Headlights-on alarm

Good Afternoon,

New here and to Toyota, always been GM till now. One of the things GM has had for years is the auto on/off headlights feature which I have become accustomed to. My newly purchased (used) 05 Tacoma does not have this (not a big deal). However, there does not seem to be a headlights-on alarm (other than the dash indicator) when you exit the vehicle. I haven't come across mention of any in the owners manual. Years ago I added these to my GM vehicles, a little piezo buzzer assembly - maybe someone can enlighten me here and save me some time?

Thanks!

 

I can't be certain about the 05, but on my 07, the headlights turn off if the key is removed and the drivers door is opened. That's better to me than an alarm.

 

You are right on both counts.
(Too much conditioning to warning buzzers over the years)

 

my 03 is the same way

 

I do the same thing. I found out about this feature by accident! I left them on when I got to a client site, got out and went inside after I shut the engine off. I notice when I started it back up the lights were reflecting on something in front of me. I had been there a couple hours and thought to myself "crap! I might've drained the battery!". But then I decided I didn't remember seeing them on when I walked around the front to go inside. So at my next stop I left them on, and checked them manually. They were in fact off, so now I rarely ever turn them off.

 

My corolla had that. Hated it too since I did NOT have the option to turn them off. We'd go to a drive in movie or night light shows that asked you to turn off the headlights, and I couldn't. Had to splice a switch into a wire on the controller above the glove box. I like having lights on for visibility, but the DRL's on my car didn't turn on the tail lights so I was only more visible to oncoming traffic. They also went on and off driving through shadows from trees, bridges, etc. Very annoying.

I just click the lights to driving lights and leave them on unless it's dark out. Better visibility, no headlights shinning at people.

 

thanks for the tip i drive a chevey work van and hate the drl the oly way i found out to turn the off is put the parking brake on

 

This sounds like a great DIY for someone with the necessary initiative and time. How hard would it be to add a photosensitive switch and necessary relay(s) to create an Auto function like is available on many other vehicles.

Take it another step, is it available on another Toyota and could we grab the light switch off the column to replace ours...

Hmmm...... I don't think I have the know-how yet, but I'll be looking into this before long.

 

My 98 Corolla had it. It involved a photo sensor and some kind of controller box above the glove box. Or at least something in a box that controlled other things.

The headlights came on in a lower-power setting when the ebrake was released so you'd have to tie into the ebrake. Then the photo sensor turned the headlights up to full power, turned on marker lights, tail lights, and dash lights when it was dark enough.

Trust me IT'S NOT WORTH IT!! You had NO option to turn the lights off once the photo sensor kicked them on completely so any sort of "stealth mission" or courtesy requiring lights out is a no-go. They also blink traveling through multiple shadows (several bridges, tree lined road, etc) as you travel from light to shadow to light to shadow. Makes the people behind you think you're flashing the lights or maybe hitting the brakes at first, and makes the dash lights flash which can be annoying.

As soon as I figured out how to disable that system I did, and it's been off for around 5 years now. Only wish I had found that out sooner. It would've been off the week after I brought it home.

Sure it was nice to never touch the headlight switch, and just let the sensor kick them on. But the novelty wore off as soon as I wanted to turn them off and couldn't unless I turned the engine off, cocked the ebrake 1 notch, and started back up. Also, there was a bit of a delay turning on the full headlights via the sensor so 9 times out of 10 I just manually turned them on so I could see the dash lights. Being under a bright light like a gas station at night or parking lot would mess with it too and the tail lights wouldn't come on right away. Bad to drive away with the tail lights off! Again, I ended up turning them on manually, and manually turning to running light position just to get the tail lights on for better visibility anyway. I don't want someone rear ending be because they didn't see the back of my car in a shadow, under a bridge, around a corner, through the fog/rain/snow/whatever. So I think it's stupid that DRL systems only turn on the headlights like no one behind you needs to see you! Combine that with the fact so many people have DRL's now and don't think they "need" to turn their lights on for rain, fog, snow, etc so they drive along with the back end completely dark and hard to see.

Sorry for the long post... lol I just think DRL's should turn on the tail lights too or not be on the vehicle at all so the operator must pay attention.

Oh, and get this: while the car turned them on automatically, if you turned them on it didn't turn them OFF automatically (like via the driver door like the truck does). I'd rather leave mine on all the time with a manually override option and use the door to shut them off.)

 

My wife's G35 has an Auto position on the light switch on the column that keeps the DRL on when it's light out and kicks into regular headlights when it gets dark. That way you're not running with headlights on during the day (I prefer this for bulb longevity and general annoyance factor) but you don't have to switch anything to have headlights come on when needed.

The switch has 4 positions: off, running lights on, headlights on, Auto. If it's in the off position, all lights are off.
The auto also dims the instrument/dash lights when the headlights come on.

I'm a big fan of that set up.

 

^that's kinda cool! Auto, but with driver control! Nice. Bet it would be a pain in the ass to wire up though...

 

I HATE that. Cars making decisions for me. If I'm too dumb to work my headlights, I shouldn't be driving.


Rob