I have a North American MY13 LR2 which I love, and it originally came with a halogen headlamp assembly with the LED cluster, but no signature strip. When I bought the vehicle I noticed that low beams would be on at all times the ignition is on, including times when the vehicle is even started. I had assumed at the time that this was to comply with Canadian DRL laws. I was going through HB3 bulbs quite often as LR2's are prone to do, so I decided to upgrade to the xenon headlamp assemblies complete with the LED cluster and signature strips. I noticed that the LED cluster acts exactly like a DRL should (come on when in gear, shut off when signalling, etc). Later I purchased a GAP IIDTool and investigated this further. I am able to change the DRL settings with the tool, but to my surprise this only affects the LED cluster functionality, with the low beams continually being on? I have read in this forum and others that the Scandanavian and Canadian settings within the CCF file is supposed to affect the low beams, but in my case they affect the LED. I'm not sure if that is correct or not, but that being said, I have still not found a way to make my low beams act normally, that is come on only when needed at dark, not on all the time. Has anyone else experienced this? Is there another setting within the CCF that would affect the low beams and be set to "always on" for some reason?

I hope that I described that well enough for someone from this community to help if possible. You all are very knowledgeable and I am interested in your feedback.

Hi
An obvious question - but does your LR2 definitely have the auto lights on/off function?

Yes it does, and I have tried the switch in all the different positions. I usually run with the switch in Auto and the green "Headlamp" indicator will show in the instrument cluster when the low beams are actually required due to low light ambient conditions. The only thing that the switch affects (and the green indicator in the instrument cluster going on or off) is the functionality of the LED cluster. That is, if I switch it from Auto in the daytime to Lamp On position, the LED cluster will shut off as it does when the low beams are actually required. Same for changes in ambient lighting conditions. Even with the switch in the Off position the low beams remain on. I am pretty sure this is a software issue, and was hoping to correct with the IIDTool, but I haven't been able to find the right setting in it to change it from behaving this way.

I hate to bump up a stale topic, but I do have an update to this and would still like to see if someone here can help diagnose what is going on with my lights.

I recently took my car in to the LR dealership to get some other work done and I asked that they look in to this lighting issue. They agreed before investigating that the way the dip beams were behaving is odd and not normal, even if they were somehow set up as DRLs. Unfortunately, after they took the day looking in to it, the only thing that they came back with was that they were seeing an irregular voltage at the bulb and the bulb was an aftermarket part, so they wouldn't go any further. I was disappointed but not surprised at their lack of effort.

From my part I have tried using the GAP IIDTool (Pat from GAP has provided great support!) to see if there are any settings within the CCF that could change this, but there isn't.

Right now I am leaning towards this being an electrical hardware issue as opposed to a software problem. The reason I say this is that the lights come on immediately when the ignition switch is in the first position, without the engine even being started, and remain on after the ignition is off, eventually shutting off after timing out. The light selector switch has no affect on the dip beams, they remain on no matter what position the switch is in, as if there is something bypassing it. The switch does have an affect on the LED DRLs as they change based on the switch's settings. I have read on the internet that the Defender (and other vehicles) used to have a Dip Dim relay that could affect the dip beams if it failed, but I understand that relay is no longer used. I have studied the electrical drawings for the LR2 and can see no such relay, nor can I see anything that could be bypassing the selector switch, but maybe I am missing something.

I'm going to head out this afternoon with a multi-meter and try to track down where the power is coming from with the ignition in position one, but I am not really wanting to tear apart the vehicle tracing wiring.

Anyways, with this information I was hoping to throw this out to the smart and experienced people of this forum one more time to see if anyone has any ideas. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Seems that you are in the "Scandinavian mode"

http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic27193.htm...andinavian

Ignore: saw now that you already check this mode

When I had the panel that the light switch sits on removed and the plug for the lights disconnected my low beam was on at all times the ignition was on. So if not in scandanvavian mode maybe a fault within the switch or wiring.

Thanks for the help guys, I did try the Scandanavian option (and the Canadian option as well) using the GAP tool and it did change things, but it only affected the LED cluster lights, not the dip beams. I don't see any other CCF changes using the tool that would change the low beams specifically.

I am leaning towards a short in the switch or some type of problem or modification to the lights wiring, but I am no electrician and my skills tracking this down will be limited. I had hoped the dealer would have done a better job troubleshooting this, very disappointing.

I'll try my best isolating portions of the circuit and try to track down the issue that way. I appreciate the feedback!

Remove the light switch panel and disconnect as Trav did. If lights still on that eliminates the switch. If not start checking each pin for power. At least it will be a start.... 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

hammerman wrote:

I have a North American MY13 LR2

dunkley201 wrote:

Remove the light switch panel and disconnect as Trav did. If lights still on that eliminates the switch. If not start checking each pin for power. At least it will be a start....

Well, after doing some investigation into the wiring, and closely looking at the fuse compartments, I found this green wire (pictured below) in the engine fuse compartment that I couldn't find any technical documentation on. It is plugged in to the fuse slot #F40 which shows in the manual as being unused. It was only inserted into one of the F40 connections, and when I experimented by removing it, voila, the headlights worked as they should when using the headlights switch. Now my question is, does anyone know what that green wire is doing? I get no other alarms or issues with the vehicle with it removed. Being green would it be a ground of some kind? And if so, am I risking damage by removing?

What is the other end of the green wire ? I wonder if someone in the past had set up a permanent feed to the lights ?

Light Green coloured wire is not a ground/earth wire on British vehicles - that is usually black.
The standard convention for light green is a cable from the voltage stabiliser to the instruments (for when all the instruments needed a stable voltage) I suspect that these days the need for a voltage stabiliser has long gone.
Had this been an official LR modification and this was an earth connection they would probably have stuck with their habit of some 50 years and used Black wire. Unless of course it was a LR North America modification in which case they could use anything!!