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DRL and fog lamps


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Hi friends.

In the american (USA & Canada) market, I think that our (yours) Journey are equipped with DRL. Are they equipped with fog lamps too? If so, are both lamps in the same headlight?

Finally, if some of you could upload a picture of your car with both DRL and fog lamps lightened would be wonderful.

Thank you in advance.

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DRLs are mandatory in Canada, not in the US, though it may be a feature that can be enabled in the US version of the Journey.

There is no dedicated lamp for the DRLs, they operate the headlights at lower levels for daytime operation.

The fog lights (such as they are) are a feature of the vehicles with trim levels above the SE (SE Plus in Canada) - so any photo you see of a North American Journey on any web site that has fog lights is something you can use as your reference.

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The way it is implemented is rather interesting . . . they run the 'high' beams at a lower level (seems like about a 50% duty cycle). When you switch on the turn signals the headlamp on that side is extinguished while the turn signal flashes . . . . when the turn signal is returned to normal, the headlight comes back on.

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The way it is implemented is rather interesting . . . they run the 'high' beams at a lower level (seems like about a 50% duty cycle). When you switch on the turn signals the headlamp on that side is extinguished while the turn signal flashes . . . . when the turn signal is returned to normal, the headlight comes back on.

Wow, I'm not sure that agrees European laws. I was thinking about asking my dealer for a reprogramming, if possible, but, first of all, I'll find out if "undo" option is available.

Thanks again.

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When you switch on the turn signals the headlamp on that side is extinguished while the turn signal flashes . . . . when the turn signal is returned to normal, the headlight comes back on.

I noticed that behavior and though it was weird. I wonder why they would do that. Maybe just to make the turn signal more visible in the daytime?

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Correct about the visibility - lots of the latest models (usually high end ones with corporate headquarters in Europe) equipped with DRLs do that these days.

As to complying with EU rules, if the vehicle has it and it works that way you can be certain that it is certified and complies - otherwise they wouldn't be able to sell it.

Then again, it won't work the same way for the EU countries if operating it that way violates the rules. There are region specific firmware loads, required because of the impact of local laws in different countries.

If DRLs are mandatory there will not be a menu item or other mechanism to disable it - that's why I suggested that they could be disabled in US vehicles - I know that GM higher end cars have the option to disable the feature in the US and Canadian vehicles do not have the menu item to disable the lamps - in fact if you import a US vehicle to Canada that has the feature with the option to disable, that option is supposed to be bypassed before the RIV inspection is done (though they aren't that strict about enforcing it).

Edited by bramfrank
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  • 2 weeks later...

I noticed that behavior and though it was weird. I wonder why they would do that. Maybe just to make the turn signal more visible in the daytime?

Chrysler/Dodge have been doing this is all of their cars, check out the Compass, Patriots, and the Caravans. It is used for safety purposes in ensuring the signal light is visible to oncoming traffic. Supposedly, there's a distance alloted from where the DRL is to the signal light, and if it's too close, the DRL should be disabled everytime the signal light is enabled.

Lucky for us, it's not the main headlight that gets disabled, but the DRLs, on the caravans, the main headlight is disabled everytime you signal, which makes it look weird and sometimes people mistaken it for a busted bulb.

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My new 2012 SXT has the option to enable/disable the DRLs right in the on-screen menu. I've got the smaller screen (4.3) too. The vehicle arrived with the DRLs turned off - I turned them on in the menu and they work fine.

Yup, all the American Journeys have the option to enable or disable the DRLs through the on-screen menu, but they don't actually work unless the sales code for DRLs was added to your car at the factory or after the fact by your dealer. It seems that a lot of SXT models and below often have them enabled from the factory, while Crew and R/T models don't. No idea what the logic is behind that.

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Yup, all the American Journeys have the option to enable or disable the DRLs through the on-screen menu, but they don't actually work unless the sales code for DRLs was added to your car at the factory or after the fact by your dealer. It seems that a lot of SXT models and below often have them enabled from the factory, while Crew and R/T models don't. No idea what the logic is behind that.

I don't know. My R/T was like that too - all the American Challengers ship from Brampton with the DRLs turned off, whereas they're left on for the Canadian-destined cars. My dealer had to enable the DRLs with StarScan. Fortunately, my dealer knew how to easily do that. Not every dealer does, sadly.

I'm guessing mine must have been built with DRLs enabled, since I never asked the dealer to enable the DRLs on my Journey, and she was only on the dealer's lot less than 24 hours - drove in from an area dealer to my dealer, prepped, and delivered the next day.

Really like the extra visibility the DRLs give me during the day - every little bit helps in traffic. Not to mention they look cool too.

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  • 2 months later...
Correct about the visibility - lots of the latest models (usually high end ones with corporate headquarters in Europe) equipped with DRLs do that these days. As to complying with EU rules, if the vehicle has it and it works that way you can be certain that it is certified and complies - otherwise they wouldn't be able to sell it. Then again, it won't work the same way for the EU countries if operating it that way violates the rules. There are region specific firmware loads, required because of the impact of local laws in different countries. If DRLs are mandatory there will not be a menu item or other mechanism to disable it - that's why I suggested that they could be disabled in US vehicles - I know that GM higher end cars have the option to disable the feature in the US and Canadian vehicles do not have the menu item to disable the lamps - in fact if you import a US vehicle to Canada that has the feature with the option to disable, that option is supposed to be bypassed before the RIV inspection is done (though they aren't that strict about enforcing it).

Hi again.

I've found this PDF with all chrysler sales codes. Please, can you check if one of these codes are installed on your car: LMN, LM1, LMX, LMK?

I think LNL would be suitable for my car, I'll ask to the dealer.

TIA.

http://starparts.chrysler.com/starlibrary/reference_docs/salescode.pdf

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  • 1 month later...

Well, not very lucky about my question to the dealer. They told me just "there is no reprogramming for fog lamps so that they work as DRL"

I even supply the sales code (LNL), but it didn´t work.

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