I have a canadian coupe G35 05 and one of the daytime running lights doesnt work. We tried replacing the bulb and the fuse, thanks to the step by step info on here but it stills doesnt work. Would the Ballast have anything to do with it and or does it have a ballast and how do you replace that?

 

could be, what did u end up doing?

 

Nothing yet just use my headlights during the day, a new balast is 300- 400 here but on e bay its 95 dollars. We just have to take apart the headlight again and remove the ballast to make sure we get the right one.

 

Your '05 has the DRL's, which you know.
Your low beam headlights are HID, those are the only lights on your car with ballasts.
Then you have H4 bulbs in the lower portion of the headlights. These have 2 filaments (intensities). One is for HIGH BEAM, the other is for your "fog light".

The DRL system uses the Highbeam side. It wires the bulbs in Series when the DRL's are on, which cuts the voltage to each High beam bulb in half, thusly cutting the output in half.

Here's a description of the area you're supposedly concerned with:

DAYTIME LIGHT OPERATION

With engine running, lighting switch in OFF or 1ST position and parking brake released, power is supplied
-through daytime light control unit terminal 6
-to front combination lamp LH terminal 2
-through front combination lamp LH terminal 8
-to daytime light control unit terminal 7
-through daytime light control unit terminal 8
-to front combination lamp RH terminal 2.
Ground is supplied
-to front combination lamp RH terminal 8
-through grounds E17 and E43.
Because high beam headlamps are now wired in series, they operate at half illumination.

Now, what this MEANS to you:
First off, it's pretty much imposible to have just one DRL running. Because they're wired in series, if one bulb is bad, or one connection is bad, NEITHER light will work.

This tells me that the most likely scenario is that the bulb that you say is out isn't a high beam filament. Simple way to check, is turn your high beams on. If they both work then you know the bulbs are good, and thusly, the DRL's should work fine if one of them is working.

Armed with that I'd say the bulb that's actually out is either your low beam HID, or the fog light. So I just need to know which one is actually out, and which side it is, and I'll help you fix that

 

Thankyou for the information. It all sounds logical however when my car is running with the parking brake off and the switch in the OFF or AUTO(daylight) position, only one of the bulbs is on in the lower portion of the headlights. These lower bulbs both light when in the high beam mode and also both work when in the fog light mode. Could my DRL's be set up in some other configuration than how you described? Also had a dumb question as to the location of the numbered terminals that you described. Thanks for your help.

 

No dumb questions we all have to start somewhere.

The lower portion houses the highbeam and fog light. It's the same bulb, just different filaments. now that we know it's this lower portion out, it's definitely NOT the HID, which means it's NOT the ballast

Now you do need to do some testing, so you'll need to know the terminal locations. A voltmeter/multimeter is best to test this, but a test light will work. If you dont have either, run to the local parts store, NAPA, Part Source, Canadian tire, Princess Auto, etc. They'll have a test light there should be around $5-10. Buy it. GET AN INCANDECENT ONE. NOT AN LED ONE. If you're not sure which is which just ask someone. Normally an LED one will be labled clearly as being LED.

I'll help you out on this one and post a step by step inspection with pictures on my 2003 Canadian G35, should be identical. There's something fishy from what I know so far, but we need more info. if you have one side out and one working, then that tells me the right headlight is finding it's own ground somewhere. If this is true though, the right headlight should be brighter than it normally would be during DRL operation.

To answer your other questions, this is definitely the way your car was wired from the factory, if someone's changed the wiring after that, I don't know. Perform a visual inspection and check for any hacked in wiring, electrical tape, new ground wires, etc around the back of the headlights.

Also, check this and report back: With engine running, ebrake down, you have only the RIGHT side lower bulb on correct? With it on, turn on your fog lights only and check it. Does the light get brighter, change, or stay the same?

As far as terminal locations I can't get that for you right now but I'll dig it up later and post if.

 

Its the right side DRL thats not working. I've had that side apart to replace the bulb and I see no sign of tampering or modification to the wiring harnesses or bulb socket plugs and the connections seem corrosion free. I have an incandesent test light and a couple of multi meters.
When viewing the operable left side lower light, fog and DRL functions appear similar in general intensity although each is brighter in its respective focal direction - DRL ahead and fog aiming downward.

 

Ok let's clarify something. When you say "right side", are you referring to the PASSENGER SIDE?

If so, this is the next step:

With the car running, double check your highbeams to make sure they're working.
If they're good, turn on your headlights to make sure they're working (HID's up top)
If they're good, with the HID's still on, turn on your fog lights. If they're good, proceed below.

This is the easy way to check the series circuit if one light IS working on the DRL:

If the RIGHT SIDE (PASSENGER) is working: With the DRL's ON (Car running, ebrake down, all lights OFF on lightstalk.), disconnect the left side fog/highbeam plug harness.

What SHOULD happen, is the right side lamp should go out. If it does, then try this:

Swap the highbeam/fog bulb in the LEFT(DRIVER) side location over to the RIGHT (passenger) side. Now test your DRL's again. Does the Left side work, but not the right now? Then you've got a bad bulb.

If the Right side still illuminates, but the left side doesn't, you know 100% that it's wiring.


GO TO PAGE #33 on the link below, and start checking the fuses listed, it will also show you all the harness connections and locations you need.
I can get you more specifics later I'm just at work and can't post it

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/G35/Sedan/2003/lt.pdf

 

Ok here you go

If your fuses are good, carry on here:

To make this a bit easier, do this. UNPLUG both headlights harnesses, should still be an H4 harness same as OEM. Here's the terminal designation:



You want the one that has E36 written next to it. That's the headlight harness. Test the following terminals using that harness diagram:



Check if you have power at terminal #3 on the Right side (passenger), by using an incandecent test light. Hook the negative clamp to CHASSIS ground (battery Negative is good too) when checking.

If she lights up nice and bright (12+ volts), then you want to install the ground clip into terminal #1 on the Right side light. You're now making the test light the headlight. If it lights up things are good so far. At this point, you will need another test light (incandecent).

LEAVE THE TEST LIGHT IN THE HARNESS ON THE RIGHT (PASSENGER) SIDE.

Then test again on the LEFT side (driver side). Install ground to battery negative (chassis), and check for power at terminal #3 on the LEFT harness.

hopefully this happens:
The test light illuminates, but is dim (half voltage), when it dims, the test light you have in place on the right side should dim also.


If this happens, then all you have to do is remove the ground clamp from the negative terminal on the battery, and hook it into terminal #1 on the LEFT (drivers) side harness. This simply tests the ground side of the circuit. The lights should light back up at half intensity once connected.

If everything I just got you to test went as I said, and is working, now you know that the issue is the HEADLIGHTS, NOT the OEM wiring or DRL module.

NOTE: Anytime you're dealing with aftermarket components, especially one that alters the wiring so much, you need to isolate the aftermarket and OEM components first.

P.S. YOU MUST USE TWO INCANDECENT TEST LIGHTS FOR THIS TEST. A MULTIMETER WILL NOT WORK, NOR WILL AN LED TEST LIGHT.

IF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE TEST LIGHT, YOU COULD INSTALL A KNOWN GOOD H4 BULB INTO THE HARNESS ON THE RIGHT SIDE AFTER TESTING THE RIGHT SIDE TO REPLACE THE TEST LIGHT SO YOU CAN USE IT ON THE LEFT SIDE

AND THUSLY GET AWAY WITH JUST ONE TEST LIGHT.

let me know how you make out

 

thanks for the info I will let you know when I find the probelm

 

We have been busy so we haven't got the car in our garage to tear it apart to locate the problem BUT we just noticed both daylight running lights are not working but all the other lights are.

 

This makes more sense, which is why the first thing I said to do was re-check SPECIFICALLY what lights/intensities were and were not working.

Kind of feeling like you're not even trying to listen.

 

I am appreciative of the information you have given me so far and I agree that it makes no sense that just one DRL can be working based on your explanation of how they work. None the less, only one has been working for the past year and both fog lights and both high beam lights have been working fine. Hope to use the info you have supplied to investigate further soon.

 

Got a similar problem last year and I solved it by redone a weld in the DRL module.
DRL module is a little black box in the engine bay near windshield washer filling cap.
If you remove the module and open it. check all the weld in the back of the board.


(sorry for my english)

 

similar solution on a honda
http://www.nyx.net/~smanley/hondadrlfix/index.html