Headlights Staying On?

[alien]

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this problem with the VY before:

I drive with lights on "Auto" all the time (yes i know i'm lazy). However a few times recently i've gotten to a carpark (underground) or parked inside a building in the day, but due to the dark the lights come on. When i park and then get out of my vehicle and lock it (i press the button twice to deadlock) the lights dont turn off. They have a period of 30 seconds where they should turn off if the car isn't locked and the keys are out, fairly sure that works. But none the less, i've got out and locked my car within probably 15 seconds and the lights have stayed on! First time i saw it was in Broadmeadows and i thought i just hadn't locked the car! Which would have been stupid, but then when it happened the second time i double checked and made sure the car was locked... it was! :S

Anyone had this problem? If so, how was it fixed? ECU Re-flashing by a Tech 2? Sticky relay?

[anonymousmoose]

On my WK Caprice I can manually adjust at what time duration I want the lights to stay on. I set it to two minutes. Have a look in your manual to see if you can find it. It should be in there. I know a mates VZ Equip has the same options.

If you get stuck, PM me and I will have a look back in my manual how to do it. From memory if you hold the up/down buttons down (at the speed limited console) right after you turn the ignition key the option menu should appear.

Maybe if you do have the option, you can reset your Auto lights to default and it may fix the issue.

[Junny]

does it turn off after abit? if not. press unlock before u lock then it should turn off when u press lock.

but it should turn off by itsself.

[vy_storm]

Mine stay on after the car is locked for set amount of time from when you either turn off or lock (can't remember)

I always get told I have left my lights on as I walk away from the car, so I set it to a shorter delay. Got tired of explaining myself to everyone.....

[HeadSwitch]

I always get told I have left my lights on as I walk away from the car, so I set it to a shorter delay. Got tired of explaining myself to everyone.....

I had to do that for the first time the other week. Someone was walking past my car while i was still sitting in it with the engine off say my lights were on. He probably didn't realise that I could easily tell due to the fact my dash was still lit up.


When you turn the ignition on, just keep an eye on the display on the dash. When it says push up or down press one of them and go through the options. There's a couple of options for the headlights like approach delay etc. All of the options are explained in the manual.

[PaulSV6]

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this problem with the VY before:

I drive with lights on "Auto" all the time (yes i know i'm lazy). However a few times recently i've gotten to a carpark (underground) or parked inside a building in the day, but due to the dark the lights come on. When i park and then get out of my vehicle and lock it (i press the button twice to deadlock) the lights dont turn off. They have a period of 30 seconds where they should turn off if the car isn't locked and the keys are out, fairly sure that works. But none the less, i've got out and locked my car within probably 15 seconds and the lights have stayed on! First time i saw it was in Broadmeadows and i thought i just hadn't locked the car! Which would have been stupid, but then when it happened the second time i double checked and made sure the car was locked... it was! :S

Anyone had this problem? If so, how was it fixed? ECU Re-flashing by a Tech 2? Sticky relay?

Yeah, as soon as u take the keys out of the ignition & lock the car the lights will stay on for wateva time (in ur case 30sec). Ur car is locked & the lights are still on after 15 seconds, so there's another 15 seconds until they turn off.

[Junny]

if you want them to turn off straight away and cant be bothered with turning the switch. when u get out of your car. press unlock then lock. should turn off straight away.

[alien]

OK, so you know my car normally switches the lights off as soon as i press the lock button. A few times it hasn't been doing it though.

I do know about the 30 seconds thing, but when i went shopping for at least 10 minutes and came back to the car and the lights were still on something sounds wrong to me!

This morning in my car they switched off when i lokced the car straight away! :S It's puzzling me as to why it's done it twice. Because i never look back at it anymore to see if they are off!

The way it should work is stay on for 30 seconds which i have set, unless the car locks in which case the lights go off. If i dont lock it the lights should switch off after 30 seconds anyways!

[SAV_117]

when i lock mine it still stakes 10seconds for them to turn off (mine is set to 10sec)

[alien]

Even so if it was this problem, it doesn't explain them staying on at least 10 minutes while i shop? When mine is set to 30 seconds?! Actually, sorry, mine is set to 1 second, the courtesy light is set to 30 seconds. Courtesy light doesn't stay on though

[Trevor 062]

I had the same prob on my VZ, it turned out to be a short with the tow bar wiring.

[Junny]

Even so if it was this problem, it doesn't explain them staying on at least 10 minutes while i shop? When mine is set to 30 seconds?! Actually, sorry, mine is set to 1 second, the courtesy light is set to 30 seconds. Courtesy light doesn't stay on though

did you try do what i said? works for me.

[alien]

Junny, i'm the sort of person that wants things to work they way they were meant to unless they've been modified otherwise! :P

Rovert, where abouts was your short in the tow bar wiring? I know my cars been setup for towing. It's got the tow bar and the flat cable inside the boot.

[Junny]

Junny, i'm the sort of person that wants things to work they way they were meant to unless they've been modified otherwise! :P

Rovert, where abouts was your short in the tow bar wiring? I know my cars been setup for towing. It's got the tow bar and the flat cable inside the boot.

yeah same here. but sometimes im scared by the time i come back to my car the batteries going to be dead. like the time when i left it on acc and passed out on my bed.

[PaulSV6]

I do know about the 30 seconds thing, but when i went shopping for at least 10 minutes and came back to the car and the lights were still on something sounds wrong to me!

This morning in my car they switched off when i lokced the car straight away! :S It's puzzling me as to why it's done it twice. Because i never look back at it anymore to see if they are off!

The way it should work is stay on for 30 seconds which i have set, unless the car locks in which case the lights go off. If i dont lock it the lights should switch off after 30 seconds anyways!

Change the time to see if it fixes the issue. It could either be a sticking/faulty relay or a software issue.

[Reaper]

I had that problem for the full time I owned a VY. They just sometimes wouldn't switch off. In the end I gave up and switched them off manually. Holden had a heap of tries but could never fix it. Neither my VE's have had this issue.

Reaper

[alien]

LOL, thanks Reaper, at least i know Holden wont be able to fix it!

PaulSV6, those were the 2 conclusions i came up with too, but Rovert has added another possibilty. I have many relays lying around, i'll try that and give it a go and see how it goes. It's only recently started happening, so looks like something that should be able to be easily fixed.

[Trevor 062]

Alien
Holden actually fixed mine.. I have a wagon & they found the wiring loom inside the cavity in the cargo area had some bare wires showing.