R34 Auto Headlight Switch?

[xntrq]

now that you mention it, i can't seem to remember a beeping with lights on + keys out. I know if i have door open + keys in, car will beep.

It should be the same beep... I'll double check later haha

The beep is faster when you have your headlights on, beep is slower when you have the lights off with the key in. Same tone as reversing but at different intervals. Shotty one for myself!

And yes, I assume it is for the lights to turn on automatically when it gets dark, as there are no other options that would make the lights work auto besides a feature where an oncoming vehicle, it will dip the HIDs a bit, but there are no sensors in the lights for this feature.

Will buy one and post results

[jay-rod]

Like i said xntrq

They are Auto turn on when you turn the car on.
Same as subarus

Meaning you can leave your lights on and turn the car off and the lights turn off automatticly

[Trex]

^ That's what I'd want.. Instead of turning your lights off for you lol..

Can anyone else confirm that it turns lights on when it gets dark?

I have the auto light stalk on mine, ill check tomorrow night... I remember when i first bought the car i noticed the lights came on around dusk, about an hour before you wanted them on. Also i imagine they would turn on and off when ever you go under shade...

I just drove it out of the garage and back in.

-Turn off when you open the door

-Turn on when it's dark/shady/still bright enough not to need them

edit. my handbook says you shouldn't leave them on or the battery will go flat, this was in the auto headlight section.

Edited May 16, 2013 by OS80RN

[Charles89]

Hmmmmm... So you are saying that you can't just leave the stalk on Auto when the car is off??

So basically I'd need to start the car, put it on Auto and when I get out or finish driving, turn it off?

[darksky34]

Hmmmmm... So you are saying that you can't just leave the stalk on Auto when the car is off??

So basically I'd need to start the car, put it on Auto and when I get out or finish driving, turn it off?

HAHAHAHHA if that's what you need to do then that makes it a redundant feature.

But the question is: for those of us whose cars didn't come with this stalk, will our car have the light sensor?

[Charles89]

I think all R34 has the light sensor? Its located on the front left of your dash.<br /><br />But can one of you guys please receive the stalk and test it quickly? So I can get one? There's only one left lol

[Trex]

ha i know, it's stupid. It could have been a typo or talking about the headlights in general. But it was in the auto headlight section.

my stag has 2 sensors, one on either side.

[Charles89]

Well I know stagea's also have an Auto mirrors option too. Where if you leave the switch in auto, it will automatically close your mirrors when you turn your car off and open them when you turn your car on.

[Trex]

Well I know stagea's also have an Auto mirrors option too. Where if you leave the switch in auto, it will automatically close your mirrors when you turn your car off and open them when you turn your car on.

Maybe on the 35's but the c34's don't.

I'd like the auto folding mirrors when powered down, until they start to fail and only close half way and don't open again 5am and in winter and you have to manually push it out haha.

Mine has the auto folding mirrors via the switch.

The 35's also dip automatically when reversing from what i've read on here.

It seems like a fun mod to have auto lights, but honestly guys, they aren't that great. They turn on in dusk and probable turn on and off when going through shady areas with trees. I personally used them once and never again until this afternoon.

Also charles, there are always people wrecking stageas on gumtree and on these forums.

Edited May 16, 2013 by OS80RN

[xntrq]

HAHAHAHHA if that's what you need to do then that makes it a redundant feature.

But the question is: for those of us whose cars didn't come with this stalk, will our car have the light sensor?

I think it's more of an option for people who drives to places that has plenty of tunnels or underground or where light doesn't usually go. I see a logic in having them set to auto when driving in sunlight, then tunel, sunlight again and tunel again so saves you the hassle of having to turn them off and on all the time, though I drive with my headlights on anyway regardless of the sunlight

But yes I'd assume if you leave it on auto, as you have no need to turn on the car to have the headlights work, of course it will drain the battery when it gets dark. Just as bad as leaving your headlights on when parking.

I think all R34 has the light sensor? Its located on the front left of your dash.<br /><br />But can one of you guys please receive the stalk and test it quickly? So I can get one? There's only one left lol

I received mine today, and tested it with no results.

The connectors to the switch is different to the non auto light stalks. I will be making mods to my plug to fit it, there are two extra "rail" tabs sticking out the side in which the non-auto one has the groove for it to slide into. I'll update this weekend.

[Charles89]

I received mine today, and tested it with no results.

The connectors to the switch is different to the non auto light stalks. I will be making mods to my plug to fit it, there are two extra "rail" tabs sticking out the side in which the non-auto one has the groove for it to slide into. I'll update this weekend.

Oh damn.... I hope you can get it to work, should be pretty cool feature to have

[34GeeTeeTee]

Yeah it was a bit too good to be true to be a plug in application

[JiN_MaN]

I had it on my '88 Cefiro. Confirming that when it got dark lights auto turned on/off

[Trex]

Yeah it was a bit too good to be true to be a plug in application

My dash has 2 sensors. My guess is 1 is for the climate control and the others a light sensor?

[Nic_H98]

I have a 2000 er34 sedan. And mine has it. Mine is jap spec so idk of it’s available In aus. 

[niZmO_Man]

All ER34s are "jap spec".

[MadMatt00001]

I have been following this topic for a while now so I decided to create an account and post my findings. I bought one of the auto sticks and as preciously said, it's not plug and play. First, I trimmed the plug to fit the auto stick, but the problem doesn't end there, not only do I think the wiring for the plug is different to the wiring of the plug for the stalks without the auto switch (explains the notch to prevent people from doing it XD), but the cars manufactured without the auto stalk are missing the auto headlight control unit, it's supposed to be located behind the combination meter, the plug is there (right up the back, it was taped to a black cylindrical bar, it's a gray plug), but alas, you need to find the unit at the wreckers and plug it in. If I get my hands on this part I'll gladly update you guys, as even though some people have said its not worth it, it's still an interesting thing to do and you learn a bit about the wiring of the car.

MadMatt

[MadMatt00001]

On 4/19/2018 at 8:37 PM, Nic_H98 said:

I have a 2000 er34 sedan. And mine has it. Mine is jap spec so idk of it’s available In aus. 

Are you able to remove the combination meter to show us what the auto headlight control unit looks like? it should be located right at the back (a largish module), it would be a great help for us to find one

MadMatt

P.S sorry for the double post, there was no option to add a quote to my post

[MadMatt00001]

Was fortunate enough to find it at a wrecking yard, it's an L shaped black thing with a light sensor on top, it is also accompanied by a bit of trip that has a clear plastic circle piece in it, it's available only in sedan models, but fits coupe models, to get this to work, either a new loom is required for the headlights, etc, or running new cables and chopping the old ones, I may end up doing the latter, however there are two relays that I can't find, the tail lamp relay, and the headlight relay, I'm not sure if they are in the fuse box in the engine bay, or under the dash, the headlight relay in the worship manual for the auto headlight has 7 pins, maybe somebody can solve this mystery until I next get a chance to see a sedan r34

MadMatt

[MadMatt00001]

Well, for anybody who is still interested in having the auto headlight feature, here's a simple guide. This feature was only available on sedan models or as an optional extra as I have gathered.

Things required:

R34 sedan fuse box (as we need the exclusive 7 pin relays (6 pin really) that the sedan has) ~ $50

Auto headlight stalk ~ $15-20

Auto headlight control unit with trim with a clear plastic circle (black L shaped box posted above, trim is located directly above the unit, the bit with the grill) ~ $20-30

Soldering iron

Wire (coloured is preferable, red and black coloured wires was what I used)

Electrical tape (I don't specifically tell you to use it, but whenever you have finished soldering a joint etc, wrap it up)

Total cost of car parts $85-100

Difficulty - Hard (not for the faint of heart, as we will be ripping the car to pieces xD you have been warned!)

1. This is the easiest part, acquire all the bits and find the connected for the auto headlight control unit (behind the cluster) it should be a light grey plug and is taped to the loom running across the back.

2. Go open the bonnet and unbolt the fuse box, note to do this you will need to take off the funnel for the window washing liquid (just give it a small pull after undoing the bolt holding it in) and take the battery out (probably a good thing for what we are going to do next)

3. This is a little tricky, we need to get access to the underneath of the fuse and relay panel, to do this, there are 4 tabs located on the top and bottom of the brown panel holding the fuses and relays in, once all four are pushed in, you can proceed with lifting it up. It doesn't budge you say? Oh right.. you need to undo the Japanese bondage tape (MCM reference xD) where the loom enters from the drivers side side panel to the fuse box (it covers a plastic tab on the fuse box), this frees the fuse box and allows you to push the loom into the fuse box so that the brown piece can lift out with a bit more ease. Next, have a look at the bottom of the sedan box and coupe box, you will notice on the coupe that the relay holder down the bottom is missing 3 pins, grab the wires with the sockets on them from the sedan version by using a small flat head to bend the plastic bits and slide the connectors out then insert them into the coupe fuse box, they should click in and not come back out. That's the easy part..

4. If you made it this far you are determined, it's not so bad, now, undo the connectors to the head light stalk, next you need to take the drivers side side panel off (mind the paint, it's too easy for the clips on the inside of the drivers side door to scratch the door when taking it off the car >.>) now, look at the r34 workshop manual and scroll down to the auto headlight section, have a look at the headlight stalk connector pins, we will be referring to this layout (for reference, you are looking at the back of the plug, not the front, stupid I know as its more annoying to test). For this part, we need to run 3 new wires from the headlight stalk to the fuse box (run them along the loom as it helps). Next go to the fuse box side and solder one of the wires you just ran to the fuse box to the thinner wire we inserted into the fuse box earlier, next, push out the 2 relays for the head light left and right and cut the wires leading to them, now this is just a guessing game, if you don't care about the fuses being misleading, just solder the 2 xenon wires to the other 2 wires we placed in the fuse box, and you are done, if you care about the order of the fuses, unsolder then switch them around, that's the low beams done. To tidy up, there is a holder for 2 15A fuses on the bottom right of the fuse box, cut the fat red wire going to it and pull, if you cut the relays before, the 2 wires should do a loop the loop around the fuse box and come out cleanly, as for the fat red wire, it's connected on the top of the fuse box, just cut it off, as it's not needed anymore, and put the 2 15A fuses in the bottom two empty slots of the fuse box, cut the wires back from the relays cut earlier and tape them at the ends, connect the battery and test to see if the low beams work after you touch the wire going to the head light stalk to ground if so, we shall move on.

Continued in the next post

Edited July 20, 2018 by MadMatt00001