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[rubenoff]

We purchased a 2004 ford Freestar from a dealer in Vernon B.C Canada witih
in month time

During night driving we found out there is a lamp fault with the wiring on
the lamp circuits

When the park lamps are turned on there are 2 brighter lamps in the front
bumper that are lit as well

These cannot be turned off when parking on the road side or at the street
curb

The lamp are also hard wired and tied to the High beam and Low beam
operations,
And we can no longer respect the eyes of the uncoming motorists

When parking

or driving and using High or low beam operations

You can view the compliant and the response from The safety person at
Ford, on the link below

http://www.rafeonline.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3035

We are unhappy with the response Because the Lamp design in the unit

Take away our ability to drive defensively, To meet road and weather
conditions,

And to offer respect to others who share the roadways and approach with a
vehicle at night

We reserve the right to, Use driving and or fog lamps when they are
required

And have the right to conserve energy by shutting of items that use fuel
to Run Lights that may not be required at the moment.

RJ

[Guest]

Save energy? The alternator at idle produces more energy than is
needed at the time. The excess is stored in the battery. It is
my understanding that the daylight running lights are required by
law in all of the Canadian Provinces, are they not


mike hunt



rebuff wrote:

[rubenoff]

Good Morning yes DRL are required on Vehicles in Canada

And the DRL is in the low beam on this unti and works very well
My complaint is with the added parking lamps in the Bumper

That are in addition to the 2 already supplied amber parking lamps

WE dont need 100% more parking lamps on the highways to shine added light
into the eyes of oncoming motorists
These burn fuel and cause discomfort to others who share the highways

[Harry Face]

Do you mean to say that when your parked at the curb with the vehicle in
park with the motor off, the drive & parking lights remain on?

Or is this when the vehicle is running while its parked?

So Ford made it so the fog / driving lights come on when the parking
lights are turned on and when the headlights are turned on. That is
strange to not offer an on - off switch.

This is all in the name of Safety, you know.

If your fog / driving lights are blinding other drivers is there an
adjutment that can be made to better aim them?

Good Luck.

=========
Harryface
=========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE
3800 V6 ( C ), Black/Slate Grey
_~_~_~296,339 miles_~_~_

~_~_~_~_U.S.A._~_~_~_~_~_

~~~The Former Fleet ~~~
89 Cavalier Z 24 convertible
78 Holiday 88 coupe
68 LeSabre convertible
73 Impala sedan

[rubenoff]

Thanks for the comments This is an important issue and is an insult to
public highways safety because

The vehicle has a nice pair of amber parking lamps installed they work
great

And the DRL work in the low beam of the headlams
( Nicely)

and than they installed a second set of Lamps in the front Bumper with no
switch to allow operator control,
These additional lamps are hard wired to the head light switch so every
time you select Park lamp, vehicle lamps high beam or low beam

Now you have 4 parking lamps lit and you cannot shut the additional ones
off This exceeds the allowable brilliance for parking lamps by 100 % set
in the B.C M.V act regulations

see the link below to track the complaint from square 1

http://www.rafeonline.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3035

[rubenoff]

Yes Daytime running lights are required in canada

The unit has D.R.L built into the low beam and it works great

My complaint is the two additional white parking lamps installed in the
front bumper that cannot be shut off

They have 2 required amber colored parking lamps what that means is the
parking lamps are increased by 2

and There is 100% more parking light for others to see that I cannot shut
off

and Its on every time I select park lamps, Low beam or high beam
Its a Made in Canada eye Torture test for other drivers

[rubenoff]

Thanks for the comments much apreciated, THis means any time we are parked
at the curb at night and we want to have the motor running to keep warm
and want the dash gauges illuminated

And have turned on the parking lamps so the vehicle dash gauges are lit so
we can read them ( Park lamps are selected)

there are 2 amber colored parking lamps lit. at the front of the vehicle
really nice to see

and In the front bumper there are 2 more white parking lamps lit as well

That means the parking lamps are increased by 2

And there is 100% more light to to display to the oncoming drivers in Park
lamps, low beam. and high beam operations

Its a made in Canada eye torture teast for the eyes of oncoming
motorists.

The sad part this may be coming or already is in a place where you live.

THis unit has Daytime Running Lamps Built into the Low beam of the lights
and it operates really well.

[rubenoff]

Please read the article and visit the weblink
and see the allowable light allowed in the B.C. regulation
and the additional light that is not required on the vehicle

candlepower (cp.)
a unit formerly used for measuring the light-radiating capacity of a lamp
or other light source. One candlepower represents the radiating capacity
of a light with the intensity of one "international candle," or about
0.981 candela as now defined. Since 1948 the candela has been the official
SI unit of light intensity, and the term "candlepower" now means a
measurement of light intensity in candelas, just as "voltage" means a
measurement of electric potential in volts..

From the link below

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictC.html

So based on above information,

1 candlepower = 0.981 candela

Proper park lamp Replacement Bulbs are 2.25 candlepower in the park
filament portion of the bulb

or 0.981X 2.25 = 2.207 Candela each bulb
X 2 bulbs one L.H and one R.H. = 4.414 candela

Which is safety Regulated Under the M.V act regulations for the Vehicles
front parking lamps This was supplied on the vehicle in Amber Color
and really easy to see.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
However 2 more white lights are supplied in the lower bumper and are tied
too and operate with the lamps above.

These are 125 candela X 2 = 250 candela more than allowed or 250
divided by the figure of 4.414
which is 56.63 times more Light than allowed in the B.C. Motor
Vehicle safety regulations 4.10

even 50% of this non required light would be an insult to any the safety
regulations

its No wonder we have so many vehicles on the highways that are making our
night driving more difficult,

and this complaint is only related to park lamps,

Have a nice day an safe motoring to you and yours
BJ

[rubenoff]

There seems to be a lot of concern about the implimentation of DRL in the
United states, Having been a Semi trailer operator, Mechanic, Vehicle
inspector, safety and accident prevention and accident investigation
oriented person with 50 years of experience,

Like many of you, I was a bit dubious at first, As an equipment Supt. we
installed 2.200 DRL kits on vehicles in my area and in B.C we installed
6.600 DRL kits, and seen a decrease in vehicle collisions, Where we had
between 4-6 frontal collisions annually in our area,
and noticed a real improvement in the safety attitude of our operators,
ie, They felt a lot safer operating vehicles on the roads
and reported hardly any near miss accidents that we regularily experienced
before,

The best I can say is try not to feel That you are being treated like You
cant shut off the lights youself.

But in the big picture there are a lot of drivers out there that are
probably not as careful as you are,

And we will all benifit by having your skills used by other people that do
not practice the same safe driving skills as you do

we have a Mini van and a motor home both equipped and we love them and
feel better that other people can always see us,

We like the DRL1 which is the model that cancels out when the parking
brake is applied

see weblink below for information

http://www.pacificinsight.com/

BJ

Have a nice day,

[Shayne]

My wife and I ALWAYS drive with our headlights ON anyway. If the
extra lights are a problem, I'm SURE there's a connector somewhere to
disconnect them. If the same model vehicle is available without the
driving lights, there should be no legal precedent to leave them
hooked up. Unplug 'em or dike 'em!

On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 21:43:47 -0500, "rubenoff" <oryerbrj@netidea.com>
wrote:

[rubenoff]

We found the problem with the additional parking lamps Mounted in the
front bumper of the 2004 Ford Freestar

The vehicle has 2 legal amber colored park lamps on the front of the unit
that operate at the Normal C.P Candela
2.207 each total for 2 lamps 4.414

These are really nice,

Than there is a double up of the Park lamp standard, Because of two more
white lamps mounted in the from bumper.

These came from the factory with the wrong bulbs for park lamp operations
Bulb # G.E 912 at 12 C.P.

The proper bulbs for this operation are Bulb # 916 at 2 C.P.

The safety standard for park lamp operations is built into the Bulb
designed for the applications,

The amber colored park lamps operate with the high and low beam lamp
operations to depict the side of the vehicle in the event of headlamp
burnout. And prevent the vehicle from being mistaken for a motorcycle

WE are installing the proper bulbs on the next oil change ( cost of the
bulbs aprox $ 3.00 for two in a bubble pack)

You can find the technical Bulb information In the following G.E manuals
Miniature and sealed beam applications catalogue # GE
20699, and G.E lighting and selection guide # PC28870 most auto retailers
have the manuals

There are several other Ford and Mercury units with the Wrong Bulbs
installed they can be found in the above manuals

This wrong bulb installation is related to product sales and is an insult
to the eyes of the oncoming motorists And prevents the driver from
shutting off added parking lamps that are lit at all highway speeds

for vehicle and highway safety improvements on the Canadian and American
highway systems

WE need a major recall of the units using the Wrong bulbs for the Parking
lamp operations

Cheer BJ