Odd "AUTO" light issue

[StuartTunstall]

I went shopping today (Friday) came all the way home in bright sunlight but the headlamps stayed on (set to "AUTO") I turned them "OFF" with the switch then back to "AUTO" but they came back on straight away.

 

Been out to the car tonight, unlocked the doors but the lights did not come on like they should... tried lock/unlock a couple of times nothing...

 

I then switched the ignition on and switched the lights from AUTO to ON, then back to AUTO with the main switch, tried again and they worked OK... ON when unlocked, then go off...left it half hour and tried again...nothing!..

 

This time I turned the main switch to the "OFF" position then "ON" then back to "AUTO", worked OK again.

 

Left 45 mins and tried twice and they worked OK again..

 

Any idea? switch fault or maybe light sensor issue? that would make more sense with them staying on in bright light? 

 

Odd thing is that last week it showed a bulb failure when I started it up, missed the text on the MAXI-DOT, turned ignition off and on again and it went away :(

 

I have informed the dealer that they may be looking at it..

 

Stu

[StuartTunstall]

**UPDATE**

 

Left the car over an hour and they are working now... TWICE!... will see what happens when I go out tomorrow, maybe switching to "OFF" this time did something... 

[silver1011]

Sometimes electrical systems have a little wobble, I wouldn't worry.

 

There are numerous inputs that can trigger the headlights when set to Auto, bright sunshine (a low winter sun can reduce visibility), speeds over 80mph for a few minutes, windscreen wipers on constant speed for a few minutes etc. etc.

 

Quite a few members (me included) have noticed that when the headlights are triggered they rarely turn off until the ignition is turned off.

 

Some weeks they are on and off as normal, other weeks they come on and stay on for the remainder of the journey.

[StuartTunstall]

Modern cars.... Lol 

 

I have been out to the garage twice and soon as I unlock the lights come on... go off when I lock, so seems to have fixed itself (I hope)

[peterposh]

I imagine they have some sort of timer when they switch on and then it gets bright before they go off again , otherwise you'll be flashing your lights on and off all the time

[StuartTunstall]

Well, still working this morning, just unlocked the car in the garage and the lights came on, locked and they went off... 

 

Yesterday was real bright sunlight but they stayed on all the way home... Will see what happens today when I go out... 

[mellyboy]

my auto lights developed a mind of their own. Dealer diagnosed rain/light sensor fault ,replaced under extended warrantee, service tech say very rarely have to replace them. He did say they are tricky to refit I do not know costs as my bill was £0 .

[john999boy]

Yesterday was real bright sunlight but they stayed on all the way home... Will see what happens today when I go out... 

 

Have you noticed that only seems to happen in the winter though.

Maybe it's something to do with the sun being low and the light differential between what the front and the rear of the mirror is sensing?

[StuartTunstall]

my auto lights developed a mind of their own. Dealer diagnosed rain/light sensor fault ,replaced under extended warrantee, service tech say very rarely have to replace them. He did say they are tricky to refit I do not know costs as my bill was £0 .

 

If it came to it my car was only registered in June so it would be warranty

 

Have you noticed that only seems to happen in the winter though.

Maybe it's something to do with the sun being low and the light differential between what the front and the rear of the mirror is sensing?

 

Not sure... I think there was an issue yesterday, It was dark and the "coming home" lights did not work... maybe a sensor issue developing?

[john999boy]

There are VCDS settings that can control how sensitive the 'auto' is but no matter what, mine still don't want to come on when I'd have manually put them on. :S

[StuartTunstall]

Just been out and working as they should... will need to keep an eye on it ...

 

Just need to sort this damn random bluetooth disconnect now....  Trying a handset I borrowed from work tomorrow, I thought it may have been an app I downloaded to my Galaxy S3 so I uninstalled that, worked perfect yesterday, tried today and disconnected, usually only does it once then reconnect straight away.. Trying a Galaxy Note to see if it is my phone at fault.

[cnc]

My lights often come on automatically in bright sunshine. It doesn't bother me at all and I just leave them on. My previous three Passats were the same. Maybe it's something to do with the sun angle on the light sensor - maybe not. Either way it doesn't bother me, I'd rather have them working than not working, and you can manually override them if you want to.

[StuartTunstall]

Being on in sunlight did not bother me too much, it has done that before, come on and been a bit slow to want to go out, what did concern me more was in the pitch dark the coming/leaving home lights did not come on until I messed about as shown in my first post since then they have worked today

[mellyboy]

Not that bothered using with auto lights in England still find them a little erratic , I spent five months in the Costa Del Sol this year plenty of incredible road tunnels nice not to have to switch lights on and off when entering and leaving tunnels, with the contrast between light and dark they worked really well. I like auto wipers working really well since new lights/ wiper sensors fitted.

[cnc]

I have also noticed my leaving home lights don't always come on. Mostly they do, but sometimes they don't. I have a streetlight fairly close so perhaps the car thinks it is not dark enough to turn them on sometimes, that's my thinking anyway. I rarely leave the car somewhere totally dark so until I do I can't be sure.

During the summer months I turned the coming/leaving function off, the coming home function is still off as I don't like the lights turning off completely then firing up again when you open the door. I think they can be set to 'On' at ignition off with VCDS, at least that's how they worked on my last three Passats - you parked up, the lights stayed on when the key was removed for the selected time then went off after locking the car, by which time I was usually indoors.

[WaveyDavey]

I have also noticed my leaving home lights don't always come on. Mostly they do, but sometimes they don't. I have a streetlight fairly close so perhaps the car thinks it is not dark enough to turn them on sometimes, that's my thinking anyway. I rarely leave the car somewhere totally dark so until I do I can't be sure.

During the summer months I turned the coming/leaving function off, the coming home function is still off as I don't like the lights turning off completely then firing up again when you open the door. I think they can be set to 'On' at ignition off with VCDS, at least that's how they worked on my last three Passats - you parked up, the lights stayed on when the key was removed for the selected time then went off after locking the car, by which time I was usually indoors.

 

 

I just open the drivers door as i'm about to turn the ignition/engine off and the lights don't go off and back on again then.

 

 

Same here regarding the coming home or leaving home not working sometimes.... Only happens though when parked in a brightly lit car park or under a street light etc....

[StuartTunstall]

That is how mine work, if I unlock the car with the remote the lights come on (when dark) and off when I lock it after a short time... OR as above if I open the door to get out they come on.. Mine did not at all ... 

 

Will see again today but worked OK yesterday, just not Friday... Lol

[Superb170]

I normally have to double click the fob for the coming home lights to come on, a single click will open the doors but lights won't activate- well that's how mine works usually. Because of the location of the light sensor behind the mirror, street lights, even sensor lights outside a house will often be picked up depending on the angle that the light hits the sensor

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[StuartTunstall]

Still working as they have always done so no idea why they played up Friday.... 

 

Bluetooth issue must be a car issue, the phone I borrowed from work did the same, just random disconnect (usually once per trip) then reconnects.. No idea why after almost 5 months no problems it has done this... 

[cnc]

I just open the drivers door as i'm about to turn the ignition/engine off and the lights don't go off and back on again then.

 

 

Same here regarding the coming home or leaving home not working sometimes.... Only happens though when parked in a brightly lit car park or under a street light etc....

Just a bit annoying if you forget to open the door a bit before turning off the ignition, hence my coming home is not currently activated. I may ask the dealer about the 'lights on at ignition off' and see if it can be activated next time its in for a service. As I mentioned before my last few Passats and my wife's two Golfs kept the lights on after the ignition was turned off for the selected time regardless if the drivers door was opened before the ignition was turned off or not, I prefer it to be this way myself.

[cnc]

Still working as they have always done so no idea why they played up Friday.... 

 

Bluetooth issue must be a car issue, the phone I borrowed from work did the same, just random disconnect (usually once per trip) then reconnects.. No idea why after almost 5 months no problems it has done this... 

If you have a friend who could loan you a different make/model of phone it might narrow it down to the phone or car Bluetooth deciding if it wants to maintain a connection or not. I had a slight issue with my Blackberry not connecting a while back when it had worked for 6 months or so without an issue. I did a full reboot on the Blackberry and its been fine ever since.

[2SkodaFamily]

Have you noticed that only seems to happen in the winter though.

Maybe it's something to do with the sun being low and the light differential between what the front and the rear of the mirror is sensing?

 

Yes, I find this. Driving into low sun, the headlights come on. They go off if I turn away from it for a period of time.

[StuartTunstall]

Car due to go in on the 30th for them to check this out for me... not major but it "bugs" me no end...Lol as does the bluetooth random disconnect/reconnect it does at times... OK for almost 5 months, 6 weeks of niggles

 

So, I have made a strange discovery today.... 

 

Went to the supermarket, came out, bright day with sun.. headlamps on :( I then pulled the wiper stalk to wash the screen, as soon as the wipers moved the lights went out! I noticed this last week as well.... 

[JakeBlade]

So, I have made a strange discovery today....

Went to the supermarket, came out, bright day with sun.. headlamps on :( I then pulled the wiper stalk to wash the screen, as soon as the wipers moved the lights went out! I noticed this last week as well....

Wasn't washing the headlights by any chance?

[StuartTunstall]

No, as soon as I pulled the lever the lights went out.. no water sprayed across the bonnet Lol just the screen.. 

 

May be an interesting fault to find  Think I am correct in saying the rain sensor and the light sensor are one and the same unit in the mirror... maybe faulty?

 

It was bright sunlight so normally the lights would not be on, came on as soon as I started the car, and I did the washer thing about 5 mins later... It did the same last time, as soon as I wash the screen they go out..