'03 Baja - Need High Beam Wiring Help

[jMon54]

I installed driving lights on my '03 Baja this weekend. I wired them
so that they only come on with the high beams. The problem is once I
got out on the road I discovered they were on all the time. In my
garage they were only on when the high beams were on.

The only difference between the garage and outdoors was the fact that
the engine was running and the daytime running lights were lit.

Can someone tell me what I need to do to have my driving lights on only
when the high beams are lit?

 

[DS]

I had the exact same problem with my 98 Outback. I'm not sure about your
Baja but the DRLs for my OB were low beams (full intensity). I wired the
driving lights to be relay enabled off the high beams. But the driving
lights would be on whenever the DRLs were on. If I used the switch to turn
on the headlights, no problem. And switching on the high beams would turn on
the driving lights too. Other strange behaviour: sometimes if I forgot to
turn off the switch, the driving lights would come on and would stay on no
matter what I did. I would actually have to disconnect the battery to get
them to turn off. I never could figure it out.

I ended up including a switch to defeat the driving lights. I only flicked
it on when it was dark and I knew I was going to use the driving lights.

On my Nissan, the DRLs are low intensity high beams. So I can easily
understand the driving lights issue there. So I installed the switch again.
No problems.

DS

 

[mulder]

I installed driving lights on my '03 Baja this weekend. I wired them
so that they only come on with the high beams. The problem is once I
got out on the road I discovered they were on all the time. In my
garage they were only on when the high beams were on.

The only difference between the garage and outdoors was the fact that
the engine was running and the daytime running lights were lit.

Can someone tell me what I need to do to have my driving lights on only
when the high beams are lit?

How are your driving lights wired exactly? Where are you getting the
power and ground, are you using a relay?
The Subaru headlight system is common positive, switched ground.
Normally the power is on only when the headlight switch is turned on,
but when the DRLs are active the headlight circuit is powered. So if
your driving lights are connected to the headlight common power, and
have a connection to ground somehow, they will operate when the DRLs
are on. That ground connection could be occurring through the DRL
circuit since it grounds the low beam (through a resistor for reduced
intensity), and if you have a relay connected to the high beam
switched ground it could get a ground connection through the bulb
filament.
One solution would be to disconnect the DRL controller completely. On
the Imprezas the module is in the passenger kick panel area next to
the glovebox, it is probably in the same general area on the Baja.
Look for a large rectangular module with a white 10-pin connector, if
you can see the entire module it should have a label on it that says
"DRL". Unplug it and you won't have this issue any more.

 

[jMon54]

I hooked the lights up by the book (Hella). I have the Subaru manual
for the wiring and followed it plus I used a meter to confirm which
wire was hot when brights were lit. I installed a switch and left it
under the hood for now which makes it easy to turn off the circuit.
The wiring includes a relay.

What was written about the DRLs powering the circuit and thus powering
the driving lights makes sense. Yeah I might just go ahead and see
about disconnecting the DRLs. I tend to drive safely and am not shy
about using lights on less than clear days.

 

[jMon54]

I unplugged the white DRL connector. All that did was disable my low
beams, no good. Disconnecting the black connector disabled my high
beams, again, no good.

There has got to be a way to wire these driving lights up so they work
in tandem with the high beams!

 

[mulder]

I unplugged the white DRL connector. All that did was disable my low
beams, no good. Disconnecting the black connector disabled my high
beams, again, no good.

There has got to be a way to wire these driving lights up so they work
in tandem with the high beams!

If you disconnected the proper module it should not fully disable your
low beams, just remove the DRL function when the e-brake is down and
the lights are not turned on. Something doesn't sound right.

 

[jMon54]

I found the answer! There is confusion on this issue because it
depends on whether the car has a 2 light or a 4 light system. On my
Baja with the 2 light system what I had to do was cut the blue/black
wire leading into the white module. This disabled the DRLs and allows
me to control my Hella driving lights with my high beam switch. Yay!