Headlights Staying on

Ever notice that when you park you taco, if you open the door before removing the keys from the ignition, your headlights do not turn off?

Well a lot of times I'm in a hurry so after she is in park, I guess I open the door as I'm removing the keys. The daytime running lights stay on. Of course I don't notice until I return to a dead battery. This happens about once every 2 or 3 weeks.

Is there a way to have the daytime running lights turn off when you open the door regardless of the order in which you remove the keys?

Thanks guys!

 

My 2012 doesn't do this... ?

 

Neither does my 2010. Must be an 09 and < thing.

 

My 07 goes off once you open the door...

 

Not a 'pre 09' thing. Truck is running, turn ignition off & open door headlights should turn off.

 

Right but if you open the door then turn the ignition off, get out and close the door the lights stay on.

 

Even if the truck is still running?

 

Mine do the same, you have to open the door after the car is turned off. Also, if you get out but leave the car running for your wife and kids to have ac, but then they get out on the passenger side after turning off the car; same results.

 

Oh and lately it seems as if the trigger/sensor is sticking. This is the problem I am currently trying to diagnose, I will turn my truck off, open the door, see the lights do not go off (you can tell by looking at the odometer to see if it is back lit), close the door and open again. This has only started happening over the last month.

 

How do we get the lights to turn off when we open the door regardless of if the keys are in the ignition or not?

 

That I can't answer; disable the trigger but then would that cause your door ajar sensor to always be on? I would imagine any and all door functions are wired to the same trigger, so you would have to find the correct wire to snip, but the wrong one and

 

What you are dealing with is the "safety illumination" system. This allows you at night to open the door, turn off the ignition, and have a time-delayed operation of the headlights to illuminate your way to the front door. It appears that your timer is not working. I am not sure on the newer Toyotas what module has the timer. I would assume the DRL module. I will try to see if I can find something. If I don't come back and respond then I probably haven't found anything.

 

06 Tacoma, just for reference

-Lights turned to 'ON', Turn off truck, open door, lights go off when door is opened or after X amount of time if door is not opened

-Lights turned to 'ON', open door, turn off truck, lights go off immediately

-Lights turned to 'OFF', turn off truck, open door, Turn lights to 'ON', lights come on and stay on

-Lights turned to 'OFF', open door, turn off truck, Turn lights to 'ON', lights come on and stay on

 

I know your knowledge is much greater than mine, but are you referring to when you use the keyless entry remote? I know that when I get out of the car and lock the doors the lights come on (and when unlocking and getting out), this seems to work fine. I think the OP and myself are having problems before it even gets there. If we drive with our daytime running lights and then turn off out trucks, the lights stay illuminated like you said once the car is off, but then are supposed to shut off when the door is opened. Then come back on when you lock the doors. Mine are never going off when we turn off the car and get out, and the OP just wants to disable this feature to always go off when opening the door.

Please work your magic and let us know the problem and how to fix it.

 

Thanks!

I've never known taco lights are supposed to turn of after a certain time after leaving the vehicle.

Did everyone else know this?

 

Same happens with the standard headlights, not just the DTRL. Ever since I owned my '05 Tacoma I've been in the habit of shutting engine off before opening the door.

 

Mine used to, but now it is sporadic, sometimes they stay on until I open and shut the door a couple of times.

Not mine

 

I had something odd happen with my lights (can't remember what right off, but it's why I learned how the lights function). I cycled the truck with the lights in different positions and it went away

Try this:
turn lights 'OFF', turn truck on, turn 'ON' the lights and then exit vehicle with your normal procedure.

 

Cool, I'll try, thanks.




Sidenote: any word on the head unit?

 

I didn't know it did this. Will try it on my 2011 after work. I've spent the last year wishing it had this feature. Hahahaha Thanks!