Automatic Lights

[GBH]

Never previously having owned a car with an "automatic" setting of lights I have nothing to compare my current Jazz to so do not know if my car has a fault or if it is quite normal in that the lights appear to come on and switch off at totally random times.

Now that the daylight hours are shorter here in the UK I thought it would be sensible to use the "auto" facility but have found that sometimes my lights come on in the morning gloom (particularly when the weather is overcast) and they seem to remain on when the sun comes out.  Other times the lights switch themselves off even though I consider it still overcast enough to need the lights (to warn other traffic I am approaching rather than needing to see the road ahead) and then, on the same journey, notice my lights have turned themselves on again even though the sun has come out again and I need to put my sunglasses on.

Is this a "feature" of the Jazz or do my lights need resetting?

[embee]

There's always a fair amount of "hysteresis" built into these systems so they don't keep switching on/off at short intervals. Once on they'll stay on for a reasonable time.
I've noticed my auto lights do come on when you might not think it necessary. I suspect it's down to the sensitivity of the sensor to different light content, rather like my "reactions" specs which will darken even when it's dull and cloudy, I think it's UV kevels which your eyes might not actually detect. Also you don't want the lights turning off just when you enter a well lit carpark or similar, or someone else's lights shine at your car.
Make sure the area of the screen where the detector sits is clean. It's probably working fine, just a bit quirky.

[Lord Voltermore]

I understand from a recent thread on the MK4 forum that their  light sensitivity cannot be altered by  owner or dealer (unless by maybe  a replacement sensor) so its probably true for the mk2 as well.    The mk 4 ones do sometimes seem illogical    or do clever tricks like coming on  if you have wipers on  (which in turn might have switched themselves on  due to a rain sensor.)    But its less of a problem with the mk 4. The LED headlights use little power. You might as well let them do their own thing, and need not worry they havnt come on as early as expected because it has bright daylight running lamps on all the time.   Without these you may  feel the need to switch on and off manually at times

    I find the ambient light reading in a photography camera is sometimes quite different to what your eyes are telling you.  The human eye and brain can  adapt to changes in light  levels  without you realising it. 

[GBH]

Thanks for the insights chaps. Nice to know it isn't just my car.

Have read threads on other makes (apologies if this makes me appear fast and loose LOL) where a replacement windscreen requires some sort of software re-set for the screen mounted sensors for auto wipers and/or lights.

Will just have to live with things as they are, at least I have the option of switching the lights on/off myself.

Cheers

[John Ratsey]

IIRC the light sensor for the Mk 3 is at the bottom of the windscreen and looks upwards so it is affected by certin lighting situations (it's a forward looking sensor on the Mk 4). Also, 4 wipes of the windscreen wipers will result in the headlights turning on and staying on for several minutes (there's an option in the Mk 4's settings to disable this but no option on the Mk 3).

Honda managed to get the auto headlights working well on my Crosstar but the same system on my Mk 3 HR-V turns the lights in far too soon (2.30pm a couple of days ago on a bright afternoon). My dealer says there's no facility to adjust the calibration so I wonder if there's a lot of variability in the basic sensors.

[Top Down]

Turn the auto setting off and use your own judgement! 

[GBH]

What annoys me most of all are other drivers of vehicles that have LED rear lights at my eye level and keep their foot on the brake pedal when stopped at traffic lights. But that is another subject for another rant / day.