Hello! I own a Skoda Octavia mk2 pre-facelift which does not have a light/rain sensor. I have been trying to activate Leaving Home/Coming Home for some time. I bought a sensor (I attach the picture) + 2 different headlight switches, both with the AUTO function. I already had all 10 wires going to BCM. I cannot activate Leaving Home no matter what i try, Coming Home works although the adaptations do not seem to work, no matter the time i set in VCDS, the headlights turn off after approx. 1 minute. I tried with the headlights on AUTO, low beam, off, nothing. I want to mention that other functions such as the second fog lamp, us style and other codings worked without any problem. Any ideas/advices are welcome! Thanks

Edited 28 August, 20241 yr by qHappii

I'm pretty sure that these type of aftermarket light switches with their own light sensors do not actually send any data to the car. They just act as if you have turned the light switch on yourself.

 

 

4 minutes ago, softscoop said:

I'm pretty sure that these type of aftermarket light switches with their own light sensors do not actually send any data to the car. They just act as if you have turned the light switch on yourself.

 

 

I thought about that too, it actually works, it is a bit delayed to be honest, although i have no idea how an oem sensor works, but with this one, if i cover it with my hand and i keep the light switch on auto, after a few seconds the lights are turning on and when i take the hand off of it, the lights are going off. also, no idea if it means something, right after i installed it and turned on the lights i heard a few beeps somewhere close to the light switch

UPDATE: I got the Leaving Home to work by pressing the unlock button on the key twice, but coming home is on low beam and leaving home is on drl, any way i can change lh to low beam as well?

Does it not need programming with VCDS to activate the function?

 

I know the options are there in the long coding, I tried several times to activate mine without success until I was humbled to learn that it was never going to work as my vehicle does not have the light sensor!

 

OTOH my previous Octavia Elegance I think had CH and LH options in one of the Maxidot menus.

24 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Does it not need programming with VCDS to activate the function?

 

I know the options are there in the long coding, I tried several times to activate mine without success until I was humbled to learn that it was never going to work as my vehicle does not have the light sensor!

 

OTOH my previous Octavia Elegance I think had CH and LH options in one of the Maxidot menus.

i don t have maxidot on mine, so, what i learned during this process and going through multiple scenarios, auto/regular headlight switch, with/without aftermarket sensor is:

 

with the switch on auto, when the sensor is covered or is dark outside, coming home and leaving home (needs to be activated in long coding) will turn on just the sidelights/turn signals 1. ch when you turn off the engine 

2. lh when you press the unlock button twice on the remote

 

now, without auto switch you need to leave the switch ON and lh and ch activated in vcds as well and that way:

1. ch when you turn off the engine will turn on the low beam and sidelights

2. lh does not work at all without auto, at least on my end.

 

now i m having a problem with the way it works, i got them both to work but on sidelights and i want them on low beam, i m still trying to change that

 

you can give it a try on yours, it should work even without the auto switch, just turn on the ch in vcds and leave the switch on, make sure the coming home mode option in long coding is OFF

I will try it, I dont like leaving the lights on, I know the battery will not go flat but dont want to be driving with them on the next day.

 

Are you sure what you perceive as CH is not simply the timer to turn off the headlights mistakenly left on?

 

The road lighting here switches off now at 22.30 so I will consider leaving the headlights on when I alight after that time if they stay on for a while as you say.

5 hours ago, J.R. said:

I will try it, I dont like leaving the lights on, I know the battery will not go flat but dont want to be driving with them on the next day.

 

Are you sure what you perceive as CH is not simply the timer to turn off the headlights mistakenly left on?

 

The road lighting here switches off now at 22.30 so I will consider leaving the headlights on when I alight after that time if they stay on for a while as you say.

yeah, it is CH because if u don t have it active and let the switch on it will beep when you open your door and the sidelights will stay on until u manually turn the switch off while with CH active, it doesn t beep when u open the door and the lights automatically turn off after a minute, including the one s inside the car

Thats good to know, I had already enabled it in long coding and thought it wasn't working whereas in fact the CH is working and also protecting me from flattening the battery when I mistakenly leave the headlights on.

 

It behaves exactly as you say, I had not realised that before making the coding changes I could have flattened the battery leaving the headlights on, I have already semi-killed a good Varta battery on the last car doing that.

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

Thats good to know, I had already enabled it in long coding and thought it wasn't working whereas in fact the CH is working and also protecting me from flattening the battery when I mistakenly leave the headlights on.

 

It behaves exactly as you say, I had not realised that before making the coding changes I could have flattened the battery leaving the headlights on, I have already semi-killed a good Varta battery on the last car doing that.

awesome, glad that is working, have u had any luck with leaving home as well?

No, I gave it up as a lost cause and was embarrassed to have even started when I learned it could never work without a daylight sensor.

 

The other thing I have tried multiple long coding changes for with seemingly no effect is to try to create the Thatcham or other delay on the alarm, when running I lock my keyring in the car using a dumb key that I carry with me and which is otherwise hidden on the outside of the vehicle, the alarm triggers immediately when I re-open the door on my return bringing attention to an act I want to keep secret from onlookers.