RDX-Rick

I have a 2016 RDX Elite.

The other night I needed to leave my vehicle unattended for a few minutes in a busy area. I wanted to leave the parking lights on as an alert to other drivers.

Up until now I have always left my headlight switch in the auto position, and the headlights would automatically go off in 15 seconds (the time I selected in the setup) after I exited the vehicle (just as you would expect).

The other night I turned the headlight switch to the "parking lights" position and the headlight warning beeper began to make noise. I left the vehicle and still the lights turned off after 15 seconds.

Is there any way to keep the lights on permanently? If they will always go off by themselves, then why bother to provide the warning beeper.

My Toyoto RAV4 headlights would also automatically go off after 30 seconds if they were already on when turning off the engine. If I wanted to keep them on , I only had to turn the switch on after the engine was off.

Acura604

Pretty sure you can extend or set the length of time for 'auto off lights'... go into your menu system/settings accessed through the middle speedometer screen and scroll through looking for 'lighting options'.

RDX-Rick

Yes, the delay time can be set to 0,15,30 or 60 seconds. But what I really want to do is leave the lights on for considerably longer than that.

If the lights won't stay on longer than 60 seconds, we hardly need an alarm to let us know we left them on.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

this is the exact reason why emergency lights were invented. to flash and alert drivers that the car is unattended.

to keep them on, keep the engine on.

RDX-Rick

Thanks for that info, I guess I had been misinformed that emergency flashers were invented to alert other drivers of emergency conditions. You know things like "watch out I'm stopped in the middle of the highway" or "I'm changing a tire on the shoulder of the road". I'm not sure that my need would qualify as an emergency situation.

Well I guess that is always a possibility, but when I leave my vehicle unattended I prefer to not leave the engine running. Especially since you can't lock the doors when the engine is running.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

and here the conundrum lies....

Acura604

try leaving it in 'accessory mode' with parking lights on.

you know the drill, shift in neutral, press the 'start' button shuts off motor but leaves accessories on...shift back to park....leave vehicle, it'll go beeeep beep beeeep... but not sure if it can be locked.

RDX-Rick

Well, I tried it. The lights do remain on, but the doors cannot be locked. Of course all the dashboard lights and dual LCD screens are all lit up as well.

At least this suggestion is better than just leaving the engine running.

Edit: I was able to lock the doors with the mechanical key. The doors would not unlock by touching the handle or using the buttons on the FOB, I needed to use the mechanical key to unlock as well.

Acura604

^^^ to add to this step... I know the NAV screen can be turned OFF...not sure about the secondary screen... yes its a lot of steps but looks like the only way to do this.

RDX-Rick

I was able to turn off the NAV screen, but I was unable to completely turn off the lower screen. I did discover that if I dim the dash lights to the lowest settings before turning off the engine, the lower screen will retain that same setting in accessory mode. I have set a very low light level for the nightime settings. At this point it seemed like a reasonable solution to my problem.

I then discovered that if the RDX is left in accessory mode (which required the "key" to enable), and then the key is moved out of range of the vehicle, the engine can be started as if the "key" is present.

So this technique is pretty risky. In effect, the lit up dash is telling a thief that the engine is ready to start and drive away. All he needs to do is break a window. I might as well leave the key sitting on top of the dashboard in plain sight.

ceb

No, that's the reason parking lights were invented.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

ceb