Proper lighting operation

[Gibby 33]

I have found some un used lamps on my smart , the plug and bulb are in place yet it seems as though the wires were cut/disconnected by someone previous to me owning the car. Can anyone tell me the normal function of the lamp closest to the centre of the car and lowest in the assembly? It's the only one not used with the headlamp switch nor any other I can find. I also seen mention of the side amber marker lights flashing when turn signals are used. Mine do not. I replaced them with LED lamps that are quite bright and definitely gives a better sense of being seen at night on the highway but I know there is no warning nor signal for a driver beside me in traffic unless they are back enough to see my tails. Ideas?

[Nigel 287]

The unused light in the headlight housing is the turn signal in the rest of the world except Canada.  The location was considered too close to the headlight for North American  standards.  The orange side markers are another thing added to meet NA standard for light and reflectors.  It looks like someone has changed your marker lights to LED but not used the ones with the built in reflectors. Some members have moved the turn signals back to the headlight housings and also side turn signals instead markers.  Have a read around this site and you will find the instructions to make the changes if you wish.  

 

Nigel

Edited February 16, 2019 by Nigel

[Leadwing 565]

As Nigel said, the orange light in the headlight cluster is the original location for turn signals.  The rest of the world uses the lights in the grille (Canadian turn signals) as fog lights.

 

The mod can be simply made to change over to the original location for the signals AND to also have the side markers flash when signaling.  The bulbs for the original signals should already be installed and just need to be wired in.  Some members have crossed the power wire to the grille lights and connected them to the ignition side of any power line so that when the key is turned on, what was once your turn signals is now your daytime running lights.  This means that should a DRL blow, it is a simple 1157 bulb available at any automotive store.  Cheap and easy to replace.  The bulbs for the turn signals in the headlight cluster are NOT standard bulbs, and if they need replacing, they would most likely require a trip to the dealership.

Using the grille lights as DRL's means that you can turn off the headlights that automatically come on when the car starts to move.  This saves on replacing the headlight bulbs because when they are activated as DRL's, they are on full strength.  It is literally a three second job to turn the automatic headlight DRL's off OR back on again.

 

Turning off DRL’s

- To turn off DRL’s, with key fob in hand (engine and ignition off), simultaniously press the ‘unlock’ button on the key fob and pull the light stalk towards you (high beam flash-to-pass). You will hear a beep. Your DRL’s are now off.

- Your lights can now be turned on and off in a normal manner with the switch on the light stalk.

- To turn the DRL’s back on, use the same procedure replacing “press the unlock” with press the lock button.

 

Original Canadian model CDI's have all exterior lights on when the DRL is active.  The dash is NOT lit while DRL's are active.