Problem installing Daytime running lights

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lipcius

Active member
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
33
Today I finally installed Philips DayLightGuide 12825 DLR lights, which look nice and work ok.

However I came to several problems, where I need some help.

1. While charging the LEAF, the lights turn automatically on (Since Philips is connected to 12V battery and while sensing that something is happening turn the DLR on). It would be ok, however it says that the lifetime of these LEDs is 5000Hours, so if they will operate every night while charging (~8 hours) it will not last me even two years. This exact model Philips 12825 DLR says it's compatible with hybrid and electric vehicles. Anyone has any idea about this?

2. I connected everything according to manual - red and black to the battery, yellow to the lights (sensing that lights are on, the LEDs automatically dim, so you can use them during night too), however one cable (Blue) I decided to leave unplugged, as Wiring instructions for hybrid and Stop/Start models says this wire has to go to Car's fuse box, KL15 or ACC pole (+). (for normal cars it just goes to car's ground) Could someone please try to explain me where this would be in the 2013 LEAF? (I am hoping this wire would solve if not the 1st issue, so at least the next one)

3. Since the blue cable is not connected, it's probably causing that sometimes when the car is idle, but on, the LEDs go off for several seconds and then suddenly on again (however when I tried this, the radio, heater and most of the things were off, hopefully that caused too little fluctuations in the 12V battery and philips thought the car was off). But maybe some of you might guess a different cause to this?

So as you understand I need most of the help with the 2nd question, however if you have any ideas about others, please reply. Thanks a lot.
 
My guess is that the blue cable you left unconnected is connected to some sort of relay that senses when the car (but not necessarily the engine) is on. I don't know how difficult it is to run a wire through the Leaf's firewall, but have you considered connecting this wire to the cigarette lighter port (or whatever fuse it is serviced by)?
 
Vehicle ground is any bare metal bit on the chassis. Find an exposed bolt loosen it and hook it under there and cinch down again. I'm not sure if they would consider an electric to be like a hybrid or like as regular car though. Maybe call and ask them? There's probably a technical support number in the booklet. Good luck!
 
GeekEV said:
Vehicle ground is any bare metal bit on the chassis. Find an exposed bolt loosen it and hook it under there and cinch down again. I'm not sure if they would consider an electric to be like a hybrid or like as regular car though. Maybe call and ask them? There's probably a technical support number in the booklet. Good luck!

Blue cable needs to be connected to vehicle ground on "normal" car. On electric/hybrid/start-stop car you need to connect it to the fuse box. Like RonDawg probably rightly guessed, somewhere where it could sense only when the car is really ON. Probably it will solve the ON while chargning problem. But I really need help to know where something like "KL15 or ACC pole (+)" on a Leaf is. Might it be that it's the same "12V ignition ON" on #57, you GeekEV wrote in your instructions?
 
RonDawg said:
My guess is that the blue cable you left unconnected is connected to some sort of relay that senses when the car (but not necessarily the engine) is on. I don't know how difficult it is to run a wire through the Leaf's firewall, but have you considered connecting this wire to the cigarette lighter port (or whatever fuse it is serviced by)?

My guess is the same, it should work with something like cigarette lighter port, which is active only when the car is ON. However the cable is long enough only to reach somewhere close to the battery and fuse boxes. Can something like this be there? How should I connect it to the fuse?
 
I tried to connect the blue wire to the #57 in the Power Distribution Module (PDM), as written in this topic http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=6134" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However I got an Intelligent key error, and the car lost it's ready to drive status. I am glad I had Leafspy pro and could reset the error codes after disconnecting the cable, so the car is ok again.

But the blue wire is loose. I am lost where to connect it. The manual says " Car's fuse box, KL15 or ACC pole (+) " - what could this be in a LEAF?
 
I started on my DRL install and horn upgrade. I need to dig out my ramps, so the only thing I've done so far is setup power to feed the DRL's. I used an add-a-circuit with a two amp fuse to tap into the fuse box behind the battery where the power for the factory DRL's comes from. I bought an inexpensive light set.
Part:
http://smile.amazon.com/Bussmann-BP-HHH-RP-Circuit-Converter/dp/B004AHADOC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1428231148&sr=8-5&keywords=tap+a+circuit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Pics:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DA0BA371EB730687!26881&authkey=!AHEX0eDok14gYyg&ithint=folder%2c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
DRL:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QJFB2YI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
baustin said:
I started on my DRL install and horn upgrade. I need to dig out my ramps, so the only thing I've done so far is setup power to feed the DRL's. I used an add-a-circuit with a two amp fuse to tap into the fuse box behind the battery where the power for the factory DRL's comes from. I bought an inexpensive light set.
Part:
http://smile.amazon.com/Bussmann-BP-HHH-RP-Circuit-Converter/dp/B004AHADOC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1428231148&sr=8-5&keywords=tap+a+circuit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Pics:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=DA0BA371EB730687!26881&authkey=!AHEX0eDok14gYyg&ithint=folder%2c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
DRL:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QJFB2YI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi, does the power come to this third fuse? From the Manual it's number 72, right?

Rele.jpg
 
Yes, #72 has power when it is on and ready to drive.

Connecting the blue wire there may solve the problem with your existing light set.

My light set does not have a controller box, so this will be the positive feed for them.
 
Need some more help!

I connected the blue cable to the #72, as shown above, but the only big difference it made was that lights didn't go off after turning off the vehicle much longer - more than a minute. The worst thing is that it still turns on while charging. I thought maybe my blue wire had bad connection, so I tried to connect the red cable directly there (instead of + on the battery), and the strange thing is that this #72 fuse gets power even while chargning. It's meant to be daylight fuse, right? So why getting power when charging? Can someone confirm they are getting same results?

Thanks a lot.
 
I used the meter to check for power on #72 with the ignition on, off, and in acc mode.

I'll have to check tomorrow and see if #72 gets power while charging.

Do you have the negative wire connected to the frame, or directly the the battery negative post?

Check the fuse box to the left of the battery (I don't remember what all it feeds). You may find one in there that is only hot when the ignition is on. If so, try the blue wire there and the red wire on #72. Connect the black wire to the frame so that is doesn't interfere with the battery current sensor electronics.
 
hey lipcius,

Sorry for the late response, I've been swamped, and didn't see the various notifications until just now.

Are you still having problems?

The wire for hybrid/EVs is what's critical here, without it, it won't function properly (on regular vehicles, it analyzes the load on the battery to figure out if the vehicle is running or not, but that doesn't work with EVs since the voltage doesn't drop).

I don't remember if the lights stay on during charging, I know they turn on, but I think they turn off after the time-out value is reached (at least it looks like it does during cooling/heating the vehicle, which also charges the car).


Would love to see pics of your install.

The only thing I would do different (and still might) is installing a switch which allows me to pick 3 modes:
  • auto: default behavior
  • on: no matter if headlights are used, keep them on at full brightness
  • off: completely cut power to the lights
 
lion said:
hey lipcius,

Sorry for the late response, I've been swamped, and didn't see the various notifications until just now.

Are you still having problems?

The wire for hybrid/EVs is what's critical here, without it, it won't function properly (on regular vehicles, it analyzes the load on the battery to figure out if the vehicle is running or not, but that doesn't work with EVs since the voltage doesn't drop).

I don't remember if the lights stay on during charging, I know they turn on, but I think they turn off after the time-out value is reached (at least it looks like it does during cooling/heating the vehicle, which also charges the car).


Would love to see pics of your install.

The only thing I would do different (and still might) is installing a switch which allows me to pick 3 modes:
  • auto: default behavior
  • on: no matter if headlights are used, keep them on at full brightness
  • off: completely cut power to the lights

Yes, still having one problem. The lights are on all the time when I charge the Leaf, so it's a waste of LEDs lifetime during the night in the garage. I counted that this way they will not last me more than two years. So I really need to find how to solve this problem.

I have connected red and black directly to the battery. Even then everything worked fine, only when the car was on but standing still, with radio and heater off, would turn the LEDs for one second off and then back on. Today I connected the blue wire to #72, so I think this problem is solved. However since #72 gets power during charging, the LEDs are on all this time. So I really have to find if its just in my car, or that I just have to find a different wire which gets 12V ONLY when the car is in READY mode...
 
By the way, lion, I noticed that after connecting the blue wire to #72, the LEDs keep on for about a minute or even more after I turn off the vehicle. When philips was connected only to the battery it did shut off ~30 seconds after turning off the vehicle. Can you check how long your LEDs are lit after you turn off your vehicle?
 
Some updates:

I tried some other places and fuses for the red wire. I tried the fuse box to the left of the battery. Both 1st (DTLR) and 2nd (Audio amp) fuse gave power while charging. So seems they also don't fit my requirements. Are there any fuses under the hood, which don't get power when under charge, like USB and 12V inside the car?

1.jpg

2.jpg


Here are some images of how the DLRs look. Ofcourse they look much better live, as the white is much more white and the brightness really stands out, perfectly maching the car's LEDs color.

3.jpg

4.jpg

5.jpg
 
I will check how long they stay on, but I used a public charging station earlier while having lunch, and when I got back to the car, lights were off. All my wires go to the battery and/or PDM, I will try to check the PDM tonight to see how I wired it (don't remember for sure, and my post with details is gone).

Also, worst case scenario, I assume your calculations accounted for the fact that it only takes a couple of hours to charge the car? Even at that rate, it will probably last as long as the car does.

I'll post an update ASAP.
 
I just opened up the IPDM to check the wires.

Both blue and orange wires from the Philips control unit go to the IPDM, which is mounted on the driver's side wheel well.

To open the IPDM, pop all 4 tabs carefull so you can lift the 'cover' (everything is connected to that cover, so it's thick, heavy and you will feel some resistance) about an inch or so. Once you did that, you should be able to twist it 90" counter clock wise, which then should let you lift the cover 90" in the other direction (towards the driver side) so you can access the wires.

I had to cut 2 notches (pretty deep) so both wires would fit with the cover closed.

Keep in mind that the vehicle is pretty active the first few minutes after shutting down power (you can hear the hum), so personally, I would wait at least for that before proceeding (in theory, you are supposed to disconnect all power, etc.).

Now, the wires I'm talking about go to that large plug to the left of that large green relay on the bottom, as seen in the pic below. Make sure you pay attention to that, as the same colors are also used on other plugs in that IPDM.

71XBv-ujLqL._SY355_.jpg

  • Orange Philips wire is connected to the blue IPDM wire
  • Blue Philips wire is connected to the red IPDM wire


According to the service manual, the red wire (pretty sure it's #57) provides battery voltage when power switch is ON. The orange (#51) goes to the LH headlamp.
 
Ok, so I connected the blue wire back again where I did it first - in the 57th fuse wire of the PDM.

6.jpg


Last time, however I immediately got an "Intelligent key error" and the car was blocked withouth READY to drive sign. Back then I had to reset the car's computer from errors to be able to turn on/off the car again.

This time while connecting the blue wire, I waited much longer after turning off the vehicle and also disconnected the red philips cable from the cars battery, to be sure not to get any current while connecting. And it did not give me any errors this time. Everything seems to be working fine, except... the DLRs turn on while charging... :)

I tried to drive the car for couple of minutes (for the philips box to get more data), however this did nothing yet. Haven't also checked how long the DLRs are on while chargning (without blue cable, they are on all the time the car is charging).

I really wonder if there is no way to make the DLRs off when charging? Maybe connect the philips red wire also directly to 57 IGN? That way they would get the power only when the car is on?
 
I plan on charging my vehicle as soon as I get home (normally I do this overnight), and will monitor it during the evening and report back.

That said, if you really are concerned about it, we could use a relay to cut power, but I wouldn't power the lights using that ignition wire.

I also had various problems with those type of taps (there isn't much space in there).

Did you cut a hole for those wires, or was there one already, and I missed it? I did bring the wire insulation all the way into the IPDM, so the wire itself isn't exposed to the elements.
 
Thanks, I will be waiting for your results when charging.

Yes I drilled a small hole inside the PDM, which was marked in a way as if exactly for that purpose. On the left side of the PDM there is already a nice hole for the cable. Here is the close-up.
7.jpg
 
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