DRL's always on or no?

[ebelp]

We've only had our Tahoe for a week now, so I'm still a noob, but I thought the LED DRL strips were supposed to run all the time during the day. We always keep the headlight dial on AUTO, and the manual says as long as it's in Drive and there's daylight, the DRL's will be on. However, driving it the other day, I'm almost positive the DRL's were not on.

So my question is, are the DRL's truly supposed to be on at all times during the day when the headlight dial is set to Auto?

 

[hosseface]

I have a Yukon so I may be wrong.... but I'm pretty sure only the LTZ Tahoes have the LED DRLs.

 

[blackout07]

I have a Yukon so I may be wrong.... but I'm pretty sure only the LTZ Tahoes have the LED DRLs.

That is correct. The DRLs on the LTs run the main lamps. You can turn the knob to the fog light indicator though to run the LEDs.

 

[ebelp]

Yeah, it doesn't appear that the LED strips on the LT's operate the same way as the LTZ's. Something else I noticed....the LED strips on our LT are not very bright. Certainly not as bright as the LTZ's I've seen driving around. I can understand making the LTZ's stand out by having only them use the LED strips as the DRL's, but I think it's pretty stupid to make the non-LTZ LED strips so dim. I took this picture today....you can barely tell they're on.


It begs the question...are the LTZ headlights assemblies a completely different part than the LT headlights, or are the LED strips in the non-LTZ's run at a lower brightness somehow. I'm hoping the latter, because that means there should be some way to override it and run the LT LED's at full strength to match the LTZ's.

 

[blackout07]

I'm sure a flash or maybe a little wiring change would alter the drls. But my LEDs seem to be just as bright as any others.

 

[sharper4]

I did a little research on this too. The hardware is the same in the LT as the LTZ but the programming is different. Even the LTZ has the strip dim when the parking lamps are turned on, they're only full brightness when in the DRL mode. The LT model's DRL is the headlamp, which of course stinks comparably.

You can reach out to White Audio or another company willing to flash your truck but 1) it requires you to send a module required to use your truck to them to flash (which means you can't use it while it's shipped off and could be time consuming because they only work weekends), 2) will require you to visit your dealer after you get the part back to have them flash something with the brake module (and hope they don't un-do the changes you just paid to have 'upgraded'), and 3) is super expensive.

I have reached out to several GM dealers in the area trying to find someone with a tech willing to go into the programming and manually flip the DRL switch for me (if that's the right term or even how it's done) but thus far I've hit a brick wall. I've even tempted the tech himself with a cash donation but didn't get anywhere (making me wonder if they are comfortable enough or have the know-how).

So, while you have the same equipment, the $10k in upgrades from the LT to LTZ model seems to be the only real way I know to get the programming switched. Stinks - I've been on the hunt too.

 

[blackout07]

It's been my experience over the years that the techs either don't know how to do something or just flat out won't. Usually some enthusiastic owner will find an easy fix or aftermarket will come to the rescue. Only then it seems, do the stealerships jump on board to get paid. I still conted that a small wiring change could solve this. Once I get done obsessing over which wheels to buy, I'll move on to this and fogs. I mean, because my nearly 59k suv with almost every upgrade, can't have fogs or led drls...

 

[sharper4]

I hope that if you pursue this that you will return and share with us your progress. I happen to own 2 LT Tahoes that I would love to do this with... and I know two other people with Tahoes that have asked me about it. I think the issue is probably more popular than discussed on here b/c most of these guys seem to already have the top of the line LTZ or Denali trucks.

 

[ebelp]

Thanks for the responses guys, I really appreciate it. Glad I'm not the only one looking into this. I'm also on the hunt for the fog upgrade too.

 

[ebelp]

Something that just crossed my mind....I have a set of the VLED V3 Tritons on my Acura TL as my parking lights/turn signals. These bulbs came with a control box (similar to a ballast), that has an optional "dimming wire" that can be tapped into the OEM headlight wire, so that when the headlights are turned on, the LED's are reduced to 50% output. I think the Tahoe LT's have a similar "dimming wire" somewhere, that is constantly running the LED strips at a lesser output. I read through all the fuse panel items, thinking that maybe something in there could be the culprit, but I didn't see anything that seemed to relate to the LED strips. I checked the fuse panel under the hood and on the driver's side dash. Anyone know where the fuse is to the actual LED strips?

---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 AM ----------

Found the wiring schematics of the DRL's:

http://gmupfitter.com/files/media/photo/508/15escalade_body_builders.pdf

Check page 4-17 through 4-20. Who wants to decipher it?