C30 Electrics : Headlights

[cancunia]

Sorry, I know this has been covered elsewhere, but am forever hopeful that someone has discovered a free solution for turning off the headlights on my '09 C30 as was possible on earlier Volvos?

I'm convinced that the headlights being on all the time has contributed to the early demise of my battery as I'm only using the car for mostly short 15 min journeys.

Thanks in anticipation!

[MDS40]

There is no free way of doing it.
Dealer software job only.

[Markos01]

This used to annoy me, so I'd turn my lights to sidelights in the daytime, and of course I left them on occasionally too, as there's no warning chime when you turn the car off...! I then put a hair scrunchie band thing on the drivers door handle so whenever I'd go to get out I'd see and feel this thing which would remind me to put the light switch back to its normal position. Hardly an ideal solution but it worked for me.

[cancunia]

Oh well, I'll have to live with it in that case.

Thanks for the replies.

[StatusRed]

Originally Posted by MDS40

There is no free way of doing it.
Dealer software job only.

I think anyone with VIDA and DiCE can turn it off, no?

I haven't even tried because I like the fact that it's always on.

[cancunia]

Originally Posted by StatusRed

I think anyone with VIDA and DiCE can turn it off, no?

If that's the case, I'm interested !

Can someone confirm?

Thanks

[andy_d]

Originally Posted by StatusRed

I think anyone with VIDA and DiCE can turn it off, no?

I haven't even tried because I like the fact that it's always on.

not possible you Need to replace the software so that "off IS off" on the switch

Vida Does list the options you can have for the software and what each option does,

there is No free way to do this

[Clan]

Originally Posted by cancunia

Sorry, I know this has been covered elsewhere, but am forever hopeful that someone has discovered a free solution for turning off the headlights on my '09 C30 as was possible on earlier Volvos?

I'm convinced that the headlights being on all the time has contributed to the early demise of my battery as I'm only using the car for mostly short 15 min journeys.

Thanks in anticipation!

The battery is only used for starting the engine , when the engine is running the ALTERNATOR powers everything , don't worry about it :-)

it would be good to charge the battery for a couple of days to get it fully up to charge now and again .

[StatusRed]

It is worth noting cacunia, the lights being on all the time is actually a safety feature. Sweden (Canada too) pioneered laws about lights always being on when the car is running (even during the day) as academic papers had shown that this reduces accidents. When I get in a car that doesn't have this feature first thing I always do is turn the lights on.

[cancunia]

Originally Posted by Clan

The battery is only used for starting the engine , when the engine is running the ALTERNATOR powers everything

Yep, but the problem is that on a short run, the battery does not get recharged enough from cold starting and the lights just add to the problem. The rule of thumb used to be 20 mins running to recharge from a cold start, modern alternators are probably better than that, but when you add the lights back in to the mix, it's probably back to 20 mins. My journeys are currently 15 mins max most of the time.


I understand it's a safety feature, but would like the option to be in control.