RE: Quick, easy, and cheap way to kill DRL's...

[Cabell_T_Treadway@res.raytheon.com]

The first thing I did when I bought my 97 GLX a year and a half ago was disable
the DRL's.  I realize some people think they're a good idea, but some people
like Fords, too...  Anyway, I think they're not a safety benefit, but more like
a distraction.  When I see them on other cars, yes, I notice the car, but it
distracts me from paying attention to the cars I'm driving behind, which in my
opinion, are a little more important to be aware of.  I can't believe that if
someone pulls out in front of you, they would notice DRLs if they didn't see a
car moving towards them.  Chances are, if that happens, the person is just a
jerk and doesn't mind cutting people off.  Of course, I live near Boston, no one
knows how to drive here anyway.

But when I disabled mine, I didn't mess with electric tape or a dead spot on the
switch or anything.  I looked in the Bentley manual, found where the DRLs are,
and lo and behold, there is a single connector that turns them on.  I had to
take out the fuse/relay panel (and the knee board under the steering wheel),
because the connector is located back there.  Then I fished through all the
wires until I found the connector that had the right color wires on both side,
pulled it apart, and I have no DRLs.  If I want to sell the car, all I have to
do is plug the connector back together and it will be as if like new.  The whole
procedure took me about a half hour, I'd imagine, but most of that was looking
through all the wires for the correct connector.  The knee board comes off with
something like six screws and the fuse panel drops out easily.  Simple,
effective, and easily reversible.

If anyone is interested in this and doesn't have the Bentley, I can look through
mine again and let you know which two wires you have to disconnect, and give a
little more detail on the procedure.  This should work for any and all A3
models, but I don't know a thing about the A4 Jettas.

Good luck,
Cab
97glx
72bug


>Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 14:24:15 -0400
>From: Marc Gallagher <mgallagher@Langan.com>
>Subject: RE: Quick, easy, and cheap way to kill DRL's...

>I've tried it and I think VW "fixed" it on the newer switches.  Mine does
>not have a dead spot anyway.  I agree DRL's are a good thing (especially if
>you don't want to get hit!).  The only bad thing is they kinda pull
>attention to you since not all cars have them yet.  Attention=tickets=bad
>day.

>Marc
>97' Jetta GLX - Red/Black