The first thing is that... I would like to know how does the auto headlights work. If someone can point me in a direction, I'll try to do it.

I want to buy the 02-03 maxima headlight controls and use that if theres a way for our 4th gens to have auto on/off headlights.

Does anyone know how it works and what needs to be done to it to make it work?

All I know is that a sensor is involved in this.



The seconds thing is that I want to have a remote that's like the Audi's remotes where the key turns to the side. I want to know if the chip is attached to the key or if the chip is inside that big block of plastic and it is wired to the key or if it is "wireless" for the late 98-99s.

Any feedbacks or suggestions would be helpful.

 

I would like to know about the Auto Headlights aswell. I'm always forgetting to turn my lights off (and I have no buzzer or anything) so sometimes at college when it's overcast I end up killing my battery. This would be great.

 

Being that I own a 5th gener, maybe I can answer your question. First off, the headlight stalk from a 5th gener will definitely not fit into the 4th gener's. The auto headlight system involves alot of wiring to the smart entrance unit and headlight relays. Plus, you have the sensor, as well to deal with.

Is it possible to make it work? Maybe.
Is it worth it? No. Too time consuming and much re-wiring involved.

The difficulty level of this ranks the same as trying to upgrade from a manual climate control unit to an auto climate control unit. Not worth it!

 

If the headlight controls doesn't fit, it's no problem for me to buy the whole steering wheel setup and put it on. Someone on the org did it and don't remember who it was.

The wiring is not a problem. I have a friend that loves to do wiring.

 

How can this be so complex? Can't we just rewire the car so that it stops getting juice when the rest of the car does? You need relays and alot of wiring to do such a job? That sucks...I was hoping that I could do that mod one day...

 

You can add a relay that turns off the power to the head lights when the ACC power turns off. But then you cant turn on the headlights when the key isnt in the ignition.

 

thats how it is in my moms subaru outback. you turn off the key, the lights turn off. i may rewire mine like that, itd be nice. i dont care about having the headlights on when the car is off, if i wanted them on, id turn the key to ACC

 

How do I go about adding this relay? I don't care either if the lights don't work without the key. Please let me know. Thanks.

 

Find the circuit for the headlight switch. Break that circuit somewhere with the "switch" part of the relay. Connect the power part of the relay to the ignition wire on the radio or elsewhere.

 

Here's a picture of a relay.



The part that says "to fans" would connect to the headlight circuit. The part that says "from batt source" would connect to your ACC/Ignition wire.

 

Are you guys talking about having the lights turn off automatically with the key? Or having the lights turn on/off automatically with outside brightness? I think with the lights turning off with the key off only, is pointless. The benefit of having the "auto" headlight system is that you can leave the light switch in the "auto" position and the lights will turn on/off depending on the brightness outside, via the photo light sensor (that you mount on top of the dash). Nissan also added the benefit of having the lights turn off automatically when the key is switched off in the ignition and/or whenever the driver's door or any other door is opened. This is part of the purpose of Nissan's "smart control unit" (convenience and luxury). Like I said before, in order to make this work, you need the light sensor, rewiring of the headlight relays, rewiring of the light switch, rewiring of ignition wires, etc. It can be done, but involves a lot of re-wiring. As far as the headlight mod turning off the lights automatically when the key is turned off with ignition, is pointless. Just turn the lights off manually when the car is off. The whole point of the auto light feature is to have the headlights turn on/off automaically with the outside brightness.

 

My solution was to have the headlights turn off with the ignition. It is far simpler than the truly automatic option, but it all depends on what you want. It seemed like this was a solution to accedently leaving headlights on.

 

Understandable. But, even if you leave the headlights on accidentally, the battery saver circuit will automatically kick in and turn the lights off automatically.

 

wait .. i dont think the 96 turns of the headlights for battery save does it..?

and for the auto light with ambient light... you need the sun load sensor... and the auto light control unit... so that alot of work.. i pondered this before too..

also the canadian max has daytime runnning lights.... damm insurance break...

 

Yeah his lights dont have a saver circuit. It's a 99. How-To stickies or VQ has the writeup on how to the lights to the ACC power wires. I never did it because the car should beep if you leave the car with the lights on. If it doesnt...put in a new fuse.

 

I know for sure, because my '95 had the battery life saver circuit. If I had left the lights on while the car was off, they would turn off after about 10 min. or so.

 

I dont understand how your 95 had it but no other 4th gens have had it. I've never heard anyone say that they had that...ever. Is it something that was bought and installed in your car?

 

I guess this answers my first question that I had. Does anyone know how the transponder chip is (or looks like) under the big block of plastic in the 99 keys?

 

It most defintly does not. I have a 97 and I have left my lights on accidentally on many 'partly cloudy' mornings in college for the entire day. Well actually....yeah...my lights do go out after a while...CAUSE MY BATTERY DIES. lol.