lights off with the switch in the off position. All other positions work as expected.
 

leftyserve

Active member
Joined
Oct 2, 2016
Location
Lexington, SC
TDI
Stock 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon. Turned in my 2012 Jetta TDI Sportwagen on 2/3/17. Hated to see it go!
Simple!

Did it, even without the photos! I bent my TFL pin down, and it worked like a charm. I too am tired of replacing headlight bulbs!
 

Tyler22474

Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Location
West Central Wisconsin
TDI
'06 Jetta 1.9l Automatic DSG
From what I've seen, the switches are relatively cheap. (Under $20) You would just have to make sure to get the right one for your specific car. I tried this mod on my MKV Jetta 1.9l without fog lights and it disabled the DRL's, but also acted like the switch was on, so I couldn't turn off the low beams. Any fixes for this? I tried bending the middle pin, but it was a bit of a pain to get back up. I had to use a tweazers to pull the pin back up, fixing the switch, but turning the DRL's back on. Fixes?
 
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romad

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2011
Location
Prescott, AZ
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS Wagon "Cranberry"
From what I've seen, the switches are relatively cheap. (Under $20) You would just have to make sure to get the right one for your specific car. I tried this mod on my MKV Jetta 1.9l without fog lights and it disabled the DRL's, but also acted like the switch was on, so I couldn't turn off the low beams. Any fixes for this? I tried bending the middle pin, but it was a bit of a pain to get back up. I had to use a tweazers to pull the pin back up, fixing the switch, but turning the DRL's back on. Fixes?

Those $20 "Euro" switches are usually Red Chinese crapola.


I just put a piece of electrical tape over the pin on my non-Red China Euro Switch - worked just fine.
 
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