EM2 Nig

iTrader: (2)

I was wondering if our headlights can automatically turn off after you leave your car like how the accord headlights are set up. If it is possible please help me out thank you

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

lazy! haha yea you can put a timer on it, like how some power windows stay juiced for 30 secs after the car is off... but its gonna be more work than its worth instead of just clicking off the switch.

EM2 Nig

iTrader: (2)

haha yea sometimes lazy. I just want to walk away from my car with my lights on and have someone say "Oh you forgot to turn off your lights" and I say "oh but they are off" haha iono. Can you show me how to put a timer gerabox? its cool if you don't

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i searched and didnt find anything. in thinking you might be able to create some sort of relay system tied to the dome light, that would ground out the headlights when the dome light turns off or you lock the door. but it requires leaving the headlight switch on. idk, not sure how to even do that safely.

EM2 Nig

iTrader: (2)

yup thats what I was thinking too, but didnt know where to start. Well thanks anyways i guess i have to not be lazy and turn my lights off by hand =(

dirtySAMURAI

iTrader: (31)

big capacitor, relay, quick snaps. the rest is up to your imagination.

legend921

iTrader: (4)

On the BMW forums there is this kit that lets you wire up your lights to turn on and automatically just like the new Lexus. You have to mount the sensor light sensor on your dash. Let me go find it and I'll post it up.

EM2 Nig

iTrader: (2)

if you find it that would be great. Thanks a lot for the help guys

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well light sensor system is completely different. that means they turn on/off based on sunlight.

EM2 Nig

iTrader: (2)

oh =(

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

my advice would be find a car that does it and go search forums asking or even goto the junkyard and grab the control box or whatever it is lol

82801BA

I would say put a cap with with relay wired to whatever ignition wire. it will cut out the power when the car is off and drain the cap then it goes off.....But how to turn off the parking lights is another story....

zeuserx

LAZY?

This is bad design by ALL auto manufacturers. If they can design the cars which turn off the rear defrost when the ignition is turned to position 1 or 0 under the pretext that "it avoids draining your battery when your engine isn't running", then why can't they do the same for headlights?

Why? Because it's just plain bad design!

For the last 40 years 99% of people don't use their headlights without having their engines turned on. But there sure is a lot of people who end up with a dead battery when they forget to turn off their headlights though.

When you design a system you MUST assume the user is an idiot. This is called IDIOT PROOFING. We do this stuff in computer software all the time. Even simple ATMs have tons of idiot proofing in them. Why is it that car makers don't do the same?

I'm not talking about the luxury features of having the lights stay on for a while after the car is shut off either. I'm talking about immediately shutting off when the ignition is put into position 1 or 0.

I need to find the wiring diagram to make this happen but the way I see it is to put a relay in the circuit somehow. The relay would be grounded to the chasis, the + wire would feed off a wire which is hot (powered) only when the ignition is in position 2. The relay would then cut into the ground wire that feeds the headlights, turn signals and parking lights. So when the ignition is in position 1 or 0 none of these would work.

The only possible problem I can see is the hazards (four ways). They need to operate independently of the ignition. If they share the same common ground wire as the others than my plan won't work.

zeuserx

I read some of the other posts and you're right. If you wanted the lights to remain on for a little while longer, then you'd wire a capacitor to the relay. It wouldn't have to be that big though. The capacitor only needs to supply power to the relay, not the headlights. The power requirements of a relay isn't that much.

Lets not forget how car electronics work. The light switch on the stalk is used to power a headlight relay. The power going to the headlights, parking lights etc. doesn't flow through the switch on the stalk. It goes through it's own fuse and relay. The switch on the stalk just powers the relay which then completes the circuit which powers the lights.

We'd just need to put a low power relay before the headlight relay. Not after since it'll use power to close the circuit. We need to open the circuit before the headlight relay when the ignition is off.

What we can do is place a capacitor across the new relay's terminals so as to keep it closed for a few seconds after power is cut off. Shouldn't be that hard.

As for the auto-on when dark? I'm thinking a photo-cell somewhere. The electronics wouldn't be that difficult since you'd only need a photo-cell, capacitor and transistor to make it work. The BIG problem is where to locate the cell so it does properly react to darkness? You can't put it somewhere that would be vulnerable to other vehicle's headlights, street lamps etc. It would have to be somewhere that it can detect mostly ambient lighting (sun or no sun).

The capacitor in such a system could allow the circuit to remain on when you're mostly driving in the dark and just happen to pass through a really will lit area for more than a few seconds.

Tunnels could be a problem though. That's going to need some thought.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Don't think the OP is worried about it anymore since that was 06.

There is an "idiot" annoying buzzer that sounds when the lights are on and the key is out of the ignition.

You can diode isolate the circuits that are tied into the headlights.

You should have your lights on in a tunnel so that would be ok. The sensors are usually mounted on the dash. You would have to play with the sensitivity to get it set right.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Wow !

ezone

You can only make something idiot resistant.

Make something idiot proof, and someone will make a better idiot.



Re: Old thread is old.......ALL car headlights will turn off automatically.....eventually.

zeuserx

AND NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS:

I've been reading the electrical diagrams for the 2006 civic, which I assume is identical on the 2007. It doesn't look like it'll be too hard to make the lights auto-off.

Here's the specs of my design:

1 - Auto-off; The secret is to connect the orng/white wire (hot when ign=2) under the steering column going to the to the + side of the relay electro magnet and the - side to the black wire (ground). Next cut the black wire going from the relay to the switch in the stalk. Next connect the black wire (that goes to the dashboard) to normally open terminal of the relay and connect the black wire (that goes to the stalk) on the output terminal.
2 - Delay; Add a capacitor across the relay's + and - terminals. The exact capacitor rating will need to be found by figuring out the current draw. The target is a 30 second delay to shut off.
3 - Auto lights on; This still needs to be figured out but the principal is sound as I've done this with a Radio Shack electronics kit decades ago. A photo-cell will trigger the relay above when no light is applied, or the light drops below a certain point. An "auto" switch will be needed to enable the automatic headlights.

The idea is that you'll always leave the headlight switch to the on position. if you shut the car off it'll always turn off the lights after a short delay. If the auto switch is turned on then your headlights will only turn on when it's dark. If the auto switch is off, the headlights are always on when the main headlight switch is on.

I was worried that it would interfere with the 4 way hazards but after looking at the circuitry it doesn't seem to be an issue. The hazards are on a separate circuit which makes sense if you think about it: turn signals don't operate unless ign=2 but hazards can always operate even when ign=0.

The only downside that I see, and this is only a problem with #3 (auto headlights on), is the passing beams (when you pull on the stalk to flash high beams). Normally they work even when your headlights are off. But because the passing beam is using a diode inside the "combination light switch", as Honda calls it, there's no way I can isolate that circuit. So if I build this auto-on circuit, I lose the "passing beams when lights off". When headlights are on, no problem.

Once I'm done with my weekend project, I'll post a how-to.... IF IT WORKS!

PS: I'm very experienced with this sort of thing. I posted a how-to on superhonda back in 2002 on how to allow the aux lights on 92-95 del sols to work without having to turn on the headlights. On my sol I had them working even with the DRLs (Canada). And they would auto-off when the car shut down.

crxfreak

@zeuserx I can't wait to see your How To, hopefully I can make it work on my daughter's 95 as she has only had it for 2 months and killed the battery twice. Guess this would be due to the fact that she is used to driving my 95 corolla that does this exact thing, with the lights left on they turn off after the key is off and driver's door opened.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Most auto parts stores have headlight on units you can attach easily. Or make one with radio shack parts and get a loud piezo.

crxfreak

If I wanted a reminder than yes that would do it, however I would like to have what the thread title is.

ezone

I'd let the kid figure it out for herself, it's the only way they will learn.

It's a pretty simple process, the kid has to figure out how she got into the mess, and the kid has to figure out how to get out of it.

Maybe, just maybe, it will dawn on her how to stop this from happening...and then it will work with almost ANY car from here on out.

This worked with my kid.
I figure it should work with almost anyone.
Unless you raised a precious snowflake.





My kid was young when he stuck wires in the electrical outlet.
I did not stop him.
I figured this was the fastest way for him to learn the lesson.
And a valuable lesson it was.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

Had a 85 Corolla coupe with the auto off feature.... and a 00 Corolla CE (yes, on a CE) with twilight sentinel system and loved them both, but there is no way i'm jacking around a bunch of wiring (especially on my 8th gen) for auto anything.

The headlight on warning system alerts me just fine.

Best of luck.