# DRLs Always On



## Familyman333 (9 mo ago)

I am a new ‘18 Sentra Nismo owner. I’ve seen some videos where the lower LEDs (DRLs) are on at the same time as the LED strips around the headlights. The headlights are not on but the taillights are on. How do I make this happen?


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

The lower lamps are fogs, not normally DRL's. They did make a "bi-level" fog light for the '16 Altimas which had both a peanut-bulb DRL and a fog bulb (H11 I think) in the same housing. I think the Sentra fogs are the same diameter, so you could probably mount a set of those with the DRL bulbs connected to the DRL wire in each headlamp.


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## Familyman333 (9 mo ago)

So now I’m really confused. I went out to my car and can’t get the lower LEDs to come on with any headlight setting. I can’t find a fog light switch. I’ve seen those lights on before. Do they only come on when driving at a certain speed or something. Here’s a pic of the lights.


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

Just discovered that, the Nismo has a different bumper skirt and lighting setup. I'll hit the WD's for you tomorrow morning and find out how those are supposed to work.


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

I was able to find info in Identifix, and the WD's don't show anything different for the Nismo front end module wiring. That means those lights are just fancy LED fog lamps. The switch should be on your turn/headlight stalk, The part I marked in red rotates. Note that Nissan sets up their fogs so they only work when the low beams are on. You can do some alternative wiring but it means abandoning the factory fog switch and installing your own. The factory switch doesn't drive the fogs directly, it's part of a matrix setup read by the BCM, which then tells the IPDM which lights to turn on or off. So with the factory switch, you're pretty much stuck with the factory functionality.


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## Familyman333 (9 mo ago)

My headlight stalk does not have a foglight indicator at all. I triple checked to be sure. Why would that be? So the lights are there but there is no way to turn them on? I going by my local Nissan dealership today to ask them about it.


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

I dunno. Maybe somebody added Nismo body parts to a non-Nismo car and didn't wire the lights? People do stuff like that. Did you look underneath to see if they're plugged in?


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## Familyman333 (9 mo ago)

Unlikely. Everything external and internal is Nismo. Hopefully the dealership can figure it out.


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

Yah, please post back with what they find. Very strange, you've piqued my curiosity.


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## Familyman333 (9 mo ago)

So the local store ran the VIN and verified that I don’t have the correct switch on the steering column. Should be a combination switch but it isn’t. Now I have to work with the dealership I bought it from to get it fixed.


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## VStar650CL (Nov 12, 2020)

Familyman333 said:


> So the local store ran the VIN and verified that I don’t have the correct switch on the steering column. Should be a combination switch but it isn’t. Now I have to work with the dealership I bought it from to get it fixed.


That's not the kind of mistake the factory generally makes. I wonder if the original switch failed or broke and someone DIY'd the fix with the wrong part. The non-fog switch would work fine except for the fogs being inop.


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