Guide How To Disable Daytime Running Lights (instructions)

One thought has occurred to me, and that is that every attempt I've made has been in a garage, which causes my headlights to come on when switching through the auto position. I guess I'll have to try it outdoors to see if that has any bearing.
 
Engine off, Ignition on (press button twice w/o brake pedal), car in park, parking brake on. Foot on brake, light switch on/off 5 times, hazards button 10 presses, light switch on/off 5 times. Foot off brake. Parking brake off, no DRL, switch into gear, DRLs come on.

There's your problem. Release the parking brake, THEN take your foot off the pedal.


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This is the actual procedure sent to Jeff Schmidt Mazda service department by Mazda Tech Support. It does work.

Mine is a 2013 Sport, so I don't have to worry about the automatic lights.

Step 7 is just releasing the parking brake. When the service manager and I were trying the procedure, we were expecting to see something
on the dash blink to confirm programming. No lights blinked or changed on the dash, so we were confused by the ON/OFF wording in step 7.

These are some of the gotchas:

Car should be in park. (I don't know about the manual transmission...)
Don't start the engine.
Don't set the switch to accessory, it needs to be in ignition mode. The dash warning lights should be lit.
Put your foot on the brake pedal AFTER setting the switch to ignition mode.
Keep your foot on the brake pedal through the whole procedure. Only take your foot off the brake after the parking brake is released.
Don't turn the headlights on, just turn the switch to the parking lights.

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This is the actual procedure sent to Jeff Schmidt Mazda service department by Mazda Tech Support. It does work.

Mine is a 2013 Sport, so I don't have to worry about the automatic lights.

Step 7 is just releasing the parking brake. When the service manager and I were trying the procedure, we were expecting to see something
on the dash blink to confirm programming. No lights blinked or changed on the dash, so we were confused by the ON/OFF wording in step 7.

These are some of the gotchas:

Car should be in park. (I don't know about the manual transmission...)
Don't start the engine.
Don't set the switch to accessory, it needs to be in ignition mode. The dash warning lights should be lit.
Put your foot on the brake pedal AFTER setting the switch to ignition mode.
Keep your foot on the brake pedal through the whole procedure. Only take your foot off the brake after the parking brake is released.
Don't turn the headlights on, just turn the switch to the parking lights.

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OK, so on one of my many attempts this afternoon, instead of waiting after pressing start twice (with foot off brake) for the car to run all its diagnostics, etc., I began the procedure right away; about halfway through the pressing of the hazard switch I realized that the hazards hadn't been "clicking" on the first few presses (I guess because the car was still performing pre-start diagnostics) but began "clicking" on the remaining presses. So, how long did you wait after pressing the start button (twice, with foot off brake pedal, car in park, parking brake on) before beginning the procedure?
 
For those of you with Auto lights, make sure you are going from off, past the auto setting, to the parking light setting, and then back to off when you are flicking the headlight switch.

I got it on my second try.
I forgot the handbrake on the first try, silly me.

BC.
 
Guess ill have to try again if the 2014 guys are getting it. I've done it about 10 times so far with no luck.
 
Guess ill have to try again if the 2014 guys are getting it. I've done it about 10 times so far with no luck.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious but what is the advantage of disabling the daytime running lights?

I'm not sure I would even know if mine were on or off.
 
Worked for me on the first try. I have to admit, I felt like the dupe of some joke while I was turning the lights off and on. But the instructions looked real enough. No misspelled words like that email from that Nigerian prince. I don't like DRLs because when it gets dark, it looks like my lights are on when they're not, so I'm running around with no tail lights.

the drl's aren't near bright enough to be confused as headlights imo,
plus the dash and screen lights are blindingly bright when the exterior light drops off near/at sunset should be a clue that your headlights aren't on...
 
I've always believed that running lights are a good idea as they DO attract attention to your vehicle which at times is a good thing. The DRL's however are not a good idea as I see so many people driving at night thinking their headlights are on. I personally prefer to use my parking lights as running lights so I disabled the DRL's on my P5 shortly after I bought it new.
Just my $0.02 worth. :D
 
The DRL's however are not a good idea as I see so many people driving at night thinking their headlights are on.

I disagree with this because even on cars WITHOUT DRL, idiots don't turn their headlights on all the way (set to parking lights) and think their headlights are on BECAUSE their interior lights are on. Just the past couple days I saw a couple cars do this.
Personally I don't understand what parking lights are for. I have NEVER used them. It's either Headlights on or off.
Are parking lights for at night when you pull over somewhere to wait for a friend to come to your car and you turn off your headlights but leave the parking lights on so cars can see that there is a car on the side of the street?
 
It's the idiots that think their headlights are on because there is "some" brightness in front of their car. They're too clueless to notice there is no dashboard illumination. I see it all the time...
 
Are parking lights for at night when you pull over somewhere to wait for a friend to come to your car and you turn off your headlights but leave the parking lights on so cars can see that there is a car on the side of the street?

Exactly. Particularly effective in a poorly lit area where having headlights on may impair an oncoming drivers ability to see what is going on around a stationary vehicle. Use as a DRL is an extra!
 
It's the idiots that think their headlights are on because there is "some" brightness in front of their car. They're too clueless to notice there is no dashboard illumination. I see it all the time...

On the 2014 CX-5, the dashboard lights are on full bright when the headlights are off. No cluelessness involved.
 
Some of us mil would prefer being able to turn off DRLs from time to time. The sentries at the gates request that we turn them off for better visibility of the driver. My old car's natural headlights were DRLs and sentries would hate that I couldn't lower them.
 
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