ehaze

This is a weird one.

Lights are set to automatic.
Turn off the car.
Exit the car.
Receive email from coworker that my lights are on.


This has now happened twice in the past month.

*i searched*

brianlin87

iTrader: (11)

I think that happened to me once. I just clicked the "lock" button again, and then the lights turned off.

jmcraney

The "automatic" setting that you are referring to has nothing to do with turning your headlights off automatically when you park. The "automatic off" feature is always enabled. I suspect that one of your doors was not closed when you left your car.

I have tried to explain how this works in a post that is located here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/6921203-post22.html

You can mitigate this risk by always locking your car with the remote key. When you press the lock symbol on your remote key once the doors will lock. If the doors fail to lock and you hear several beeps then one of the doors or the trunk is not closed. You can lock the doors and turn the headlights off by pressing the lock symbol on the remote key twice and if the doors fail to lock and you get the audible warning and the headlights fail to extinguish then one of the doors or the trunk is not properly closed.

CJITTY

It could be that your personalized setting was increased if you are not the original owner. I think the delay setting can go out past 90 seconds or more and can be shortened. But JMCraney's post should help you toward a resolution.

I don't use the Auto feature, mainly because I feel there is a design flaw with it. If you are in your garage or it is dark enough for the lights to come on in Auto Mode, do you notice that as soon as you hit the START button, the HID headlights fire up just prior to the starter engaging? If you notice the lights on the garage wall, they flicker as the car is starting up which in my opinion is sending a surge of power or interrupted power through the headlight ballasts and ultimately the bulbs.

Lexus SHOULD of designed the lights to come on a second or two after the car is actually started or not try to engage during the start process. I know aftermarket ballasts certainly don't like interrupted power and I can imagine that oem ballasts don't like that either. The AUTO feature is great when driving during light transitions periods, but in my opinion it is a FAIL during the vehicle starting process.

So, I am just in the habit of turning the lights off before I turn the car off and turn them on AFTER it has started. I have never had a ballast or bulb issue on any car that had HIDs..even aftermarket ballasts used for fog lights by using this method. Ballasts and bulbs are not cheap, so why put needless stress on them during startup..my $.02

ehaze

thanks guys!

i'll check the feature and make sure the door is locked.

ehaze

2x click on the lock button worked.

jmcraney

You'll get just as good certainty that the headlights will go off automatically by just using the lock button on the door handle. When you push that button, and the doors lock and you hear a beep that last about a half second, all is well and the headlights will go off after the delay, of up to 90 seconds. If you push the button on the door handle and the doors don't lock and the beep last about 10 seconds then the headlight auto-off will not work. Try this for yourself: leave one of the doors open or leave the trunk open and try to lock the doors with the door handle button.

As for not using the Auto feature that operates the headlights, in response to ambient light conditions, because of concerns about shortening the life of the headlights or their components: we don't see many reports of failure of those components so we have to suspect that Lexus' design is pretty solid. I suggest that owners set their headlights to Auto and leave them that way. It reduces the risk of accidentally operating the car in dim lighting conditions with the lights off. I think the enhanced safety would outweigh the risk of shortening the life of the components.

CANDYAPPLE

iTrader: (1)

just like jmcraney said, the lights will turn off regardless once you turn off the car. so something else happened or left open.

I8ABMR

seems odd since the doors will close automatically if left slightly opened. Who knows

jmcraney

Rarely but occasionally an automatic door will fail to completely close. There are several reports of this in our discussions. The headlights will stay on and the battery will be discharged.

CJITTY

This would apply to people who have soft door closers..many LS's don't have that feature

CJITTY

Don't get me wrong, the AUTO feature is great to take the guesswork out of when the lights should be on or not. I see plenty of dumbazzes out there on pitch black roads with no lights (i suspect because they see that bright LED dash on theese newere cars and assume their lights are on lol) Notice all the 2003+ Acura TL and Accord drivers...notice how many of them drive with no lights on..not sure, but I seem to notice them the most. LED dashes and old school thinking..hey, my dash is lit up..guess that means my lights are on lol

I am OCD about lights and have certain times of day I like to run only the LED DRLs, or just my park lights with DRLS..or just my HID fogs with no headlights on, etc..etc, so I know when they are on or off..but If folks have their DRL set to come on, there will be some light from the front of the car if they forget at least.

I just think it is flawed to have the ballasts trying to fire up in the middle of the engine start sequence. Ballasts usually have a surge the first few seconds upon turning on the lights to ignite the xenon gas filled bulbs..too interrupt that flow with the car cranking seems just crazy to me. Even the old Toyota Solara DRLs would come on a second or two after the car started iirc. It just seems to me they could of added a 2 second delay to turn the lights on once the car has actually started. If you say there hasn't been a large amount of ballast failures, that is good, but I am sure there are plenty of folks with bulbs that seemed to have a shorter than normal life though. Most people don't realize they can get those same oem bulbs for a fraction of the price online, but when the dealer is charging folks who don't care about spending money or those who don't know any better $200 or more to change a headlight bulb, I am all about doing what i can to maximize my bulb life. Of course, you won't see me paying that kind of money for a bulb and installation

ehaze

exact thing crossed my mind.

OR, getting to the office stupid early on a Monday morning.... Might have forgotten to lock the doors.

ehaze

more headlight fun.

parking in my garage:
lights set to automatic
turn the car off
doors are all closed
did not lock the doors
go into the house
lights turned off

gas station this morning:
lights set to automatic
turn the car off
doors are all closed
lock the doors (FOB, one click)
lights turned off

office parking garage:
lights set to automatic
turn the car off
doors are all closed
lock the doors (FOB, one click)
lights did not turn off

Difference between the gas station and office?
I back into my office parking spot and I was close to the car when I locked it.

jmcraney

Nothing about these sequences seem to indicate abnormal operation.

Are you aware of the customizable delay? The headlight "Auto Off" - not to be confused with that "Auto" position on the light control stalk on the left side of the steering wheel - is an autonomous feature that turns off the headlights after a delay that can be customized by your dealer. The delay options are 0 or 30 or 60 or 90 seconds. The delay begins when the last door/trunk is closed and is not altered by when you lock your doors, either with the handle button or by operating the remote key one time. The delay can be terminated to zero by pressing the "Lock" symbol on the remote key two times in quick succession.

You can determine how the Auto Off Delay is set by getting out your stop watch. Get in your car, Set the lights to "On" (that is the position that has the headlight symbol, one step CW from the Auto position) and start your car. Now, turn your ignition off, open the door and get out. Start your stopwatch when you close the door and watch the headlights. The timing is precise, so if they are not off in 90 seconds or less then there is a problem.