Hi all...... 2002 X-Type 2.5
Several times when I have exited car and turned lights off, headlights have stayed on for quite awhile. I like this feature (I am a woman and it's dark here at 5 now!), but it does not always happen.

What am I doing to make this happen? Can't figure it out. Fog lights having been on or off have anything to do with? Turning off key before lights? Don't think I am pressing headlight button on key controller.

Safety First out there!! Help me keep myself lit when I exit!! Night-shopping demands it!! Thanks!!

 

I had a 1997 Buick that if you turned the lights on, then turned the key off before turning the lights off, the lights would go out when you turned them off. They would stay on if I turned the lights off then turned the car off. Try it both ways and see if you can get it to do it again.

 

UHHH?You've got me good buddy

LOL

 

lol...yes, you read it right. Follow:

The lights on this Buick came on anytime the car was on. They were designed to stay on (as a safety feature, I guess) even when you shut the car off. The trick was, though, that if you actually turned the light switch on, then shut the car off, THEN shut the light switch off, the lights would go off. If, when the car was running, the light switch was off (even though the lights would be on...daytime running lights), then you shut the car off, the lights would stay on for about 2 or 3 minutes (again, safety feature, I guess). Don't ask ME why it did that!! I didn't designed the stupid thing...lol.

 

ROFLMHO

Ah,
So engine running, lights switched off, they are on.
engine running, lights switched on, they are on.
engine off, lights switched off, they are on.
lights on, car off, lights off = lights off after a while.

Would you then need to stay and watch the car, to see if the lights really did go off?

Got it, now I see why we don't have Buicks over here, getting the user manuals translated would have been hilarious.

But I can see your logic, and hope that it helps with Joni's security feature.
Be a good idea if the time delay was a programmable feature (perhaps it is, don't know).

Cheers,

 

More or less, yes...except the last one:

engine running, lights on, turn car off, then turn lights off = lights off immediately

Yea, it's a crazy thing, but that's a security feature of some newer cars (the lights staying on after the car is shut off). I think the weirdness of the Buick was simply someone playing ajoke on future owners...lol.

 

I am not understanding. I am so confused. Maybe I had better just play with it and figure out what happens. But I will do itindoors, not in the driveway, as my neighbors will think I am totally crazy, jumping in and out of the car, turning on and off etc.... LOL

 

OK...do your lights come on automatically when you turn your car on?

 

Hi Joni, I've never been in an X-Type but I assume it has a similar set up. On the XJ headlamp switch there are three positions past "AUTO" which are only marked by lines. These positions determine how long the headlamps will remain on after the engine is turned off. 10, 30 and 120 seconds respectivley. If you turn the switch to one of the lines then the lights will stay on after the engine is turned off. Please let us know if this helps.

 

Hi all, thanks for the replies!!

Motomo, my lights do not come on when I turn car on. (only the inside lights, which fade out after car is turned on).

JackJ, There is no option, when turning the headlight switch, with "lines" to delay them turning off, at least not as far as I can see.

Where it's at is "lights off". The next the next figure over is "parking ( or dusk) lights". The next one over is "headlights and tail lights on".

Then... you can actually pull OUT the switch one notch or two. One notch is "front fog lights", two notches is "front and rear fog lights".

On the actual switch itself, the bulb picture at the bottom side is just there to show you that this is where to turn on the lights. The left of the switch part, the squiggly lines and bulb pic, is to show you (via the little arrow) that you can pull out the switch itself to do fog lights... see above.

The doo-hickey at the bottom BELOW switch part is for dash light brightness adjustment.

 

P.S.... and naturally, the owner's manual says nothing at all about how you go about having lights stay on for a period of time after you exit car.





.

 

Joni, I found your answer and you are going to laugh when you hear it. Pull out your key fob. If you look on the front of the key fob, you have 4 buttons that you can press. The upper left button is for locking the doors. The upper right one is for unlocking the doors. The bottom right is for opening the trunk/boot. The bottom left button has what looks like a light shining down. If you lock the doors and then push this button, it will cause your headlights to come on for up to 30 seconds (can be turned off by either pressing this button again or turning the ignition switch to the II position).

Are you laughing with me here? What was probably happening is you were "fat fingering" the buttons and pressing the lock and headlight buttons at the same time. Sometimes it senses both buttons, some times it don't. Hence why you were only getting the lights some of the time.

I bet you are going out to your car and trying this out right now. I found the answer in the electronic version of the owner's manual in section 4. It talks about it in the bottom right corner of one of the pages (like page 8 or something like that).

P.S. I just confirmed it on my car while sitting at the computer. IT WORKS!!!!!!!! LMAO.

 

Hello Thermo,

You've helped me so many times in the past and here you are again! This evening I went into the garage and found my unlocked car with the headlights on. It is quite possible that I accidentally pressed the light button on my key fob while I was still in the house, but now I'm wondering how long those lights may have been on. Do they turn off automatically after a certain number of minutes or do I need to be concerned about my battery?

Many thanks!

 

CaliGirl, like I mentioned, the lights will remain on for around 30 seconds. If the car starts when you get in it, do not worry any more than the car starting. If the headlights are coming on for other reasons (ie, internal fault of the car), then yes, this would be of concern and should be looked at. If you drove the car and now the lights are working just fine, call it an accidental hit of the fob and leave it at that.

 

Thank you, Thermo. Yes, my car started again, but my concern was how long the headlights may have been on because my car was NOT locked. From the manuals I've read, the 30-second "convenience light" stays on after locking the car to illuminate one's way inside. I don't lock my car when I park it in the garage, so I don't understand how long the headlights might stay on if I accidentally hit the headlight button on my key fob while I'm in the house (and the car is in the garage.)

I'm hoping the 30-second limit still applies, but would like to know if that's the case.

Thanks again, very much, for your kind attention and replies.

 

Caligirl, worst case, play with the car a little bit. Step out into the garage, hit the button that causes the lights to come on and start a stop watch too. Then stand there for up to 5 minutes (not that I am figuring you will have to stand there that long). I bet you will find that after 30 seconds, the lights will go out on their own.

 

Thermo, thanks again, very much, for always being such a ready and reasonable resource. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Hi
My question is not exactly on the topic but is related with headlights.
I starting to make an upgrade to my 2005 X-Type 2.0Diesel for auto-headlights.

I got an headlight switch that have integrated this functionality and replaced the old one.
In wiring installation service manual, i did not found anything about the light sensor or where this is placed.
I thought there is something related with rain sensor that is placed on the windscreen or maybe with autochromathic mirror that have integrated two different photocell sensors on it.

As well, i scanned my car with JLR SDD 138 software and there is no option regarding auto-headlight switch.



Any information's / wiring diagram will be really appreciated.

Regards
Nick

 

Nick, PM me your e-mail addy and I will send you a complete set of wiring diagrams for your car.

As for the auto headlight function of your car, there is a sensor in the rear view mirror. What you will need to check for is the big plug that goes into the headlight switch, look for pin 14. There should be a green wire going to that pin. If you don't have the wire, then you don't have the sensor and to make this work will require some wiring to be done on your part.

If you need more info, let me know.

 

Thank you SO MUCH Thermo.

I thought there must be something related with rain sensor.
I bought from eBay this rain sensor, auto-chromatic mirror and windscreen bracket to fix this, wiring loom between rain sensor and fuse box (i think) as well, i got as well raid sensor module that have to be installed under dashboard.

Once again, that you for advice's and i will PM you my email address.
As well, i am looking for an facelift from classic radiocd to SatNat. I will open another topic for this subject. I am eager to start work in this project as well because i already bought my SatNat unit and i need to get wiring loom for this to perform replacement.

Regards
Nick