[Other] Auto Lights Off

[Kremmen]

It is now that time of year when I set out in the semi dark and arrive at the office just as it's starting to get light

In my opinion, during the journey the auto lights are turning off too early. Everyone else still has lights on (quite rightly in my opinion) but the Civ turns mine off

Poor Krem has to manually turn them back on again

(When I say everyone else, I am of course overlooking the ones who seem to not know where the light switch is anyway, they are asking to be pulled out in front of)

[pcr]

Just don't use Auto, they will never do exactly what you want, they will do what they want.

[Dimplyred]

I find they come on too late and go off too early!

[angie4m]

I was having this conversation with my Mum on Sunday about Auto Lights. She has a BMW and she hates having the Auto lights on because they don't come on when she expects and don't go off when she expects. ie it was really sunny on Sunday but the lights were still on but BMW make the sensor setting very sensative so they do stay on longer, but she prefers the way that mines switch on and off quickly when needs be.

I have to say I was a bit miffed with them going on when it was still a bit dusky the other day, all the other cars had their lights on apart from me so I just did it manually but its been reported that having your lights on at these times means your less likely to be involved in an accident.

I'm sure that if you want them to be more sensative your dealer can do this. I know that BMW can make them more or less sensative but if you ask for the sensativity to be reduced then you must sign a disclaimer that you understand that if you cannot sue BMW if your stopped for not having your lights on when you should. We were told this was due to some guy abroad having the light sensativity reduced, he came out of a tunnel and they went off but they would have reamined on if this hadn't been done. He was stopped by the police and he made a complaint against BMW because they hadn't told him they would switch off in situations like that. doh!

[Kremmen]

My 3 previous cars all had auto lights but the sequence was:

• Off
• Side/Parking/Fairy lights
• Dipped Beam
• Auto

Wonder why Honda have changed it to have the Auto before the permanent dipped ?

It means that when you decide to turn your lights on and the sensor considers it's not dark enough your rear lights go from off to on to off to on

[Clive242]

I really like the Auto lights - just a shame they come on as soon as you turn the ignition on, even before the engine is running.

I've not tried this, but wondered about putting something suitably transparent over the light sensor in the centre of the dash to kid the Civic into thinking it's darker than it is - therefore bringing the lights on earlier, and turning them off later.

Perhaps some testing is required with Quality Street/Roses wrappers?

[Bob H]

Originally Posted by Clive242

I really like the Auto lights - just a shame they come on as soon as you turn the ignition on, even before the engine is running.

I've not tried this, but wondered about putting something suitably transparent over the light sensor in the centre of the dash to kid the Civic into thinking it's darker than it is - therefore bringing the lights on earlier, and turning them off later.

Perhaps some testing is required with Quality Street/Roses wrappers?

My wife has them on her Ford and I must say they seem far better set up than the Civic... Yesterday morning for example mine went on and off several times on my way into work, so much I had to take control of them as the poor car in front must have been thinking I was flashing at him.

The hysteresis/time needs to be wider IMO...

Cheers,

Bob...

[terry]

I think the sensor is in the black bit behind the rear view mirror at the top of the windsceen....putting something over it could fool the sensor, but it will get in the way of the wipers because the rain sensor is also there!
Terry

[Nemesis]

My 407 Company Car lights come on when I'm travelling at speed and the wipers are on - does the Civic do this or is it only light activated?

[dieseldriver]

Originally Posted by terry

I think the sensor is in the black bit behind the rear view mirror at the top of the windsceen....putting something over it could fool the sensor, but it will get in the way of the wipers because the rain sensor is also there!
Terry

I thought that was only the rain sensor and the light sensor in on the top of the dash in the middle. Black dome.....

[civicfan]

The windscreen sensors are in one block but still separate so you can stick tape over the light sensors only (there are 2 for light one upward one forward) - it takes some experimenting to find out which is which. If you want lights on night and day on "Auto" you need some quite opaque tape/foil - I took 2 layers of black isolating tape from OBI - one wasn't enough .

[civicfan]

Originally Posted by Bob H

My wife has them on her Ford and I must say they seem far better set up than the Civic... Yesterday morning for example mine went on and off several times on my way into work, so much I had to take control of them as the poor car in front must have been thinking I was flashing at him.

The hysteresis/time needs to be wider IMO...

Cheers,

Bob...

It would be much better IMHO if the light stayed on until you turn off the ignition and then perhaps 1 minute (allowing you to come home in the dark) - simple solutions are sometimes hard to figure out for designers. My wife has it programmed this way on her Citroen C4, in the Civic it's not programmable alas. She can also switch the lights on with the remote when nearing the car at night - very useful (and with xenons the battery drain is not even that bad)

[kenP]

I think Auto lights are a complete waste of time in any car. My eyes are much better at judging when lights are required.

[Bob H]

Originally Posted by dieseldriver

I thought that was only the rain sensor and the light sensor in on the top of the dash in the middle. Black dome.....

The rain & light sensor are in the same postion... The "Black dome" I think you are referring to is a sun sensor for the A/C...

Cheers,


Bob...

[trt]

Stopped using them. Going under motoway junction near Bristol they came on and off too eagerly.
This could be confused with flashing headlights to pull out / warn someone.
Dodgy if you ask me.

[nico651]

Me neither, I'm not satisfied the way auto lights work. They are switching on very (too) late.
Yesterday I tried to stick some black transparent foil over the sensor. But it's still not enough. I'll try to apply a second layer of foil soon (on the outside).
I also found a small hole on the front of the sensor (interior side). I cantry to cover that too. I'll also ask my dealer if the sensitivity off the lightsensor can be adjusted...

[3rd Honda]

Mine go on and off as you go in and out of shadow (e.g. under trees) at some light levels such as early evening. Not only crap, but possibly dangerous and not good for Xenon bulb life. I never use the Auto setting

By BMW has auto lights and never give a problem

[philiphenderson]

Originally Posted by civicfan

It would be much better IMHO if the light stayed on until you turn off the ignition and then perhaps 1 minute (allowing you to come home in the dark) - simple solutions are sometimes hard to figure out for designers. My wife has it programmed this way on her Citroen C4, in the Civic it's not programmable alas. She can also switch the lights on with the remote when nearing the car at night - very useful (and with xenons the battery drain is not even that bad)

I had a C4 VTS before my Civic and loved the fact that I could leave the lights in auto mode. They never came on (if required) until after the car was started and would come on 30 seconds or so if the wipers activated automatically.

Phil.

[bonzo]

I think most people would agree auto lights are nothing more than a gimmick, what's wrong with the old fashioned way, getting dark = turn on headlights, there, simple enough.
Another thing I have noticed is the green illumination light on the dash only tells you lights are on, it doesn't tell you side lights or dipped headlights, I would have thought it would be easy to see if there was a small green light telling you sidelights were on and a bigger one telling you dipped headlights were on, at dusk it's not easy to see if your headlights are on unless you come up behind someone and can see the reflection in the back of their car.

[rhodgreen]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

My 407 Company Car lights come on when I'm travelling at speed and the wipers are on - does the Civic do this or is it only light activated?

No such luck - if you're in heavy rain on the motorway in the middle of the day - you're the only one without lights on unless you overide things.
Overall, I have to say I'm happy with my auto lights, just the same as with my old Megane - but horrible when I drive other cars without them (like my frequent courtesy cars) and then forget to turn the lights on!!