KellyJ
New member
Okay so for some of the later 3rd generation owners (01-02 models I believe) have been plagued with the more complex DRL system than 99-00 owners. All they had to do was unplug a fuse and their DRL's were disabled, but the 01-02 owners still have to splice wires and stuff of that nature. So I searched every possible way to get around rewiring the fuse box and I found a solution. Here's how I got to it:
A couple months back, I was sitting in my other car (Acura RDX) waiting outside a store with the engine on but the lights turned to the off position. My Acura has HID projection headlights, but its high beams also serve as the DRLs, just with a lower wattage running through them when the high beams are not on. The car was sitting on a slope, so I put the parking brake on and turned the car off because my friends were taking a while to get out of the store.
When I turned the engine back on, I noticed that the DRL's did not come on. I was psyched because I thought they had just disbled themselves automatically, but in fact, the parking break must cut the power to the DRL's when it is engaged - the DRL's came back on as soon as I released the brake. So I figured I would try it on my 4Runner, and it worked!
Essentially, all you need to do to trip the circuit is pull up the parking brake lever one click - I am almost certain that this does not engage the parking brake (at least mine, since I know it's very loose and goes over ten clicks to reach the highest setting - normally it should only be 6-7). I noticed no decrease in mileage or the feeling of the brakes being slightly on, and it keeps the DRL's off without interfering with any of the lights. It's worth a try if the DRL's have ever bugged you.
Note: The (!) light will come on your dash, but that is normal (like I said, the brake is not even being engaged)
A couple months back, I was sitting in my other car (Acura RDX) waiting outside a store with the engine on but the lights turned to the off position. My Acura has HID projection headlights, but its high beams also serve as the DRLs, just with a lower wattage running through them when the high beams are not on. The car was sitting on a slope, so I put the parking brake on and turned the car off because my friends were taking a while to get out of the store.
When I turned the engine back on, I noticed that the DRL's did not come on. I was psyched because I thought they had just disbled themselves automatically, but in fact, the parking break must cut the power to the DRL's when it is engaged - the DRL's came back on as soon as I released the brake. So I figured I would try it on my 4Runner, and it worked!
Essentially, all you need to do to trip the circuit is pull up the parking brake lever one click - I am almost certain that this does not engage the parking brake (at least mine, since I know it's very loose and goes over ten clicks to reach the highest setting - normally it should only be 6-7). I noticed no decrease in mileage or the feeling of the brakes being slightly on, and it keeps the DRL's off without interfering with any of the lights. It's worth a try if the DRL's have ever bugged you.
Note: The (!) light will come on your dash, but that is normal (like I said, the brake is not even being engaged)
) 
