hansenjgh

Hi. I bought a 2006 RX330 about a year ago. 130K on the clock. Great car. My wife loves it. But she has turned off the auto headlights because every once in awhile she'll go out in the morning and the battery is dead. She turned off the auto headlights about 6 months ago and never had a dead battery. Until today, when it was dead, apparently because I drove the car last week and used the auto headlights and left them in the auto position. Anyone else ever heard of this problem? Seems to be associated with the auto headlights, but not every night. Car probably sat for 3 days without being used this past weekend, but that shouldn't drain the battery, right?

chrisp

Yep. Had the same issue when we bought my wife a 2005 as a CPO in 2009. Went through a couple of Lexus batteries due to those lights. Question - Are your headlights programmed to stay on after you open the car door or do they immediately turn off?
Ours stayed on. I seemed to correct the dead battery issue by reprogramming the headlights to immediately turn off once I open the driver's door. Since that time, we haven't walked out to a dead battery and the car now sits for weeks at a time in the garage.
I have the reprogramming software to do it. If you have the factory navigation, you might be able to do it through that (my wife's GX has it so we changed that feature in that car as soon as we got it and have never had a dead battery in that car). If not, a Lexus dealership will do it but you will get charged for it.

hansenjgh

Fascinating. Yes, the lights stay on for about 30 seconds after you close the door (not after you open it). Have it see if I can change that. Not a huge deal as my wife is now accustomed to using the lights manually (I don't have any idea how to do that!). Thanks for your reply chrisp.

mylexbaby

How old is the battery and does the car do a lot of short trips? And if you are in a colder climate, this time of year might be contributing to the issue.
If the car does do a lot of short trips and is in a garage overnight, ever consider a battery tender?

hansenjgh

My battery's age is not known. But I remember checking it when she said it was dying and didn't think it was too old. However, now that you mention it, the problem existed last winter and is coming back now that winter is returning. Hmmmmm. Kept in a garage in Virginia, so not terribly cold. No short trips. Always a minimum of 30 miles. Gonna keep listening to you experts!

theory816

The auto headlights have nothing to do with your batteries. All auto headlights does is that it detects whether there is sufficient light outside for them to come on or not. You probably need new batteries.

350rx

Yes they do! Headlights staying on after the engine is off can definitely affect the battery life.

theory816

Thats why you turn them off?

RedGemini

Why would you have to turn off "auto" headlights? Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose of auto headlights? A workaround for a problem is fine, but it isn't a solution.

chrisp

The "auto" headlights have a programming feature for how long you want them to stay on after you turn the car off. Ours was set for 30 seconds, I changed it to "off" once the drivers' door is opened. I got tired of them turning on once we pulled into the garage (even if it was during the day) and then staying on. Plus, my wife's 1/2 mile drive to work and then them staying on after she got home for almost as long as her drive, did drain the battery over time. Obviously, a new battery won't exhibit this issue, but it will over time. I have had no issues since we changed the length of time that they stay on. My experience, yours may very.

DennisMik

I use the auto headlight feature. When I park the car, the headlights will stay on for about 60 seconds. I have found that by pressing the lock button on my remote, the headlights turn off.

Lexuswiz

iTrader: (1)

Did you use techstream to do this or is there a manual way? Interested in changing mine from "door open" to a set time as my aftermarket remote start will not trigger a door open without setting the alarm off.

chrisp

I used techstream to reprogram. I don't know of a manual way unless you have factory navigation.

Dennis, It was easier for me to reprogram the setting than remembering to lock the doors in the garage which we have never done.

dk62vet

I have had the same problem once and while with my 2002, I believe what happens is you do not shut one of the car doors all the way and it remains ajar and not completely shut. The car senses that the door is open and will not turn off the lights after what ever time it is programed for. I have gone back out into my garage and found my head light still on after an hour or so when I inspect the car I found one of the doors not shut completely this will even happen if the truck is not fully closed and locked. This may be the cause of your problem.

05RX330TX

This ^ pressing the lock button twice on your remote will turn off the headlights at least work on my 05 RX330.