Re: 2002 Corolla

Oh, and what genius designed this car so that the dash lights don't come on

> at night, until I drive a hundred feet or so?

The dash lights come on with the headlights. Turn on the headlights. Watch what happens.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty
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The dash lights come on immediately when the light switch is set to any position that is not OFF.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Augustus McCrae

Reply to
nm5k

no, the headlights aren't on every time you start the car and you can't turn them off.

Maybe you're thinking the daytime running lights.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

If you read your owner's manual as often as you spout about politics....

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

ummm....

....you're wrong.

DAYTIME running lights (DRLs) are not "running lights" like you remember from the glorious 1930s.

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In mainstream cars, the DRLs are at least positioned within the headlamp assembly--and they may actually use the headlamps themselves.

DRLs are NOT headlights. For one, they are not nearly as bright.

If you have some sort of front lamps that "come on with the car even when the headlight switch is off," see what happens when you turn the headlight switch ON.

DRLs are not connected to the dash lights at all. DRLs being on does not mean dash lights should be on.

Even with DRLs installed and operating, your headlight switch operates EXACTLY like it always has. First position turns on what you call "running lights" as well as the dash lights, and second position turns on headlights. When headlights come on, DRLs turn off.

Have you ever actually READ your owner's manual?

Please, do the world a favor: stop making wild assumptions based on your total ignorance of the matters at hand. At least ATTEMPT to read the owner's manual prior to asking questions about how this all works.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Those are Daytime Running Lights. Lots of cars use the headlamps as DRLs. When this is true, they come on at about half power. They might have an automatic headlamp feature that detects that it is dark outside, and the headlamps then come on from half power to full power and the instrument panel lights up as well.

You need to figure out how to operate the light switch. There is a manual setting that forces you to turn the headlamps on, or allows you to turn them on if they don't come on automatically. Your car is operating the head lamps in the Auto Mode, and if the car is not being driven, then the lights don't need to be on. When the car starts moving AND you have not switched the lamps on manually, then after a short period they come on automatically. This is a FEATURE so you don't drive around at night with the DRLs lighting the way.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

yeah, but all that stuff is in that nasty ol' owner's manual. What do you want her to do--get her delicate fingers all dirty, and risk a paper cut thumbing through the pages??

Doesn't the staff do all of that?

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Well, she is sitting in an ice-cold car with the Defroster ON at initial start-up and the fan speed set to HI, and wondering why cold air blows through the vents until the car warms up, how can anybody read a manual while shivering so violently?

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

No. They are the same brightness once they come on. You have auto headlights, same as mine. The reason that you have to wait 100 ft, is that is how long it takes the light sensor, which is up on the dash near the windshield, to tell it is dark, and turn the actual headlights on, which at the same time also turns the dash lights on as usual. If you do it manually, there is no delay as far as the night/dash lights. And the red/yellow side lights are called side marker lights. Those were federally mandated in 1968 for passenger cars. The delay is the sensor deciding if it's dark or not. And yes, if it's daytime, and you drive into a dark place, the headlights will come on automatically. The sensor is the little button looking thing on the left side of the dash near the glass. And yes, I think the night low beams are slightly brighter than in the DRL mode. Which is good, as that will make the bulbs last a bit longer. :/

Reply to
nm5k

Well, you're not very intuitive, then.

ACTING like you know what you're doing is not the same thing as knowing what you're doing.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

I don't know if your car has an "auto" position for the headlight switch or not.

If it does, and if the switch is in "auto" position, the headlights will come on automatically..

If not, and the headlight switch is in the "off" position, the DRLs will be on--and you'll have what appear to be very weak headlights.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Jane, The instrument panel lights are part of the auto lighting FEATURE. Another part of that feature is that once the car decides it is dark, the DRLs don't work anymore, so you cannot switch back and forth in the driveway at night.

You can turn the lights on manually if you want, or let the car decide for itself that the light need to be on. Either way, the DRLs are a separate feature that controls forward facing lights separately from the remainder of the lights on the car. You may or may not have DRLs, and since you said the lights are on, then you must have DRLs. Or, the previous owner installed a custom circuit to power the lights all of the time. I'm going with DRLs...

There are several websites with information on disabling DRLs, but personally I suggest you keep them. You live in a climate where they are beneficial.

You ought to visit a junk yard and ask if you can buy an Owner's Manual, or stop by the dealership and get one.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

They switch on automatically.

More correctly, all of the other lights come on automatically even if the headlights have no change.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

There's the problem.

You are 60 and expect cars to work the same way as they did when you were

20, but almost everything about a car is different, and you are now complaining about features that are designed to do precisely what they do, and since you don't read the f---ing manual, you are clueless.

If you have a manual, get it out.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

ESPECIALLY when acting causes the confusion that comes from not knowing.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

no, they're not. Your headlight switch is in the "Off" position, and what you see shining are the daytime running lights.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

So tell us all what happened when you piled wood inside your oven and lit it on fire.

Did the stove conform to you?

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Yes. Part of the problem is communication.. And part of the problem is failing to understand the system because you think you don't need to read the manual.

This was my answer to your question.

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As an example you then responded to my post with this..

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Nope, I tried switching back and forth between them tonight in the driveway

- no difference.

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-------------- It's hard to tell if you are responding to my last statement, or to my answer to your question. I assumed you were responding to my statement, being as that is what you quoted. And your answer shows you are still not understanding how the system is working, and thus your answer is likely invalid, and could further confuse anyone that stumbles across it.

You can't switch between DRL and night mode when dark. The sensor won't allow it. You can only compare in the short period of time before the sensor decides it's dark. Or do it in the day time.

Once the car was in the night mode, you were only comparing auto to manual modes, which of course there will be no difference.

You can not compare DRL to night low beams at night unless you do it when the lights first come on, and before the sensor tells the system it's dark. Once that sensor feels it dark, you can't turn the DRL's on. So at night with the car on and running, you can not compare DRL to night low beams. The DRL's will never come on. And of course, there will be no difference. All you are doing is comparing auto to manual mode. You could compare the beam brightness in the daytime. In that case, you would check the brightness of the beams in DRL mode, with the lights on auto, and then put the night lights on in manual mode which will terminate the DRL mode. In the day you can do that comparison, but not at night. And you will need someone to watch the lights while you change the switch setting.

Your confusion just balloons into more confusion as people try to understand what you actually mean.

One hint, if the head lights are on, but all the other lights are off, including tail lights, it's in DRL mode. If the tail lights are on, and all the yellow/red corner lights are also lit, it's in the night time mode. On my car, the headlight beams *are* dimmer in DRL mode than they are in night mode. When it switches to night mode, they get slightly brighter, and all the corner and tail lights also come on at the same time.

I think that is one reason why they use that system. Some people would see that the head lights are on, and not realize that they have no tail lights. I bet many of these people are named Jane.. :/ So they made it automatic so that would not be an issue.

BTW, Tokyo has little to do with it. Cars designed in the US work the same way. We had an 02 Impala with the same system.

But this is not really an argument.. Just some comments to maybe provide some illumination. Then again, it will probably be just an exercise in typing. :/

Reply to
nm5k

They're not the same brightness.

You should just sell the car, and have someone drive you around.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

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