Auto-off headlights no longer going off?
 

Hello,

What a terrific forum . . . if only I'd found it a long time ago! I searched for an answer to the following question but did not find one, so I'll post it here. I am the very happy owner of a '92 ES300 which I've had since '95 and has been running great for me. In those ten years, I've probably turned the headlight stalk less than 50 times, since I just leave the headlights on and use the feature which turns them off when you remove the key and exit the vehicle (I forget which is the moment they go off, it's just routine now).

Yesterday night, I got out of the car and as I was walking away I noticed the lights were still on. I waited around a while to see if the delay was just longer than I remember, but finally went back and turned them off manually.

This morning, same thing.

The only time I'ev ever before seen them not go off automatically is if I've turned off the car, and then for some reason turn the lamps off and then back on before getting out. In that case they stay on. But I hadn't touched the switch last night or this morning.

So, has anyone else experienced this as happening to an older Lexus? Is it a fuse somewhere that I can switch out? Something else easy to check? Or do I need to take it into the dealer?

Any help is much appreciated!

--Jason

first the obvious, the switch on the column is on AUTO, right? It wasn't accidentally moved?

during the daytime, when the lights would not ordinarilay be on when in the Auto mode, are they on?

Check the fuse, location is listed in owners manual. I could tell you the fuse location for an 02 but I don't know if it is the same for you year.

If it is not the switch, it may be the relay and it may be a sensor malfunction.

steviej

Steve, the '92-'96 ES don't have an AUTO function for the headlight switch. It's either OFF, parking lights on, or ON.

When I had my '96 ES back then, I remember that after the car is turned off, the headlights would automatically shut off after a while (not sure how long). It's possible that you left one of the interior lights on, causing the headlights to not turn themselves off, but I could be wrong. Sorry I can't help much further ;)

On my '96, the lights shut off when the car is off, the key is out, and the driver's door is opened. I believe that opening the driver's door triggers a relay (like steviej mentioned) that shuts the lamps off. The relay probably gave up after 10-11 years of service. I'd check with the parts department at your dealership--they should know which one controls the headlamp auto-off, and whether it's something you could easily replace yourself.

Good luck, and keep us posted :)

try this..
 

i just read this interesting thread and did a quick troubleshoot test on my 95ES. what i did was sat in the drivers seat with the door open and then pushed and held in the door light trigger button to simulate a closed door. (the door open light should turn OFF when u push it in.) i then turned on the engine and the headlights, then turned off engine and left the headlight switch in ON position for the auto-off. i then finally released the door light trigger button to simulate the opening of the driver's door. the headlight auto-off turned off as normal ("the lights shut off when the car is off, the key is out, and the driver's door is opened").

so bottom line is try some WD-40 in your driver door light trigger button behind the rubber covering. the trigger may be stuck. also, if you have the interior light not coming on when opening any of the doors, try some WD-40 in those door triggers too.

hope this helps.

Response to the earlier posts, correct, on my '92 there are no Automatic Headlights in the sense of a light sensor turning them on. It's just the function to turn them off when you exit the car (which is preferable to me since I like using the lights as DRLs).

I think khhoang's answer above is the right one (will test it tonight). I believe that either because of age or because of our recently freezing temperatuers, that the door open-close sensor in my driver's door is getting stuck in the closed position, so that when I exit the car, it still thinks I'm in the car. Interestingly, even when I lock the car with the keyless remote, it still thinks I'm in the car.

This occurred to me last night when I got home because after the lights failed to turn off when the door opened, I sat turned them off manually and then sat in the car for a few minutes with the reading light on, looking through the manual for an indication of whether there might be a fuse controlling that relay.

As I was sitting there, a couple of minutes later I noticed the car got slightly brighter. What I think happened is that the dome light was not on (I instinctively always turn on the manual light up by the sunroof controls) because the drivers' door appeared to be closed. Eventually after the door was open for several minutes, the switch unstuck, popped open, and the dome light came on.

Since I couldn't remember whether the lights-off in the past was a result of the key coming out or the door opening, I didn't know at the time, but now having read all of this info, I think that must have been it.

The other complicating factor is that in our freezing weather, my battery is under enough strain with my short drives to and from work, and so I don't want to start the car any more than necessary. Since I didn't know whether actually running the vehicle (as opposed to just turnign the key to on) had anything to do with this process, I really only have 2 good tests each day :)

Now that I know all this, I'll check tonight when I get home, if the lights don't go off automatically, I'll fiddle with the driver's door switch, and I'll be that does it. I'll post the results here to close this out.

Thanks, everyone!

--Jason

:thumbup: That is it. When i open the driver door and the dome light comes on my headlights go out, but if the dome light does not come on the headlights will not go out. I just shut mine off manually cause i don't want to end up with a dead battery. :rolleyes:
I never thought of using WD-40. I wonder if that would work! :uh: That would be great if it did. :woot:

Yup, likely the courtesy door switches due to age. Mine started working intermittently. When it didn't work on its own when opening the door, toggling the switch with my finger would activate it. I ended up replacing the switches, but some say spraying some contact cleaner (available at Radio Shack) into the switch will do the trick.

if the door triggers feel alittle sticky when pushing them in and letting it pop out, try some WD-40. if you have the patience, you can remove the rubber covering held in by a single bolt; else; if youre like me (lazy) just pry one end of the rubber covering up and spray in. then push in the triggers a few times until it feels smooth. those door triggers the dome light when any of the doors are opened. so check all the passengers doors. most likely the driver's door directly or indirectly trigger the headlight auto-off feature also.