Auto headlights staying on?

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EDI GTI
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Auto headlights staying on?

Post by EDI GTI »

Hello lovely people,

Back again with another issue, and seeing as you guys have been more helpful than any of the useless plods in VW's Servicing Dept. I'm hoping some of you might know why this is happening.

Recently I put a topic up about the faulty sensor in my windscreen washer reservoir, my car is still booked in to get that fixed on March 2nd. The fault has now decided to be intermittent so some days I get the warning, others I don't - however I'll still be getting them to change it.

In the last week however my car has decided to play up even more. My Polo GTI 6C has the Auto lights feature on it which means it has the coming home feature. I set this up on the day I got the car, so its always been set that when I unlock the car, the lights come on for 20 seconds then go off. My lights have never stayed on once the car has been locked and I've left it - I'm sure this is meant to happen as that is a part of the feature, but the lights staying on when I've gone is nothing I need. However in the last week, sometimes my lights are now deciding to stay on after I leave. They will stay on for about 20 seconds and then turn off themselves automatically.

My light dial is always on Auto - its been there since the day I got it and always worked perfectly, the coming and leaving home function in the cars menu have always been at 20 seconds, but like I said, this has never happened before. Now in the last week its happened 4 times. There also isn't any pattern to this;

First Time - Middle of the day, sun was out - headlights were off. I got out the car and bam, dipped beam headlights were on for about 20 seconds then shut off.
Second Time - Late evening, parked the car outside my house and there they were (even though 10 minutes prior I locked the car somewhere else and they didn't come on)
Third Time - Again evening, dipped beams were on and again randomly decided to stay on
Fourth Time - Morning as I parked my car in work in an underground car park - however didn't happen after lunch when I went out and came back and parked in the same spot???

Usually on cars that have this coming home function as well when you double press the lock button on your key the headlights shut off - however when I tried doing this the lights stayed on until they felt like it.

Again this is a minor issue but I'm worried this, the washer sensor, is there something more serious wrong with the car? I don't get why its being so temperamental as I haven't touched anything? Do your thing peeps!
Dink
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Re: Auto headlights staying on?

Post by Dink »

i also have the coming home/leaving home auto head lights.

unlock (leaving home) should bring on the lights for set amount of time

locking (coming home) should only work if you flash the main beam then stay on for set time or until you lock it.

i have changed the coding of mine and the coming home function is now auto(come on as i open the door) but now stay on for set time even after i lock it.
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EDI GTI
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Re: Auto headlights staying on?

Post by EDI GTI »

Thanks for the response Dink, from what you have said mine still don't seem to fit that profile. I haven't ever flashed my lights before leaving the car, and locking the car doesn't change anything - they seem to always be on a timer (when they do stay on).

Mine sound more like what yours are now after you have changed the coding on them, but this is certainly not something I have done so doesn't seem to make any sense?
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Re: Auto headlights staying on?

Post by RUM4MO »

Sounds like Western VW need to have a proper look at that car, on the subject of "auto lights" - as we garage our cars, I tend to make sure that the light switch is not in auto before driving into the garage, okay that car has LED head lights but that seemed to me to be a good plan. I only ever use auto lights if we are driving "into" the "lights needed" section of the day. I've always found that maybe especially in vocations like Scotland, lighting conditions frequently prevail that beat/defeat the simple auto lighting system - now that might suit most people who simply take the view that it is "not my fault that the lights have not come on" - but I like to try to responsible for making sure that the lights are always on when they should be.

Maybe a variation on your problem, or another weakness of the 6C Polo auto lights system - we returned from a mid week break in Lisbon last Friday, got into the car at about 21:00 in a very dimly lit NCP Long Stay car park at Glasgow airport, selected "auto lights" and drove around the car park - head lights not on! Switched to headlights on, lights now on. So, why did that happen, was it due to the car being left parked up for 5 days, there was no frost/ice/snow on the car, ambient temperature was about 6C, that did not impress me one bit, this is the first time that we have left that car at an airport car park.
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Re: Auto headlights staying on?

Post by SRGTD »

My GTI has the coming / leaving home / auto headlights function, but I vary rarely set the light switch to ‘auto’.

I’ve found that there are instances when the headlights don’t switch on in auto mode when they’re needed, such as during daylight foggy conditions. I don’t find it a hardship manually switching my lights on; I’ve driven for many years (since the mid 1970’s) before auto lights were a feature on cars so switching them on manually when they’re needed is like second nature to me.

In answer to the OP’s initial post;

If light switch is left in the ‘auto’ position, the leaving home function switches the lights for a predetermined period when unlocking the car.

To activate the ‘coming home’ function when getting out of the car, it’s necessary to pull the indicator stalk to flash the headlights. The headlights will then stay on for a predetermined period, whether the headlight switch is set to ‘auto’ or has been manually turned off to ‘0’.
Dan34
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Re: Auto headlights staying on?

Post by Dan34 »

You can also enable the coming home function by pressing the lock button and then the boot button on the key quickly after. The lights will then come on and you don't have to flash the lights via the stalk!
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Re: Auto headlights staying on?

Post by EDI GTI »

Thanks all for the information - I never knew that was how you got the coming home function to work - so I've learnt something new!

With the auto lights I'm still a young driver at 21 and personally have found the lights to always work as I imagined they would, I like the auto feature however seeing as the LEDs are fitted with bright daytime lights and as the dash is always lit up, I'm scared that I would once get in quickly and maybe just forget! At least this offers a barrier of protection in that case.

RUM4MO I honestly wish they would but I expect you know what Western are like, I'm in "Limbo", I've not owned the car for long enough to get a new one and I'm no longer a new customer, so they honestly couldn't give a flying doodah. I tried calling the Sales Manager (who is apparently meant to be my salesman after mine left and the replacement was useless) but after 3 "Oh he's busy just now, he'll call back later" and no returned calls, and 2 unanswered emails, I've given up with even trying with him now. Servicing won't investigate, they will try to find the quickest fix and just plop it on. I really have lost all faith in them which is a shame as I thought they were brilliant at the start.

However back to the issue at hand, again none of this explains why the problem has all of a sudden just started happening. I can say with confidence I haven't flashed just before I've got out or hit the boot open button on the key, but still the lights are randomly picking and choosing when to come on. I don't even know what to get them to try and look for?
Dink
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Re: Auto headlights staying on?

Post by Dink »

There is also an option in the infotainment unit to set when the auto lights come on and also with the wipers.
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