[paolo]

Dear friends, I'm living in Vietnam were here are no traffic rules, or at least, only one: only the biggest vehicle has rights!
My X-Trail (year 2004 manual) is medium size... so I need always to turn on the lamps for better visibility. But, once, I forgot to turn them off. Chaos and damnation afterwards! I needed a new battery and all day idling to change it by a vietnamese mechanic.
The point is: how to turn the lights on at the start of the engine and turn them off automatically at removal of the start key?
Is there anyone so kind to help me?
Many thanks

 

[Revhead Kev]

Hi paolo,

Easiest way would be to power a relay from the Acc fuse which switches across the headlamp switch to power the headlamps.

 

[paolo]

Many thanks Kev.
Technically it's the easiest way, but practically it seems not a DIY job, isn't it?
My son has a Grand Vitara and he solved the problem turning the head lamps for five time on a short sequence and ooplà! May be Suzuki is another thing!

 

[aussietrail]

Am not sure how you managed to forget to turn the headlights off, as all xtrails come with a very annoying and continues beeping signal/alarm when you take the key out of the ignition and open the door to leave the car.

 

[paolo]

Dear Jalal, although this is not the problem, I'll tell you how it happened: as I said, I'm living in Vietnam, where chaos is reignining, not in your beautifull country - I know it also - and when I was pulling the key out, I was submerged by vendors who tried to sell a lot of rubish! Since my alert/alarm is so discreet, I didn't ear it at all. So I can imagine in the same condition, it can happen not only to me, but even to you!
Cheers.

 

[Revhead Kev]

Hi paolo,

If either you or your son are handy with splice connectors and you can get a relay and pre-wired base then it should be a simple DIY provided you can follow a wiring diagram and are not colour-blind.

Let me know if you want me to post a marked-up circuit showing where the relay would fit.

 

[paolo]

Yes Kev, it'll be greatly apreciated! Thank you very much!

 

[Revhead Kev]

Paolo,

Is your Xtrail Left-Hand drive or Right-Hand drive ?
There are two wiring diagrams and I wish to pick the correct one.

 

[paolo]

Kev, it's a left hand drive car. Thanks.

 

[Revhead Kev]

Hello paolo,

For this you will need a relay with two relay contacts, one contact for the left-hand headlamp lowbeam circuit and one contact for the right-hand headlamp lowbeam circuit because the headlamps each have their own fuse.

The wires for the headlamps come directly from the headlamp stalk switch on the steering column and the IGN wire which is used to power the relay when the ignition is in the ON position only (do not want lights on for ACC or Start) will come from the ignition switch. These mean that the best place to access all the required wires is in the steering column, probably at the base where the wiring harness spreads out to the rest of the car.

The first diagram shows where the two relay contacts are wired into the headlamp circuits. Note the wire colours.


The second diagram shows where the relay coil is wired into the ignition ON circuit. Note the wire colour. You will have to find an earth point nearby to wire the negative side of the relay coil to.


The third diagram shows the positions of the two connectors in the steering column and shows how the wiring joins together into the single wiring loom which exits at the bottom of the steering column.


Wiring the relay in this configuration will ALWAYS have the lowbeam headlamps come on when the ignition switch is in the ON position only and still allow the lowbeam and highbeam headlamps to be switched on with the steering stalk control as normal. You will not have a way to switch the lowbeam headlamps off when the ignition switch is in the ON position. From your question in the initial post it seems as though this is how you wish it to work.

 

[paolo]

You are great Kev!
I'll need a new vacation time to try to do it myself... but I'll try and I'll let you know the results. In the meantime, I'm sending you many thanks and a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
(I was on duty in Brisbane many years ago and I went once to your beautifull city, Sydney)
Many thanks again.

 

[Revhead Kev]

You are very welcome paolo.

I look forward to your report later and I also wish you and your family a Merry and safe Christmas and New Year.