I have a dilemma which I can't figure out and was hoping I could get some answers.... Now I know we have lots of threads on this internet about disabling the DRL's and such but I can't find anything that I think fits into my problem as I have exhaust what I believe is all MY options.. If what I am trying to find out is in fact posted somewhere could you please provide a link.. I have search and can't find answers.. So here it goes...

The Problem : I have HID's in my car which have a little peanut bulb attached to the side of the HID.. The peanut bulb acts at the DRL/Highbeams.. I assume other members have this setup.. The peanut bulbs have 2 wires coming from it, red and black.. Now the problem I have having is once I turn the car and it put it into gear the lights flicker 3 times and then I get the service light on. I know it's telling me the DRLs don't work...Well I don't like this cause I know it's not good the ballast and plus it's annoying... The only way around it is by me turning on the lights manually before I go into gear, then they need to be kept on until I take care out of gear otherwise I will get the same flickering.


What have I done so far....

- I tried to disable them with the mod of cutting the dark blue wire from the BCM and grounding it out... This did not work I still had the lights flicker.. I did this with the peanut bulbs hook up and I also did it with them disconnected..

- I hooked these peanut bulbs up to the highbeam wires on the headlights (I hooked wires up and then swapped them around as well) and this didn't work.. The peanut bulbs would turn on with the switch and when I flick to highbeams they would come on.. BUT they wouldn't work as the DRL's the lights would flicker.. When I say I swapped the wires around I mean first I hooked up black to middle wire on connector, red on 3 slot in connector and then I reversed them red on middle and black on 3 slot.. It didn't matter which way the wires were hooked up the peanut bulb turned on either way and the DRL's didn't come on..

- I also even hooked up the wires to the low beam wire, this only allowed the peanut bulb to come on with the HID bulb at the same time..

So as you can see I think I have exhaust my options.. Am I missing something here?? I don't care if the DRL's are in working order or if they are disabled.. All I want to do is to have them stop flickering when I put my car into gear.. I know DRL's legally needed (in Canada for sure) but even if they are disabled I can still turn on them on myself manually...

Does anyone have any ideas?

Disable your DRL's like explained here: http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=7&i=326113&t=326113

I dont understand this "peanut bulb" sounds like the hid capsule.

You cannot have hid's with drl's on our cars.

Also get a relay harness if you dont already have one and with all that you should have any issues.

If you feel the need for drl's just wire something up through a relay and a switched source.

Philly D wrote:Disable your DRL's like explained here: http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=7&i=326113&t=326113

I dont understand this "peanut bulb" sounds like the hid capsule.

You cannot have hid's with drl's on our cars.

Also get a relay harness if you dont already have one and with all that you should have any issues.

If you feel the need for drl's just wire something up through a relay and a switched source.

I tried the DRL disable them as I said in the post... It didn't work...

The "peanut bulb or a #194 bulb) is attached to the side of the HID bulb (So there are 2 bulbs on one socket)... It acts as the high-beam bulb or low beam whatever you hook it up too.. My kit is wired with a relay harness already...

Like I stated in my post I don't really have a need for DRL's.. I have a NEED to stop the light flickering once I put my car into gear... Maybe there is a difference in Canadian and US models but on my model in Canada DRL's are mandatory so any car built after whatever year they made them legal all cars needed automatic DRL's to come on.. Maybe in the US the 2003 Cavaliers didn't have DRL's on them... If not then I can't possibly be the only person who has the lights flickering once they put there car into gear.. Telling me my DRL's are non-operational...

03 cavs do have DRL's here in the states...I have an 03, and just disabled mine using the link up above. Never had any issues with my lights flickering though. Also, my hid's don't have a peanut bulb attached to them....I have the bi-xenon hi/lo conversion kit with the external control harness like this: here.

We don't actually have to have drl's on our cars even if they came with them stock here in AZ...technically state law says I do, but in reality no one cares.


For your flickering issue...you can get a set of error cancellors like these: here. I've used them in a buddy's wrx, and they worked fine. I assume they will work for you too, as that's what their made for, though I've never heard of anyone having any issues with j-bodies before.


Bigger question is this: are you sure that this is an actual function of the vehicle (the flickering) and not just a loose ground somewhere that the vibes from being in gear are causing to shake? Like I said, I haven't heard of this issue yet, but it could just be a canadian model thing and that's why.

Those error cancellors wouldnt help flickering.


Hid's flicker when you dont have a proper: connections, ground, power supply.

If the drl's didnt disable with that thread then you did it wrong. I have a 03 with the drl's disabled just fine ...in canada

Philly D wrote:Hid's flicker when you dont have a proper: connections, ground, power supply.

Bingo. The flickering is the lower current charging the capacitor, and then the capacitor discharging. The DRL circuit runs the lights in series instead of parallel, thereby lowering the current passing through each side.