I really want to have the headlights turn off with a push of the lock button. Is there any way to do this? or will things get messy?

May I ask why, its not something that was meant for this car really. I think its for cars that have "DRL's"

DRL=DayTime running Lights

too bad nissan didnt make it so that when your key is out of the ignition, and you pull open your door, the lights shut off.

Then it would be a Toyota!

haha. Hey Luke.

Yeah, I want it to be like Toyota actually. Even my old Toyota Previa van (91) had that feature.

Too bad the max doesn't

Yeah that really would be a nice feature. I havent forgotten to turn of my lights yet, but one of these days...
I mean, a friggen ford tarus's lights turn off automaticly.
Would it really be that hard to do this? Find the wire that reacts the key FOB, and splice it, go to the headlights, and do some wiring, vola.

Note: I know jack **** about wiring stuff

you would have to ither get a relay.. and have one 12 souc.. nevermind i will just give you another idea..

take the positive lead from the head light low beams and re-route it to a switch... then get the positive lead from the alarm relay that controls the activation from the alarm and re-route that to a switch...

this way you can have the switch on .. normal mode or alarm mode...

the only problem with that now is.. if you are driving and you hit the button.. it will turn off your head lights.. or some ish like that..

other wise you could get a relay that would switch back and forth.. but its sunday morning and i don't fellign like figuring that out..

Are you talking to me, or are there other lukes in this thread?

Just a reminder Camry's have DRL

yeah I'm talking to you Luke. I just wanted to say hi.

I know Camrys have DTL, but for the Toyotas that don't, they still have the switch that turns off the headlights when the door is shut.

Hey there

Damn those Toyota's only if nissan would find the way.

on the opposing side, if you drive with the lights on for mbz, and turn them off, get out of the car, shut the door, and the headlights come back on, so you can see where you are goin, then automatically turn off within seconds, pretty sweet

I don't know if this will help or not, but Mercedes come with a built in buzzer that makes a sound when you leave your lights on after the car is shut (and you open a door). Its real loud so you can't forget. Mabey you can add a chime, or something to let you know your lights are on.

Erik

mine makes noise when i leave the lights on

Mine doesn't. Does anyone else have this feature?

Erik

I have a '96 GXE and mine has it. When you leave your lights on it makes a soft ding-ding-ding noise kinda like when you open a door.

yeah mine makes noise too...but the beeps are so soft and dont irritate you that I even sometimes ignore THAT too.

yep thats it, stock alarm, i see u have viper alarm, maye they disabled the sound when it was put in

No, I never had it...it could be because I have a different interior and a different exterior. The module might have gotten lost in the shuffle. I always thought that was a little weird that it never did anything, I thought Nissan was cheap.

Thanks,
Erik

oh man, i hate that beeping sound!! grrr... is there any way to change that?

A few days ago I did the "headlight auto turn-off" mod to my 96 GXE. If headlight is left on and the key is either turned to "off" position or taken out, the headlight will be turned off in 20 seconds. All the other lights, interior and exterior, are still the same. Next I will probably do the auto turn-off on the other exterior lights to save more battery, or I will do "headlight sensing" (auto turn on/off according to the environment brightness/darkness, like 5th gen Max and many other cars). I'm sure I will do both eventually. Actually my "headlight sensing" module is done, and I'm looking into where and how I install the photocell so it'll look nice and "stock".

My '97 SE has the chime that tells you the lights have been left on. It is located on the piece of dash that has the fuse box cover on it. Little square thing on the inside with a connector on it. Can't miss it if it is there. It also lets you know if you left your keys in and the driver's door is open. Can be annoying at times, like when cleaning the car with the stereo on.

Dave

really? I kinda like it. ding-ding-ding

HOW!?!?!?!???? Let's see some pics and instructions. I'd pay about $50 for the parts (if there are any).

I would like know how to do such mod. Instructions please!!!

OK. I'm still at work now but promiss to provide everything to you all.

Forgot schematics at work. I posted some info in the Audio and Electronics forum a few days ago: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=74043
If someone only needs auto turn-off with no delay, then a relay is enough. I got it from Radio Shack for $8, with two pairs of contact, one for each side of headlight. I took out the plastic steering wheel cover and cut the headlight wires (on the left side, an eight pin white connector) and connected them to the relay. The relay coil should be one terminal to chasis (ground), the other to ignition ACC or ON, depending on whether you want lights off at ACC or at OFF.

I want delay therefore an N-channel MOSFET($2 from Radio Shack) is in the relay coil circuit, with MOSFET's gate to a simple RC timing circuit then to ignition ACC.

Futher, I installed the environment sensing module in the car yesterday, with the photocell not in its place yet, but tested OK. The way I did is that if light switch is at "Parking" (first stop), headlight will turn on if it gets dark to a degree( I can adjust a pot in the module to set that degree), otherwise lights are off; at light (second stop) lights on like normal. Key out or at "off" and the lights turn themselve off in 20 seconds.

Sorry for the lengthy description. Welcome any question.

That's a really cool, inexpensive mod! Congrats, this is really original! I've been tooling around in my bro's 2K GS300 and there are two things that are better than my max:

#1. The steering wheel is smaller and more comfortable.
#2. Autosensing headlights: there is a third position on the stalk, when it's dark your lights go on automatically and they turn off in the daytime. Also, when you lock the car with the remote the lights turn off.

Again, congrats and keep 'em coming!

Thanks dko. I'll post detailed info in case it's needed. Next will probably be "retaining power (for power windows)" in my to-do list.
To me the difficult part is not electronics but the access to some parts in the car.

I have a 97 GLE and it makes a ding-ing noise when the lights are left on!!

is attached. If auto-sensing is not needed then delete the left half of the circuit including diode D3 (delete D3 too).

Not sure how well it can be seen. Seems to me that all the joint dots(meaning wires are connected there) are lost.

Nissan used to have something good. In my 86 Maxima my car would announce:

Lights are on
Key is in the ignition
Left/Right door is ajar
Fuel is low

No beeping. In my 98 it will beep all it wants with my lights on and I don't even think about it... Plus I had a digital dash (that I loved) drive computer to tell me my mpg, distance to empty, trip, etc and then my dash had my battery voltage and oil pressure.

I think overall my 98 Max has less features then my older one

Alec

My '97 SE has a small beige plastic box (chime) mounted directly onto the plastic backside of the dash under the steering wheel. See if you have this , and hook it up if you do. Maybe a previous owner might have undone it like me who can't stand the beep when the door is open. I want it to beep when my girlfriend (never me) leaves the headlights on, but not when the door is open. Any idea how to disconnect the door sensor but still allow the interior lights to work properly?

I got a Clifford Alarm installed, and now when I leave my lights on my alarm goes "BWEEEEEEP!".

It's not only annnoying, it's embarrasing. Kinda like shock therapy. After doing that in a few crowded parking lots, I haven't forgotten to do it since.

dude, i'm so happy someone has finally written something like this up. i have for a long time thought it would be nice to wire the headlights or parking lights into the remote keyless entry so that when you unlock your car from the key fob the headlights/parking lights come on, and so when you get out they stay on until you lock the car with the key fob. the mod you're talking about is very similar. i'm completely impressed.

thanks a lot and keep the good stuff coming!