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Old Oct 11, 2003 | 04:34 PM
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Auto lights

When I shut off the engine my headlights stay on for 45-60 sec. Can the factory setting be changed to 15 sec shut off? Every time I stop at a store at night, someone will tell me I left my lights on and I have to politely explain they’ll shut off in a minute or so.
Old Oct 11, 2003 | 08:58 PM
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Originally Posted by szapp
When I shut off the engine my headlights stay on for 45-60 sec. Can the factory setting be changed to 15 sec shut off? Every time I stop at a store at night, someone will tell me I left my lights on and I have to politely explain they’ll shut off in a minute or so.

I'm confused. Why don't you just manually turn your lights off?
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 07:56 AM
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Originally Posted by hansolo1
I'm confused. Why don't you just manually turn your lights off?
why would you if you already paid for an AUTO feature

Take your car to nissan and they can adjust it.
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 08:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Igor911
why would you if you already paid for an AUTO feature

Take your car to nissan and they can adjust it.
Why on earth would you keep the light in the AUTO position when the car is off? Why would you want to keep your lights on for a minute or so before the car turns them off automatically? Sounds pretty dumb to me. It takes very little effort to turn the **** to the OFF position.
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 08:40 AM
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Originally Posted by hansolo1
Why on earth would you keep the light in the AUTO position when the car is off? Why would you want to keep your lights on for a minute or so before the car turns them off automatically? Sounds pretty dumb to me. It takes very little effort to turn the **** to the OFF position.

Dumb? You mean like paying for an auto feature, which you have to manually turn off then on again the next day. Riiiight. I get you. DUMD.
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 09:31 AM
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I keep my headlights turned to the auto position at all times. This will turn the lights on and off automatically when it gets dark enough for them to be on or light enough for them to be off. Never have to turn them on manually. When the ignition is turned to the off position the lights are turned off immediatly. If you want the lights to stay on for a short amount of time after the ignition is turned off then I believe you would have to get that programmed at the dealer. The auto ring on the headlight switch has nothing to do with the lights staying for short time after the ignition is turned off. Correct me if I am wrong but that is the way my car works. Bye the way is is a 2K GLE. That set up might be different on later models.
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 10:22 AM
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Originally Posted by Richard Scott
I keep my headlights turned to the auto position at all times. This will turn the lights on and off automatically when it gets dark enough for them to be on or light enough for them to be off. Never have to turn them on manually. When the ignition is turned to the off position the lights are turned off immediatly. If you want the lights to stay on for a short amount of time after the ignition is turned off then I believe you would have to get that programmed at the dealer. The auto ring on the headlight switch has nothing to do with the lights staying for short time after the ignition is turned off. Correct me if I am wrong but that is the way my car works. Bye the way is is a 2K GLE. That set up might be different on later models.
Nope, on a 2K2+ the lights do stay on for brief period after you turn the car off, if you leave it on auto all the time. Doesn't bother me.
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 11:26 AM
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on a 2k2+ you can adjust the timer from 1 min, 45 sec, 30 sec or off as soon as the car is off.
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 11:52 AM
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How do you do this? Thanks.

Pedro
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 11:58 AM
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Leaving your lights on like that is a good way to reduce your battery/HID bulbs life in my opinion. Next time it's dark out, notice when you try to turn on the car, the lights come on before the car cranks and your lights seem to dim a little until the car is up.
Now that can't be good for your expensive HID bulbs, and your car was sitting for a while so it can't be good for the battery neither. When you turn off the car with the lights still on, it can't be good for the battery. Or if you have a garage they come on while in the garage, and go off once outside in the daytime, or if you drive under a somewhat long bridge. That's bad for your HIDs.
Just my .02cents.
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 12:03 PM
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I used to leave my headlight on auto on my reg. AE lights but after I got HID's on I heard that pple say it's not good to leave ur headlight on Auto, so ever since I do it manuelly. Even now with 2k2 headlight conv. I never leave my headlight on Auto.....
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 02:55 PM
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Yeah it keep this feature off because some days I am back in forth in the garage and they come on the instant I'm in their. I thought about the HID thing so I keep them off of auto.
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 08:06 PM
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2K GLE; I don't find the feature useless. I leave my setting in the AUTO feature all the time; when it gets dark enough, the lights come on. In the auto position, the lights shut off with the engine; but the only thing that ignores me is when u switch the key to the accessories position(i.e. to roll windows up or down), the lights come on. But my question is this, how often do u sit in your car for the lights to remain on after the ignition is off? If not mistaken, the only way the lights remain on for 45 seconds is if the lights are in the ON position and u shut the car off and no doors are opened. Well thats for the 2000 Max
Old Oct 12, 2003 | 10:25 PM
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Originally Posted by darrelfsu
2K GLE; I don't find the feature useless. I leave my setting in the AUTO feature all the time; when it gets dark enough, the lights come on. In the auto position, the lights shut off with the engine; but the only thing that ignores me is when u switch the key to the accessories position(i.e. to roll windows up or down), the lights come on. But my question is this, how often do u sit in your car for the lights to remain on after the ignition is off? If not mistaken, the only way the lights remain on for 45 seconds is if the lights are in the ON position and u shut the car off and no doors are opened. Well thats for the 2000 Max
I have an 03 Max. In the Auto setting, the lights stay on after I shut the engine off (45-60 sec). If I leave the door partially cracked, the lights will not shut off for 20min. I was under the impression that all Max's came this way from the factory. I plan to check w/ the dealer to see if they can reprogram the auto mode to shut off the lights when the engine is turned off.
Old Oct 13, 2003 | 04:34 AM
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Originally Posted by sorcereur
Leaving your lights on like that is a good way to reduce your battery/HID bulbs life in my opinion. Next time it's dark out, notice when you try to turn on the car, the lights come on before the car cranks and your lights seem to dim a little until the car is up.
Now that can't be good for your expensive HID bulbs, and your car was sitting for a while so it can't be good for the battery neither. When you turn off the car with the lights still on, it can't be good for the battery. Or if you have a garage they come on while in the garage, and go off once outside in the daytime, or if you drive under a somewhat long bridge. That's bad for your HIDs.
Just my .02cents.

The reason the lights "seem to dim a little" is because the xenon gas takes time to heat up. It will not reduce your battery life. That is why I bought a car with features such as auto lights, auto temp control, auto power windows, so I do not have to mess with the little things. Don't worry about decreasing the life of the lights and battery and just enjoy the cars features.
Old Oct 13, 2003 | 08:21 AM
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Your owners manual says that in auto headlight mode short on off durations from going in/out of garage, under bridges, and so on reduces the life of your Xenon bulbs. Something to think about.
Old Oct 13, 2003 | 09:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Maxnut
The reason the lights "seem to dim a little" is because the xenon gas takes time to heat up. It will not reduce your battery life. That is why I bought a car with features such as auto lights, auto temp control, auto power windows, so I do not have to mess with the little things. Don't worry about decreasing the life of the lights and battery and just enjoy the cars features.
Oh in enjoy my car a lot. "Drive it like you stole it" that's my moto.

I know the lights take a little to heat up. U don't notice what i'm talking about when they're cold. Next time, u come back from a drive at night, shut off the car and turn the lights off. Put the switch back in the AUTO position and then crank of the car. The lights are still warm enough, but you'll see what i'm talking about.

Drive it like u stole it.
Old Oct 13, 2003 | 09:32 AM
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Originally Posted by szapp
Dumb? You mean like paying for an auto feature, which you have to manually turn off then on again the next day. Riiiight. I get you. DUMD.
After reading the recent responses to this thread, it seems like most people agree that it is better to turn them off when you get out of the car. That was all I was trying to say in my above thread.
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