paulct

Here is a interesting tidbit from the owner's manual:

"Do not leave the light switch in
AUTO if you will not be driving the
vehicle for an extended period (a
week or more). You should also turn
off the lights if you plan to leave the
engine idling or off for a long time."

The whole point of "auto" is that you never think about it! Who is going to remember on a Friday that you will be on vacation next week and remember to turn the switcfh to "off"? I've got two cars with auto lights and have not touched the headlamp switch ever!

The dashboard ambient light sensor must be using a little power even with the car off.

Wonder if this is just an overly cautious warning.

ill45

if anyone could shed some input on this i would like to know also. I sometimes manually turn off my headlights when i get home and park in the garage as im worried its using up unessesary power from my battery, and then turn it back on when i leave in the morning. I currently have my auto off headlight feature for 30 seconds... 15 seconds seemed a little to short for me when out at night.

EuroR08

it would seem to be its overly cautious - but has anyone left their car for a week and came back to a dead battery??

samwlee

No way the Auto setting would kill your battery over the weekend. If it does draw power, I'd like to know from where... other than the alarm, what else is powered when the car is off?

Colin

Well, the clock for one, bu that's just milliamps. I remember that early 05 RLs had a problem if you opened up the trunk after the car was locked (with remote) the navigation system would spin up and remain powered up. This would kill the battery, but they came up with a patch to resolve the issue. Maybe there are other electronics that are drawing a slight amount of current, as the OP stated maybe the light sensor is always active? That would be weird though...

ill45

im thinking Acura would have thought of this before releasing the car, and if they didnt they will come up with a Recall and our batteries will be replaced free of charge. Im leaving me auto headlight setting "on" with a 30 second delay setting.

Colin

Your battery is warrantied for 4 years so I wouldn't sweat it. However, it could be argued that they 'did think of it' and this is why they have it in the owners manual

paulct

Just to clarify, this has nothing to do with the auto shutoff of the lights after you park. I think what they are implying is that over a long period of time, there must be some minor drain that is always on if you leave the headlamp switch in the auto position.

Having a battery warranty does not do you much good when you return from a one or two week trip and your car is dead in the airport lot!

Mine arrives next week, and I'll test it for a week at some point and report back. If it turns out to be a problem, I'll just stick a priority start cutoff switch on it like I have on my Vette which sits for a month sometimes. Saves having to charge or jump it, they work great!

Paul

Colin

My post was only addressing the comment about getting a free battery, not the obvious inconvenience of having one.

vcab01

If I have read correctly, at night when unlocking the car with the stalk left in the "Auto" mode the headlights turn on correct? If so then the sensor could be constantly monitoring ambient light being ready for when the car is unlocked.

ccarbajal08

yes

TS_eXpeed

Not sure if this is exactly the response you are looking for since I have a 1st gen, but I have my headlights set to turn auto off once you lock the car 30 seconds, and I have never had any problems with the battery.

vcab01

You have a different system than the 2nd gen, which has Auto On/Off. The 1st gen only has Auto Off.

HeavyDuty

I constantly leave the overhead console light on after going in the car at night to get something out of the console. I've done it 5-6 times recently & it must auto-off after x minutes. So...if that doesn't drain the battery, I can't imagine the light sensor drawing enough to matter unless the battery is weak anyway. But again, it must draw something or it wouldn't be in the manual.

aaronng

The sunlight sensor does consume power when the car is off when in Auto mode. This is similar to aftermarket car alarms that have glass breakage and movement sensors. For the sensors to work while the car is off, power from the battery has to be used. I doubt that the battery will drain in even a week of not driving the car. I think the warning is taking into account worst case if you have a week battery, but if you were going on a long holiday, I would turn the headlight to off.

CybrRdr

I wouldn't worry about it too much...

I always have it on "Auto" and I left my TSX at John Wayne Airport while on vacation for 2 weeks during the holidays. No problems for me.

Luchin

When you get in your car, turn your lights on. When you get out, turn your lights off. I always drive with ALL of my lights, on rain or shine. Auto in my opinion is a pain because the lights come on in the garage when you pull in from outside. Besides which I don't find the sensor sensitive enough. My 2 cents.

nj2pa2nc

my mother owns a 08 honda accord, bought new 3/31/08. She drives only about 6 miles a day. In that time the battery had to be jump-started 3 times. I turned off the auto-lights and now she does it manually. No more problems.