My girlfriend just picked up a 2007 Civic, and the stupid headlights stay on and make a godawful noise when you shut the car off.

Is there a simple way to rewire someone's lights (whatever the make of the car) so that they will behave like a Suby's light system (you can leave the lights in the on position at all times)?

I don't know much about Civics (I have much more experierence with Mazdas and Subarus) but if I had a wiring schematic or someone could tell me the color of the wire that runs through the steering column for the headlight switch I could snip the wire and run it to a 12v ACC line instead.

 

Sorry to sound a little dumb but, for clarification sake, you are saying that the headlights don't turn off when the car is turned off? If I'm not reading into this, are we refering to the DRL's or the normal head lights? The normal head lights have to be turned off at the stalk. The DRL's will turn off if you pull the ebrake and turn off the car. Also, the DRL's will turn on when the parking brake is released when first starting the car.

I hope I am making sense. Also, that little parking light switch on the top of the subie steering columns can suck my *****. I couldn't figure out how to turn that stupid thing off when I was vacationing in Hawaii. I ended killing the battery. I discovered the switch too late and found that WRX's have less interior room than my FG2. I also, didn't like the doors. They reminded me of a sardine can.

Excuse the rant, I'm not hard for subie's except the STI and the Legacy Spec B minus the prior mentioned issues.

 

are u talking about how like an accord v6... when u shut the car off, the lights will automatically shut themselves off after a minute or so? i honestly didnt read all of the OP

 

I believe he's looking for an auto on/auto off feature.... sure, you can jimmy-rig it, not recommended, but it's do-able.

 

He's talking about the chime that goes off if you forget to turn the lights off.

Just turn the lights off man, don't be lazy.

 

I am not talking about the DRLs. I am talking about how the headlights stay on if you dont physically shut them off. In my WRX, if I turn the lights completely on and shut off the car, the lights shut off immediately. When I turn the car back on, they come on.

 

Yeah, it's do-able, I haven't heard of anyone doing that kind of conversion for the 06 civic's, although I'm sure it's not all that complicated, cut a wire from the switch and hit it up to a 12-volt, just gotta find where the wire is for the headlights. And since you can't post pages from helms on here, I recommend either consulting a dealership, as long as you have a friend there, he'd be able to pull up wiring on it.

 

no one knows what the color of the headlight wire is here that goes through the steering column?

 

What about splicing the wires and wiring a switch to inside the vehicle?


Modified by November at 8:02 AM 2/24/2007

 

if its that important just buy a helm manual... there you go, wire diagrams.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by November &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What about splicing the wires and wiring a switch to inside the vehicle?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Why add another switch? They're already too lazy to turn off the lights?

Dude, just turn the lights off when you get out of the car. My EVO turned off automatically, but I never needed it b/c I turn off the lights when I get out of the car. Takes about an extra 2/10's of a sec.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by will_rex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Why add another switch? They're already too lazy to turn off the lights?

Dude, just turn the lights off when you get out of the car. My EVO turned off automatically, but I never needed it b/c I turn off the lights when I get out of the car. Takes about an extra 2/10's of a sec.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think it is funny that he is willing to spend the hours to do this modification, but not to simply turn the damn lights off.


Jon

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaF1Fanatic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I think it is funny that he is willing to spend the hours to do this modification, but not to simply turn the damn lights off.


Jon</TD></TR></TABLE>


my thoughts exactly, a good car gonna go bad

 

you guys are all missing the point.

In this modern age it's really stupid that car designers even let the lights be on when the key is pulled out of the car at all! ALL cars should automatically shut off their exterior lights when the system is turn off (key position 0).

99% of people don't use their headlights when the engine isn't running. There's just no reason to leave the headlights on at all.

It's really bad user interface design. PERIOD! It was a bad idea 40 years ago and it still is today.

If they can wire the rear defrost to shut off when the ignition is in position 1 or 0, they can do the same to the headlights.

As for the "just shut off the damn lights comments" ? You guys really are missing the whole point. I'll repeat it again: BAD USER INTERFACE DESIGN! As a designer of user interfaces I can tell you one important rule: ALWAYS assume the user is an idiot. That's called idiot proofing. We software people do a lot of work in idiot proofing the programs that you all use everyday... even the simple ATM. So why can't car designers do the same?

Sorry if I sound ranty but I just went through a dead battery this morning because the wife forgot to shut off her headlights. So I'm going to side with the O.P: How do you wire it so that the headlights automatically go off in a '07 civic when the ignition is turned off?

Without actually posting the pages from the Hane's manuals, can anyone tell me where I should jump the wires or maybe even install a relay to act as an auto-off switch?

Side rant: Now I can't find her stupid radio card and the radio is locked out. Brilliant!

 

Honda did assume people are idiots, as the person you have described, that's why there's a chime when it's left on with the keys out.

Make this a lesson learned. If the lights are consistently being left on, you should blame the wife and not the manufacturer. I've left the headlights on ONCE and now I make a habit of checking it EVERY SINGLE TIME I take my keys of out the ignition.

Not surprised where this world is coming to, it's always the other party's fault.

 

So when we shut off (ignition position 0) this is what happens:

- Radio turns off entirely
- Ventilation fan turns off
- Defroster turns off (rear and side mirrors)
- Turn signals no longer work
- Heated seats turn off (optional equipment)
- FOG LIGHTS turn off (optional equipment)

These are all components that can be turned off manually by the driver! They are ALL turned off automatically when shutting the car off under the pretext of "saving the battery". Even the Honda FOG LIGHTS turn off!

But the side markers and headlights don't ? Are you kidding me?

I see no valid argument why the headlights should remain on when the car is off. Especially given that of all the devices listed, save perhaps the defroster, they're the most power consuming devices that are manually controlled.

It isn't so much about placing the blame on Honda as it is about saying that auto manufacturers just got it wrong!

 

AND NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS:

I've been reading the electrical diagrams for the 2006 civic, which I assume is identical on the 2007. It doesn't look like it'll be too hard to make the lights auto-off.

Here's the specs of my design:

1 - Auto-off; The secret is to connect the orng/white wire (hot when ign=2) under the steering column going to the to the + side of the relay electro magnet and the - side to the black wire (ground). Next cut the black wire going from the relay to the switch in the stalk. Next connect the black wire (that goes to the dashboard) to normally open terminal of the relay and connect the black wire (that goes to the stalk) on the output terminal.
2 - Delay; Add a capacitor across the relay's + and - terminals. The exact capacitor rating will need to be found by figuring out the current draw. The target is a 30 second delay to shut off.
3 - Auto lights on; This still needs to be figured out but the principal is sound as I've done this with a Radio Shack electronics kit decades ago. A photo-cell will trigger the relay above when no light is applied, or the light drops below a certain point. An "auto" switch will be needed to enable the automatic headlights.

The idea is that you'll always leave the headlight switch to the on position. if you shut the car off it'll always turn off the lights after a short delay. If the auto switch is turned on then your headlights will only turn on when it's dark. If the auto switch is off, the headlights are always on when the main headlight switch is on.

I was worried that it would interfere with the 4 way hazards but after looking at the circuitry it doesn't seem to be an issue. The hazards are on a separate circuit which makes sense if you think about it: turn signals don't operate unless ign=2 but hazards can always operate even when ign=0.

The only downside that I see, and this is only a problem with #3 (auto headlights on), is the passing beams (when you pull on the stalk to flash high beams). Normally they work even when your headlights are off. But because the passing beam is using a diode inside the "combination light switch", as Honda calls it, there's no way I can isolate that circuit. So if I build this auto-on circuit, I lose the "passing beams when lights off". When headlights are on, no problem.

Once I'm done with my weekend project, I'll post a how-to.... IF IT WORKS!