Peugeot 2008 1.2 Automatic headlight reaction time

BarryC

Member
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
266
Location
Melbourne
I have a 2017 year Pug 2008 1.2 turbo (series 2).

I use the automatic headlight function, and it seems to take an inordinate amount of time for the headlights to work out that it's daytime, even when it's clearly bright morning sunlight. It may take 30 seconds to a minute (or more) to switch the headlights off. It seems to work fine when the opposite trigger occurs - eg going into a tunnel during daylight hours, but the initial switch off is a real pain.

It also affects the instrument lighting and reversing camera, as the dimming I have set in the car for nighttime makes the camera almost useless in daylight when backing out of the drive in the morning. If I had to be more specific, it appears that this delay has become worse over the two years I've owned it.

Any suggestions?
 
I thought this was by design to avoid blowing headlight bulbs, otherwise they turn on and off frequently at dawn and dusk, and for example (in Sydney) driving through the Sydney Harbour Tunnel -> Domain Tunnel -> Eastern Distributor Tunnel which would see the lights turning on and off.
 
May be. It certainly requires light input over a considerable period for the computer to decide to switch. I can understand the tunnel stuff (under which circumstances the system actually works very effectively and quickly - eg within 5 seconds to detect change), but apparently its memory of the previous state - eg coming home at night - to startup in the bright morning of the next day - seems a tad laboured.

I may have to go back to switching the lights on manually, which appears to defeat much of the purpose of this feature.

Thanks for the input


I thought this was by design to avoid blowing headlight bulbs, otherwise they turn on and off frequently at dawn and dusk, and for example (in Sydney) driving through the Sydney Harbour Tunnel -> Domain Tunnel -> Eastern Distributor Tunnel which would see the lights turning on and off.
 
Took the 2008 to the dealership who found no problem. The sensor requires bright light to operate apparently. In the AM my car faces west. maybe it should be more religious, and face east. It's also under a carport with what I thought would be enough incident light to trigger the sensor. Apparently Not. Still seems an excessive amount of time to switch to daytime once I'm underway on the road. Anyway, I'll work around it by switching the auto function off if needed.

Case closed, apparently.
 
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