Seeking input on putting AUTO headlights on a truck that didn't come with them

Auto in the trucks at work for me is standard fair for Canadian trucks... DRL on... there is one truck, a GMC with Auto lamps and when you shut off the truck the reverse lamps turn on for 30 seconds. This triggers the back up alarm. Funny system.. cycling the switch to off momentarily shuts it off. The switch is spring loaded and returns to auto.

 

Yeah definitely not safe to turn off headlights with parking brake set after they were on. No good reason to pay any attention to the parking brake really.

Johnny, one thing your truck is superior to my truck with is auto headlights. Another is TSS. Two things I will never have.

On the odyssey I find myself overriding auto and going low/high explicitly on our Palm Desert drives. I want as much high beam as I can get but don’t want to bother other drivers. Also on the narrow twisties I want the ss3 Max’s on so I don’t want high beams to fire and I definitely don’t want the short delay of blinding oncoming drivers.

 

Interesting. Recently, I’ve used auto high beams on my taco and was blown away how precise it was. Auto high beam feature sounds kind of dumb but it actually is a very good idea.

 

The reason for a small delay is so it can tell if it is dark or not. They could be wired to come on anytime the truck is turned on, and turn off if it’s light enough after a delay. But I think giving it at least a second to decide if they need to turn on at all might be preferable? Would a 1 second delay be too long? What if it could be user adjustable? Is that something you would be willing to pay for? Like an extra $20 or so?

The reasoning for a start up delay is mainly to give it a second to judge if it is actually dark out. It could probably be as low as a second I would guess without being too sensitive. And yes, there needs to be a delay in them turning off as well. Wouldn’t want them turning off if you drive under a bright street light or something. Trying to find that time is a trick though. Don’t want it to be too short that the lights are turning off all the time, but don’t want it so high that if you come out of a tunnel the lights don’t shut off forever. That is what I am trying to determine, where that spot is.

 

If my option was 1 or 10 seconds at start up I don't see myself paying extra for 1 second. A younger self may have if it gives me control of that and maybe more. I'll figure out how my Subaru and GMC sense light then grab numbers. I'd imagine they're using a timer as well? Should have said up front I don't have my Tacoma yet.

 

Yeah, check it out on those. I suspect there is a short delay as well. I appreciate any data I can get

 

I haven't timed it, but I went through a tunnel today and judging by how far I was in before the lights turned on, I would say it was about 3 seconds. I will see if I can remember to time it tomorrow.

 

Nah I don't think one second is a lot at all. Especially if that's what it needs.

 

Parking brake defeat is a good idea. General defeat is also nice. 2-3 second delay on, 5+ seconds delay off. I generally drive with drl on. I use the auto-high switch, but pretty rarely. Single oem switch in the console just like the auto-high would be optimal.

 

I actually kicked around the idea of just repurposing the AUTO switch. @daveeasa suggested making it operate both.

 

I’d vote separate. I generally *don’t* use auto-high but would regularly use auto-on.

 

My thinking was combo of auto button plus stalk position.

 

Let me get this straight…you don’t like your high beams to turn off for oncoming vehicles?

 

I’d have to go look at my stalk, but I think that would mean sacrificing some other function, or engaging some other function. Auto-on is generally a set and forget, so I’m good with a separate console switch. But I am open to other solutions.

 

Yeah, if the AUTO switch did both, you would still have to have the stalk pushed forward to engage the AUTO high beams. Fortunately, the switching isn't terribly complex, so I could probably offer a couple of options on that.

 

Ill bite! hey Johnny; if this is as good as the last one I got; we should have a nice easy way to add this feature.

my wife's 17' rav4 limited has Auto headlights, works great.

on the stalk, the switch says DRL/Auto .

For the Auto Headlights feature to work, DRL must be in the on position. Thats it.
Once the parking brake is taken off at night, the headlight lights kick on almost immediately. Otherwise DRL

on the Rav.
When locking with the remote the headlights shut off with a double click of the remote & if just locking by one click of the remote, all lights shut off about 45 seconds seconds (maybe a little longer)



At dusk, or driving in a tunnel; i notice the lighting needs to be just dark enough & for a certain duration to trigger the photovoltaic sensor...


at night the sensor is hit with a bright light, it needs some sort of exposure time before the lights shut off too.


I would see myself wanting the feature.


how are you thinking about making this work?

The light sensor and auto off is probably going to be the fun part.

 

I think I’m in the same boat as this mostly. Parking brake kill could be user option (if the poll is split) but I’d use it. 3 on/5 off sounds like good numbers. Separate switch to those with auto high because that function is dead to me (worthless anywhere there’s street lights/signs etc). Not sure I follow the changes to the stalk but I’d probably like it just as a switch solo. Stalk stays in park position (there was a reason for this over drl but honestly can’t remember anymore and it stuck. I know I know parking lights for parking).

And I’d probably spend the extra on an oem sensor @Puppypunter other than that I think if you keep it rather simple and similar oem functions would be best w/ no extra frills

 

For the DELAY in order to verify if it's dark enough to switch ON, there would be a need to add a second light sensor and a logic board for it to compare the inputs. All this with a trimmable pot. OEM does this without dual sensors, so you'd be getting into waters others have not.

 

P.S. I'm for headlights ON when wipers are ON, with a delay. If logic board has setting for wiper input delay that would be excellent. Cycling ON n OFF due to street illumination would be photo cell logic sensitivity setting.

 

I looked into using an OEM sensor. It didn’t work with the set up I’m using unfortunately. Also, a good deal on it was $120…
I could make the parking brake override optional easy enough I think.

Yeah… I’m not getting that complicated The sensor will be adjustable for sensitivity, but other than that it is a timer (or possible a series of timers most likely). Using a single timer I can make a delay on/off. Using multiple timers, I can make different stages. The more timers, the more tunable the behavior. Also, I know you have looked into the wiper/headlight function, so I’ll hit you up on wiper behavior. I am thinking if it is a ground signal from the stalk, or if there is a constant positive going to the motor or something, it should be an easy add on.