simple relay, lights

I cant find a particular thread that answers this question. I have a very basic (it seems basic) setup i want to do.

I have 2 wedge light bulbs (you know the standard 194 kind usually found behind the gauge clusters) that I want to stay on when the car is running. But I want these same bulbs to turn off when I turn on the headlights. I use the wedge bulbs as daytime running lights, so i want it on during the day and off at night when headlights are on.

Currently the way I have it is, they are wired to a switch inside my car that lets me turn the lights on and off manually. So I turn them on during the day and off at night. BUt sometimes i forget and leave it on all night as well. I dont want to kill the burn having it run all day and night, i rather have it done automatically.

How would I go about wiring up a relay to get this to work? Looking at the diagram below, it's a bit confusing.

^ thanks! i will try this today. Hope it works.

I hope it works too, let me know.

man i cant get it to work. im not sure if it's cuz of a bad relay or wat.

the way i set it up like how you showed me, the lamp doesnt light up when i turn on the car. it should though. but after i turn on the headlights (including parking lights), then the lamp turns on. obviously, i want the lamp to turn off when the headlights are on.

i tried switching the wires around on the relay. instead of using 30 & 87a, i did 30 & 87 and the lamp this time did turn on with the car. But after i turn on the headlights, the lamp stayed on, it didnt turn off.

what am i doing wrong and is there another way to attempt this? thanks.

does it matter if the positive to parking light is on 86 and ground on 85? or should it also work if positive to parking light is on 85 and ground is on 86? does that affect it in any way. i tried doing different combos, but no go.

i've done basic relays in the pass when i installed my keyless, so im show i got the basics down. this is tricky for such a simple setup haha.

85 and 86 are interchangeable. That makes no difference. It sounds like you have the lamp connected to 87 instead of 87A Does your relay have only 4 terminals?

no, no, my relay has all of them. what i was saying is that i tried it on 87a and it didnt work, so i tested it on 87 to make sure the lamp actually works and on 87 it did work. just not on 87a which is weird.

The only thing I can figure is you have a bad relay.

ill go pick up a new relay tomorrow and test again. i'll let you know. i hope it works. thanks for the help.

Can any one join in with this or has the original poster actually tested the original relay?

howie ll wrote:

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Can any one join in with this or has the original poster actually tested the original relay?

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I have tested the relay and my findings were posted earlier. I'm going to buy a new relay tomorrow and test it again. I am hoping it is because the other relay is defective somehow. The set up is basic and it's pretty hard to mess that up, i think haha.

hey thanks! it was the relay. got a new one, plugged it in and it's good to go!