HOW TO: Auto Turn Off Head/Parking Lights

[tddelsol]

hey if any 1 here is retarded like me and leaves there lights on cause of the tt here is the solution.
remove colum cover(3 screws under stering wheel). then take the large gauge black wire at the bottom of blinker/headlight switch and cut it about 2 inches away from plug.take a 30 amp relay(get it at any parts store $5-$10)and connect pin 85and 30 to the side of wire away from switch. then take pin 87a normally closed and connect to switch side of wire. finally take pin 86 to your ignition wire (reads 12v when car is on and dont forget to fuse it).ther you go head/parking lights turn off with car and can still be opperated normally with the car on.

[SNike05]

I don't think your retarted if you came up with a sweet solution like that one up there. I'll have to do it cause I sometimes forget also.

[tddelsol]

at least im not the only one

[Ezeikiel]

i just ordered the dei auto headlight kit. it has a light sensor and automatically turns the lights on at dark so i wont have to turn them on and forget to turn them off while the turbo timer is babysitting. did it twice last winter. ill try to post pics when i get it and get time to install it. probably 2-3 weeks as i am going to indianapolis for 2 weeks, followed by a week in florida. thanks work! i like sponsored vacations :)

[SoniCraze]

how much that cost you ezekiel

[Ezeikiel]

i got mine through a friend that works at a car audio place for $20. It retails at $99 at dei's website, but i found it for as low as $42 at

http://www.caraudio-caralarms.com/545T.html

you can probably find it cheaper online if you look harder than i did. its a dei 545T. good luck

[enry]

Hey guys, I ordered one of these. Should I expect problems with the install, or is it pretty straightforward?

[memo79]

I would've done this mod ages ago if I had found it in the HOW-TO section.
*hint hint mods*;)

[SNike05]

holy crap I totally forgot about this. I have to do this mod. I always forget to turn off my lights then I have to open the door to turn them off and then can't start my car by remote anymore cause i'm out of reservation mode.

MODS helloo, How to section

[SP33D]

i never leave my lights on.. but i think i might do this mod just for the hell of it lol, this way i can leave my car running and leave my lights on and just walk away from my car

[brianmcd]

wh0a awesome info. I've always been jealous of my wrx friends because their lights turn off with the car. Now I can be cool, too! Thanks.

~brian

[MiataRacing]

I never leave my lights on but my alarm does sometimes...



i never leave my lights on.. but i think i might do this mod just for the hell of it lol, this way i can leave my car running and leave my lights on and just walk away from my car

[enry]

I'll see if I can take pictures when I do it.

[SNike05]

tddelsol do you recommend using a 15A fuse or a 30A fuse for pin 86 to the ignition wire

[peepsalot]

(pics)

[SNike05]

I'm going to do this mod hopefully this weekend I have everything already just waiting for free time so I'll take pics for you.

[Protege52003]

this is a nice HOW TO thread. when i had my alarm/started viper installed last sept, i left my lights on so many times when turning the car off. this will be a nice feature to have. i still once in a while leave the light on, but i catch myself looking after the car shuts off......waiting for the day that i don't now that winter is back.

-R

[ZapWizard]

I think I can enhance your circuit.

If you combined it with a capacitor and resistor you could make your headlights stay on after you turn your car off for about 30 seconds, before the relay kicks off.

I may try it later.

[SNike05]

I think I can enhance your circuit.

If you combined it with a capacitor and resistor you could make your headlights stay on after you turn your car off for about 30 seconds, before the relay kicks off.

I may try it later.
good idea but the ones that have a starter on their manual protege the lights will already stay on for about 30 seconds before turning off due to the reservation mode.

[peepsalot]

I think I can enhance your circuit.

If you combined it with a capacitor and resistor you could make your headlights stay on after you turn your car off for about 30 seconds, before the relay kicks off.

I may try it later.
If you have a turbo timer, it already does. ;)
This benefits people with turbo timers the most because when the turbo timer is doing it's thing, the engine is still running. So the light beep warning doesn't inform you that your lights are still on when you get out.

I am in the process of doing this mod, although I'm gonna have to finish it tomorrow I think. Gonna get a t-tap for the ignition wire, so I don't have to solder it.

Oh, and the ignition is one of the red wires, correct? I haven't had a chance to chek the voltages. There are two red wires on the same column of the ignition connector, does someone know if it is the top or the bottom? I think the other is 12v contsant if I am remembering this all correctly.

[peepsalot]

I was going over the circuit, and I think the original explanation is backwards. Shouldn't 87(normally open) be used instead of 87a(normally closed). So that when you have no ignition, the circuit is open, and the headlights are disconnected...

[memo79]

*waiting for response to peepsalot's question*

[II-Savy]

When I leave my lights on a buzzer reminder goes off and then I turn off my lights.

[peepsalot]

When I leave my lights on a buzzer reminder goes off and then I turn off my lights.
This benefits people with turbo timers the most because when the turbo timer is doing it's thing, the engine is still running. So the light beep warning doesn't inform you that your lights are still on when you get out.

[peepsalot]

It has happened to me once already that I forgot to turn the lights off while my TT was running. Luckily I was only going to a sandwhich shop for a quick meal, and no harm was done.

[II-Savy]

Ahhhh there's the trouble, you have a useless turbo timer messin' ya up.

[peepsalot]

Whateva, I do what I want.

[II-Savy]

Whateva, I do what I want.
NO You will do as I tell you to do.....lol
I'm just saying if ya didn't have a TT messin up the place you'd have no trouble with the lights. It tells ya with a beep, hey doush, turn off your lights. (hippy)

[peepsalot]

Just finished doing this. My car is now officially cool like a WRX :cool: lol. The pin to be used is in fact 87, not 87a. Unless you want to only use your headlights when your keys are out of the ignition. (laugh)

[Changed1MG]

i got mine through a friend that works at a car audio place for $20. It retails at $99 at dei's website, but i found it for as low as $42 at

http://www.caraudio-caralarms.com/545T.html

you can probably find it cheaper online if you look harder than i did. its a dei 545T. good luck

if you get the kit, does the "lights on" reminder chime still go off when you leave teh car? what is this turbo timer thing you guys are talking about?

[peepsalot]

A turbo timer is for turbocharged vehicles such as the MSP, or some other lucky protege's with aftermarket turbo kits. What it does is keeps the engine running for a minute or so after you take the keys out of the ignition. The purpose of this is to let the oil going through the turbo to cool slowly, preventing "coking" of oil in the turbo, which is basically the equivalent of clogging your arteries in a human. It is not essential, as you can always sit in your car for a minute and wait a while for the turbo to cool a bit, but it is a convenience to let the TT do it for you.

[ahb11m]

hey zap i gots a chalenge for ya...

my parents camry has a nice lil feature on it, when you leave the lights on... you remove the key... stays as it is... when you open the door the headlights turn off...

but better than all the rest, it can be reset - so if you want to leave the lights on, just turn the headlights off then on and they stay lit...

and hell while i'm asking questions, do you reckon you could make the headlights go on delay? only reason i ask is what happens when you crank with your headlights on?

[ZapWizard]

hey zap i gots a chalenge for ya...

my parents camry has a nice lil feature on it, when you leave the lights on... you remove the key... stays as it is... when you open the door the headlights turn off...

but better than all the rest, it can be reset - so if you want to leave the lights on, just turn the headlights off then on and they stay lit...

and hell while i'm asking questions, do you reckon you could make the headlights go on delay? only reason i ask is what happens when you crank with your headlights on?

Hmm I will work on these, my first thoughts:

Lights turn off when you open and close your door:
This can be done with sime single-shot, and self-starting relay wiring.

Basicly the relay would be activated by power from the headlights.
If the doors are opened, the relay would switch off, regardless of the headlight switch. Then it would have to be reset by the OFF position on the headlights.

Go on Delay
This can be done just by wiring a relay to the ignition power.
When the ignition is cranked, the relay turns the headlights off.
The relay will consume much less power then the headlights.

[ahb11m]

i thought something with a one shot, but i dunno how they work!!

oh well the delay can live....

essentially i wanted to setup a DLR sorta thing in the end... but at full power...



but yeah who wants to have the lights just go out when you can have something better?

i'll be watching closely master

[livelyjay]

Good thing I was looking through the how-to forum. This is one thing I loved about my Mitsubishi Lancer, the lights always turned off when I turned off the car. It was a great feature. Thanks for the write-up. All I need, more wiring projects. Windows and turbo timer arm alarm this weekend. I'll have to wait till after Christmas for this mod.

[kyle's protege5]

wouldnt it be easier to just change the wire feeding the headlight switch from a constant 12v to a 12v wire controlled by the ignition switch? seems a lot easier than putting in a relay.